Ed, why don't you charge each member say a fiver a year to come on here? I'd be willing and then you could also have more staff to keep an eye on things? Just an off-the-cuff thought
Oh... so where is the QUESTION when someone joins on a Saturday and then calls someone an ugly old hag or similar and makes repeated abusive remarks about their family that aren't zapped for hours?
We do try. Our weekend Ed simply cannot be available all the time! Was it particularly bad?
"Tthrow-away" email addresses, as you refer to them, are blocked by our system as we're made aware of them. Users are unable to register with these hour-only-inbox services.
Prudie, to your original question: nice an idea as it is, I don't think it would work. People wouldn't pay, and, ultimately, it would kill the number of new users joining us. We want to grow, not shrink!
Perhaps a special Chatterbank (extra) section for subscription payers only?
I personally wouldn't pay, but I can see the attraction for many members who spend a lot of time on CB and dont want the more off the wall posters comments.
I guess id pay, seeing as its only a fiver a year (well, for now!) but....as I said before the 'one stoppers' won't pay just to ask one question, and as much as I love (well ok, like) the regulars we have here, it's the one stoppers that stop this site becoming dull.
Just a thought from a casual user
I was Googling something one day and happened to get to A B I regestered and asked a question on pottery marks I got some really helpful answers I have used the site quite a few times since and have always had good advice I do go in to try quizzes ec. but sometimes some of the threads are aweful and I quickly come out again Pity for the good people who use it
I would certainly be prepared to pay if it was a way to keep some of the drivel of
Well to be honest, I dont see how any of us minnions keep it going, lol. I was saying, for me personally, it's the one stoppers (for want of a better way of way of calling them) keep the site interesting. Whilst I like the cosiness we get sometimes, when we feel we're amongst friends, i know that i'd personally get a bit bored if we didn't have fresh blood. And I can't see fresh blood coming on the site if they've to pay, especially if they only want to ask one question.
B00......Viv says that you've hit the nail upon it's head. I guess you and she are right but the Ed still needs to move around his garden which is becoming somewhat overgrown with weeds.!!
It's those one off questions that keep the site interesting for me - things I had long forgotten, or had idly wondered about - quirky and serious.
Those questions about tv programmes long gone spark happy memories; the questions in technology can get my brain working, as can those in quizzes; body and soul make me ewwwwww sometimes; and law, news and how it works can be thought provoking.
There are plenty of social network and chat sites about if that's what people want. AnswerBank brings a whole different dimension and is probably the best question site to be found.
If it were made difficult for newbies to ask their questions they would simply go elsewhere. The internet almost demands instant communication, instant answers and putting blocks up to this will deter new posters.
I think it is bet to take the little bit of rough with the whole lot smooth. Ignore the posts we don't like (easier said than done) and treat newbies as genuine until proven otherwise.
After all, we should not be upset or offended by a few pixels on the screen that nobody knows we have seen if we choose not to respond.