Opinion Geelong Board Survey 2017

[catempire]

We used to have surveys on the board every year or so about five years ago but for whatever reason they fell by the wayside.

Here is a new survey we are running this year. The idea is to get a sense of how people use the board and what they like and don't like.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/QZM5KCD

Your responses are anonymous unless you give your username on the survey.

I hope you can spare 5 minutes to give it a go. Any questions drop me or one of the other mods a PM.

We will report back on results in the next couple of weeks.

 

[catempire]

Lol. Thanks to the person who suggested "Premierships" as something to make the Geelong Board better.

 

[catempire]

Great response so far. Really keen to get as much input as possible so please give it a go.

 

[catempire]

If you haven't already, go on, give the survey a go in the nice warm glow of a good win on the road.

 

[dazbroncos]

catempire the survey appears to be closed.

chris9753 tried to access it and it was not available.

Is this deliberate?

GO Catters

 

[catempire]

catempire the survey appears to be closed.

chris9753 tried to access it and it was not available.

Is this deliberate?

GO Catters

No, should be fixed now chris9753

 

[catempire]

If you have tried to complete the survey in the past couple of days you might have found it "closed". That was an accident and it's still open for the next few days. Please have a crack if you haven't already.

And thanks to the 60 of you who have done so already.

 

[catempire]

We will wrap up the survey tomorrow so if you haven't already please give it a crack. Have a say in the future direction of the board!

 

[catempire]

Thanks to everyone that completed it. We'll wrap it up there and report back on results shortly.

 

[catempire]

OK, as promised (apologies for the delay Pivo and others)...

2017 Geelong Board survey results​

Q1 - BigFooty username (optional)

26 out of 68 provided theirs.

Q2 - How long have you been reading and/or posting on BigFooty?

Q3 - How often do you read and/or post on the Geelong Board?

Q4 - I read/participate most in the following thread types...

Q5 - The main reason I read/post on the Geelong Board is because...

'Other' answers:

• I love gfc!
• my friends suck
• Options 1, 3 and 6.
• all of the above but i also like dazbroncos
• I like seeing the theories and ideas of lay 'experts' - adds to my own knowledge

Q6 - Please rate your experiences on the BigFooty Geelong Board

Comments:

• Certain threads aren't family friendly
• Used to be better but too much infighting now....I feel we have moved away from the pure footy discussions and some fantastic posters no longer post.
• Ratings are reflective of my OVERALL experience of the BigFooty site and Geelong board in particular
• last time i told a friend about bf i got banned for a day.
• I don't recommend internet forums you silly.
• Place for fun and friendly discussion with fellow Geelong supporters ?A few years ago this would have ranked much higher even very good
• the 'thirst to be right' costs a bit in the 'fun and friendly' stakes... a minority take it far too seriously. but on the whole, there is a great bunch in the middle.
• Far too segregated, there are those on one side of the fence (stand up for the club) and those on the other side (negative towards club). It makes it a very hard environment to enjoy at times.
• Note: it has never arisen that I mention it to anyone else...
• Seems to be a lot of negative posters with an agenda, overall making the experience poorer. Surely theres a point where admin can halt someone dribbling the same crap repeatedly. Yes I'm talking about Blightys Cats
• Quality of information, insight or comments is bereft of intellectual content.
• Sometimes threads are a little dry but that's no ones fault
• Quality of Geelong footy discussion on
• See final comments
• Too much flamebaiting

Q7 - In the past 12 months I read/post on the Geelong Board...

Q8 - The reason for the change (if any) in frequency of my reading/posting is...

'Other' answers:

• The mods preferable treatment of certain posters over others
• Starting
• A bit less time - but also generally haven't got much to contribute aside from general impressions - not as 'expert' as most posters
• Most of my friends are not on BF anymore and one isn't welcome at all.
• About the same but most options here are applicable
• Increased during the season but decreased in the off-season over summer due to being away
• Precipitous decline in football-intelligent posting, and see final comments
• Certain posters are no longer around and certain posters annoy me

Q9 - Please evaluate any changes you have noticed on the BigFooty Geelong Board in the past 12 months (in general)

Comments:

