A New Use For NT's Groups
Good Day Everyone!
It is with great excitement that I tell you about some really nice changes here on NT. Our groups will have new and exciting functionality that I hope will increase your personal enjoyment of NT.
You are all invited in getting involved in either the creation or participation of new groups. These new groups, (along with some older reconfigured groups) will not only put the groups front and center, but will also allow more control over your experience here on NT. First I would like to talk about how the groups will change.
Want to start a new group? Here is what you do.
You go to your homepage and click on the the tab marked “Groups”. Then click on the plus sign and start to fill out the information. When considering what you want your group to be like, you should decide what the groups rules will be and how the rules will be arrived at. The success of any group will depend on this. Owners of groups are considered to be the moderators of those groups. Don’t forget to give your group a great avatar.
When filling out the form you have the choice of “Allow Applicants” or not. If you click allow, then anyone can join. If you leave it open, people can be invited and others can apply. You will know if you have an applicant two ways. The first is that you will get a notice from your drop down under your name. The second is when you are in your group, new applicants will have a yellow frame around them.
As a group owner, you can edit comments, and add or remove members. This gives you total control of the type of group you want.
You can get to the group forums, you can either clicking on the tab at the top of the homepage, or clicking on the big button above the “Main Forum” or clicking on the avatar of the group, on the group module on the front page. This way you can look through the variety of discussions being discussed go directly to those discussions. Please alert me of your new group, so I can set up a discussion feed for your group on the "Group Forum" page.
What won’t change about the groups is that if you have a private group, it will remain that way, unless you decide you want to make the change. Private groups will still show up on the front page in the group module but they will not show up on the “Group Forum” page.
This new use of the news, is to help people with similar interests talk freely. The main forum will still function for those who still like to mix it up. In this way, I am hoping to meet all the members needs.
Hope you will agree!
Any further questions can be addressed in this article.
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I am hoping to hear from you about these changes I have made to the groups and discuss anything that you have questions with.
Can non-members view the conversations in a "private" group?
It is my understanding that they cannot see the conversations in the private groups, Aeon.
Snowden says yes Clapper says no.
I'm still salty that Jeff won't let me into his God Squad group.
Good deal, Perrie! Best of luck!!
So, if I understand correctly, only the open groups will be featured in the Group Forum?
Hi Uppy!
Yes, only the open groups will be in the group forums, since their discussions will be exposed. Private groups will remain private and the only way to reach them will be through the front page group module or by clicking on the group tab at the top of the homepage.
Hi Perrie!!
Hey Perrie,
I hope this makes life easier for folks to use the groups. I have a suggestion, maybe not related to groups. perhaps you can find a way to establish a 'Moderators' corner where someone can come in and make a complaint and all Mods will see it, as opposed to messaging just one moderator, thereby taking some of the load off your shoulders. I would think it would be best not to allow comments/replies to the complaints. A message back form the Mod taking action/or deciding not to, should be sufficient.
Hi Gary,
I have a suggestion, maybe not related to groups. perhaps you can find a way to establish a 'Moderators' corner where someone can come in and make a complaint and all Mods will see it, as opposed to messaging just one moderator, thereby taking some of the load off your shoulders. I would think it would be best not to allow comments/replies to the complaints. A message back form the Mod taking action/or deciding not to, should be sufficient.
I think that is a very good idea, although at this point, I would have to think about how to do that given the functions of the site. I would love to install a flag button on each comment, but I am not sure that can be done. Also, right now I and Dowser are really the only active moderators, so I am not sure how much that would help at this moment.
So if we have a "current events" group, and a "US politics" group , and a "Trump administration" group, and the same story gets seeded in all three groups, we will have to comment separately in each group?
I think there is a question as to whether we have enough participating members to start to funnel activity off the front page and into groups.
John,
They may or may not have the same discussions, but what will be different is they content of these discussions and who you are having the discussions with. This might help with the frustration level that I have seen on the front page.
Well, I wish it well.
My guess is that we don't have enough participating members to make a dilution of the front page successful.
I hope I am wrong.
Let's wait and see, John. Right now the front page is almost entirely dedicated to American politics, so in a way it could almost be defined as a "group". There are members who seem to want to keep it that way.
