[quote]andersons wrote:
Tiribulus wrote:
Actually right now they are all over the Bodybuilding forum which has undeniably caused oodles of once active members to hardly post at all or disappear altogether.
It just occurred to me that maybe the reason for this change is that the Physique Clinic discussions are on the Bodybuilding forum. The Physique Clinic stuff is being emailed in newsletters and probably attracting new traffic to the site and to the Bodybuilding forum.
My hope is some of those people will come back and new like minded ones will participate if there’s a place they can go where they can be safe from the onslaught of those who want nothing more than what’s being advertised in a slim fast commercial.
I absolutely agree with your basic premise that it would be good for T-Nation to accommodate people with different interests.
And again, I agree that the “look good naked” market is large and has no forum devoted to it. I don’t think “General Fitness” would be an ideal name, but a dedicated forum sounds like a good idea.
In your OP I think you mentioned people saying “I don’t want to get big.” These people MUST be newbies and should be calmly and civilly redirected to the Beginners forum. Hardcore BB may think they deserve to be flamed, but most people respond better to a polite “That’s fine, but you’re in the wrong place; post on the Beginner forum.”
However, what about the guy who doesn’t want to get “huge” but DOES want to get bigger? For example, maybe he doesn’t aspire to 20" arms, but he does want to add 1", or 2", or whatever to them. If he’s not a beginner, but not welcome in the hardcore forum either, then he’s got nowhere to go. This is a big mistake; this type of person is more likely than anyone else to be tomorrow’s hardcore bodybuilder. With a bodybuilding market that’s small and shrinking, it’s dumb to push these people away for their “mediocre” goals.
(More generally to this whole thread and similar ones)
My modifications to the forums would look like this:
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“Bodybuilding” is renamed “Advanced Bodybuilding.” Its description (every forum has a description of its purpose) says something like “non-beginners with hypertrophy goals.” A sticky FAQ at the top includes a treatment of the fear of getting huge.
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New forum, to be named, for the “Look Good Naked” goal. “Look good naked” usually involves fat loss, so that’s what it will primarily be about. (However, a lot of people, if they do succeed in losing the fat, may be surprised how scrawny they look and may decide to switch to the hypertrophy goal, thus increasing the BB community.)
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Most Physique Clinics move to the “Look Good Naked” forum.
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EVERY forum needs a sticky or two with FAQ and links to key articles. EVERY newcomer who asks questions that are answered in the FAQs/articles should be politely steered to them. Every time. I can think of a great forum where skilled professionals help newbies; the members always insist that newbies read the stickies and articles. It works out really well. The newbies learn. Only the motivated ones stick around. The vets don’t get sick of answering basic FAQ.
(BTW, saying “use the search” does NOT work, especially for a huge site like this; results don’t have the greatest relevance so it’s a pain. Links must be provided.)
Another example - the Supplements and Nutrition forum should have sticky with links to articles about each Biotest supplement. And links to each commonly-used diet. Newcomers don’t know where to find this information. A lot of needless threads could be eliminated.
- Logs have their own forum(s). Ideally hierarchically organized under the appropriate goal (Advanced BB, Beginners, Look Good Naked, Strength Sports, etc.).
I’m sure these suggestions could use more thought. I’m still not sure about the possible overlap between Beginners and Look Good Naked, for example. However, some of these other organization principles and practices work well in other forums I use.[/quote]
Good post.
I would like to add that there should be one sticky at most on each forum. Otherwise, people tend to ignore them.
Posters on the advanced BB Forum should be screened on their accomplishments.
By the way, because of the way search engines work “the Look Good Naked” forum would be better off called “Look good Nekkid”.