Too much time on their hands

So a thread at Digitalpoint went into “firestorm” mode, when one of the moderators was accused of running a series of scraper sites - by someone else who runs their own network of scraper sites.

What’s a scraper site? Simply put, sites created solely with the aim of using content copied from other sites (either directory through publishing RSS feeds, or else through using a script to take content from sites).

After 521 posts and nearly 25,000 page views, the thread was finally closed.

One of the problems with online forums is that there is informed opinion, and there is simply opinion. Signal, and noise, as it may be more suitably called.

Some people are good at providing signal - information that is useful to others. Too many are good at generating noise.

When I look at a 59 page thread of 521 posts, all about noise, I have to wonder that some people simply have too much time on their hands, instead of using it constructively.

After all, the signal on webmaster forums provides information on how to help turn websites into businesses. If you spend more time posting opinion, than reading - and putting into practice - useful informed opinion, then you’re really not getting the best from being a webmaster.