"Filer" threads

[Sheriff Uling 3]

The search tool will search within threads to find information as well (by default). In general, I see both sides of the coin. On the one side of the coin the diversity of threads build (as was said) a great sense of community and friendship which is something that many people are looking for through the process (the feeling of being all alone in immigration is tough when generally you do not meet people day-to-day in the same situation). The other side is to improve organization and make things easier to find. As of now the best ways to find things are the primary site search on the top of every page, the the forums only search, you can also search within a topic at the bottom of each topic, and also finally the portal page where you can find topics from people of a similar interests as yourself very quickly. I am very open to suggestions and ways to improve and make the site even more welcoming and easy to use .

Capt Ewok,

It appears that folks seem to forget or potentially abandon using the search function as much because it creates work for the end-user. That's typical because we are a "right now" society. I would speculate that folks also forget how it was like when they first began their journey through the immigration process and how that sense of comradery and information sharing is vital part of the experience of being on VJ. Since, these "Monthly Filer's Threads" have been permitted to flourish in the AOS Forum, it may be discouraging, at this point, to simply kill those threads upon their creation. However, there may be a viable argument to create a sub-forum in the AOS Forum (like the K1 Sub-Forum) due to the growing community that is changing the culture. That way more concentrated/specific threads can be easily identified and discussed in the primary AOS Forum.

That's my two cents. Can someone please give me my change?

As always, CHEERS!!!

Sheriff Uling

[Caladan 19]

While the search does search the body of the threads, there's a greater noise-to-signal ratio on the bigger threads because it's tedious to dig through all six zillion of the pages of (say) the June thread to find the place where I-864 is highlighted. So it's not just laziness, as if I'm looking for information on how to fill out a form, it's a lot hard to find if it's buried in a conversation about six other things.

Plus, there's a minimum on the length of the string that can be searched and I don't think it takes hyphens. I don't know if there's a way around this, but I just tried to search for I-864 and it returned nothing. Three letters is too short of a string, but how many immigration-related acronyms are three letters or less? AOS, NVC, AP, any of the form numbers.

I think making a case progress/discussion forum would help keep the sense of community and hopefully leave the bulk of the forum uncluttered so people can BROWSE for their answers.

[rebeccajo 14]

Uling, just for clarity....

I'm talking about eliminating ALL the filer threads. I know in my original post I point out the threads in AOS - my bad for that.

IMO this 'new culture' divides the members - it doesn't unify them at all. And it makes those left at the tail-end of each month more stressed than they need to be.

[Krikit 1,163]

It's a matter of perspective. Monthly filer threads are helpful in the respect that one can more easily gain a general idea of where their case is in the process relative to others who have filed around the same time. These threads also help build a camaraderie between members with like situations. This, in turn, builds a feeling of belonging, so now the member feels comfortable venturing to other areas and posting there also.

VJ is a pretty vast site, with a number of very strong personalities dominating the forums. This can be off-putting for some. In a site this large, I don't think it's possible to restrict how members post when they remain within the TOS guidelines. If these threads were "killed" how do you see them replaced, going forward?

[rebeccajo 14]

They don't need to be replaced.

I'm not dismissing your question krikit. Thing is, I believe these threads lead in many ways to a lot of the 'other' problems people complain about insofar as site 'usefulness'.

There's a lot of grumbling about members who want to be spoonfed. If it's mega-difficult to find information then maybe there aren't as many 'spoonfeeders' as we think.

There were no 'filer' threads for ages. I have always was been able to find my 'peers' by simply reading the forums.

Edited July 29, 2007 by rebeccajo

[Krikit 1,163]

They don't need to be replaced.

So when someone posts "I've just mailed my I-485. Has anyone else mailed their's today?" and 10 other people join in the discussion and start chatting and following each other's progress, you would kill that thread?

[no name 1]

They don't need to be replaced.

So when someone posts "I've just mailed my I-485. Has anyone else mailed their's today?" and 10 other people join in the discussion and start chatting and following each other's progress, you would kill that thread?

Yes. They can join the July/1st week of August/'2nd week of August, but in a leap year' filers thread.

But then they kept coming. First half of the month filers. Last half of the month filers.

Early morning of the first half of the month filers. Afternoon filers.

I think these are getting out of control, honestly.

A sub-forum for AOS would be handy, but in the same token don't want that to get out of hand either.

Totally out of control. I filed AOS in December & these thread weren't there then!!! And I still made it thru, A-OK.

Edited July 29, 2007 by devilette

[rebeccajo 14]

They don't need to be replaced.

So when someone posts "I've just mailed my I-485. Has anyone else mailed their's today?" and 10 other people join in the discussion and start chatting and following each other's progress, you would kill that thread?

Noooooooo. Not at all.

I'm talking about these mega threads that never end.

