I joined PriusChat 2 months ago today, the same day I put down my deposit on my Prius (delivered 3 weeks later). I am member #13,862. As of the time of this post, we are up to 15,507 members. In the 2 months since I arrived, 1,645 new members have signed up. Congratulations, Danny (and whoever else is involved) on running the best user forum of any kind I have ever visited. And congratulations to all the posters here. You are an incredibly polite group. You are well-informed. You are happy to help others. An occasional troll may arrive, but they seem to disappear very quickly.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(NoVaSnow @ Jun 21 2006, 12:14 PM) [snapback]274720[/snapback]</div> I agree fully but I think PriusChat needs more non-USA members. There is a tendency for the 95%+ (?) membership to see it as north American but in fact it is international. However apart from anything connected with the Prius it is a good place to get an insight into the US psyche. I've learnt a lot about American attitudes since I've been here (probably more than if I'd spent a few weeks as a tourist!) and I'm beginning to learn a little of the USA vocabulary although I'm a bit uncertain about trolls. According to my dictionary a troll is "a fabulous being, esp. a giant or dwarf living in a cave"!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Oxo @ Jun 21 2006, 03:57 PM) [snapback]274806[/snapback]</div> Source And fortunately, there's not too much of that in PriusChat.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Oxo @ Jun 21 2006, 02:57 PM) [snapback]274806[/snapback]</div> Any thoughts on how we could attract/appeal more to the international crowd.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Oxo @ Jun 21 2006, 12:57 PM) [snapback]274806[/snapback]</div> You're being funny right? Your dictionary description is correct, although I'm still looking for the term "fabulous being". Must be a Brittish English dictionary. I found the reference below and didn't see "fabulous being." You have probably since discovered that a posting board troll is an instigator and feeds fuel to the fire of the sometimes staunch and committed Prius pilot. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/troll Anyway, yes, the site is pretty heavily influenced by North American members. Sorry about that. The Internet is basically heavily influenced by North American users and content generators in general. I guess it makes the place feel pretty foreign. I like hearing from European drivers because it seems that the version of the Prius Europe receives is actually quite a bit different in terms of available packages and their option combinations and some ancillary specifications (such as wheel size and design and rear disc brakes, which NA's wheel is different and we have rear drum brakes). Guts wise, it is the same car, but I suppose Toyota knows how to make the car have appeal in different markets.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(NoVaSnow @ Jun 21 2006, 12:14 PM) [snapback]274720[/snapback]</div> Thank goodness. The attacks on Prius forums 5 years ago were awful. It was absolutely amazing to see so much intentional ill-intent take place. But it did. Of course, it is also a strong contributing factor to the build up of my website. There wasn't a PriusChat back then. Some type of readily available information source needed to be established. It's fantastic to that such a large & active forum resulted in the end. At this point, there are few that are dumb enough to try to resist so much momentum. This many enthusiasts is an rather obvious sign of success. The rate of growth sends a very clear message that people are interested in change. Sweet!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Jun 21 2006, 03:12 PM) [snapback]274817[/snapback]</div> Just a thought but how about an "International" forum? So, instead of choosing from Prius Main Forum, Prius Technical Discussion, Prius and Hybrid News or Fuel Economy you could choose "International Forum" or "European, Asian, South American, Oceanic" etc. Currently there isn't a location to click on which would bring similiar interested International folk together. Just an idea. Cheers
But why would you separate the owners to their respective regions? Other than equipment and other itty bitties, it's just one big forum for everyone to enjoy. We already have an International Owners forum (I think it's for pictures?) but yeah.. let's get more international owners to sign up and learn more about the Prius and other hybrids!
I just hope that the message database, which is invariably growing without bound, can continue handling the load. Any concept of aging out some of the messages? Keeping any more than two months of FHOP around, for example, is silly. . _H*
First of all, thanks for the props There is a lot of hard work done on the site on a continuous basis, and I'm ashamed to say that it isn't me doing most of the work! It's a combination of the great moderators we have in Evan and Tony, as well as the great contributors we have to this site - both the old-school ones who joined in late 2003 and throughout 2004, all the way up to the members who are just joining today. Heck, look at how recently great posters like darrelldd joined PC. Again, thank you for the great words of encouragement. You'll continue to see a lot of things coming from PC in the future as we continue to evolve with our ever expanding userbase. Hobbit, you have a good point about pruning the threads out of some of the forums like FHOP. I'll take a look into it to see how it will help with space and CPU load.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Danny @ Jun 21 2006, 08:37 PM) [snapback]275061[/snapback]</div> Seems no one goes back to do research in those threads unless its to dig up dirt... there are little facts and meaningful info for long term storage that will benifit later in FHOP. Its nice to have space to talk about off the wall issues, however I doubt if anyone would miss it if volumes of threads were removed from there.
If anyone really cares, the text of a bunch of old threads can be extracted, tarred up, and stuck on a static website in large batches in case someone *really* wants to pull them down and wade through them for something. I'd bet noone would bother, though. . _H*
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(windstrings @ Jun 21 2006, 10:50 PM) [snapback]275070[/snapback]</div> I have to agree completely, WS. And to be honest, I've thought about that. But in the end, I'm a conservative. No, not politically, but in regards to retaining the 'sanctity' of the PriusChat database for better or worse. This database really does store the history of the site: the ups, the down, the fights, the laughs. Though I don't think anyone would miss Squid's posting on banana slugs consuming their own genitalia, I like to think of that thread as indicative to a time when FHOP was for truly off-the-wall topics that made people laugh as much as think. And to the opposite extreme, some of the religio/politico posts show that we sometimes get upset with each other.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TonyPSchaefer @ Jun 22 2006, 06:29 AM) [snapback]275192[/snapback]</div> :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: Your right..its a Family history of sorts... maybe we can archieve it away to another place if Danny doesn't have the space, but Its a nice feeling of security to be a pack rat too.
Who knows what'll happen when the rest of the net gloms onto the idea to come to priuschat.com, a hybrid car enthusiast site, and search for "genitals" ... . [try it. you might be surprised] . _H*
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TonyPSchaefer @ Jun 22 2006, 06:29 AM) [snapback]275192[/snapback]</div> And, while lotsa folk HAVE been around for a long time, through all those ups and downs and fights and laughs and stuff--some of us haven't, and some of youse get a little, um, incestuous (of course, I mean that in the NICEST possible way ! So it is very helpful, when post(er)s refer to in jokes or some flame war or like that, to be able to go and troll, um, trawl, the archives and figure out who's talking about what. Without that ability, this would be a pretty closed club--and I spent way too much time on the outside in high school to want to do it anymore! It's cool to be able to figure stuff out and start feeling like one of the gang! <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hobbit @ Jun 22 2006, 10:06 AM) [snapback]275303[/snapback]</div> No. Don't. This from PriusGuy04:
Thanks. Now I know that if I ever need to find this thread again, I can just do a search for "genitals."
I hate to tell you, but your growth might be attributed to some of the tall tales of Viper and M3 kills that have been posted on other car forums. They may not be here to chat with you... they might be here just to laugh at you.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jonr1 @ Jun 23 2006, 05:34 AM) [snapback]275736[/snapback]</div> I am shocked! Shocked!