Improving activity on CE Forums

@thebigk • Oct 22, 2024

Oct 22, 2024

879

We've discussed this topic many times, but haven't really laid out 'what to do'. So here are few things you can do -

1. Comment on existing discussions. You should have an opinion, question or answer about various topics discussed on CE. If you don't know anything - you can always ask stupid questions 😀 . No one will laugh at you. It will only improve your knowledge and give you an edge over vast majority.

2. Start new discussions: This looks like a tough job, but it isn't. There are so many topics to discuss. If you are a student, you can ask questions about any topic from your text books, post a problem and discuss it with others.

3. Discuss your question papers. If you had an exam today, take up difficult questions and post them in appropriate technical sections - discuss it with fellow engineers.

See - crowd attracts crowd. If people see variety of topics discussed on CE, they'll be prompted to start new discussions as well.

Does that work? We should at least have 500+ posts every day to make CE really active.

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gohm

@gohm-F3UUpP • Mar 15, 2011

This is a great topic, thanks Biggie! One thing I'd add is also when you start a topic be sure to construct the post to lead to further discussion or involve questions. For example, a thread that defines a topic or describes it a la Wikipedia can be very informative but does not lead to discussion. A post on ni-cad batteries on how they are constructed and work is very informative but does not lend itself to further discussion. A post on the pros/cons, ways to improve or uses of a ni-cad battery would tend to lead to more group discussion and also could include the informative description.
Kaustubh Katdare

@thebigk • Mar 15, 2011

Thanks gohm!

If anyone is interested in numbers, here's how we compare to a popular forum:
They: Threads: 78,927, Posts: 2,171,780, Members: 65,005 👍
Us: Threads 34,845 Posts 142,716 Members 93,228 😭
narayana murthy

@narayana-z4W16q • Mar 15, 2011

The_Big_K
Thanks gohm!

If anyone is interested in numbers, here's how we compare to a popular forum:
They: Threads: 78,927, Posts: 2,171,780, Members: 65,005 👍
Us: Threads 34,845 Posts 142,716 Members 93,228 😭
ofcourse you may right biggie but we can't say all existed members as active members
when ever i am active i noticed maximum 20 thats also rare
Kaustubh Katdare

@thebigk • Mar 15, 2011

narayana murthy
ofcourse you may right biggie but we can't say all existed members as active members
when ever i am active i noticed maximum 20 thats also rare
I know. We've far less number of active members compared to our overall member-base. Most engineers come here looking for free projects and then leave. What should we do to improve engineers engagement on CE?

PS: Also take a look at the number of threads they have, given the number of members.
narayana murthy

@narayana-z4W16q • Mar 15, 2011

The_Big_K
I know. We've far less number of active members compared to our overall member-base. Most engineers come here looking for free projects and then leave. What should we do to improve engineers engagement on CE?

PS: Also take a look at the number of threads they have, given the number of members.
i think we have to upgrade ourselves
but the problem is we don't know how can we do that
in my view we have to something new everyday so that no one will leave in one day
but its a difficult task ok i take the chance and i will think on it
if anyone advanced and give advices i will be impressed
i think praveen can help us
durga ch

@durga-TpX3gO • Mar 15, 2011

no offense..
what engineers generally look for- brain-eating content. we are surely missing upon it. Though VoiCE is a great way to compenstate, I dont think it satiates the queries what people ask.Saying that, improving content is not an easy task as CE tries to cater to all the divisions of engineering and getting someone to start something freely and no further discussiong getting along as Gohm pointed out surely does the beating.
Though many discussions are initiated by many other CEans, more than half of them are diluted with 'thanks', 'great job','i agree with you' kind of responses. Over a period of time, anyone who tries to read the thread gets kinda bored as they dont see right content they are expecting.
Kaustubh Katdare

@thebigk • Mar 15, 2011

We want CEans to express themselves more. Somehow that's not happening. Plenty of questions will lead to plenty of answers. There are thousands of engineering topics that can really be helpful to everyone. Be it reviews or opinions or news items or anything.