• Mods are too heavy handed on those they disagree with and aim to change the board to suit their viewpoints.
• The pledge is a great way to highlight how to treat others and at least makes people stop and think ( I hope)
• The behaviour pledge is a great idea if we can hold posters to account. Wonder if the use of Sticky threads could be used a little better during the season? Threads like the Injury , Non Geelong and the Creation of a general Cat Chat the thread could see the board being a bit neater without threads having been started for injuries or issues as they pop u during the year if these style of threads are easily accessible for posters. But on the whole the changes that have been undertaken have been positive and the mods are doing a great job in keeping the place on track
• Not in a position to evaluate
• This is NOT a criticism of the moderators; instead a belief that the moderators actions need to be stricter in accordance with the recent decline in behaviour and respect of posters
• Prefer the mods took a tougher stance on Q3
• as previous comments... the 'extreme views' are a part of following footy, but sometimes the attacks seem more about 'being proved right' than creating an engaging dialogue... but im repeating myself!
• The repetitive, relentless, negative approach of certain posters greatly reduces the overall experience. Adds a tiresome, annoying layer to the experience. Nothing wrong with the opinions, but not dozens and dozens of times without let up.
• In season comments, especially during match day & post-match threads seemed to have more opposition "supporters" joining in, especially those looking to cause issues. Things tended to be handled very well and promptly
• See final comments
• David the cat, pure ownage best mods

Q10 - Any other comments or suggestions to make the Geelong Board a better place?

• When mods have a go at posters who have a history of negative posts it invites other posts to do the same in the same conversation. Posters/readers who are not familiar with how irritating said posters may be are put off. I've seen several arguments between mods and posters where the mods draw on words like 'negativity' to explain their opposition. Other posters see no context, only several posters and mods collectively telling someone to get lost. The scenario then looks like school yard bullying.
• New mods are needed to provide balance to the board and allow a wider array of posters and viewpoints to be expressed without petty retribution by the mods.
• Not sure much can be done when: - some posters stalk other posters and quote them at every opportunity - these same posters describe threads as a scourge on the board but are still reading/posting in these threads - the use of "likes" as weapons so to speak.
• Keep personal/scornful abuse down.
• Geelong Posters should be allowed to continue to express optimism about the club on the Geelong board .
• Bring back Shannon Byrnes.
• Updated spreadsheets Extending Chris Scott's contract Premiership
• Would like a dedicated thread of a Q&A nature direct with the Club if possible
• Dang see question 9 for this one thought that was the place for it
• BC - hat his antics but would be loath to see him removed
• If I had an inkling about how to make the board better I'd pass it on. I just think that a new breed of poster has accepted the baton and is now running with it. And this breed of poster isn't really one I'm much interested in interacting with. They seem to dominate the few active discussions and threads that exist and I don't think their repetitiveness helps the "feel" of the board. Certainly don't have an issue with them (or anyone) expressing their thoughts but a select handful have taken the saying "flogging a dead horse" to a whole new level. Not too sure they are much interested in discussion, rather they are more intent on having the final word or showing up people they don't like. And none of the above is helped by the fact that footy is holding less interest for me these days.
• I believe the moderators need a stricter interpretation of acceptable behaviour and posting, to enforce a more respectful, civil environment on the board. The sniping, derision and use of insulting terms has escalated in recent times, to the detriment of the board. This is deterring posters, and short circuiting the robust, but civil, exchanges that were once had. Posting for the sake of garnering reaction is also a common tactic by a small number of posters, and one that hijacks / derails many threads, and should be challenged / stopped, but I concede this is easier said than done.
• Zero tolerance for those that play the man no matter who would have this board back to it's best in no time.Mods to weak IMO on this issue.
• short of changing the nature of the entire internet, im not sure much can be done about my gripes. you mods do a great job in a difficult environment, and ill stick around regardless. would like to get more involved, feel a bit like a 'persona non grata' at times, but i guess the more i post, the more presence id have - but the board can be a bit cliquey at times.
• A few posters have had a negative impact on the board over the last year or so, one very obvious 'troll' in particular. The moderators have done a good job given the circumstances; but damage has been done by the constant and unrealistic criticism of coach, players, and club. It's supposed to be a fan forum - the important word here is 'fan'. But unfortunately being a 'fan' is often belittled by the more vocal, negative posters. As a result, some good humoured contributors seem to have left, or now post less frequently. There are still some quality posters around, who provide thoughtful content that I enjoy reading. But the endless vitriol directed against the GFC has become so prominent that it isn't a great place to spend time.
• more comments from dazbroncos i want to get to know him on a more personal/emotional level
• Rather than premierships, I think a season or two of 'reality' would be good for the board. Then some of our most regular and angsty posters might start enjoying seasons where we make a PF, rather than seeing them as yet more evidence of monumental failure in the upper echelons of the club.
• Not sure. Something to consider may be to insist on use of specific threads for the repetitive vitriol. If it's allowed to spill over to other threads - then ban. Admittedly, that may be very difficult to enforce.
• It's hard to say because the other boards come off as less toxic.
• GFC Mods rule.!
• I'd love for mods to promote the ignore feature a lot more and encourage people to use it if they think that certain posters are ruining the BigFooty experience for them. I'm sick of reading posts where people bitch and moan about particular members ruining the forum when BigFooty has an in-build feature at people's fingertips that is QUITE LITERALLY AN INSTANT FIX TO THE PROBLEM. It's as if people would rather not solve the issue, as that would give them nothing to complain about. I know mods have already done this to a certain extent with the thread about the ignore button that was stickied for a while, and that's great, but maybe even more of a proactive push on this could be employed, such as contacting people who the mods notice *repeatedly* complain about particular users ruining BigFooty for them and alerting them to the effectiveness of the ignore button as a remedy to their predicament.
• Premierships.
• I doubt it can be done, due to increasing twitterisation of comment (ie no real comment, argument or explanation, just useless one-sentence jerk-off assertions); loss of several football-intelligent posters; reduced football-specific posting by many of the few remaining football-intelligent posters; too easy an acceptance of false board-wide paradigms about individual players and gameplans, especially by football-intelligent posters who should know better; relentless, irritating (and uncontrolled) trolling by Blighty, blighting too many threads - if he can't be exiled altogether, he should at the very least kept on his reservation; the internet's (all forms of social media, actually) current biggest scourge, the utterly afactual and irrational non-stop screaming by those with unpopular opinions that they are somehow being "shouted down" whenever people reply to them; the venting by dog-kickers during the gameday threads is understandable and socially useful (it prevents them kicking their dogs), but their continuation with it after the game is profoundly annoying (especially if I 'm already feeling crappy about losing) and generally utterly useless (except as a way of marking out football-morons for future reference).

