Was this a Good Way to Handle the Suggestions Thread?

[fantanoice]

Okay, so I was a particular forum that I often frequent (won't give the link), and on this forum they had a suggestions thread for people to, as you might guess, leave suggestions. I had, in the past, left messages in there which had sometimes been discussed with the memberbase, but never responded to by the staff, and the moment there was a new page in the thread the discussion was effectively forgotten. So, I said this:

Do the things posted in here actually get reviewed? It seems people debate it for, like, a page and then just gets forgotten without a resolution.

And, this was basically the conversation:

as for the reason we don't get back on some stuff, generally in some cases it's simply stuff the mods can't answer (often stuff dealing with the forum software itself), sometimes it's not really important enough to reply (for example unstickying threads), and sometimes we just forget about it entirely, sorry.

Okay, reasonable...

Forum software related stuff might be resolved with help from ADMIN though. He is literally able to change stuff at coding level if must (at least, if he knows what he's doing).

Then, the Admin chimes in with:

This is a suggestions thread, not my to-do list. If I really like an idea I'll do it, but the status quo is highly favored.

Now, I thought this was a bit weird, so I responded with some stuff that lead to a back-and-forth debate about the usefulness of a Suggestions thread if the stuff gets forgotten, or if the staff didn't even acknowledge it. I threw out recommendations, such as having a dedicated Suggestions/Feedback section to give suggestions the attention they deserve, and also suggesting that staff at least acknowledge when something is suggested.

The resolution, according to the Admin:

I'm not going to reply to every suggestion. This is a lousy system because I don't solicit people for suggestions and I didn't create this thread. Most technical stuff isn't going to change because I basically like how everything is right now. Users shouldn't expect technical suggestions to be implemented.

Given what I've said, I'm going to lock this thread. I don't want to continue to give people false hope when technical stuff isn't likely to change. PM rule suggestions and whatnot directly to the mods.

So, am I the only one who feels this was a very poor and unprofessional way to respond? To me, it was that he/she refused to take ideas on board which could improving the site, and instead stuck up their middle finger and said, "Screw you, I know best."

What do you think?

 

[kavin]

When i used to run forums, in would either do what's suggested, or say that i will work on it when time allows or just reject it with the reason why i think it can't be implemented.

When you own a forum, its your responsibility to reply to things directed at you. That admin's replies shows that he thinks himself above the community rather than a part of it.

 

[Scarface]

It was poor indeed, fair enough admin has the right to refuse suggestions and he should as well. If admin starts taking every suggestion on board, then he/she has no ideas of his own. But he should refuse in the nicest way possible, such as I do like the idea, but at this time we are unable to implement it reason being..... Simple as this, satisfied community, even without their suggestions being on board.

 

[Bluezone777]

It sounds to me this person has a god complex who thinks his forum is his temple and you are simply to obey and worship him without a second thought much less a first. I see the path you are taking will lead you to banishment most likely. He obviously missed the whole point behind creating a forum in the first place which is to build a community not a place of worship for the admin.

 

[Moonface]

I will agree that suggestions are never a to-do list. However, to outright ignore any and all suggestions because you want things your way sounds too selfish to me. Surely if a suggestion will help further your community, you'd consider it and implement it if it's reasonable. The impression I get is that the site in question is a place that runs on the ideal of "Don't like it, leave".

 

[fantanoice]

It sounds to me this person has a god complex who thinks his forum is his temple and you are simply to obey and worship him without a second thought much less a first. I see the path you are taking will lead you to banishment most likely. He obviously missed the whole point behind creating a forum in the first place which is to build a community not a place of worship for the admin.

The debate has pretty much been dropped now the thread has been locked and I don't intend to push it further, I just really disagree with this guy's decision. I'm not the only one who thinks either, but nobody seems to want to say anything so it's just a really lame ending.

I'm not leaving the site because I do really like the community there, but this has left me very concerned. I'm also amazed such an attitude exists on the forum considering it is fairly successful (the most popular one of its niche on the Internet as far as I am aware), like, you'd expect that from some sort of control freak who just wants a forum to feel like an important boss or something.

 

[Bluezone777]

Eventually that attitude will tear a forum apart no matter how good the community that is around it. I seen good communities be led by less then savory people and they always collapsed due to the bad leadership. It's only a matter of time. Oh well, enjoy it while you can before you get thrown out over something else or a riot starts when someone else steps on his toes and he starts throwing people out over it because they won't back down like you did. It's bound to happen with an attitude that he has over it.

 

[Reverie]

I feel that at forums if you're going to be an administrator, you're the person who must listen to each thought. A forum is a way to communicate. The forum is also for the many users who join. Perhaps they have a suggestion that many people would like... This suggestion being implemented could mean more people enjoying the community.

On my forum, I let a discussion go on as needed, read what all the members and staff think and go about it from there. I like to explain why we don't implement something or that we like the suggestion just not for that time perhaps. We LOVE suggestions, because that way we know what we're doing is pleasing the community or not.

The admin you had to deal with sounds like he doesn't really care - and that's not really the best type of admin. But I suppose it also matters on what kind of forum. Maybe in the past he has heard a repeated suggestion several times and he personally enjoys it a lot. It's something that will be hard for him to allow people to tell him he should change it. A forum is seriously the admin's art piece. We put our time and effort into it. But that doesn't give him a good enough reason to completely close the topic. If I was in a situation like that I would then take it to PM that way an actual conversation could be held.

 

[Migi]

I will agree that suggestions are never a to-do list.

Maybe in the past he has heard a repeated suggestion several times and he personally enjoys it a lot. It's something that will be hard for him to allow people to tell him he should change it. A forum is seriously the admin's art piece. We put our time and effort into it. But that doesn't give him a good enough reason to completely close the topic. If I was in a situation like that I would then take it to PM that way an actual conversation could be held.

Very interesting point of views. I wonder if there are other people thinking that way.

When I was still an administrator of my forum, I don't think I ever had a situation like that. The suggestions I rejected were mainly due to technical limitation as the forum was on a free host, but I liked the other suggestions and I was happy that members enjoyed it too when I implemented it.

I guess as the community grows, with more brains and hearts involved in the community, this becomes one of the challenges to get through. From the story in first post I agree that the administrator made an arrogant reply, but I also agree with quotes above. Each administration must have had their goals and ideals, and those may not be the same image the members have. So there should be understanding from both parties that the management should accommodate the community's opinions, but at the same time the community should also honor the limitation and plans of the management. It must be discussed with cool heads, really, otherwise it can potentially turn into a war.