Duplicated Threads and Thread Topics

College Majors Musical Theater Major
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<p>Okay -
I posted something similar in the body of another thread that was a clear duplication of an existing thread but I'm not sure how many people saw it so I'm sorry to have to create yet ANOTHER thread to say this but I think it is important to the future users of the this thread so here's my rant for today:</p>

<p>In case no one has noticed, the current, new format, Musical Theater Major forum has grown to 12 PAGES of different threads which at 20 threads per page equals 240 separate threads!! When this new format was started, I was one who missed the old "continuing dialogue" of the archived discussions; but I have come to appreciate the specificity of the new format, being able to look mostly at those topics that interest you. HOWEVER, lately it seems as though people are not spending any time searching to see if a thread already exists that deals with the topic they are interested in and just starting new threads every time they have a question. This may in part be due to the fact that there are already so many threads to look through to find one that clearly deals with the topic you are interested in. If this continues, I believe that some of the real value of this forum will be lost and many of us, myself included, will grow more impatient and less likely to answer questions when they have already been asked AND answered several times over.</p>

<p>So I'm begging everyone - let's at least make a good faith effort to find out if a thread already exists that deals with your topic before starting another new one. It will make it so much easier to access information and will enable folks to more easily get a diversity of opinion in one place.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance for helping and 'nuf said.</p>

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<p>Good suggestion, but still beats the alternative: one single, endless, gargantaun topicless thread. Try searching for a specific piece of information, or answer to a specific question, using the other format!! (I did, and it was not time-efficient)You'd have to search hundreds of pages within that thread to hope to find an answer!</p>

<p>At some point I posted one specific question on the other endless thread, which wasn't exactly what everyone else was chatting about at the time, and as far as I know it was never reponded to. It was just drowned out in the endless ongoing amorphous chat.</p>

<p>But you're right, people might check first to see if their topic has already been started before starting a potentially redundant thread. At least in the current format it is possible to do this.</p>

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<p>Bump-</p>

<p>As this is happening again...</p>

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<p>Good point, theatermom. For those who might be new to CC, here's what to do: when you're on the main MT Major page, click on "Search This Forum" on the right side of the page, and a search box will drop down. As with any internet search, be as specific as you can. If you just search, for example, "audition" or "NYU," you'll probably get way too much in return. Of course, if a very specific search doesn't get you what you want, then broaden it. I can almost promise you that whatever you're looking for re. college MT programs, it's somewhere in this forum!</p>

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<p>I think a couple things are happening here. </p>

<p>One....the musical theater thread that goes in "parts" (now on Part 40) is really meant to keep up the old forum type discussion which is a back and forth discussion about a myriad of topics. Then when this new forum was created, that was kept but then new threads could be made about SPECIFIC topics. </p>

<p>For the SPECIFIC topics, it is best to keep those at one thread a piece and not redundant threads. However, I think some of the problem we are observing is due to new posters who might not be aware of this format and just start a thread with a question that has already been discussed at length. I am with theatermom on this that I want to help but I don't want to start all over every time and it does make the forum harder to navigate. I am not sure the answer here because new posters (whom we DEFINITELY want) tend to come on and just post and not read through the forum or become familiar with the format. The moderator has posted a "welcome" post that stays at the top with directions of how to navigate and use the forum plus link to the FAQ page. That is where new posters ideally should begin. </p>

<p>I think another thing that happens is that as discourse tends to go, once a conversation begins on one topic, it can morph or lead to other tangents. So conversations just continue on the threads. I tend to not start threads hardly ever and just respond to posts wherever they may be posted. I did respond to the new poster on the welcome thread even though that post really was not in the right place but I did not want to ignore the new poster's questions and wanted him to find the answers where he was going to look for them. It is tricky that way. </p>

<p>Ideally, ongoing discussions belong in "part 40" and topic specific posts belong in the topic ones and also find existing threads, before creating duplicates. I know when duplicates have existed, the moderator has tried to merge them. But I also think, if you stay on CC long enough (I have for three years!), you will notice even on all the other forums on here, that the same topics emerge over time in waves. I like to help new folks a lot but yes, sometimes it is very cumbersome to answer the same questions that have had long threads in the past, starting from scratch. I do see this happening on ALL discussion forums, not just this one. New people join in and then the topics all come up again. I'm not absolutely sure how this can be avoided. We can try to keep this message "out there" and there is the moderator's post at the top but some of this seems like the nature of the forums in general. </p>

<p>Susan</p>

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<p>Back in July, I created a post that stays at the top of the Musical Theater Forum which is titled: "For Those new to the Musical Theater Forum". It explains where to start and how to use this forum. </p>

<p>I am going to paste the content of that post here because it is being discussed here and so I want to make sure everyone has read it. See below:</p>

<p>07-29-2005, 09:40 PM * #1
CollegeMom
Moderator
*
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 291 </p>

<h2>Suggestions For Those New To The Musical Theater Forum </h2>

<p>Welcome to this forum if you are new to College Confidential and to the search and admissions process for musical theater college programs. A good place to start is to first click on the link at the top of this forum that will take you to the FAQ's, which was compiled by a wonderful musical theater student, Shauna. It covers many of the basics. Second, take a couple of hours and read back all the threads (or at least the topics that interest you) on this forum starting on the FIRST PAGE of threads as well as the ongoing general discussions entitled Colleges For Musical Theater Major (which is in PARTS and currently up to Part 40).</p>

<p>If you want to start a new thread, please first see if there is already a thread on that topic rather than start a second discussion on it. Just continue the thread already on that topic. That way all the information on a topic is together. General discussions tend to go in the threads "Colleges for Musical Theater Major Part X". The way you can find all 40 "PARTS" of the Colleges For Musical Theater Major threads is to go to the FAQ link and when you get there, look on the menu to the left of the page and pick the fourth link, titled "The Thread". There, Shauna has listed the links to all 40 parts of the ongoing discussion on musical theater colleges, as well as a link to all the current discussion which is now divided into topics. </p>

<p>For more information on how to search this forum and the topics go to the the FAQ link. Once there, click on the link on the left side of that page that says "Where Do I Start?" and it will explain other ways to find information on this forum as well as how to find information on the original (old) forum. </p>

<p>You might also find it useful to click on the third link on the left menu of the FAQ page that says "The Big List" because this is a list of musical theater programs which is a good resource to start when researching the BFA programs in this field. </p>

<p>You will find some very knowledgeable people on this forum including current theater college students, high school students involved in the college admissions process, parents of students who have already gone through the theater college admissions process and are in these programs currently, parents of students in the midst of the search/application/audition process, theater professionals, teachers, administrators and faculty from some college theater programs, and those well versed on the college admissions process. People help others and are very willing to share experiences. </p>

<p>Happy reading and hopefully posting....join us!</p>

<p>Your Moderator,
CollegeMom</p>

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<p>Thanks CollegeMom!!!</p>