Well the front page is the news and politics forum so that would be a logical thing that politics would dominate a political forum page.
Since I have grown to dislike the Front Page so much, due to the constant stream of snarkiness, this sounds wonderful to me! Please, Perrie, set up the Moderate and Balanced group "page" on the Group Forum page when you get the time... We are all eagerly anticipating the change!
Hi Dowser,
I will set up the Moderate and Balanced group as soon as this meta article is summed up. Really glad to have that group.
Thanks! The group membership is a bunch of lovely people!!!
Hi Perrie...
I sure hope this works!!!
Big question: Will new discussions in these groups appear in the "New Discussions" list?
In other words, how will members be advised that new discussions are available for participation?
Hi Bob,
You would have to go to the group discussion page. There you can see all the discussions going on in all the groups. I can't put them all on the front page, since it will kill the loading time. This is why I have put links to the groups page in 3 places, so that they are easy to find.
Perrie,
You would have to go to the group discussion page. There you can see all the discussions going on in all the groups. I can't put them all on the front page, since it will kill the loading time. This is why I have put links to the groups page in 3 places, so that they are easy to find.
I understand.
Would it be possible, then, to reformulate the Front Page, and the tabs, to include a "New Group Discussions" list? My worry is that that the new groups be ghetto-ized. Another alternative would be to send an automated email to all NT members, with opt-out for those who are not interested by a particular group.
Would it be possible, then, to reformulate the Front Page, and the tabs, to include a "New Group Discussions" list? My worry is that that the new groups be ghetto-ized. Another alternative would be to send an automated email to all NT members, with opt-out for those who are not interested by a particular group.
I have already added a Group Discussion tab. Also I have featured above the main forum a button that will take you there. I do believe that you do get an email from the groups when a new article is posted already. I understand your concerns and that is why I have taken a lot of time to make multiple links on the front page.
Iinch'allah...
Baruch HaShem
Sometimes I post a teaser for a group article on the front page. The problem is that it can be wiped off the front page in an hour. As well, it's not easy to "close discussion" on the teaser to force people to open the group article, which we could do before.
Please include all my groups as open and part of the new features.
Maybe I'm not understanding this push towards Groups and participating in groups. If all or most of the groups currently have the same members then what's changed? The same bad player(s) is going to post comments that divide, derail, and degrade other members. How does this encourage inclusive discussion and promote an exchange of opinions when the only way to avoid being relentlessly attacked is to eject those bad players leaving the group just another like minded bubble?
Well, that is one description. But let's say a group of republicans want to discuss Trump or a group of Dems want to talk about possible nominations, without having distractions, this is how it can achieved. On the other hand, an echo chamber could be a possible outcome.
The main forum will remain for those who want a more vigorous discussion, but that isn't everyone's thing. So this was a good solution to providing both.
Everyone has free will and so I think this will be self leveling.
One advantage, PJ, is that the article doesn't get wiped off the front page in an hour so it is no longer visible, which happens to a lot of ones I have posted. It will remain visible on the individual groups much longer. Of course my personal problem is that most of you are asleep while I'm awake and vice versa.
the article doesn't get wiped off the front page in an hour so it is no longer visible
Good point
Lately there has been seeds with the latest comment 13 hours or more ago still in the middle of the news and politics front page.
Perrie,
So... I seeded an article.
How will anyone know that?
The article I just seeded showed up on the front page, and it is showing up on the Group Forum page... You can put a link in the Moderate and Balanced Group, if you want a bit more traffic... This will likely take a bit to work out, but I'm going to the Group Forum page to look for new articles. I am not that interested in what's on the front page...
Thanks, Dowser... But I'm asking Perrie because I hope there's a simple and effective way of publicizing new articles. It's one of the minimum conditions for success of these groups.
I understand!
I recommend just seeding it on the FP that's where all the action is and you will get a more diverse group of people responding. The groups tend to be echo chambers.
May be they have been, in the past, but I think this should open them up a bit. Have you looked at some of the articles on the group forum? I'd think you would find something you would like!
Yes but for some reason only three groups show up when I click the Group Forums tab on the front page. They are the Music group the Creative Arts group and the Moderate and Balanced group. This is a screen shot.
