After spending way too many hours on bulletin boards that were supposed to be on a specific subject, I realized that the posters who were serious and capable of productive discussion were approximately 25% of the total. They were buried in compulsive expression that had no tangible product. I made this proposal you are reading on one forum and it was answered with. "Way beyond the capabilities of this software." So I present the concept here to those who have a reason to want a unified opinion.
What follows is the beginning proposal that could develop the largest and most functional forum to exist on planet earth. I believe those who really care know how badly this is needed.
The more I think about the moderators power, I realize that the poll feature requirement for each post is really the best way and thereby lets the posters themselves order the issues of the topic as they see fit. It needs three options to serve well.
Since the diversity of topic and division of topic appears as such a force of confusion in this medium, I feel that many posters have a degree of anxiety they self treat with their expressions. There are no bad intentions in this case. Only a varyingly manifested indulgence in compulsion. This is a very human matter. It is a case of frivolity, humor, incidentals etc. My question is are we prepared to sacrifice function to empower such things and if we are not going to, what is the most fair and functional way to empower it to order itself?
That is really what this topic I've started is about for the most part. So here goes.
The first of three poll options, for optimized performance seems best as, ON TOPIC?. When a person responds to that poll option they express whether or not the post is in the realm of the topic at all. The next is a rating of how relevant the the post to the order of the topic issues. In the beginning of a topic this sets the initial order of relevancy of issue, later it rates the posts for relevancy of posts in the issue.
Redundancy is the most congestive element of a topic. Posts that address preexisting issues of the topic which already have a poll majority standing indicating agreement, need to be attached to their area of agreement with a descending order as to their relevance in the issue they reply to.
In order to reply to a post in a topic issue thread it would be required to address the poll query in order to reply to that post. All posting is done in response to a topic statement unless it creates a topic. . Within a topic every posts importance/relevance to the issue as well as the post content regarding currency with the development of the issues as it relates to the topic would be a product of the poll; looking something like this three digit number;
143
1 = ON TOPIC ( only 1 YES or, 2 NO)
4= ISSUE RELEVANCE TO TOPIC(1, more important or essential, less up to 9)
3 = RELEVANCE IN CURRENT DEVELOPMENT OF ISSUE. (1 more, or less up to 9)
After a certain number of three digit reply poll responses on a single post that looked like this, 111, rather than this, 299, the post would be at the top of the posts in that issue for importance/relevance within the issue.
To limit abuses a first digit rating that goes against a trend of agreement must be backed by explanation. Users agree to explain a number 2 in the first digit position. Explanation is measured in text quantity. A user must hold the first digit position as sacred and be able to explain their poll response in ways that are recognized by the majority as reasonable. Each user is responsible to detect nonsense text falsely fulfilling the automated "quantity of text criteria" required when voting 2 in the first digit position. Nonsense in the text will be spotted by the majority of users giving them reason for a disqualifying rating in the first digit position and a backfire for those abusing the required polling.
Posts within the topic would be initially sorted into common "issue" threads of the topic by the second digit, later that digit would define the posts relevance to the issue within the topic. Each topic would have nine issues. Topics only two layers. The topic itself and the second layer of issues within it. Off topic postings have no thread and fill out the bottom of the topic past the ninth issue. If a poster gets too many 2's in their accounts first digit position, the off topic posts they have made could be deleted or automatically relocated to an unmoderated/polled forum. Further they could be disabled from posting on the topic any longer.
The posts in an issue are ordered to current relevancy by the third digit and the newest post is always the second on the issue thread, while the most relevant post is first. This way a more relevant post to the issue can replace the first when its accumulation of low numbers by the poll response of subsequent reply exceeds with reply quantity while still dropping below the third digit sum total value of the top post. Postings would tend to be shorter, more focused and address the issues of the topic with far less redundancy. Posters would best describe their application of ratings in the polls to compel readers to in turn post in reply with low numbers in the second and third digits in their poll responses of their reply post.
When visiting the topic, the user sees up to ten different posts. The first of which is the original post creating the topic. The following nine are the relative importance of the addressed issues with a descending order establishing the users perceived importance/relativity of the issues to the topic.
If they decide the order of relevancy of issues in the topic is not correct, they go down to an issue thread in the topic they believe is more relevant to the topic, post in reply to its first post, and give the ON TOPIC? a number 1 in the first digit. If the content of the post addressing the order of importance/relevance issues to the topic is agreed upon a 1 or higher number is put in the second digit position and the development aspect. the third digit higher, then address with content why the higher number was used with regard to topic position and seek reply/poll in support.
That post now rests second in the issue thread. Again, by supporting the relevance to the topic of the top post on an issue the second post gathers, by virtue of its content asserting that the entire issue is rated too low in the topics order of issues, and gathering low numbers in the second and third digit positions of reply/poll enough times, the post moves to top post in the issue. If it remains there gathering a majority of number 1's in the second and third digit positions by subsequent posts then the entire issue moves upward towards the number one issue of the topic. It is likely that this will happen quickly and opposition from higher rated issues will have to fairly justify their application of higher numbers in the second and third digit positions with posted content or risk very high numbers by those posting in reply to their posts and placing high numbers in the second and third digit positions. When issues ascend they should be fairly stable in a short time.
If issues in a topic move around too often then it is likely that the issues of the topic are actually sub topics in the forum and then could be listed immediately below the initiating topic in the forum. The main index would show the forums list, the forums the topics, the topics then the issues. Only by the issues becoming so controversial in a topic, could they by numeration of poll product, become sub topics in the forum. Of course the poll fields and accumulated total reply/poll responses with the totals for the second and third digit portions would have to be a part of the POST REPLY PAGE. It seems that the second layer of the issues and the database that crunches and orders the issues of the topic and the posts of the issues is really the only new aspect of software.
The proposal is imperfect and certainly complicated enough to justify a flow chart to eliminate confusion and refine function. The fiefdoms that tend to coalesce may still dominate occasionally, but that may make them legitimate by asserting that a majority does not necessarily need to make perfect sense but instead makes its point by showing it feels very strongly on certain issues and is capable of mounting notable opposition to a given, accepted logic. In many ways defining what maybe, a new forum.
At any rate it will take getting used to. Everyone will have to read better and create more relevant content. At some point an entire topic could be very much a done deal. Entering into a new status altogether as an archived topic or new forum with a fully distilled set of issues that would be very educational to any one new to the site. No more controversy, settled, gone. History. Until conditions in the world change, and they will eventually. With this kind of message board empowering responsibly and logically with technology, the changes will be for the best.