Staff Forums

It was 60 posts a week Matt, couple of them hated me for it but in the case of moderators they should most definitely be posting 10 times a day :P

They'll never do this, they like to have their own 'comfort zone'. I'm pretty sure if we blocked staff out of the public spam forum because we want to bond with 'non staff members' we would get in ****.

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Originally Posted by Bolt660

Staff spam threads have been around for years, and I don't think they've really done any harm up until now. As others have said, yes it would be nice for all staff to post lots and lots outside their staff forums, however I think that for a department to work together in the best way possible, it's essential that we are able to talk freely to our fellow staff in individual departments. There will often be department specific stuff in them anyway.

I think also, (although I can only see three), it isn't a huge amount of posts that we're talking about anyway. Perhaps 20 a day, which isn't really that much really.

I think alternative methods of getting people to join the forum/post on the forum/enjoy the forum need to be looked into first, rather than changing something which has been with the staff forums for many years, enables departments to feel more laid back and like a unit, rather than just work work work. If it wasn't for staff spam threads I wouldn't have made some of the amazing friends I have on here.

You could argue that people could simply use the main spam forums instead, but I just feel it's a lot easier and nicer to spam in your departmental group, since main spam threads often get 'hijacked' by other members and it's just not as 'cosy' I guess I'm struggling to find the right words there.

I agree with Michael that if you remove staff spam threads, I don't think it would definitely mean people would get out there posting, it will just reduce the amount of bonding and communication within departments.

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I know they have been around for years, but when posting is low, I think anything is worth at least trialling (although I imagine staff would just not post more for the trial to get their own way (which anyone would do to be fair)). If I think of any 'better' ideas I will obviously post them, but as I have said many times, if staff are not bonding with the forum members, then who do you want to post?

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Originally Posted by Hecktix

It's in most staff rules, hard one to crack down on mind.

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I totally understand this Oli, oh sorry Hecktix, perhaps a reminder private message to the departmental managers - there is no need to put a strain on yourself - the departmental managers should sort their staff out too!

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Credit to all the department managers and upper management as they do post a lot, despite doing more work than all the 'normal' staff - I guess there is always a reason why you get to those positions. Perhaps posting does help.. (hint to the people who resigned just because they didn't get the job they wanted :P)

---------- Post added 14-10-2010 at 07:06 PM ----------

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Originally Posted by Sammeth.

To be fair I don't ever remember the amount of staff forums being an issue. The problem is that staff need to post publicly, as you did also outline in your first post, but which should be the main thing here. The staff spam threads in each departments forum do serve a small purpose, but they certainly shouldn't be a main attraction for staff members. More effort needs to be put in by the staff workforce as a whole to post more actively around the forum rather than lingering where no one can see them. Its almost a sort of elitist view. Encouraging staff to post more in public forums can only be a positive thing for the community, reputation of the forum as a whole and quality of discussions.

Edit: Sorry if I repeated anything someone else has already said, I now have a habit of skim-reading these threads now I dont have to read every post :(

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It's Oli's fault again! In the other thread he originally said there were '30' forums - so I just mentioned there are too many in here - although he did clear it up that is was a bit of an exaggeration haha

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Originally Posted by Richie

They'll never do this, they like to have their own 'comfort zone'. I'm pretty sure if we blocked staff out of the public spam forum because we want to bond with 'non staff members' we would get in ****.

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That would actually be quite fun, although I don't think putting staff down like you did in the first bit is very fair. But the non-staff spam sounds funny haha

I guess you also have to remember that some departments aren't always forum based. We have a site too, and some departments work to provide and promote content on there.

Take News reporters, when people apply to be a news reporter, they apply to write news/articles for the site. Yes, they may have to have a forum account for department reasons, however posting around the forum has nothing to do with their job role that they signed up to do. There may be a habbo player interested in writing news, but not interested in forums/disussing topics- they should still be given the chance to do this.

I know the forum is the backbone of habbox so to speak, and I do encourage my staff to post around the forums, however sometimes activity is low enough as it is without them using up time which could be spent writing articles etc.

I could argue that comments on news articles are low, and take away the habboxlive radio until all of the listeners comment on my articles, (I joke) however I guess there is just a line between different departments.


Is it a problem? Yes, we need to get the normal forums more active yes, but in some departments there isn't an excessive amount of posts in the staff forum either, and I would rather establish a good form of communication with my staff, rather than hoping to catch up with them in the main spam forums etc.


The forum department (moderators) and a few other departments however should be posting frequently around the forum, and whilst a lot do, there are unfortunately some that don't. Oli's posting challenge did work quite well for a while, and it was a shame it ended and I guess things like this may be able to be tried again in the future.

It would be nice to continue to attract new members to the forum aswell, since the ratio from staff/members could be altered if we can get more members on board somehow.

I think perhaps if we want to get staff members posting around the forums, we need to drum home the fact to them that the site as a whole will struggle if we can't get things back up to standard again. I really do not think that removing staff spam threads will be the solution, and I just have a feeling that this could do more harm than good in some departments. It's not always the 'spamming element', but just somewhere where the department can work together as a team, help each other with problems, talk about life and enjoy part of their roles more.

Not bothered going through the threads but if I'm right, most threads in the Staff section are pretty dead. Staff still post as much around the forum, and if management are going to force them to post around the forums when it isn't nothing to do with their job and wasn't part of the criteria then I wouldn't be suprised if a lot of members of staff resign.

You may aswell tell a HabboxLive DJ who has no clue about coding and technology THEY HAVE TO post around the technology forum.

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Originally Posted by Skizzling

Not bothered going through the threads but if I'm right, most threads in the Staff section are pretty dead. Staff still post as much around the forum, and if management are going to force them to post around the forums when it isn't nothing to do with their job and wasn't part of the criteria then I wouldn't be suprised if a lot of members of staff resign.

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I don't think forcing them to post would work, however sadly it is fact many staff rarely post at all. Some staff are brilliant at it, and the fact some of you give opinions in feedback threads says a lot.

Perhaps a new criteria on applications (obviously current staff members would be encouraged to post more, but if they didn't apply for that it is fair to be SLIGHTLY more lenient I think) should be to say 'You need to post actively around the forum.'

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Originally Posted by Milestone

I don't think forcing them to post would work, however sadly it is fact many staff rarely post at all. Some staff are brilliant at it, and the fact some of you give opinions in feedback threads says a lot.

Perhaps a new criteria on applications (obviously current staff members would be encouraged to post more, but if they didn't apply for that it is fair to be SLIGHTLY more lenient I think) should be to say 'You need to post actively around the forum.'

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That would make it sound like you have to be a forum addict and stay on the forum a lot which isn't required for most departments except the forum department.

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Originally Posted by Skizzling

That would make it sound like you have to be a forum addict and stay on the forum a lot which isn't required for most departments except the forum department.

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I don't think it does imo. Something along those lines should be used imo. You highlighted the problem there Calvin (am I right there? :P) The problem is staff know they have no reason or incentive to post.

When I was a noob and all staff posted I found it really interesting seeing all different types of staff around, when I was a News Reporter in the early days the interaction between the news team and the news and rumours forum community was awesome.

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Originally Posted by Milestone

I don't think it does imo. Something along those lines should be used imo. You highlighted the problem there Calvin (am I right there? :P) The problem is staff know they have no reason or incentive to post.

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Removing staff spam threads won't give them a reason or incentive to post either. ;)