The lower left hand corner has a group slot for "And now for something", which I thought was a group... i know that Perrie is working on adding more groups to the page, but I bet that isn't an easy task. Maybe give it a couple of more days and try again?
Thanks
Always glad to see you, Dean! Take care!
It doesn't appear that anyone knows the answer to your question Bob.
Patience, John.
Let's give Perrie a few minutes...
The FP is a marketing disaster now. It makes it seem that NT offers only alt-right red meat. It appeals to a small fraction of the general public and either disgusts the others... or makes them laugh. This situation must be worrisome for Perrie -- assuming she isn't satisfied with just getting clicks. Most first time visitors will flee.
I'm sure Perrie understands this.
Gee Bob, quite an optimistic POV.
I am guessing your question is about new articles.
New articles will show up on the group forum page. When any activity in a group happens, that group jumps to the first place position on the front page, indicating activity within that specific group.
I would suggest leaving a tab open for the group page if that is where you want to be, although there many links there from the front page.
There is no way for me to feature the group discussion yet, unless someone can come up with an idea.
"It makes it seem that NT offers only alt-right red meat."
That's such Bullshit, Bob. at any given time, there's plenty of crap from both sides of the fence to offend people. Partisanship seems to blind you.
Spikegary,
Once again, you're going nuts before you look at the evidence. Please re-read what I said:
The FP is a marketing disaster now. It makes it seem that NT offers only alt-right red meat.
I did not say "NT offers only..." I said "makes it appear that..."
So... Here's a couple of screenshots of NT's Front Page; "what is happening on NT" -- the place where newbies arrive.
I think the Trump feed is a good idea -- he's going to be President in just a few days. But some visitors might mistake "information" for "idolatry".
I would like to see NT attract new members. The site is slowly dying as more and more members realize that they aren't enjoying their time here. IMHO, the FP as it is today is not attractive to anyone who doesn't read Brietbart.
I am worried for the future of the site. If it does not attract new members... a wide spectrum of new members... it will die.
Stop shooting the messenger.
I advised you to seed your article to the front page instead of hiding it in an echo chamber group. What more can we do to help you?
Bob - I'm sorry to say that I don't think for some it's the objective to attract or retain members unless they are like minded. Constructive discussions on what will improve and draw new members to this site are being misconstrued as a personal attack.
The key words, PJ, are "for some".
There's only one person who really counts: Perrie. Looking at the situation objectively, she has decided to turn the site over to a coalition of trolls and alt-right. I do not understand... but she's the owner; she can do whatever she likes.
I stuck around to see if the new groups would provide a solution. They do not. In my evaluation, NewsTalkers doesn't provide enough fun to compensate the hassles.
I'll be goin' fishin' again.
Good luck!
I wish I didn't agree but it is what it is. I've never had friends who actively tried to sabotage me but that's what I see happening here. You're right, this is Perrie's site and it's her vision that counts. I've signed up for some evening classes so I'll not be as active but will check in here and there.
Pat,
I get that you don't like Trump, as do many other people on the site. But this is news site, and this guy is doing stuff differently than any other man who will be president, so what he tweets does matter. How you decide to use the tweets is your business and is covered by your freedom of speech you have here.
My intent is not to endorse the tweets, but rather keep people informed.
I take it whatever you and Pat are discussing is not available on the mobile platform, because I have no idea what you are talking about. I use my phone for NT 99% of the time.
this is news site, and this guy is doing stuff differently than any other man who will be president, so what he tweets does matter.
Yeah, BF was just telling me yesterday how great it is that we have Trump's twitter feed on the site. He seems to think it is as important as you do.
Yes in comparison to what Gimlet Eye tweets.
Maybe I will start posting Gimlet Eye's tweets. Whatever they are they will be better and more truthful than Trump's.
Well, if I wanted to read twitter feeds I'd log on to Twitter, not NT.
The Trump feed is a good idea.
Then log on to Twitter.
Hal,
What type of phone do you have? It's showing on my Iphone 6. It's Trump's Twitter feed.
lol
Has anyone heard from Petey? Just hoping he's doing okay.
I have and he is fine and busy with work.
Thank you