Edited July 29, 2007 by rebeccajo

[Krikit 1,163]

They don't need to be replaced.

I'm not dismissing your question krikit. Thing is, I believe these threads lead in many ways to a lot of the 'other' problems people complain about insofar as site 'usefulness'.

There's a lot of grumbling about members who want to be spoonfed. If it's mega-difficult to find information then maybe there aren't as many 'spoonfeeders' as we think.

There were no 'filer' threads for ages. I have always was been able to find my 'peers' by simply reading the forums.

I understand your position, RebeccaJo. And I think Caladan has a valid point. The search feature could certainly use some refinement. Among other reasons, the "filer" threads probably originated due to the less-than-user-friendliness of the search feature.

As to the spoonfeedees (lol), my general attitude is to ignore them. Once they realize it's not going to happen, they'll soon learn to do some research.

Unfortunately, I must run out now, so I'll check in on the discussion later/tomorrow.

Ciao!

[Fandango 1,439]

My perspective comes from the 'old days' when we didn't have these types of threads.

We all managed to 'know' the people who filed around the same time we did without them. And I do believe we managed to find friends from all around the world much more easily.

It was tons easier to find answers to questions also - from a thread title. Most times it wasn't even necessary to use 'Search'.

Evolution is a wonderful thing. Just because it was done one way when you were going through it doesn't mean it should stay the same now. And even if you can't...there are those who find value in their existence. Actually, the participation in those threads is proof that people like it & find some value in it.

The focus needs to be on people learning the 'search' feature, not spoon feeding answers by dictating what is said where.

And yes, there's cameraderie with all the people of this forum because we all know about being in an LDR....but people filing at the K-1 stage have more in common with each other than they do with someone who's at the AOS stage. And so on and so forth. And going further, people who file together have an even stronger cameraderie because we're all at the same stage & can bounce countless bits of excitement off each other...

Edited July 29, 2007 by LisaD

[Fandango 1,439]

While the search does search the body of the threads, there's a greater noise-to-signal ratio on the bigger threads because it's tedious to dig through all six zillion of the pages of (say) the June thread to find the place where I-864 is highlighted. So it's not just laziness, as if I'm looking for information on how to fill out a form, it's a lot hard to find if it's buried in a conversation about six other things.

But the same question is prolly answered 500 times over in more specific threads as well.

[trueimage 0]

I don't think subforums divide members. I think members divide members. If the issue is that these threads are clouding 'useful' information, then I think that separating them into their own subforum will eliminate that problem. Yes, some of you made it without it and that's all good, but the forum is growing, expanding and evolving. New members are added each day. Change can be good!

[rebeccajo 14]

My perspective comes from the 'old days' when we didn't have these types of threads.

We all managed to 'know' the people who filed around the same time we did without them. And I do believe we managed to find friends from all around the world much more easily.

It was tons easier to find answers to questions also - from a thread title. Most times it wasn't even necessary to use 'Search'.

Evolution is a wonderful thing. Just because it was done one way when you were going through it doesn't mean it should stay the same now. And even if you can't...there are those who find value in their existence. Actually, the participation in those threads is proof that people like it & find some value in it.

The focus needs to be on people learning the 'search' feature, not spoon feeding answers by dictating what is said where.

And yes, there's cameraderie with all the people of this forum because we all know about being in an LDR....but people filing at the K-1 stage have more in common with each other than they do with someone who's at the AOS stage. And so on and so forth. And going further, people who file together have an even stronger cameraderie because we're all at the same stage & can bounce countless bits of excitement off each other...

Believe it or not, people actually bounced plenty of excitement off each other before the 'filer' threads. So there's really nothing 'evolutionary' here. There's just more separation.

The "Search" feature here has always been woeful. Using it won't change until it's more user friendly.

The timeline function, if modified, could give people the 'monthly' data they need. Although, why they want it, I have no idea. They'd be much better served looking at data for their Service Center and/or Consulate (at K1 stage) or District Office (at AOS stage).

[LaL 418]

There is an easy fix to working with legitimate questions buried in the filer threads - those questions can be "split out" of the topic. Now, I know in some cases this is not the most popular thing to do - but for the community it could be very beneficial and is a very common handling in other forums. It's great to see people coming down the pipeline knowing what nuances to expect by way of others just ahead. That happens a bit less I would think because - (and I have heard this stated) "I don't go in xyz monthly filer threads - they don't have anything for me".

[rebeccajo 14]

I don't think subforums divide members. I think members divide members. If the issue is that these threads are clouding 'useful' information, then I think that separating them into their own subforum will eliminate that problem. Yes, some of you made it without it and that's all good, but the forum is growing, expanding and evolving. New members are added each day. Change can be good!

That's true.

I find it interesting though that some of the newer members think if we change something 'back' - that this is bad.

Get my point?