As a general observation, many are viewing the forum discussion but far less are replying with a comment. This is not surprising as it takes effort and time to make a considerate reply. Another factor preventing people from participating is likely to be plain shyness.
To encourage greater participation, I suggest that viewers are enabled with an option to rate comments. This has been done in a forum I frequently visit and with great success. The way they do this is by following; at the end of each comment you are provided with an average viewer rating and the option to rate. The rating is universal but effective. You rate the comment on a scale of one to five, with one being ‘very poor’ and five being ‘very good’.
I find this to encourage comments as you are given more feedback on your contribution. I also find this to encourage viewing as you are given a quick and anonymous tool to support/oppose a viewpoint.
To prevent members from distorting the result, rating should only be possible when logged in and restricted to one rating per comment.
Comments?
To encourage greater participation, I suggest that viewers are enabled with an option to rate comments. This has been done in a forum I frequently visit and with great success. The way they do this is by following; at the end of each comment you are provided with an average viewer rating and the option to rate. The rating is universal but effective. You rate the comment on a scale of one to five, with one being ‘very poor’ and five being ‘very good’.
I find this to encourage comments as you are given more feedback on your contribution. I also find this to encourage viewing as you are given a quick and anonymous tool to support/oppose a viewpoint.
To prevent members from distorting the result, rating should only be possible when logged in and restricted to one rating per comment.
Comments?