Looks like Durga added her post while I was typing mine. Updating my reply -

I agree 100%. Good engineers would come if we have good content. The problem is that most of the traffic we have comprises of clueless students who don't even know how to use a forum 😐 . Do you think if we start publishing VoiCE articles on forums, we'll improve user engagement? ( We don't get lot of comments there either, because many engineers don't know what to say).
Kaustubh Katdare

@thebigk • Mar 15, 2011

Addendum: The newly added 'like' feature should take care of 'thank you' and 'great job' type posts.
narayana murthy

@narayana-z4W16q • Mar 15, 2011

durga
no offense..
what engineers generally look for- brain-eating content. we are surely missing upon it. Though VoiCE is a great way to compenstate, I dont think it satiates the queries what people ask.Saying that, improving content is not an easy task as CE tries to cater to all the divisions of engineering and getting someone to start something freely and no further discussiong getting along as Gohm pointed out surely does the beating.
Though many discussions are initiated by many other CEans, more than half of them are diluted with 'thanks', 'great job','i agree with you' kind of responses. Over a period of time, anyone who tries to read the thread gets kinda bored as they dont see right content they are expecting.
you are right durga i am also felt bored from that large content of articles
i think it would be better if we give them in an interesting way of posting by explaining in new way
another point i noticed in my friends is most of them are interested in chatting sites but not on educational sites i always feel on them
durga ch

@durga-TpX3gO • Mar 15, 2011

Unless the discussion is carried forward there is no point in starting it. That is a big loophole in CE. I arent critising. Neither I am being rude as many might percieve, but I am trying to put the point straight istead of hypocracy.I can recollect few awesome CEans we had , skipper,the-bug-in-you,Vikram, Komputergeek whom I no longer see in CE. Skipper had these awesome psots which many of us dont udnersatnd and slowly with time he realised the same fact same is with bug in you. Poor chap published such nice posts and his user name itself conveys a lot and still we lost him. We dont need people who post in all the threads and have no idea what they are typing, we need people who can really help in their forays.
As far as students being attracted is concerned , *I am again not against students * , we attract them with various offerings, our discussions build on what we offer.
narayana murthy

@narayana-z4W16q • Mar 15, 2011

@durga: sorry durga i am defending students of unknowingly posted
i think they always try to say something which is useful but sometimes it may go wrong
i had experienced it so i am defending 😀
durga ch

@durga-TpX3gO • Mar 15, 2011

@ Narayana
Please understand I am not complainaing against students, we have many awesome students who are more knowledgable than many workign professionals, to name few, we have goyal, praveen, akd and most of the voice authors are students . I was answergin the point why few 'clueless' students register look for informtaion and then never again contribute.
narayana murthy

@narayana-z4W16q • Mar 15, 2011

durga
@ Narayana
Please understand I am not complainaing against students, we have many awesome students who are more knowledgable than many workign professionals, to name few, we have goyal, praveen, akd and most of the voice authors are students . I was answergin the point why few 'clueless' students register look for informtaion and then never again contribute.
ok now i got you i am also in your track
i am addressing the same thing
Kaustubh Katdare

@thebigk • Mar 15, 2011

Unless the discussion is carried forward there is no point in starting it. That is a big loophole in CE. I arent critising. Neither I am being rude as many might percieve, but I am trying to put the point straight istead of hypocracy.I can recollect few awesome CEans we had , skipper,the-bug-in-you,Vikram, Komputergeek whom I no longer see in CE.
Durga has valid points and one of the biggest concerns I've always had. We are NOT against students. In fact, we aren't against anyone. It's a fact that most of the people are interested in time-kill activities than doing something constructive. In fact, CE began its journey to gather real engineers who 'do' the stuff.

We don't want to create Wikipedia II here on CE. Rather, we want to take one step ahead - create a place where real problems have real solutions from real engineers. But that's NOT happening! That's the reason I said, we need to construct great discussions about variety of topics related to engineering. It could be a simple question-paper discussion or a real world engineering problem.

Any thoughts on why don't we get 'good' comments on good threads (we've plenty of good threads by the way, but the quality of responses is extremely poor). One such example is "Ask Questions To" threads. When we started "Ask Questions To Burt Rutan" thread, all people posted were "suggest me a project idea" and "shall I opt for MS" questions.

We seriously need ideas to improve and someone to point us where we're going wrong. Why isn't CE world's best engineering resource community yet?
narayana murthy

@narayana-z4W16q • Mar 15, 2011

@biggie: i think we are made a mistake all the engineers always thinks about projects
as am also a engineer i too concern on it and i always needed new ideas so i am always active here its a fact
but i noticed a problem many are asking ready made projects as you said before
but i got a doubt how can we have solution without question hope you got my point
i mean in my view there is no such interesting questions regarding subjects
i always find good mathematical questions but not other subjects
Kaustubh Katdare

@thebigk • Mar 15, 2011

@NM: Are you suggesting that we should create projects for students and make them available here on CE?

