TSR Sucks Now: What's Wrong & How To Fix It
There is no question that TSR is not what it used to be, but in the recent months it feels like it has well and truly lost much of what once made it special. I'm not the first to say it, not will I be the last, but it's fairly clear that TSR has gone down the tubes. What was once a forum that championed debate, wittiness and the exchange of ideas has now become a stagnant cesspool of patchy, mediocre website now fuelled by profit. Mods now have little power, whilst almost everything is dealt with via CT. Discussion has been replaced by an abundance of AMA threads. And now the rep system is in complete disarray.
These are but some of the issues TSR now faces. With the intent of getting the attention of those in charge of TSR, this thread aims to outline where it went wrong and what can be done to redeem this floundering website.
Problems:
The most common problems TSR faces now is the multitude of AMA (Ask Me Anything) threads, or threads enquiring about ‘who is the hottest/funniest/loveliest/smartest/coolest TSR member’. The ass-kissing nature of these threads, and the sheer abundance of them which has skyrocketed in the past year, has undoubtedly been caused by limiting all the miscellaneous posts into one forum: Chat. The reason why Chat is full of such crap nowadays is because TSR tightened its posting policies on posting. Before, you could get away with posting moderately humour responses to otherwise serious topics provided it stayed on topic, usually with an image or short phrase.
Now it's become so strict that if you sneeze in the wrong direction you get carded. TSR ruined itself when it sold out to advertising firms, and as a result there are now stricter regulations than ever. As a result, the one haven for posting off-the-wall things is Chat. But that too will eventually be done away with, since TSR wants a 'friendly, happy, hold-hands-and-sing-kumbaya-around-the-campfire' atmosphere, with some members even calling for its removal: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3498675
Other members have even called for a filter on members posting threads based on its title:
Threads made as a response to the poor moderation system have been harshly criticised by mods, such as these:
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3360249
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3007311
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3359897
TSR’s attempts to appeal to a younger generation without considering its older, veteran members, also prompted the downward spiral. TSR attempted to become ‘happy’ and ‘friendly’ to the point that it began to treat its members like children, handing out disciplines in a patronising and clownish manner. At the same time, there are minor wordings that reinforce the idea that the site is cattering to a younger audience, eg. 'My Community Record'.
The ever-growing swathe of younger members, predominantly those younger than 15, has also contributed to the large gap between members that has further added to a sense of isolation growing with the TSR community. Where once members were able to know and recognise familiar names, there are now close to 9,000 members online at any one time, increasing to 15,000 during busier periods of the day. That may not sound impressive, but the jump between what TSR used to hold and what it deals with now is a phenomenal leap in traffic. In fact, last Wednesday the site went down completely:
Perhaps worst of all is the way the rep system has been altered. The removal of the neg rep, as well as the recent removal of the rep cap, has also completely erased the meaning and worth of reputation. Any suggestions of powerless neg rep was shouted down as unproductive/not ‘nice enough’. And limitless repping is now going to boost the amount of thumbs up in any thread, making it pointless to even read responses as everyone will be fishing. Next I assume they’ll probably get rid of PRSOM. If that happens, rep is well and truly worthless. And let’s face it, TSR’s only unique and redeeming feature was rep.
But maybe a more harrowing truth exists: perhaps we’ve simply exhausted all and every resource that anything original has now diminished, and with it the prospect of a forum that was unique. There’s no point pretending that TSR has any sense of hierarchy anymore, nor should we lie to ourselves that we didn’t care about feeling ‘one up’ above others with the rep system. We did, let’s face it. And perhaps there was a need for removing the neg rep to make the site more equal. But no matter what, the expansion of TSR has ultimately led to its own downfall.
All of this and more has contributed to a feeling that TSR has been dumbed down. The site has lost its edge, more specifically its sense of uniqueness. We can't block new members or stop the stem of TSR's popularity, but what we can do is prevent TSR's future going down the drain completely.
Solutions:
Since someone else will moan that all I’ve done is list the problems TSR faces, here’s what we can do to fix it:
• Stop this ‘make TSR a friendly place’ BS for for ****’s sake. And that isn’t me saying stop making TSR a friendly place; I mean the false, ‘everyone must be happy all the time’ visage created by the mods and welcoming squad. It’s sickening and degrading to us all. Most of us are at least 18, some 16. I don’t think we need a trigger warning every time someone uses the f-word. On top of that, members shouldn't be expected to like or agree with other members. Its a forum, not a playground.
