Should 'Random Running Questions' be retired?

Murph_D

Fantastic thread, over nine thousand posts, lots of engagement, loads of posters. But on the main page, it's a bit of a black box.

In my opinion it sucks up a lot of the interesting general discussion that would be more accessible in the form of individual micro threads - easier to see on the main page, less searching required. In other words the way it used to be - I was reminded while searching through some old threads and marvelling at the amount of topics that used to be visible on the main section of A/R.

I know this has been mentioned before. I think threads have to be recreated at 10,000 posts anyway (or is it 100k?) so maybe time to think about it. I'm for more numerous, shorter, more specific threads. I know people have the option to do that anyway but it seems RRQ just sucks too much stuff in.

Thoughts?

Bluesquare

Sometimes it’s less intimidating to post here - and you are almost guaranteed a reply . Can be hard to post a new thread especially for newer members .

lulublue22

Really love the random running questions thread - would hate to see it go. Posted a thread asking a question at one stage and got some push back not a lot but at the same tine it made me a little wary of posting. I felt I was wasting peoples time - that doesn’t happen in the RRQ thread - if people have an answer they answer if not they skip it. Think it’s a great resource , it’s one of the first threads I go to each time I log on and I would genuinely hate to see it gone. I also enjoy the organic nature of the thread a question answered prompts a discussion etc.

28064212

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058278944/should-random-running-questions-be-retired

I think threads have to be recreated at 10,000 posts anyway (or is it 100k?)

That was on the old Boards software, the new version doesn't have that limitation (despite its other faults)

As to your main question, I would agree that "micro discussions" are much more useful, accessible, and engaging, but with the following caveat: only for the reader.

For the poster, the hurdle (pun intended) to clear before contributing is substantially increased. There are a huge amount of comments in RRQ that would never have made it to A&R if it didn't exist. There's a massive perceived difference between being one of many comments in a long-running discussion versus having to be the author of your own personal discussion.

IMO, RRQ has been a net benefit to the category, and closing it would result in less engagement in the forum. The only way closing it would work is if there was a substantial increase in both:

• moderation: keep RRQ, but moderators would actively split it into new discussions everytime there's a new topic
• active experienced posters: chances are high that if a new discussion was created tomorrow by a newbie on an "uninteresting" topic, it would have little to no response three or four days later, and the OP would not return

There's also the issue of the buggy platform, the most glaring issue being: if you create a new discussion, it is not automatically bookmarked for you. Unless you manually revisit the discussion, you will not see any replies or get any notifications. It's a terrible user experience for new posters. At least if you leave a comment on RRQ, you will get a notification when people reply (by default, anyway)

Swashbuckler

All of the above to be honest. From the point of view of an experienced poster and regular in the forum I think its a great thread to draw in some newbies or people who might not otherwise fancy creating a new thread.

You have to remember. The motivation for closing RRQ assumes the questions will be asked somewhere else. I think what you would find is the opposite. Interaction (limited as it is) will fall off dramatically. And we'll become even more of a "clique" 😉

py

I found the mega threads to be a pain under the old platform. The notifications under the new platform make it much easier to track discussions within a larger thread. It might be the one positive from the migration.

MisterJinx

I think RRQ's should stay in it's current format. I get what you are saying Murph_D in terms of getting some additional discussion going however RRQ's is very handy for putting up trivial questions which might not necessarily deserve a thread by themselves or would get very little traction if they did have a thread. RRQ meets that need.

The Black Oil

I posted in it the other day about single leg squats. I was going to create a separate thread for it, originally. I do like reading standalone threads, as they might prompt a 'oh right, didn't know that'.

Good to reflect on the role and longevity RRQ thread, anyway.

babacool

Think this is the start of a nice feature to this forum (i think and in case it doesn’t exist yet).

keep asking the question in the rrq thread but have the Option to split it out as an individual thread the Moment it may be of interest to the bigger audience (so it isn’t missed). It does require a bit more moderation and someone to decide if it should be split or not. Same goes to merging threads that are basically about the same topic. (Think that Microsoft answers forum has those functionalities).

that way it may suit both parties: those who want to post without exposure and those who like to see single topic threads

FinnC

The random questions thread is one of the best threads on here imo.

Murph_D

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120108739#Comment_120108739

True, and it's hard to argue with that thought as I think the starter post implies. But do you have any thoughts on the points raised in the OP that I suppose are all about questioning whether the thread's success is necessarily the best thing for the forum?

Swashbuckler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120114087#Comment_120114087

Just my own opinion here. I think the assumption that removal of RRQ will create more traffic in terms of individual threads is wrong. You've probably noticed yourself just how little uptake there is on new threads. I think the vast majority of people who would normally drop a question into RRQ would just not bother if RRQ was gone.

At this stage we should take what we can get in terms of footfall through here

adrian522

I'd keep it, but only for questions that are answered fairly quickly, if it develops into a longer conversation it should be split out into a new thread.

That would require the forum moderators to do but would need the regular posters to request that where necessary.

Some conversations would be better elsewhere like the recent spate of posts around shoes etc, that should have moved to the "What are you wearing" thread I would say.

Annie get your Run

A good discussion and worth asking the question.

I love the RRQ thread, it's one of the few I have bookmarked. I only see new threads on the main forum when I think to check it. I agree that many people would throw a question in here that would not start up an individual thread, and if you think about the 9,000 or so posts, it would be a very messy forum if they had all gone into individual threads! A slight exaggeration for effect but a lot of those threads would just slip down the forum never to be seen again and many of the questions would not have been asked in the first place if RRQ didn't exist.

It would likely be worth splitting out longer conversations but realistically, who's going to do that.