Well, with the new upload facility, CEans CAN share their projects. There's no restriction.
Ankita Katdare

@abrakadabra • Mar 15, 2011

All my concerns are discussed here by Biggie and Durga. I always want to see at least 50 active members discussing really awesome things about engineering, but I never do. 😭

When I first started being active on CE, I felt now I will be able to get like-minded engineers across cities around the globe with whom I can work on various cool projects that make a difference to the society (this is something I can't find in my local area i.e. offline)

But I still don't understand why the most active CEans are not able to attract other engineers and awesome people. :-|
Kaustubh Katdare

@thebigk • Mar 15, 2011

I still believe great content will attract great engineers.
narayana murthy

@narayana-z4W16q • Mar 15, 2011

@biggie: but how can we make it more interested i always thinking about new ideas implementing but getting some problems but i am sure after my sem exams i will make it more efficient in my ideas
ISHAN TOPRE

@ishan-nohePN • Mar 15, 2011

I think, if the 'ACTIVE' engineers improve their knowledge, then they will also reply equally intelligently. However the active people mostly try to give good answers but still have their limitations.
The suggestion which I want to give, people should not comment like 'Thanks a lot', 'Good job' etc but post meaningful comments as answers. Otherwise we will have only baseless comments as our data instead of good replies.
narayana murthy

@narayana-z4W16q • Mar 15, 2011

i think more than giving thanks i like to say give another updated data on that topic
so it make the post interesting
Reya

@reya-SMihdC • Mar 15, 2011

@AKD: Why cant we do it??

I will start posting interesting threads!!I would like to see the good responses from CEans!

@Biggie:Thanks for pointing us 😀
ISHAN TOPRE

@ishan-nohePN • Mar 15, 2011

The_Big_K
I still believe great content will attract great engineers.
One more suggestion: Why not write about basic processes which are used in industry? I basically think that CE lacks discussion about them. Whenever a new engineer comes he is of 1, 2, 3 or 4th year. He may or may not know of these processes. People should also share there experiences and the short-cuts they discovered during their work. This activity should be encouraged. 😀
Kaustubh Katdare

@thebigk • Mar 15, 2011

All types of discussion threads are welcome on CrazyEngineers.No one's stopping anyone from starting those threads. In fact I've been really forcing "Concept" related threads. The thread starter need not post a 'Wikipedia-like' article, but just a basic understanding of the topic and then build a discussion. It would bring out tons of interesting views from other students and experts in the Industry.

Shall we expect to see some real action in our technical discussion sections?
Saandeep Sreerambatla

@saandeep-sreerambatla-hWHU1M • Mar 15, 2011

I have a comment , do this if this is not being already done.

For all the voice articles, start a new thread on CE such that we can ask questions etc..

I think it will be better than the comments section.

and do this if we are not already doing!
optimystix

@optimystix-4yMPKC • Mar 15, 2011

The_Big_K
I still believe great content will attract great engineers.
and where does that come from ?
people need to put up good and ORIGINAL ideas to make their posts/articles qualify as 'great content'. Until a few months back, many prominent CEans were active and now they are not to be seen. The number of good quality articles isn't much the same as earlier.

Even VOICE seems to me as a technology news blog. What I would really like to see there is good and original articles from our talented CEans.
As far as I have noticed, the technical activities on CE have declined than what it was few months back. It is the CE conference that sees most of the activity and CE is being used by people to promote their own blogs and other interests(and that puts me off).

These days I only find biggie, akd, praveena and few others taking efforts to get interesting posts on CE. Others are either busy or not interested for some reason 😔

I still do not understand where CE is aiming at. Whether CE wants to attract the student masses and make them CE's staple audience or whether it wants to get actual engineering professionals, or both? aiming for both at the same time would be a daunting task and needs a lot of efforts from all sides. I don't see much of a promotional activity from CE's side(or maybe am unaware of) to get more engineering professionals in CE.

I too had joined CE thinking it was a good mix of students and professionals. I wasn't seeking readymade projects but innovative ideas and a chance to mix with the professionals and get an air of what the engineers are going through in their career.

