re: An argument for a Technology board (8/1 update - a continuing trend)

quote:

---

Based on the wait time for the music board, both the realities of a ScienceTech/HealthFit board appear to be a long long way away

---

Assuming the admins are still planning on implementing a Music Board, I think the difficult aspect is clearly defining the regulations that would govern the board. Most of the discussion on the board would be opinionated and subjective, and since people tend to be quite fervent about the music they like and don't like, the ingredients would be present for widespread volatility.

While opinionated posts would certainly occur on a science and technology board, it would be to a much lesser extent, and likely with less passion. If you prefer Android to iOS, you can point to specific features why. If you make a point on speciation, you can back it up with specific data from a study. It's not pure subjectivity.

And, as mentioned, the board would have enormous utility in that it would give users a definable, specific audience to whom they could pose tech and troubleshooting questions.

Well, I was going to randomly select a week from January 2012 to evaluate, however, it appears that all forums have a history cap of 100 pages now. On the OT, this means that one can only search as far back as 2/29 (as of 6:00 PM CT today).

Thus, I selected another temporal interval to evaluate - 3/8/12 (12:00 AM) to 3/12/12 (12:00 AM).

During this period of time, there were a total of 48 threads created on topics involving science and technology, 24 threads created on topics involving health and fitness, and 28 threads on topics involving music.

The one constant in all of these samples remains, which is that threads created on topics involving science/technology significantly outnumber the amount of threads created on topics regarding either music or health/fitness.

Science and Technology (48 threads)







Health and Fitness (24 threads)




Music (28 threads)

quote:

---

I say we convert the OT Lounge into the Music/H&F/S&T Board and make a new board for all the WHYI and LNST threads.

Name it OTFRTT Lounge

Off-Topic For Reals This Time

---

All the acronyms make my head hurt.

didnt read lol

have we had any input from the admins yet?

quote:

---

would much rather see a S&T Board before the others.

---

I think most people would, even though they may not fully realize it. As I've mentioned, the board could have more utility than any other board on this website, in that anyone with tech issues would have a specific place to go for help.

In fact, the "off topic" forum is somewhat of an anachronism, at least in its title, since this website now has boards dedicated to numerous other topics. The list of what is considered "off topic" has been diminishing since 2003, actually. The OT was the second message board to be added to Tigerdroppings, just after the Tiger Rant. And, at the time, it truly was "off topic", since the main topic of the site was LSU sports, and discussion regarding anything else was truly "off topic". Below is what the site looked like in 2002.





Later in 2002, the Ticket Exchange board had opened. (list of boards on the left hand side...)




As shown on the left hand side of the image below, 2003 saw the introduction of the Request board (future Help board), the NFL board (future Saints Talk), and the NCAA 2004 board (future Gaming Board). For the first time, there were dedicated boards for specific subjects other than for LSU sports.



By 2005, the NCAA 2004 board had been expunged. The NFL board was bifurcated into "Saints Talk" and "More Sports Talk" (future Main Sports Board). By May of 2005, we also witnessed the introduction of Political Talk.



In 2006, it became apparent that what was once a site dedicated to discussing LSU sports was evolving into something much more profound. By December of 2006, we saw the implementation of three new boards - Gaming, Fark, and Movie/TV.




The introduction of new boards continued, and by February of 2008, another trio of new boards had been added to the site, which included the Recruiting Board, Money Talk, and Food and Drink.



2009 played witness to the introduction of the SEC Rant, which, by 2012, would develop into a stand alone sister site of TD.



In the summer of 2010, many users were first exposed to the concept of transient, situational boards, of which included the Conference Expansion board and a dedicated forum for discussion on the oil spill. However, two new boards joined the site permanently - the World Cup board (future Soccer board), and the Fantasy Sports Board.



Just three months later, in October of 2010, the Outdoor Board and Hornets board had been implemented.



And in the latter half of 2011, the SEC Recruiting board was introduced.




So, what's the point of all of this? It's evident that as early as 2003, the website has been evolving into something more than just a digital locale to discuss LSU sports. There's been a steady introduction of new boards dedicated to certain topics. Instead of a single, nondescript board to host any discussions not pertaining to LSU sports, there has been a slow, methodical installation of topic specific boards to not only offload traffic to the OT, but to foster more fervent, engaging, and specific discussion with respect to a given topic.

Yet, one monolithic topic still doesn't have a dedicated space for discussion. In fact, it's such a big industry that nearly every major news outlet has a dedicated section on their site for this one topic - Science and Technology. And the interest is there, as we've all seen - posts range from iPhones, smartphones, and HDTV help to discussions on evolution, broadband, and space. The interest is there, and the posts are there. To help continue a process that has been a part of Tigerdroppings since 2003, I think the introduction of a Science and Technology board would not only be an appropriate board to host the numerous tech discussions that continually saturate the OT, but would serve as an invaluable resource to even the most casual users who need tech and troubleshooting assistance.

quote:

---

Any links to back all of this up?

---

To back up what, specifically?

I can't obtain pictorial evidence to support the data presented in the original post, since this website now caps the thread history for each forum at 100 pages. And, on the OT, going back 100 pages only puts you at March 1st.

I have made a few posts since then which do contain images that support the general claim, which is that threads created on science and technology topics significantly outnumber the amount of threads created on music, health, or fitness topics over a measurable (>4 days) period of time.

quote:

---

Some extraordinary work in that post

---

Music Board posters should take notes.

I was just messing with you. I agree.


Great work BTW.