Forums >Suggestions and Feature Requests>Forums vs. User Groups
Can you give us a little advice on how you would recommend setting up more active groups of runners?
For example, there is a sub 3 thread on the Forum with 545 postings (Forums --> Racing --> sub 3) and there is a sub 3 User Group that isn't working (User Group --> Marathon Race Training --> sub 3).
Where should sub 3 guys congregate?
We are setting up 3:20 from scratch, so what would be the best way of doing that?
Sorry to whine, but I think the User Groups are slow. That might be one reason the new sub 3 User Group didn't take off.
Help. haha.
m: 2:55:04 | 10k: 37:14 | 50mile: 9:35
Can you give us a little advice on how you would recommend setting up more active groups of runners? For example, there is a sub 3 thread on the Forum with 545 postings (Forums --> Racing --> sub 3) and there is a sub 3 User Group that isn't working (User Group --> Marathon Race Training --> sub 3). Where should sub 3 guys congregate? We are setting up 3:20 from scratch, so what would be the best way of doing that? Sorry to whine, but I think the User Groups are slow. That might be one reason the new sub 3 User Group didn't take off. Help. haha.
Hey fornobravo,
This is one of those aspects of RA that is driven more by group-think than by eric.
When it comes to racing goals, the threads tend to be more active than the user groups. The threads used to stay up on the homepage.
Unfortunately, lately, people have been starting "Hello I am new here!" threads, driving down more substantive content. While, I would like to learn more about them (especially those runners who are local to me), it would be nice if they would all just post in one thread.
"If you have the fire, run..." -John Climacus
#artbydmcbride
A whole User Group forum to discuss running a sub 3:20 marathon? Maybe there just isn't that much to say. Maybe a sub 3:20 thread in the hurtlocker user group would be more effective. <shrug>
Most successful User Groups need a mix...some wimmen, some humor, some dramatic tension.......
Runners run
Nader, there's another (small?) difference. RWOLers were given the feedback that perhaps their Dailies threads would be best served elsewhere. This was because 1) there were several, 2) they were super active, and 3) while they are running-related, it was a lot of stuff churning through the thread.
That's actually happening a bit here too... check the difference in chatter between the longstanding sub3 and the new sub3:20 threads. Not just style (which, btw, I'm noting as a DIFFERENCE, not trying to judge either way) but also more people involved.
There's one more scale thing... we're used to a sub3, a sub330, and a sub130 half thread. On RWOL's MRT there are 5+ threads for various time goals and specific chat topics for, say "women trying to BQ in 2012" etc.
And it is all good stuff. Or not, for those not interested.
I think what we're seeing here is a bit of a culture difference, but also a limitation in our existing "recent topics" list, which will become (or is already) kinda churning with all these topics.
FB, I think what we're saying is that we're not sure. How's that. The more the threads stay specifically running related, the more likely it makes perfect sense to put them on the main board. Unless people want a party room. Pluses and minuses either way. In your own chat room, you could change the culture of doing everything in the same damn long thread.
I dunno. I do think for cross-pollination purposes, which is a big deal in this specific case because we have a lot of runners here who haven't been saying much, that doing SOMETHING in the main boards is key.
I like to run.
A whole User Group forum to discuss running a sub 3:20 marathon? Maybe there just isn't that much to say. Maybe a sub 3:20 thread in the hurtlocker user group would be more effective. <shrug> Most successful User Groups need a mix...some wimmen, some humor, some dramatic tension.......
Well, one issue is that there are already similar-but-not-the same user groups popping up. There are at least 3 different marathon groups now (one of which retitled itself "marathoner dailies"... could this stuff go there? YES) and at least 2 different trail running groups, etc etc.
And this isn't specific to RWOL. A whole lot of RA and RWOL people are scratching our heads at "hurtlocker", which itself was started as a response to stuff-no-longer-important.
Inbound RWOL people: nothing says you have to keep your current culture intact. For example, someone created a Marathoners group for dailies because on RWOL there is a "Marathoners" section. And they didn't feel like using the existing "Marathon Training" group because perhaps that sounded like RWOL's other not-the-same-but-close MRT. Except someone ELSE set up an MRT group.