 

[catempire]

Open for discussion, but a warning, this is not an opportunity to stick the boots into the moderators. Constructive suggestions about how to improve the board in light of what has been said above, is most welcome.

 

[BotsMaster]

"Bring back Shannon Byrnes"

 

[Willo_]

I know this is meant to be serious but some of these answers are fantastic

 

[Partridge]

I know this is meant to be serious but some of these answers are fantastic

They are. I'd intended to fill it out but missed the deadline. Good detailed responses though, covering a fair range as well.

 

[catempire]

Part of the reason for the delay in posting the results is I had intended to respond to some issues raised. Instead I will try to do so in piecemeal fashion over time...

 

[catempire]

Q2 - How long have you been reading and/or posting on BigFooty?

It is interesting that such a high proportion of respondents have been here so long. Perhaps that contributes to some of the angst we see at times? Would more new blood, new opinions, new perspectives and less of the history of interaction between posters make for a better place? If so, how do we attract new people to BigFooty? Keen to hear ideas.

 

[catempire]

Comments:

• Certain threads aren't family friendly
• Used to be better but too much infighting now....I feel we have moved away from the pure footy discussions and some fantastic posters no longer post.
• Ratings are reflective of my OVERALL experience of the BigFooty site and Geelong board in particular
• last time i told a friend about bf i got banned for a day.
• I don't recommend internet forums you silly.
• Place for fun and friendly discussion with fellow Geelong supporters ?A few years ago this would have ranked much higher even very good
• the 'thirst to be right' costs a bit in the 'fun and friendly' stakes... a minority take it far too seriously. but on the whole, there is a great bunch in the middle.
• Far too segregated, there are those on one side of the fence (stand up for the club) and those on the other side (negative towards club). It makes it a very hard environment to enjoy at times.
• Note: it has never arisen that I mention it to anyone else...
• Seems to be a lot of negative posters with an agenda, overall making the experience poorer. Surely theres a point where admin can halt someone dribbling the same crap repeatedly. Yes I'm talking about Blightys Cats
• Quality of information, insight or comments is bereft of intellectual content.
• Sometimes threads are a little dry but that's no ones fault
• Quality of Geelong footy discussion on
• See final comments
• Too much flamebaiting

It's pleasing to see such a high proportion (96%) of respondents have at least a "good" overall experience here (although the trap here is that people who don't have a good experience probably don't post anymore and probably didn't complete the survey).

The response on it being a place for "fun and friendly discussion" is probably the most concerning, as are some of the comments that followed. Common complaints seems to be:

1. Infighting
2. A 'thirst to be right'
3. Segregation (seems to be another way of saying strongly opposing views)

The first of these is the one we actively try to do something about. We encourage people to ignore others where they have ongoing issues. We encourage the use of the report button rather than getting sucked into futile and problematic discussions. We initiated the "clean slate" pledge to try to get people to forget old grudges and to start afresh. We will always put the interests of those that are here to enjoy footy discussion in a fun and friendly way over those that are here to create disharmony and to make life unenjoyable for others.

The other two issues, to me at least, seem like 'normal'-ish features of an Internet forum. It's not obvious to me what we can do about these things, nor indeed whether we should be trying to. But happy to hear thoughts on it if people have any.