When are helpful members bad?

[cscgal]

I was discussing with NBF how I want to raise participation rates here on DaniWeb, and she pointed me to the following blog entry that she found: http://www.martinibuster.net/2006/06/growing-forum-participation.html

She said it reminded her of me. So ... what do you guys think? Valid points or just BS?

[happygeek]

That's a very interesting posting you link to Dani, and one which makes some very valid points.

Certainly my experience has been, with regard to community building in particular, that strictly limiting forum response to answers alone, at the expense of discussion, is a bad thing. Yes, a moderatorial slow hand is required to prevent off-topic rambling and to ensure the original question gets answered (critical to a tech support forum, needless to say). But allowing discussion of the question, and discussion of the answer, positively encourages forum growth by imparting a feeling of value to participants and empowering a sense of real community.

It is, as in all things, a question of balance. Never easy to achieve, but essential that we strive to achieve it nonetheless.

[noppid]

One of my favorite sayings is, there's more then one way to skin a cat. However, I found myself guilty of some things in that article.

I'm real glad ya posted that and I read it.

Thanks

[cscgal]

I think the most important thing I took away from the article was the intimidation factor - a lot of times us regular members don't realize how overwhelmed new members can be with a new community.