• Reduce the decay rate of cards. The mods/CT won’t get rid of cards and go back to warning points, so we might as well deal with it. But 4 months for posting a joke, or accidentally posting in the wrong forum, or excessively swearing is ridiculous. Reforming the moderation system will make it easier on mods and reduce the chances of giving someone an overly-harsh card or ban. On top of that, it’s less likely to wrongly ban the average member over a troll.
• Don’t make discussing warning points against the rules. The lack of transparency makes it easier for members to be banned without credible cause, and it reduces the chances of the warning system being abused/things being swept under the rug.
• Make a forum for all these AMA threads/threads which pertain to other members, eg. ‘Who’s the coolest member ever?’. And if someone accidentally posts it in chat then just move it to that subforum. Let that waste fester somewhere where its not infecting the rest of the site. Equally, change the structure of the TSR homepage by having a new way of ordering threads. We already have 'Editors Pick', 'Trending' and 'Latest Discussion'. The next step is a 'New Chat' option. It reduces the Chat forum clogging up the home page.
• XcitingStuart has made an interesting suggestion on a thread here. The idea is that we should have different types of rep for different posts that can reduce the minor problem of members getting repped for posting only witty remarks within the first five seconds of a new thread. This could see members giving the same amount of rep but giving a different kind of rep, eg. +2 would instead be +2 Witty, or +2 Constructive. That's more an embroynic idea that needs more thought though. Aph has also suggested Global rep to give members an overall rep count as well as rep for different forums here.
• Start taking criticism from members seriously, and don’t just ignore them for being ‘unconstructive’. Maybe actually pay attention to when someone calls out the problems on TSR. Censoring criticism on this site has for a long time been a problem that has only led to older members leaving. Maybe now TSR will listen as even mods have voiced concerns.
These are but some ways in which TSR suffers, and but some of the ways we can help it. We can't restore it to its former glory, CT would never allow it. But we can modify the current system to better improve it for both veteran members and new members alike.
These are but some of the issues TSR now faces. With the intent of getting the attention of those in charge of TSR, this thread aims to outline where it went wrong and what can be done to redeem this floundering website.
Problems:
The most common problems TSR faces now is the multitude of AMA (Ask Me Anything) threads, or threads enquiring about ‘who is the hottest/funniest/loveliest/smartest/coolest TSR member’. The ass-kissing nature of these threads, and the sheer abundance of them which has skyrocketed in the past year, has undoubtedly been caused by limiting all the miscellaneous posts into one forum: Chat. The reason why Chat is full of such crap nowadays is because TSR tightened its posting policies on posting. Before, you could get away with posting moderately humour responses to otherwise serious topics provided it stayed on topic, usually with an image or short phrase.
Now it's become so strict that if you sneeze in the wrong direction you get carded. TSR ruined itself when it sold out to advertising firms, and as a result there are now stricter regulations than ever. As a result, the one haven for posting off-the-wall things is Chat. But that too will eventually be done away with, since TSR wants a 'friendly, happy, hold-hands-and-sing-kumbaya-around-the-campfire' atmosphere, with some members even calling for its removal: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3498675
Other members have even called for a filter on members posting threads based on its title:
Original post by spotify95
On a serious note, I do report the threads I see - however I was wondering if there was a better way of resolving this, i.e. not allowing them to post in the first place? Thanks a lot for continuing to sort it out for me Hopefully one day we'll never have to worry about spam ever again
Threads made as a response to the poor moderation system have been harshly criticised by mods, such as these:
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3360249
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3007311
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3359897
TSR’s attempts to appeal to a younger generation without considering its older, veteran members, also prompted the downward spiral. TSR attempted to become ‘happy’ and ‘friendly’ to the point that it began to treat its members like children, handing out disciplines in a patronising and clownish manner. At the same time, there are minor wordings that reinforce the idea that the site is cattering to a younger audience, eg. 'My Community Record'.
