Should we merge the complaints and compliments section into other section?

[mouser]

I think this came up before but i can't find the original post..

I'm thinking it would be better for us to merge this Complaints and Compliments section into the Living Room and General Software sections.

Here's my reasoning:

• All things being equal I think it's better to have fewer sections, resulting in less divided attention, especially if the information is of general interest.
• Having a specific Complaints section feels like it's only a matter of time before we have to start dealing with people feeling like their company is being unfairly singled out and accused of something they aren't guilty of.  I think it's important that this forum be a place where people can complain and call out bad practices, but i just think having a specific section for it means we would have a higher responsibility to try to objectively assess claims, since they will basically be sitting here on the front page of the section for long periods of time.  I can see how a company would feel like it was unfair if we left up a negative comment for a long time that they felt was unfounded.
• Maybe a better way to say it is that having a specific section for complaints seems to elevate the complaint to a higher level, one that i'm not sure is appropriate.

Thoughts?

Please keep in mind -- I don't want to discourage anyone from posting complaints about companies -- i think we can serve an important role in keeping companies honest and behaving well.  I just think we might be better off without a specific separate forum devoted to this.

[tomos]

agreed

There's often posts in the living room or even the software section that could be moved here but it serves no real purpose (I think)

[cranioscopical]

I think it's better to have fewer sections, resulting in less divided attention
having a specific section for complaints seems to elevate the complaint to a higher level, one that i'm not sure is appropriate.

-mouser (June 20, 2010, 01:36 PM)

I strongly agree.
I believe that if somebody feels strongly enough on an issue that person will find a way to let the rest of us know.
To my mind, a separate section implies that DC is trying to assume some kind of supervisory role — I can't believe that it is.
My own feeling is that a specific section almost invites complaints.

Without this section, I think that likes and dislikes are more likely to end up in relevant topics where context will give them greater meaning.
There are plenty of other ways and other places to express and to seek complaints and plaudits.

[Deozaan]

I'm adding a new post to the complaints section about DonationCoder.com trying to get rid of my favorite subsection of the forum!!!11111



I probably (ab)use the Complaints and Compliments section the most, and quite honestly in regard to its fate I'm indifferent.

I probably wouldn't complain so much if there wasn't a section specifically for it. So maybe that's a vote to get rid/merge it.

[barney]

Not certain I contribute enough to qualify for an opinion, but I concur.  As has been mentioned, having a locale for such exposition is likely to promote exposition that otherwise would either not be made, or be made in a thread-specific locale, rendering - to my mind - the exposition more cogent and potent.

Just a thought.

[J-Mac]

I am OK with whichever way you decide to go. It has been kinda fun watching the history of the Complaint forum; at times I can remember either mouser or a moderator saying that some complaints shouldn’t be in a general forum but instead in a complaint forum. Of course once the Complaint forum was created, mouser, you did express regret about it on more than a few occasions. It does seem to nag at you and so I think you should do away with it. I think it will tend to reduce the number of complaints, or at least the spotlighting of the complaints. Which may be a good thing or not, depending on your point of view!

How about the Compliments portion of the forum? Is that also better served by merging it into the other forums? Just curious.   

Thanks!

Jim

[steeladept]

Personally, I don't care either way. I generally read by looking at the new posts regardless of where it is on the forum. It is only when I start a new post, from scratch, that I even look at the categories. I wouldn't be surprised if that is the way most people view this forum. Because of this, I don't know that it will achieve your purposes of reducing "liability" as it were, but it would make the category harder to find for the casual complainer.

[wraith808]

Personally, I don't care either way. I generally read by looking at the new posts regardless of where it is on the forum. It is only when I start a new post, from scratch, that I even look at the categories. I wouldn't be surprised if that is the way most people view this forum. Because of this, I don't know that it will achieve your purposes of reducing "liability" as it were, but it would make the category harder to find for the casual complainer.

-steeladept (June 21, 2010, 07:15 AM)

+1.  I don't even know where posts are most of the time...

[JavaJones]

Personally, I don't care either way. I generally read by looking at the new posts regardless of where it is on the forum. It is only when I start a new post, from scratch, that I even look at the categories. I wouldn't be surprised if that is the way most people view this forum. Because of this, I don't know that it will achieve your purposes of reducing "liability" as it were, but it would make the category harder to find for the casual complainer.

-steeladept (June 21, 2010, 07:15 AM)

+1.  I don't even know where posts are most of the time...

-wraith808 (June 21, 2010, 09:52 AM)

+1 as well.

- Oshyan

[superboyac]

I agree.  HOWEVER...
having the sections makes it easier to find things if you need to browse.  in other words, sometimes if you don't know exactly what you are looking for and you don't know which keywords to search for, it might be really hard to find something.  That's my only comment about this.  Otherwise, it's a good idea.

In other forums, the members are usually pretty snarky about duplicate posts.  Sometimes you'll start a new thread, and the response will be "This has already been discussed before".  I hate that.  But I don't see that happening here, so I say go for fewer sections.