Why is it sideways?
Most of the active sub3 hopefuls are in the 2000 mile clubs -- the hurtlocker and the swamp. These are pretty active user groups. Traditionally the subXX threads in the main forum have been devoted mainly to running talk -- training, goals, results.
Like srlopez says things may change with the influx of all you new folks, but the culture here has been to keep the main forum pretty free of your standard daily chit-chat and let that stuff happen in the user groups. Seems like if you all can get organized and set up a user group that everyone knows about, you should be able to keep it pretty active.
Another cultural difference is in the keeping of and publicizing logs. Over time, it becomes apparent which people have similar mindsets, similar training, similar goals, even the same races. Then the communication of something specific like a 3:20 goal or today's run or whatever can be done through the log comments or PM function if you don't want a group. Just a thought.
This times 100. Once you make your log public and get used to communicating via logs and training plans, you don't need to post every day that you just ran x miles.
The 3:20 thread is a bunch of really nice group of people looking for a place to hang out. There were 12,500 postings on the 3:20 thread in 2011 and 7,000 in 2012. The RWOL sub 3 thread is similarly sized, and they are bailing on RWOL and moving to Facebook -- not here. I enjoy reading what that group has to say, and I comment on occasion. But if they are on Facebook, 3:20 is here and 2:40 Competitive Jerks stays on RWOL it's really messy.
I'm thinking of it this way. As I train for Boston 2013, I will be sharing my training and funny stuff with people here, more than half of the people I will be racing with and meeting in Boston will only be on Facebook, and I am training to run faster than 2 hours plus my age and win a Moose Mug -- which is organized by the 2:40 thread on RWOL.
Blah.
jules2
Plus a looker from SoCal and an old boy from Blighty
Old age is when you move from illegal to prescribed drugs.
The 3:20 thread is a bunch of really nice group of people looking for a place to hang out. There were 12,500 postings on the 3:20 thread in 2011 and 7,000 in 2012. The RWOL sub 3 thread is similarly sized, and they are bailing on RWOL and moving to Facebook -- not here. I enjoy reading what that group has to say, and I comment on occasion. But if they are on Facebook, 3:20 is here and 2:40 Competitive Jerks stays on RWOL it's really messy. I'm thinking of it this way. As I train for Boston 2013, I will be sharing my training and funny stuff with people here, more than half of the people I will be racing with and meeting in Boston will only be on Facebook, and I am training to run faster than 2 hours plus my age and win a Moose Mug -- which is organized by the 2:40 thread on RWOL. Blah.
This is a nice place to hang out.
Dunno why Rachel decided to push the facebook thing... there are cool aspects of facebook, but as a message board (not tied into a running log) it is not the best. I suppose we could do the sales job on that, or not. You gotta go to wherever your friends are.
12,500 posts in one thread is a hell of a lot of posts in one thread. You could arrange that differently here... well, you could have over there as well really... and it'll work a lot better than facebook.
Anyway, you are asking for a yes/no answer for something which has never been a thing here. Sorry that there isn't the definitive yes/no YET, but that's kind of the charm of being involved with figuring stuff out.
Running is fun. Running politics, less so.
The good news for yall, which makes stuff harder, is that MRT never got SpamWOLed like the other sections. Thumbs up.
To clarify the terminology, "User Group --> Marathon Race Training" is a user group, and "User Group --> Marathon Race Training --> sub 3" is a thread in that user group's forum. There are no "sub-groups".
That at least has a clear answer -- the existing sub-3 thread in the Racing forum.
Looks like Marathon Race Training is a new group set up to mirror the RWOL format? Nothing wrong with that, but we hope you guys will integrate with the existing discussions here as well!
And the existing sub3 thread on the main board isn't a "user group" nor do folks here really consider it with the term "sub group".
I agree!
Master of My Domain
This place makes me feel like I'm crashing on a friends couch while he and his wife argue about my being here in the kitchen...
You look so absurd, you look so obscene...