The ever-growing swathe of younger members, predominantly those younger than 15, has also contributed to the large gap between members that has further added to a sense of isolation growing with the TSR community. Where once members were able to know and recognise familiar names, there are now close to 9,000 members online at any one time, increasing to 15,000 during busier periods of the day. That may not sound impressive, but the jump between what TSR used to hold and what it deals with now is a phenomenal leap in traffic. In fact, last Wednesday the site went down completely:
Spoiler
Perhaps worst of all is the way the rep system has been altered. The removal of the neg rep, as well as the recent removal of the rep cap, has also completely erased the meaning and worth of reputation. Any suggestions of powerless neg rep was shouted down as unproductive/not ‘nice enough’. And limitless repping is now going to boost the amount of thumbs up in any thread, making it pointless to even read responses as everyone will be fishing. Next I assume they’ll probably get rid of PRSOM. If that happens, rep is well and truly worthless. And let’s face it, TSR’s only unique and redeeming feature was rep.
But maybe a more harrowing truth exists: perhaps we’ve simply exhausted all and every resource that anything original has now diminished, and with it the prospect of a forum that was unique. There’s no point pretending that TSR has any sense of hierarchy anymore, nor should we lie to ourselves that we didn’t care about feeling ‘one up’ above others with the rep system. We did, let’s face it. And perhaps there was a need for removing the neg rep to make the site more equal. But no matter what, the expansion of TSR has ultimately led to its own downfall.
All of this and more has contributed to a feeling that TSR has been dumbed down. The site has lost its edge, more specifically its sense of uniqueness. We can't block new members or stop the stem of TSR's popularity, but what we can do is prevent TSR's future going down the drain completely.
Solutions:
Since someone else will moan that all I’ve done is list the problems TSR faces, here’s what we can do to fix it:
• Stop this ‘make TSR a friendly place’ BS for for ****’s sake. And that isn’t me saying stop making TSR a friendly place; I mean the false, ‘everyone must be happy all the time’ visage created by the mods and welcoming squad. It’s sickening and degrading to us all. Most of us are at least 18, some 16. I don’t think we need a trigger warning every time someone uses the f-word. On top of that, members shouldn't be expected to like or agree with other members. Its a forum, not a playground.
• Reduce the decay rate of cards. The mods/CT won’t get rid of cards and go back to warning points, so we might as well deal with it. But 4 months for posting a joke, or accidentally posting in the wrong forum, or excessively swearing is ridiculous. Reforming the moderation system will make it easier on mods and reduce the chances of giving someone an overly-harsh card or ban. On top of that, it’s less likely to wrongly ban the average member over a troll.
• Don’t make discussing warning points against the rules. The lack of transparency makes it easier for members to be banned without credible cause, and it reduces the chances of the warning system being abused/things being swept under the rug.
• Make a forum for all these AMA threads/threads which pertain to other members, eg. ‘Who’s the coolest member ever?’. And if someone accidentally posts it in chat then just move it to that subforum. Let that waste fester somewhere where its not infecting the rest of the site. Equally, change the structure of the TSR homepage by having a new way of ordering threads. We already have 'Editors Pick', 'Trending' and 'Latest Discussion'. The next step is a 'New Chat' option. It reduces the Chat forum clogging up the home page.
• XcitingStuart has made an interesting suggestion on a thread here. The idea is that we should have different types of rep for different posts that can reduce the minor problem of members getting repped for posting only witty remarks within the first five seconds of a new thread. This could see members giving the same amount of rep but giving a different kind of rep, eg. +2 would instead be +2 Witty, or +2 Constructive. That's more an embroynic idea that needs more thought though. Aph has also suggested Global rep to give members an overall rep count as well as rep for different forums here.
• Start taking criticism from members seriously, and don’t just ignore them for being ‘unconstructive’. Maybe actually pay attention to when someone calls out the problems on TSR. Censoring criticism on this site has for a long time been a problem that has only led to older members leaving. Maybe now TSR will listen as even mods have voiced concerns.
These are but some ways in which TSR suffers, and but some of the ways we can help it. We can't restore it to its former glory, CT would never allow it. But we can modify the current system to better improve it for both veteran members and new members alike.
Scroll to see replies
u mad?
TSR was never good ever.
Posted from TSR Mobile
Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by aamirac
*looks to the right*
*sees AMA trending*
*sees AMA trending*
It's my own right?