CE is good at what it is now, but I believe it has great untapped potential. Biggie and akd are very smart and intelligent people. Surely you can find some solution(along with other equally talented CEans) to this problem too!

If any help is required from my side, do tell me. I am ready to help in anyway that is possible for me.
Ankita Katdare

@abrakadabra • Mar 15, 2011

@opti: I can understand your concern.

I don't see much of a promotional activity from CE's side(or maybe am unaware of) to get more engineering professionals in CE.
What do you suggest for this?

And what all active CEans like you and I can do is trigger discussions across the forum. Even if we have limited knowledge about things, we can initiate a lot of activity on CE.
Kaustubh Katdare

@thebigk • Mar 15, 2011

@Opti:

Agreed to everything that you said. We are very clear with our aim for CrazyEngineers as an online community: We want to be the most useful resource for engineering problems and solutions and this can't be achieved with just students. Great content can only be contributed by our active members and it will attract more engineers.

We haven't been involved in promotional activities except tie-ups with events, but put few of those activities on hold after experiencing totally unprofessional attitude from organizing teams (including highly recognized colleges). It's true that we don't have a plan to attract working professionals who can contribute real value to CE.

VoiCE is what it is - our technical, engineering news blog and I believe we're doing a good work (not awesome) with it. It's evolving and we'll hopefully see all great engineering news there soon. One thing we can do is ask our VoiCE authors to publish their articles directly in relevant sections on CE than on VoiCE. But authors have their own limitations too. The real value, like in any other online community can be brought only by regular members.

We totally need to improve our ability to create new discussions that will generate interest from other people. The blog promotion thread and conference are on their way of closure.
Ankita Katdare

@abrakadabra • Mar 15, 2011

I just got a weird idea.
Should we have 2 or 3 CEans appointed as ambassadors of different sections on the forum?

For e.g. Suppose we give some CEans the title of puzzle ambassadors. Now their motive each week is to boost the activity in their section. It's not like they can not post in other sections, but they will focus on making their section active and alive. Same goes for training section, debate section, robotics section, reviews and entrepreneurship.

If we think we can regularly generate useful and interesting content every week, we could nominate our self and Biggie could change our title for the same. For doing it each day the ambassadors will start some brain-tickling discussions in their dedicated section. In this way we can ensure that no section remains untouched for days.
It's just a flickering thought. Bring your ideas and suggestions. 😀
Kaustubh Katdare

@thebigk • Mar 15, 2011

@akd: In my opinion, this idea will work only when we have active CEans. We can't add labels to user profiles and expect people to become active.

...or will this work?
Sahithi Pallavi

@sahithi-oJZaYj • Mar 15, 2011

I like Akd's idea! Definitely it will work Biggie!
Have a try once!

But, I beg you please disable the CE-conference for some more days! Let them concentrate on the forum!
ISHAN TOPRE

@ishan-nohePN • Mar 15, 2011

@Biggie: I like AKD's idea very much. I am ready to be ambassador for mechanical section. However I want to make clear "I don't have a lot of knowledge but I am willing to initiate discussions and eventually increase my knowledge."

I would also ask you to make it clear as to what will be our duties once we become ambassadors? Please specify this so that we all will try to adhere to this in case of any confusion.
I think we have a lot in computer section too who are active. Then in civil we have our Maria Flor. A lot of people in electrical too!
narayana murthy

@narayana-z4W16q • Mar 15, 2011

Guys i think you have not noticed it without CE conference active ceans are got decreased
Sahithi Pallavi

@sahithi-oJZaYj • Mar 15, 2011

narayana murthy
Guys i think you have not noticed it without CE conference active ceans are got decreased
CEans who come only if there is a conference are ACTIVE in your view?
narayana murthy

@narayana-z4W16q • Mar 16, 2011

sahithi pallavi
CEans who come only if there is a conference are ACTIVE in your view?
hmmm actually i don't mean that i mean to say is we have to balance on both for posting if you disable CE-conference there is increase in number but they have no quality
see they just chat on post but discussions will not be improved
narayana murthy

@narayana-z4W16q • Mar 16, 2011

@akd:just seen your ambassador idea but i had got a false thought on it i mean its difficult only 2 or 3 ceans cant do it because anyone dont know everything exactly we need a booster to the posts but what the case if no one cares after boosting too