META: Has MGoBoard come back to life?

Submitted by taistreetsmyhero on

It seems like the number of posts and comments have started to pick up in recent weeks. It got me thinking back to the argument that began after MGoBlog 3.0 rolled out with all of its bugs about whether or not the update had killed the board, or if the board was always so quiet during the peak of the off-season.

I decided to go back and look at the board activity during a couple of weeks this year compared to last. For this year, I chose to start back on the board page that included the apt post, "Meta: Board Apathy" on July 16th. I also included the board page with the post "Does Urban Meyer rejuvinate 3.0?" and the next board page to see if the answer was yes. Ended with the most recent board page. (Note, there are 40 posts per board page. I also don't know how to embed tables anymore...)

2018

    Dates      Mean   Median   Max   Min   Notes

7/14 - 7/18 |  35.9  |   26.5   |  130  |  2  |  "Board Apathy" ironically(?) is one of the most active posts

7/31 - 8/2   |  51.9  |   35.0   |  238  |  5  |  "Does Uban Meyer rejuvinate 3.0?"

8/2 - 8/3     |  57.5  |   39.0   |  387  |  6  |  "Meyer releases statement" gets most activity...maybe he did?

8/10 - 8/12 |  51.7  |   32.5   |  285  |  4  |  Basketball investigation gets most posts

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For 2017, I looked at the board posts that corresponded to approximately the same dates. (I didn't include 8/2-8/3 because I got bored of making this.)

2017

    Dates      Mean   Median   Max   Min   Notes

7/15 - 7/18 |  51.1  |   39.0   |  139  |  8  | OT posts much more active, on average

7/31 - 8/2   |  71.1  |   47.0   |  251  |  4  |  "OT Tesla Model 3" gets most comments...

8/10 - 8/12 |  58.9  |   40.5   |  187  |  0  | Nobody posted on the thread about Jeter buying the Marlins :(

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Discussion

In this tiny sample size, it seems like the board is definitely picking back up now that football season is approaching and there is actual news to discuss. However, the overall activity on the blog does appear to be decreased compared to last year. Both the mean and the median comments are appreciably down. When I was skimming through last year's posts, the trend I noticed was that random OT posts garnered many more comments than they did this off-season. Additionally, posts by WD Devotee such as "Michigan might wear maize socks for the first time ever" got 100s of comments, and are noticeably absent this year.

It will be interesting to see how the activity on the board plays out over the course of the season. As the bug fixes keep on coming, and the board approaches its former functionality, hopefully the reinforced hamsters will be better equipped to accommodate the inevitable upsurge in board activity.

 

 

 

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teldar

August 12th, 2018 at 4:42 PM ^

Was just going to say maybe we need more Wolverine devotee if you've been around less and the comments are down. But smaller sample sizes not really something to draw conclusions from because there are too many variables.

Joined: 07/14/2009

MGoPoints: 8230

Berger04

August 12th, 2018 at 4:53 PM ^

I have a job where I can follow and post now. (Got to love promotions). I have lurked since probably 2007.Didnt start posting until 14. Just never really posted....There seems to be more good people than not. What do you expect??? You're all fans of the GREATEST University in the world. With that said, there are always a few you wish you could throw back....

Joined: 12/26/2014

MGoPoints: 4641

Bambi

August 12th, 2018 at 4:56 PM ^

I've said this multiple times before but I think going 8-5 last year has a bigget effect on the activity than the new board. I'd be interested to see board activity prior to 3.0 vs last year.

Joined: 10/12/2013

MGoPoints: 23158

Craptain Crunch

August 12th, 2018 at 5:04 PM ^

Could be that more people are drinking due to the board sucking and that being drunk causes more to actually post as being drunk makes you immune to how crappy the message board has become. 

Hey, I might be on to something here!

Joined: 05/20/2016

MGoPoints: 1526

Leaders And Best

August 12th, 2018 at 6:04 PM ^

New board takes some time to adapt. I still haven't figured out to embed links, YouTube, photos and gifs which was some of the amusement the board provided. I am guessing there are others like me in that same boat.

Joined: 09/09/2009

MGoPoints: 22489

LSAClassOf2000

August 12th, 2018 at 6:46 PM ^

Purely anecdotal statement here, but it always seems like the nadir for traffic - historically speaking is right around the Fourth Of July, and that the zenith for traffic is this elongated period between Labor Day and Christmas. Maybe other people have noticed different things, but seeing any numbers on this is actually really illuminating regardless. Well done, OP. 

Joined: 01/07/2011

MGoPoints: 130636

snarling wolverine

August 12th, 2018 at 6:56 PM ^

I'm happy that the edit feature is back (and is no longer locked by replies!) but can we get the "new" tag again for posts that have been added to threads since you last checked?

 

Joined: 12/14/2011

MGoPoints: 98365

b618

August 12th, 2018 at 7:29 PM ^

I'm a new account here.  One thing that bugs me a lot -- I can't figure out how to have the board show me what topics, that I've posted in, have new messages.  It causes me to post less than I otherwise would.

Joined: 07/22/2018

MGoPoints: 6489

grumbler

August 12th, 2018 at 9:09 PM ^

Click on your screen name and it takes you to a page listing recent posts.  You can at least check there to see if anyone has replied to your post (just click on the post).  Note that this doesn't work on posts of yours that are on the second or later page of a thread - it just takes you to the thread.

Joined: 08/17/2011

MGoPoints: 14112