Original post by PeakBellCurve II
It's my own right?
I will never understand the reason behind AMA's
when I was new here, I used to get plenty of warnings about single smiley posts
maybe people who only post gifs outside of Chat should get cards
maybe people who only post gifs outside of Chat should get cards
Original post by aamirac
I will never understand the reason behind AMA's
It's because they have interesting things to say that the askers don't.
Original post by + polarity -
when I was new here, I used to get plenty of warnings about single smiley posts
maybe people who only post gifs outside of Chat should get cards
maybe people who only post gifs outside of Chat should get cards
They do. Or at least they did until CT handed all modding privileges over to only admin level members. Probably explains why so much crap gets unreported.
Original post by PeakBellCurve II
Here's the solution to your problem.
And everything would be restored to its natural order.
Spoiler
And everything would be restored to its natural order.
Well there are plenty of old members who I would like back, but unfortunately TSR would never allow it. I don't even know if you can unban a permanently banned member anyway.
Original post by Evening
Well there are plenty of old members who I would like back, but unfortunately TSR would never allow it. I don't even know if you can unban a permanently banned member anyway.
I don't see why not.
Posted from TSR Mobile
Thanks Evening - this is a really interesting read 
In your post you point out that TSR is far more popular now than it was in the past, I don't see that as a problem, it's a good thing. It does bring challenges that we need to deal with, you are right. But more people using TSR means more knowledge being shared, which makes the community more useful.
I can assure you that we do take criticism seriously. We can't act on every individual request of course, but where we can we do act. For instance, we have had many calls for the app to be improved, and that is now something on our plan.
I really like your idea for changing the rep system to expand it out to witty, constructive etc.
I don't think TSR being friendly is a bad thing - or actually that different to the past. I've been here for 3 years now and it really doesn't feel that different to when I first started... Welcome Squad is confined to the newbie posts anyway (and is less active now).
One correction - all moderation is done by the Community Team now and has been for the last few months. We hardly give out any major warnings or bans compared to the size of the community. In fact, over the years, TSR has become more lenient. If anyone feels they are receiving a lot of cards, it is because they are breaking the rules, not because we are giving out more. The rules haven't actually changed in the last 3-4 years either.
Also, members have been asking for some time about being able to personalise TSR more, and that is now a major project being worked on to come soon...
In your post you point out that TSR is far more popular now than it was in the past, I don't see that as a problem, it's a good thing. It does bring challenges that we need to deal with, you are right. But more people using TSR means more knowledge being shared, which makes the community more useful.
Original post by Evening
• XcitingStuart has made an interesting suggestion on a thread here. The idea is that we should have different types of rep for different posts that can reduce the minor problem of members getting repped for posting only witty remarks within the first five seconds of a new thread. This could see members giving the same amount of rep but giving a different kind of rep, eg. +2 would instead be +2 Witty, or +2 Constructive. That's more an embroynic idea that needs more thought though. Aph has also suggested Global rep to give members an overall rep count as well as rep for different forums here.
• Start taking criticism from members seriously, and don’t just ignore them for being ‘unconstructive’. Maybe actually pay attention to when someone calls out the problems on TSR. Censoring criticism on this site has for a long time been a problem that has only led to older members leaving. Maybe now TSR will listen as even mods have voiced concerns.
• XcitingStuart has made an interesting suggestion on a thread here. The idea is that we should have different types of rep for different posts that can reduce the minor problem of members getting repped for posting only witty remarks within the first five seconds of a new thread. This could see members giving the same amount of rep but giving a different kind of rep, eg. +2 would instead be +2 Witty, or +2 Constructive. That's more an embroynic idea that needs more thought though. Aph has also suggested Global rep to give members an overall rep count as well as rep for different forums here.
• Start taking criticism from members seriously, and don’t just ignore them for being ‘unconstructive’. Maybe actually pay attention to when someone calls out the problems on TSR. Censoring criticism on this site has for a long time been a problem that has only led to older members leaving. Maybe now TSR will listen as even mods have voiced concerns.
I can assure you that we do take criticism seriously. We can't act on every individual request of course, but where we can we do act. For instance, we have had many calls for the app to be improved, and that is now something on our plan.
I really like your idea for changing the rep system to expand it out to witty, constructive etc.
