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

... how come the H2G2 Announcements page is being used for announements about TV programmes which have nothing to do with:

The Intenet
Douglas Adams
The Hitch Hikers' Books
The Dirk Gently Books
The Meaning of Liff or Last Chance to See

When that page was set up it was made pretty clear to the community that researchers were not to even consider using it for posting - not even to make announcements which are relevant to the community as a whole.

Given that the BBC's main line of business is making TV programmes, how come you start advertising them there? Are you going to advertise tickets for shows? Competitions run by other parts of the Beeb? People to send in their nominations for Steve Wright's Website of the Day?

I'd have thought each of the above suggestions were rediculous until I saw the announcement about the BBC wanting punters to parade their lives for a secret celebrity agony aunt / uncle to 'solve'.

What bugs me about this is that it is proof positive that the community is the least important thing about this site, these days.

And what bugs me about that, is that if it weren't for the community this site would not exist.

You want a plant with nice, strong, green, shiny leaves?

Feed and water the plant. Don't think that all you need do is polish the leaves.

You want a site with nice, strong, healthy Edited Guide?

Look after the community.

Without us.....

Thanks very much for your comments, Ben. I think it's good for everyone that we had this conversation in a wider arena, hence I've replied in the Announcements page.

Natalie

Yep, I think you are right that the debate should be held there rather than here, and thanks for replying there.

I am serious, you know. The community is like a cat, if you stroke it and pet it and get it fish from the market every now and again it will stay loyal and purr a lot. If you ignore it, it'll bugger off and go somewhere else.

I accept that you guys may see your remit as the care and nurturing of the Edited Guide, but the Edited Guide only exists because the community exists. I am not the only contributer to the EG who has stopped writing for it in the last year or so. You need both the Guide and the Community to be healthy if you are going to keep the site healthy.

When Douglas Adams set up the site, there was very little known about what would happen when you created virtual spaces, digital villages. The fact that there are now university courses in the nature and nurture of online communities is indirectly down to him. And indirectly down to Mark and Peta.

I had a lot of issues with the way they ran the site, as you know. I don't think their style of personal feifdom translated particularly well to the BBC, and oddly enough I prefer structured moderation to the random censorship that took place pre-Rupert. However, the policy of active Italic involvement in the site made for a more lively community.

I know that the community is suffering. It is completely obvious to anyone who is paying attention.

The symptoms are all there, if you look for them. People who were actively involved across the site have settled down into little ghettos. Places which were hot-beds of civic debate have dried up. Apathy is spreading. People who were dedicating huge amounts of their spare time to the nurture of the site are now - what? gaming? cooking? walking the dog? Who knows.

It is easy to tell that the stats are down simply by the slow-down in the speed of certain key areas of the site. It doesn't need access to the server logs to tell that, just attention to detail and common sense.

This is the most amazing community. It changes lives.

My plea is the same plea I made to you in December 2001 - post more. Be more involved. Be more active.

I decided then that it would be courteous to see what happened as you got your feet under the table, and got the measure of the community. So I have, in a very real sence, bitten my tongue on this subject since then. But I see the site suffering. As the management gurus say - if you want more of what you are getting then do more of the same. If you want more of something else, then do something different.

Good luck.

It may comfort you to know that I will go back into the ghetto I inhabit most of the time, and will stop pestering you soon.

I just wish that Cassandra wasn't my middle name.

Ben