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

I'm open to suggestions. I vaguely mooted the idea elsewhere a few days ago and have been thinking about it for a while, but I formalised it and wrote the page up in a bit of a rush last night.

I'd sign up to write (and finish!) an entry when I thought of it, instead of leaving it hanging around for months because I couldn't be bothered to walk down the road and look around the bloody place one more time. Like this one - A25928724

I can't commit to any number in any amount of time because that way lies madness and shitty entries about crappy subjects just to fill a quota.

I really don't think this is about signing up current and already prolific Researchers to write more, but about encouraging newbies to write or contribute to the Edited Guide in some way. If the EG is held together by, say, ten Reseachers writing one a week, with another twenty or so writing one every now and then that's not going to be sustainable.

Yes. The "top 5" researchers have written more than a hundred entries each, but that's only about 600 entries, and there are more than 8,000 in the Guide. It's the thousands of researchers that write one entry each that we need to attract.

I must say I agree with the trickle-down effect. When there's a vocal, active community devoted to writing entries, new blood will be encouraged to throw their hat into the ring and put hand to key.

As is, the most vocal people on h2g2 are the "What can you see from your Bathroom", "Last one to say Meh wins cheese" brigade. Newbies hunt around, find Ask or MiscChat, and it's this lot that confront them. Of course writing for the Guide is secondary when there's random easy fun to be had.

I suspect if the Eds were to look at Rich's attempt to rally folk to save this site and see the miserable uptake they'll wonder is it worth saving.


I do think that the conversation threads in MisChat serve a purpose - I know when I joined it's where I met people in the first instance until I'd found my own feet as it were - now, if we could capture the regualars in those threads - who maybe don't even know much about the EG (again like me!) - and get them involved on some level - we'd have it cracked.

"I suspect if the Eds were to look at Rich's attempt to rally folk to save this site and see the miserable uptake they'll wonder is it worth saving"

Give it a chance! We need a post article advertising it. That's always a good start.

"if we could capture the regualars in those threads we'd have it cracked"

An ACE-style message in the most popular threads could be a way to go? Or getting the ACE's involved.

Basically the community as a whole needs to have a recruitment drive for the EG, breaking down the divisions between the two.

There's already been a discussion amongst the ACEs about pushing the EG more in our welcome messages, but we can't really just descend into random threads and tell people to write for the Guide - not with our ACEs hats on, anyway.

Well, I posted Rich's page in the 3N thread and other assorted convos I'm subscribed to ..... and so far people have been responding, maybe not with the 2 per month, but a few people have posted their intention to write since they had no idea we were in such dire straits.

Surely that's what we need, no?

Yes. I'm just not sure about doing it en masse, really. Maybe I'm being too sensitive about it. We don't want to spam, but it's really important to reach people who don't usually have much to do with the Guide. Maybe we should all put a message in our tags as a start.

I think that just getting it into ACEs messages, the odd tag here and there, a post article and some front page action should do the trick to be honest. Maybe make more of a big thing about people's first EG entry?

What we need to do is lurk on recently created entries more and pounce on anything by a newbie that looks as if it's suitable. I used to do that when I was an ACE, also checking out their spaces when I greeted them.

That sounds like a great plan actually.

I like this one - A28801820

If we want to keep these newbies, or at least get them to write one entry then we need to talk to them more - to get them interested in something more than what music they're listening to at the moment. Can't leave it all to the ACEs.

Can we add 'befriend one newbie a week' to the page? I could do that. Doesn't have to be a lifelong relationship, but it can be lonely joining a new site and the ACEs get ignored so much due to their 'cut and paste' antics and smiley overloads.

At the risk of looking like I mindlessly agree with everything, I like that plan!

You're my new best friend!

But I'm not a newbie!

I've already posted to a newbie!

I had a look. Most of them seem to be other BBC community (Strictly Waste License Fees, etc) members.