Where are all the great threads?

When I started on CoinTalk two years ago there used to be tons of well written threads and articles every week, winning awards and nominations and such... Where did they all go? I am only asking because I am much better in life at being a Critic than a Creator, but I really enjoyed that aspect of the site. Do not get me wrong, I still love that people are really friendly and quick to assist you when you ask.

 

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There are still those threads. But not as many I'd say.
Maybe there it nothing more to say about coins

 

Donn,

I agree with you. The number of creative threads has diminished greatly on this site. I think there are a few major factors. First, with a heavy increase of newer members, there are many more basic types of threads being started. In addition, the absence of TOTW (thread of the week) and the associated voting has negatively affected the number of education threads in general. I know that when the TOTW was in effect, you could count on Clinker and me every week with a thread. Lastly, the sheer number of threads these days is pushing the educational threads off the board so fast that some of them are being missed all together.

I particularly liked the TOTW hall of fame. It made researching some of the great threads much easier.

Paul

 

I just got here, give me some time.

 

I am happy to see that people are answering me realistically, I feared that in writing this thread 20 people would just say "Hey there is great stuff here all the time, what are you talking about?". But I am getting some real feedback that is concurring with mine own suspicions of late. Will we ever get the TOTW back? That may just be the main key we are missing here.

 

I have to agree that the TOTW was a strong incentive to write up a noteworthy post. There have been threads posted this year that I wish I could have nominated, because I want those posters to do it again in future threads. Seeing that others have found a thread noteworthy tends to generate further interest and comments. Its a bummer writing up something for hours and have it relegated to page two about the same time frame.

 

There have been great relatively recent threads here on Franklin half dollars, Washington quarter varieties, and Ike dollars that were very informative/enjoyable and would have easily received my vote for TOTW. I think much is determined by time and interest. We now live in the Twitter age in which people's attention span for long electronic posts is limited. TC

 

I suspect your just not aware of what is informative anymore or not as much as you used to be. By that I mean this forum is sort of like a cooking show where there are just so many ways to make a stew, cook a steak, Bar-B-Que something. Sure there will always be a little more things you don't know, but as you acquire knowledge, information, records, history about any subject, the amount of NEW just deminishes.
Take coin cleaning for example. There will always be someone asking about coin cleaning. And there will always be many of the same answers but occationally someone will pop up with something a little different about that. A little different twist on something said many times before. Your tired of coin cleaning since it is brought up so often but still there could be that one little bit of information added the next time it is discussed.
Your dealing with coins, not Nuclear Reactions, Quasars, Black Holes nor the expanding Universe if that is really true. In such fields there are new things every day. With coins, like many other hobbies, the amount of NEW is limited.
However, contrary to that is the vast number of books appearing lately on coins. Used to be only the Red Book and a few others. Now at a coin show there are tables full of books on just coins. Must be something in them NEW.

 

I agree with Doug's comments bigeyes:). It takes inspiration, and I too get some of my ideas from reading questions or other comments on the forums. The recent article I posted on "A Day (or Two) in the Life of a Coin Dealer" was written as a result of replying to a thread a few months back about what it takes to be a dealer. And I'm currently writing another article as a result of reading forum threads called "The Blog."

Even if the same questions are being asked over and over again, as Carl said, something new usually comes of it, or someONE new will read it and respond differently, or get an idea to ask or write about something else.

Writing doesn't work well if it's forced, but for me, the more I read, the more I get inspired. However, I do have to admit that competition does stir up the senses and tends to bring out more people at least WANTING to write, so that is a good thing. I also liked the TOTW and miss it - I too liked that it was easy to find what everyone else thought was interesting to read.

I try to read the message boards at least once a day usually in the morning when I'm having my coffee, unless I'm travelling. I want to know what coin people are thinking about, concerned with, collecting, where the market is or may be headed, what new discovery has been made, see pretty or unique coins - or just plain learn. As I mentioned in another thread recently when another forum member said I was a novice - I may not be a novice but I am still learning, I learn something new about coins almost every day - because I read.

Some days these boards are pretty boring, so I read other forums (PCGS & NGC) (don't tell Doug!) to see what is being discussed there. Sometimes ALL the boards are boring, but I still click on various threads and usually find something interesting. I even force myself now and then to read threads that are about non-copper coins!

 

Another part of excellent threads is excellent and thoughtful readers. If we want folks to spend the time and effort to post interesting information, we all need to respond to those posts in a kind and thoughtful manner. If you have nothing to add to the subject, a "Thank you. I enjoyed your post." goes a long way to encouraging the poster and others as well.

So. Thank you for this interesting and thought provoking thread.

 

I still see some interesting threads here from time to time. But, like anywhere else on the internet, for every one there are a hundred more that aren't so interesting. Sometimes a thread simply dies not because the content isn't interesting, but because it's an entire page of bad and sometimes incomprehensible writing about a good subject. Thats hard to choke down.
Guy~

 

I'm semi-new here. I don't have the knowledge or funds to be interested in some of the deeper subjects here. I find the trivial stuff interesting and I do have general questions that need to be answered.

I also see a lot of new members, many of them are kids. Everyone here welcomes them and tells them not to be scared to ask questions. I've asked a lot of questions, and I'm 52 years old. I don't want to feel, and I certainly don't want these youngsters here to feel that some of our simple questions are frowned upon by some of the more knowledgeable members here.

 

I would like to see a non-posting area, ( similar to the OPEN forum) where a person could write an informative thread. A poll could be attached to see if the members voted to retain that thread as a sticky or to allow it to fade into the oblivion of unappreciated threads. My reason for this is that sometimes a person spends a lot of time and effort to develop a specific subject (Let's say Determination of PL vs DPL Morgans) only to have it high jacked or someone gets personal, or showing of examples the author might not think fitted his article. Someone might post a proof quarter and get off the main topic line. I am not saying that a person couldn't comment on it or even post their proof quarter, just that it would be posted in coin chat or other appropriate sub-forum, with a link back to the article. Just a thought.

Jim

 

I love great threads but find great posts to be even better in many cases and I don't think there has been a slow down in great posts. Great threads develop like magic but great posts can show up in even the most unexpected places.

I really should open a lot more threads than I do but time is limited so look for things of greater intetrest to me.

 

Might want to replace this sticky with one that explains that in the opening post, since I'm not sure if everyone's going to read this whole thread.

 

I am not sure just what the nomination procedure is, but here are a couple I would like to nominate. If I am to do something else, let me know.

http://www.cointalk.com/t56246/#post610067

http://www.cointalk.com/t78043/#post733758