My first post and just let me rant about discussions.apple.com

Gnarlodious

Hello, this is my forst post and glad to be here. I have finally quit the official Apple discussion board after something like 18 years. Here is my profile in case you wonder:
https://discussions.apple.com/profile/Gnarlodious

I was forced to log in this morning using a 2FA code, and that is really the last straw for me. Imagine a mere discussion board pretending they are a high security website. Now I realize Apple has armies of smart programmers that need to pump out the product to be useful, but you would think they could make the website a little more usable. Because ever since Steve died the discussions.apple.com website has gotten ever more pretentious and stratified. It is honestly barely usable, and I am pretty sure every knowledgeable helpful person has long since bailed out. It looks great though, kudos to Apple’s web programmers for a nice looking website.

I think what ruined it was the scoreboard system. Once you create a quantitative incentive suddenly it turns into a scramble to rack up the scorecard. So while discussions.apple.com has always had the scorecard system, after Steve died the numbers rose to be more important than the people. And it ruined the website.

bluecohones

I'm not a member of the apple forums, but if the foruns require the same ID as the one used for the app store and iCloud then it would make sense for them to require 2fa. 2FA is ususally used when you try to log into from a new computer or device, not every time. I'm not sure how Apple has implemented it.

If the forums are able to be logged in without 2FA and it took your iCloud username and password then it would be a big security breach. The forums could be used to do brute force/random logins and used to snoop for iCloud.

spheric

What you describe was the case before Steve died, as well. His death had no relevant effect on the climate of those boards. I bailed long before then. 

Encouraging a structure in which the exact same questions just keep getting asked — and answered — over and over and over and over, rather than encouraging people to think of it as an archival resource with a search function eventually leads to the departure of all but the most patient and the most ego-starved users. 

lkrupp

To me, the biggest problem with the Apple Discussion Forums is that many people think it is the official Apple support site where they can get action from Apple on their requests. People are always asking for refunds on purchases they claim they didn’t make.  Many people believe that those who respond to their questions are Apple employees. Explaining that the forums are designed for users to help each other and that Apple is not officially present on those forums often elicits angry responses. Regarding the scorecard system I believe that was rectified some time ago. You used to rise in the ranks based on the number of posts you made regardless of whether you actually helped someone. Now you only get points when a user marks your response as “helpful” or “solving” their issue. You also get points if Apple marks your response as suggested by Apple. Still the race is on to get responses and points from users with many responses being duplicates of earlier responses. Competing for points is common. 

mtlion2020

lkrupp said:

. Still the race is on to get responses and points from users with many responses being duplicates of earlier responses. Competing for points is common. 

what value is a point?
i left because of the login in and carelessness to problem seekers who wont follow up

lkrupp

mtlion2020 said:

lkrupp said:

. Still the race is on to get responses and points from users with many responses being duplicates of earlier responses. Competing for points is common. 

what value is a point?
i left because of the login in and carelessness to problem seekers who wont follow up

As your point count rises you are given access to private sections of the forums and certain privileges normal users don’t have. For example, I’m at level 5 right now and I sometimes get invitations to attend forum seminars and future community announcements. If I ever get to level 6 I gain access to a private area where I can communicate directly with actual Apple employees about issues and forum policies. There are also invitations to social get togethers in various parts of the country. the idea is to encourage participation and helpful responses to user problems or questions. As I said before you gain points when a user marks your response as having solved their problem (10 points) or marked as helpful (5 points). if the admins mark your response to a particular post as “Suggested by Apple” you get 7 points. Attending the aforementioned seminars or community meetings also gets you additional points. So the incentive is there to be active AND helpful to users who come with problems.