Discussion about styles of discussing/posting on these groups

Deborah0
Level 10
California, United States

Discussion about styles of discussing/posting on these groups

One of the group members brought up an interesting topic, that of how people post on the groups . Since these are all new groups, and we are here exploring what they are going to be about and what each group description means, and what fits into such descriptions, I had raised the question of what types of questions/stories/comments are going to fit where.  I gave an example of two types of ideas for threads that I might consider posting on for instance "General Hosting" or "New to Hosting" and wondered where these ideas would fit. I expressed that I hoped that group members would have the ability to still present their question/story/dilemma in the way that they felt comfortable doing that, which might be a bit meandering, and might actually not be a question at all, even though we were to understand that implicit in the "dilemma" presented, was somewhere a question .  I pointed out that sometimes a host, particularly a new host, may not really know what their question is -- they just know that "Ohmigosh, this situation happened to my listing/my guest/between me and my guest, and --- what do I do?"   So they may feel like the way they need to ask for help is tell their story and ask for feedback. 

Another group member pointed out that some people go way off topic, say way too much, and that he prefers if people stick to the topic either of the group (eg what the group is supposed to be about) or the topic of the original thread.  

 

I am curious what your views on this question are.  How do you  participate in  community groups?  How do you like others to participate in community groups?  (Perhaps host community groups, perhaps other online groups that would be sufficiently similar)  What specific host and/or community groups have you participated in and what were the communication styles there, and how did the threads tend to develop?  How did you fit in your own posting style with that of others in these groups?  What did you like best about how the threads developed, either in a way that went diligently on point, or perhaps a more tangential and anecdotal development of the subject matter?  What would feel TO YOU like "going off topic" ?  Eg, give an example of what to you feels like going annoyingly off topic versus talking about other interesting matters that are sufficiently related , or perhaps sufficiently interesting, that you dont' see them as meandering away, or you actually find you like the meandering away? 

 

What communication and posting styles are you hoping for here?  What groups seem like good examples to you in terms of things like cooperation among members, good moderation,  good group setup/structure, and group norms or values?  

5 Replies 5
Helga0
Level 10
Quimper, France

@Deborah0, finding your post now, 2 weeks after you posted it - whom could Marjo have hailed to the rescue?

It's an interesting question and maybe the reason for the way this group looks.

 

Before I fell into Anectodes and Stories this Summer, I knew tech forums, where you post a question or find a thread of someone else with the question, find an answer and go or don't find an answer and may dutifully come back to give the answer when you puzzzled out the solution yourself weeks or months later.  That's not really a group, it's unconnected people with questions and anwsers and everyone sticks to the topic as there is no reason to do something else. If you hunt for a way to connect an old printer to a new computer, you won't linger and chat about dishwashers. 

 

In Anectodes, sometimes I told a story and there where a few comments, a few likes and that's it. And then there are questions or an ongoing situation for someone and the discussion spreads out into discussions, subdiscussions and at the end there are lots of subdiscussions and someone drops in, reads it all and states at the end, that that is hilarious and makes another comment and starts it all over. It's like a party with talks here and there, someone goes for a drink, someone for a dance, they come back and go on, sometimes people posting a short remark from their phone at work or from bed at 2:30 am. 

Over all the thread, conversation goes back to the topic several times, problems get solved, people get help who did not even know they needed it - either in advice, either by laughing so hard they forget their worries or even their depression.

That's a group, that's why I participate. 

And I really don't think that that is a thing can be improved by being under staff surveillance. The way these new groups are organized, under surveillance, no subdiscussions possible, it's transforming groups into tech forums.

Deborah0
Level 10
California, United States

@Helga0

I agree about the value of the informal, non-structured group setting , where there is not a clear question, and so no need for a clear answer, where hosts just stop in like at a neighborhood shop or cafe or bar, or someone's front porch, and chat a bit, then laugh, then leave. Nonlinear.  Circular, spiraling.  That sort of communication helps create a certain feeling, a certain kind of community, that I think is not going to be very easy to create in a setting which is more linearly organized, thematically organized,  and as you say hosts may feel more under surveillance.  The "Living Room" board has a name and ostensible theme which might suggest this kind of community, but it's really the overall structure and feeling, more than the name that creates the setting.  As well, Living Room is not one of the boards for hosts only so that will perhaps limit some hosts desire to participate.  I really liked what happened on Anecdotes with the regular participants there -- but the amount of spam and property listings was horrible.  

@Helga0@Deborah0
I could not have commented better on this subject. So much good advice came along with " just" a story, with the humour and meandering conversation. I have my doubts if this can be re-created under this structure.

@Helga0@Salvia0

@Deborah0

I find ot difficult using the new host community forum not unlike the old or previous ones that you can jump from onw group to the other by clicking  group.

 

I also noticed that I have no longer access to the old groups ... I felt like I am blind  don't know where to go and where to post  or read a post. This just does'nt appealing to me and not user friendly.

 

 

Deborah0
Level 10
California, United States

@Nic-And-Rach0

 

THe old groups are still there -- they may not show up on the menu due to changes presently being done on the system by AIrbnb -- but save the address for one group and then you can reach other groups thereby. 

 

Eg  https://www.airbnb.com/groups/41