h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

"I understand multiplication on an algebraic basis: x * y = xy. The numbers are just irrelevant..."

So... 4 x 2 = 42 ! Problem solved.

Um... I think we should just go back to topic.

Apologies, couldn't help myself.

Engaging the rest of the web: Raffle off h2g2 items (from the movie perhaps) ?

And where would we get them from.....?

Engaging the rest of teh web....

Techno side........ Ensure the site is fully SEO, especially SEO-ed for Google, including entrys and conversations.
Get search functioning on site, or abandon it entirely in favour of a Google search tool on site.
Social media campaigning, facebook/twitter, to encourage new visitors, and also new researchers; linked in potentially with writing competitions etc., which could be advetised through social media.
Student recruitment drive, in the UK at least I think* this would be fairly easy to do for free, through a group effort in writing articles which could be in print editions of university newspapers; potentially combined with writing competitions, advertising them in effect in physical as well as online media, at universitys.
Through any physical 'merchandise', carrying links/refernces back to the site for advertising...

On site itself, increased buy in to other modern internet technologies; 'tweet this' buttons etc., on entrys, which would then act as a natural form of social media advertising of the site... etc., etc., etc., Or.... I'll load up the hoovery one's dust bag with ten million clyers, and set it to 'blow' rather than 'suck' whilst the hoovery one isn't looking

There are two areas in engaging with the rest of the web I think h2g2 could move into.

1. We could intergate blogging. If we could get a function where a user could post a series of interlinked, date stamped entries then we could get people to start blogging on 2hg2 instead of their blogs.

If people's blog posts were good enough they could be showcased entries.

Why blog on h2g2 instead of wordpress? One word - readers, now if you start ablog on wordpress you get very very few readers.

2. Science communication, I think the EG process is ideally suited to science communication - sciencists can communicate directly with the public and the PR process means people can say 'hang on I don't get that'.

There can be a downside to attracting a lot of people. Technically, a lot of people have signed up here over the years, but a very large percentage of them never returned to participate in what we do. I can't see any advantages in that. Sorry.

What I hope we'll get instead, if and when we take over, is that we'll get enough people who interact well with the site. There are people out there who share our goals, or would if they knew what we have to offer. We need to reach them. Private companies have marketing departments that use sophisticated statistical models for figuring out who might buy their products. Even movie studios analyze the demographics most likely to find their movies appealing. The moviegoing population is divided into four quadrants, basically male and female, in groups organized by age. "Brokeback Mountain" pitched its ad campaign to women in the older quadrant, and fashioned its posters to resemble those for "Titanic." This worked for them.

Here at H2G2, we've begun the process of thinking in terms of targeting which groups in society would be attuned to us. Students are an obvious choice. A not so obvious choice would be some of the seniors, who are a very large demographic. A lot of us were born in the late 1940s and early 1950s, we grew up on wacky TV sitcoms, a growing number are retired and have leisure time for H2G2, and we've mostly been in the workplace when computers were brought in, so we're computer-lirerate. There's another cohort of elderly who are older than us, and the news here may be getting better. Studies have shown that more and more elders are warming to computers and the Internet. I grew up in a small town that has a very active elder organization, complete with monthly newsletters, a website, organized trips to various places, and social gatherings.

The Internet is very kind to people in the sense that people of all ages can be equals.

Yes, attracting people is one thing, making them stay is another; We used to be a lot more sticky than we are, which is something hopefully we might be able to re-gain...
Also, one side effect of using things like writing competitions a and the like to draw people in, inititally, is that they'll immediately be drawn into the site, by taking part in writing, for the competition, which will be, lets face it, a lot more interaction than probably the majority of researchers who've joined up over the years... Maybe that'll make them more inclined to remain, if they've interacted to a greater degree, and as a result already contributed through their writing to the site... they'll kinda have more a vested personal interest... maybe...

I think we should have commenting competitions too.

OK! Frist Psot!

How about a contest of writing, say, 5 collaborative Entries with, say, 5 co-writers for each Entry each doing a 'chapter' on a common subject.

"If h2g2 could be anything you can dream of, what would it look like to an alien?" sort of thing.

"I think we should have commenting competitions too"

We very nearly have those already!

I find your comment, both frivelous and deeply insightful at the same time, and I score it 8/10

After years of search I find your website is just what I need. Keep on the good works.

Amen!

I hope you're ready with an encore.

I’m mostly a reader of the guide rather than a contributer and I love reading what peeps have written but I don’t s’pose that I have ever really thought that that I should post a comment that says I liked this, thank you. Now that feels a bit rude and quite ungrateful and I’m I am a lurker of the worst kind. So a like button would be a good thing and it may well have prompted to say things like thanks, that article has really made think whatever.

While I really enjoy the reading of the writing I really enjoy the yabber on Ask, I have really enjoyed joining in the yabber over the last week or so, I don’t want to babble on about the uniqueness of this of this community, it been said but in terms of attracting and retaining reseachers perhaps we should also be emphasising that this is a great place to come along and have a yabber of the sort that you not going get anywhere else on the net.
While the writing of the guide is clearly an important part of this site, it may well be that people might just want to join for the yabber alone

This next bit is not a criticism, just a personal reflection that other people may also feel that we are seeking to attract, while h2g2 is welcoming it can also be intimidating and therefore off-putting. The quality of writing is high, as is the quality of discussion/debate, if you don’t think your opinion doesn’t come up to what is essentially some sort of ‘academic standard’ you won’t post because you are scared that you are going to be shot down in flames by someone is more ‘knowledgeable’ than you or that your opinion is less valid.

Discussion does rapidly turn into debate, it second nature to most of us I suspect, not saying that it’s a bad thing, it’s just that’s it not for everyone.

The end result is that we can be exclusive rather than inclusive even though it’s completely unintended

I am a little scared of posting this because I’m worried that it will be taken in the wrong way, please no one take it personally, I’m not saying that you make me feel like this, it’s just how I feel. I thought it useful to raise it because perhaps something to be aware of in terms of how some peeps the outside world perceive us while we are seeking to 'reach out'

Sorry really long post.

Love Peanut

Closes eyes, takes deep breath and presses post

We need a smiley.

Peanut, your points are very well made. It's a square we cannot really turn into a circle isn't it? We want to be welcoming, but what we value about the site can be intimidating.

Hmmm.....

Nothing but praise from me for that post. h2g2 can be intimidating - I lurk in quite a few conversations myself where I don't feel I can contribute.

Without posts like yours it's easy to forget lurkers. Thank you for taking the time to post.

Peanut THANK YOU so much for posting! We really need that kind of post, so have an or on me.

I am a lurker on certain forums on doctors.net because I am a bit intimidated and don't want to get attacked. For my first few years on h2g2 I didnt express my opinions in arguments because I wasnt sure about defending them.

Any discussion is going to contain more views from the vocal than from the quieter ones, which isn't fair because the quieter ones are just as important, and the vocal arent always representative.

I think we really really need to promote inclusiveness in the site, in writing and in discussions especially in the discussions but without compromising quality in the editorial output. That should be possible, but it is the sort of thing that requires a change in the culture of the site, which is more difficult to achieve than a like button.

We can change our own actions to make sure people are heard, but its hard to change the actions of others, we can't make 'being inclusive' a house rule, but we can be inclusive ourselves and set standards for good behaviour.

This is a topic for discussions, but very