For the love of god! STOP THE ANDROID NEWS BOT!

[blinky]

Can the website owners please stop with that stupid user phandroid, Admin News Bot, from posting over 50 messages a day on this forum?!?! It's ridiculous! This pushes all the good posts down and out of sight.

What's the point of even having a forum, if you are discouraging people from participating in the forum because of this stupid idea of a News Bot?!?!

 

[Carl C]

Moving to site suggestion and feedback

 

[Trident]

I will admit, it is a bit of a nuisance at times. However, it is a great addition to the forum and promotes participation. By posting it as a thread on the forum, an actual conversation can be held about the topic at hand.

 

[USofPlutarchy]

I agree. It's redundant and since there are so many news updates, it obscures other news posted by other users. Plus there is a discussion on each phandroid.com news posting so I really don't see why it's restated in the news forum.

 

[Deleted User]

Can the website owners please stop with that stupid user phandroid, Admin News Bot, from posting over 50 messages a day on this forum?!?! It's ridiculous! This pushes all the good posts down and out of sight.

What's the point of even having a forum, if you are discouraging people from participating in the forum because of this stupid idea of a News Bot?!?!

I disagree. I enjoy reading the news updates and the 'news and talk' section is completely appropriate for these posts. If "all the good posts" are being pushed down, then they must not be good enough to warrant much discussion, or they'd stay near the top. I also believe that these stories encourage people to discuss the latest news and participate in the forums. If some folks do not wish to read or comment on the news items, then don't click on them.

Rob, Phases, and Phandroid (whoever you are), please keep the news stories coming...and keep up the good work.

 

[noidea`]

I like having the news bot.
I doubt it will be removed.

 

[Swizz]

Or the News and Talk section is locked to Phandroid only topics, and everything else is moved into the lounge.

Problem solved.

 

[Trident]

Or the News and Talk section is locked to Phandroid only topics, and everything else is moved into the lounge.

Problem solved.

Something along those lines... or maybe a Phandroid News Sub-Forum...

 

[Phases]

Hmm..

 

[momoceio]

Yeah, I was thinking a phandroid sub-forum would be a good idea.

 

[lekky]

Make it so that all comments on a phandroid news article area actually forum posts. I think this would be much better, and you may get more forum members as a result, but definitely more discussion anyway.

 

[Caddyman]

Just ignore the news bot. Problem solved, you will never see its posts again.

Ignore list is in your usercp, add the username there.

 

[momoceio]

I like reading some of its posts and think it's useful but at the same time it does get annoying when other useful posts get pushed off the page.

 

[srothkin]

I would actually like to see the entire article posted within the thread instead of having to click the More link.

 

[seeking]

i like the newsbot, i too wouldnt mind a subforum, i would also like for the entire post to be in the thread as well

 

[Rob]

Thanks everyone for their opinions. I can DEFINITELY see both sides of this - its nice to have the news streamed in but 30+ posts a day can kind of overrun the natural flow of forum conversation. In the old days of Phandroid/AF when we had to LOOK for news to post it was more relevant but I can see the concern its recently caused.

I wouldn't have been opposed to removing it altogether but some people do seem to enjoy it, so lets try to find a healthy balance.

I WISH that comments on Phandroid articles could be run with AndroidForums accounts. We've tried this in the past - and this is what AndroidCommunity does - but it also creates its fair share of problems. Requiring an account dissuades people from commenting but also cuts down on spam. I don't know, I think this is a separate question beyond the Newsbot we need to address at some point.

It seems like making a Phandroid sub-forum would please the MOST people, so I'm thinking that's the route to go. How many would like/dislike somewhere else on the site - say a small "TV newsish" scroll or bulleted list in the sidebar - where most recent Phandroid news is kept?

Lets keep the opinions coming and either just decide on the consensus or have a small little vote.

Keep the suggestions coming and thanks as usual for voicing your opinions!

 

[Trident]

I WISH that comments on Phandroid articles could be run with AndroidForums accounts. We've tried this in the past - and this is what AndroidCommunity does - but it also creates its fair share of problems. Requiring an account dissuades people from commenting but also cuts down on spam. I don't know, I think this is a separate question beyond the Newsbot we need to address at some point.

I think this is a fabulous idea! All discussions will be in one place, or at least synced with one another. The problem does arise that maybe not all Phandroid readers also have an account with Android Forums but, so be it. It really isn't that big of a challenge to sign-up for an account, it's actually very simple. This would also promote traffic to Android Forums, as well as greater participation on many levels which would be far better in the long run! I also find it hard to believe that non-members would all together stop using Phandroid simply because they can't post a comment on an article... that'd be just dumb!

It seems like making a Phandroid sub-forum would please the MOST people, so I'm thinking that's the route to go. How many would like/dislike somewhere else on the site - say a small "TV newsish" scroll or bulleted list in the sidebar - where most recent Phandroid news is kept

Both ideas sound great, especially the sidebar!

 

[momoceio]

If you create a sub-forum for the newsbot, can't you allow that one forum to have public posting without the need for an account so that comments on the news article would also show up in the forum? Just an idea.

 

[Trident]

If you create a sub-forum for the newsbot, can't you allow that one forum to have public posting without the need for an account so that comments on the news article would also show up in the forum? Just an idea.

That defeats the whole spam reduction idea..

 

[blinky]

There is NO evidence to show that the phandroid newsbot creates forum participation. In fact, the evidence overwhelmingly supports the notion that the phandroid news bot discourages forum participation.
See for yourself. Go back to the forum we are talking about.

The vast majority of the phandroid newsbot threads are "0 count" threads, meaning they have 0 replies to them. AND, you have over 85% of these phandroid newsbot "0 count" threads on there, with only 15% or less of the threads that are not started by the phandroid newsbot. These threads are started by forum users.

Here is the problem...
All of the other threads that users try to participate in have a very short lifespan. Most of them don't even last over 24 hours because by the time people start posting replies in them, the phandroid's "0 count" posts pushes these worthwhile posts to the 2nd page. How would you like it if some rogue user just decided to post a bunch of nonsense posts all over the forum, thus dominating it. Well, THAT is exactly what the phandroid newsbot is doing with its "0 count" posts.

On average, a post by any member on the news forum lasts less than 24 hours. Compare this to a post by a member on any other forum. These posts on the other forums, on average, garner more replies and last longer. This statistic alone proves that the phandroid discourages forum participation.

 

[Rob]

Yeah... I'm considering removing the newsbot the more I think about it. People should know Phandroid/AF are connected and know where to go to talk about it. If the story is interesting enough to discuss on AF specifically, a member can take initiative and start a thread.

We can still find a special spot on the site to highlight Phandroid news story, but I understand your concern. I'll probably adjust this in the next couple days and see how the response is.

If I don't, remind me, I want to try it.

 

[dontpanicbobby]

Consider this a reminder.
Newsbot is getting way to chatty lately.
Bad newsbot; Bad!

 

[Rob]

LOL this is from 2010! Different newsbot

 

[dontpanicbobby]

Damn Rob!

Still chatty lately though.

Think about the Phandroidians


How's the app doing?

 

[psionandy]

LOL this is from 2010! Different newsbot

Can we stop this one then... Or at least give us the opportunity to mute it /smack it on the nose with a rolled up newspaper.