Death of the Dance

[rogerd]

I've been following the death of the Google Dance thread, which rightly focuses on the technical implications of Google's changes. Early on, though, Brett makes a good point about how the dance was a big contributor to Google's mind-share among a broad spectrum of web users and the public.

How will our community here be affected by these changes? Certainly, many new members joined to take part in dance-tracking. Gigantic update threads were spawned, and the Google News topic became so popular that it was necessary to add premoderation. Beyond the obvious effects, there was a sociological effect here - a sort of monthly work/social cycle that followed a mostly predictable rhythym, culminating in a party-like frenzy when the update started.

For better or for worse, WebmasterWorld rode the dance popularity wave along with Google. What changes do we anticipate here? Actually, perhaps some of our observant mod/adming group are already seeing changes... comments/

[John_Caius]

In the old days, the most common question was "when will the next update be?" - a question we couldn't answer.

Now, the most common question is "why won't dmoz list my site?" - a question we can't answer either.

No change there then... ;)

[The Contractor]

How will our community here be affected by these changes?

I believe the keyword density for the forum as a whole has dropped by 10,000% for "my site", "me too", "PR", "help googleguy", etc.... ;)

On a serious note - I always found very little value to the threads as all comments were based on speculation during the actual update. After the update we could all see what changed. There are so-many "industries" represented online and many posters only focused on their particular site/industry positions, and failed to actually see what was behind the changes they were seeing.

Glad to them go :)

My 2-cents

[trillianjedi]

I agree with the Contractor. Or in other words:-

Me too!

Glad to see the back of the "update" threads. If anything the traffic around here is likely to get spread out a little more over the month, which is better for all of us and at least makes it possible to read some of the postings.

TJ

[Andrew Thomas]

No more 'has the dance started' followed by hundreds of (mostly) useless posts

More free bandwidth

More time for quality posts

sounds good to me

[Sinner_G]

Have to agree with all so far. The end of the Google Dance has brought a lessening of the noise level and thus a better average quality.

[rogerd]

I agree about the dance-related noise, and welcome the absence of "me too" posts... but has this been replaced by other kinds of noise? I haven't heard that it's time to end premoderation in forum 4.

[Imaster]

I think there will not be much difference in the popularity of WW. The google update threads were mostly a me-too type ones and after being here for a few months, I have learnt that there are so many equally interesting topics :)

With WW, I always feel safe. In case of any queries or if I am stuck in some internet related problem, it's just a matter of a couple of minutes before someone reads my post and answers :)

[dragonlady7]

imaster-- me too!
I didn't come to WebmasterWorld because of the google dance, and I have never really been that interested in that forum. WebmasterWorld is uniquely useful because it is so high-traffic and so full of different people with different knowledge. The lack of a Google dance may reduce the traffic, but doesn't reduce the quality posts on other topics, which are what i was attracted to in the first place.

[dvduval]

I must admit that my posting has decreased because:
1) There is no dance
2) All Google News posts are premoderated
3) Threads that I'm participating in are sometimes completely removed from the forums for several hours (I suppose for moderation).

I work pretty hard to attain good SERPS and the dance is always an exciting time to see how my work has paid off.

The combination of no dance and it being flat out difficult to participate has lessened my experience here. BTW, I was never one of those people who who made scores of posts on the dance threads.

[dvduval]

With the death of the dance and the addition of the Google Adsense forum, there has certainly been an increase in the focus toward commercialism with Google and less focus on pure Search Engine Optimization.

[rogerd]

Threads that I'm participating in are sometimes completely removed from the forums for several hours

What the heck are you saying in those threads, DvDuval? ;) I don't think I've observed this phenomenon...

[dvduval]

I would give you an answer, but I believe issues concerning moderation are not allowed to be discussed.

[rogerd]

Good point, dvduval. ;) Just don't be saying that kind of stuff in here...

[mil2k]

As well as I am happy to see the noise level decrease in Forum3 I have observed some downfalls of this Pre Moderation practice but would not comment on it for precisely the same reasons as dvduval.

[Liane]

How will our community here be affected by these changes?

IMHO, the next "big" topic is going to be all about Yahoo/Ink. I still think Google made a big mistake with the end of the monthly update as we know it. They have left the door wide open for Yahoo to steal their thunder once a month (or however often Ink decides to implement their update) because all eyes will be focused on Yahoo now.

So what changes will take place at WebmasterWorld? Not much ... but just watch how the focus from the Google forum switches over to the Yahoo forum!

It won't take too long either ... In fact, I think it has already begun.

Pssst, jump in anytime YahooGuy! ;)