I don't think TSR being friendly is a bad thing - or actually that different to the past. I've been here for 3 years now and it really doesn't feel that different to when I first started... Welcome Squad is confined to the newbie posts anyway (and is less active now).
One correction - all moderation is done by the Community Team now and has been for the last few months. We hardly give out any major warnings or bans compared to the size of the community. In fact, over the years, TSR has become more lenient. If anyone feels they are receiving a lot of cards, it is because they are breaking the rules, not because we are giving out more. The rules haven't actually changed in the last 3-4 years either.
Also, members have been asking for some time about being able to personalise TSR more, and that is now a major project being worked on to come soon...
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by + polarity -
maybe people who only post gifs outside of Chat should get cards
Smilies, emoticons and Gifs are the language of the internet these days - I can't see why they would be a problem anywhere.
Original post by Dylann
People should stop using the "latest discussions" (homepage) to judge TSR. Go to the forum section and select a relevant subforum, you will find threads that might not be as popular as the "Chat" threads, but you'll find more genuine and interesting discussions.
This is good advice. We're hopefully going to be working on ways to make the homepage/latest discussions content more relevant for individuals.
In the meantime if there's a forum/subforum you're interested in you can add it to your bookmarks here to add it to the tab under 'My TSR' so you can easily go back and check back for new discussions there. That's how I use the site anyway.
Moderation is much better since the CT have managed moderation alone. I don't receive random blue cards for disagreeing with people. My guess that some mods exceeded their rights and gave cards to anybody who had different opinions was probably right. Now I almost have a clean state, whilst I nearly forgot what that means.
Otherwise, I indeed think the website is mostly aimed at gcse and A-level students. It should be "the pupil room". Postgraduate studies look a bit abandoned.
It's somewhat silly, with a good postgrad care, TSR could retain its members for a longer time.
Otherwise, I indeed think the website is mostly aimed at gcse and A-level students. It should be "the pupil room". Postgraduate studies look a bit abandoned.
It's somewhat silly, with a good postgrad care, TSR could retain its members for a longer time.
(edited 8 years ago)
Hey @Josb,
Actually right now we're working on the PG forums. Craghyrax has worked on a plan with the Unis team and CT to do more - it's something that we've wanted to do for a while and can finally act on it. If you check out the Postgrad forums, there are a few additions and Craggy has some really exciting ideas for the future of that area. (Please note, we're still refining them so they aren't even in their final form - yet, bro).
There's a big project in the works to bring more focus to universities - there'll be more about that from CT soon.
Now that we've got more people power on the unis team, and more TSR staff time aimed at us, the only way is up.
Actually right now we're working on the PG forums. Craghyrax has worked on a plan with the Unis team and CT to do more - it's something that we've wanted to do for a while and can finally act on it. If you check out the Postgrad forums, there are a few additions and Craggy has some really exciting ideas for the future of that area. (Please note, we're still refining them so they aren't even in their final form - yet, bro).
There's a big project in the works to bring more focus to universities - there'll be more about that from CT soon.
Now that we've got more people power on the unis team, and more TSR staff time aimed at us, the only way is up.
Original post by Josb
Moderation is much better since the CT have managed moderation alone. I don't receive random blue cards for disagreeing with people. My guess that some mods exceeded their rights and gave cards to anybody who had different opinions was probably right. Now I almost have a clean state, whilst I nearly forgot what that means.
Otherwise, I indeed think the website is mostly aimed at gcse and A-level students. It should be "the pupil room". Postgraduate studies look a bit abandoned.
It's somewhat silly, with a good postgrad care, TSR could retain its members for a longer time.
Otherwise, I indeed think the website is mostly aimed at gcse and A-level students. It should be "the pupil room". Postgraduate studies look a bit abandoned.
It's somewhat silly, with a good postgrad care, TSR could retain its members for a longer time.
We just made two new Postgrad forums yesterday
Postgraduate became Postgraduate Applications. They're still being finished off but they're there:Postgraduate Applications
Postgraduate Study
Postgraduate Support
It's true that our biggest subjects tend to be GCSE and A-levels, A-level results advice in particular is what the site is really known for outside of of the core userbase.
But that doesn't mean that we don't care about other areas/levels of study Edit: Fish gave a better reply
(edited 8 years ago)
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