Your Opinion On Dr1

NALs

Economist by Profession
Jan 20, 2003
13,370
3,150
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I'm just wondering, what exactly do people like about DR1 and what do they don't like?

Example:

Do you like the fact that you can express your ideas, swap valuable information, learn more about the DR, etc.

Do you feel that DR1 should be more accepting of people's comments?

Do you feel that DR1 handles its threads in a good manner? dictatorial? biased? balanced?

What good experiences have you had with DR1?

What bothers you the most about DR1?

Do you think DR1 is a good example of democratic fashion of expressing one's ideas or do you think from time to time moderator might get a bit picky on what can be posted?

Just wondering why this site is so popular!
 

Jozee74

New member
Sep 3, 2004
290
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It has its good as well as bad

I personally like the tourist information you can get here, in an instant they can give you arlines, hotels, and cab info, tell you where the best beaches and the best nightclubs you can go to.

I also think that this site puts a blind fold on how alot of dominicans born and raised are living. you always here about the poor, the hookers, the sankies etc......

And Honestly they do limit the choice of expressing your opinions. although there are SOME that get away with it. that is my viewing and I have only been on for a few months.
 

Robert

Stay Frosty!
Jan 2, 1999
20,574
341
83
dr1.com
This should get interesting :)

If anyone is thinking of making this personal, don't bother.

We are always open to feedback, good or bad.
Ultimately, this is what makes DR what it is, today and molds our future.

Why are we so popular?
We have been around a long time and we have always taken a very active role in the site and the message board.
We try and produce products that our audience want and use.
Our news has a very large and broad readership, it?s concise, well regarded and used as a source by many of our peers and other businesses.
1,000?s of inbound links and 1,000?s of pages in the search engines helps as well.

We are always open to feedback, good or bad. We are not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but we focus on the majority?s needs and desires.

Ok, I?ll shut up now ;)
 

Larry

Gold
Mar 22, 2002
3,513
2
0
The best thing about DR1 is the great network of people involved in it. After meeting alot of the people who post on here, you discover what a jewel this message board really is.

Larry
 

Jersey Devil

Bronze
Jul 5, 2002
686
0
16
Amistad

I have had great contacts with some board members via emails, pms and posts. I have met only Dr 1 member in person but that is more due to my
work and family schedules than anything else.

I have also learned so much more about the Dominican Republic that sometimes people around me think I am Dominican.

Also I have to admit that I am sometimes addicted to the arcade. Damn Terry has beaten my again. LOL.

All the best,

JD
 

Squat

Tropical geek in Las Terrenas
Jan 1, 2002
2,239
168
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I do enjoy DR1; been browsing the site for 4 years...
Enjoyed some well documented posts such as Nalowhs; or especially Golo...
News are great; I read them in spanish in the morning; and in english around tea time...
Overall great job...
 

Freemo

New member
May 26, 2003
314
14
0
Its like a family

Dont laugh but its like listening to and being part of a massive family. Everyone has at least one thing in common, the DR. Many times I've thought that replies were a bit caustic, but then the advice given is almost always meant to be in the best interests of the person asking the question. Bickering is another family trait that enhances the overall effect of a close and friendly community.

It seems that when you thought you'd heard it all before, something new and interesting crops ups again and you're able to file away another bit of in-house, or should I say in-island knowledge.

I like the way the long term posters refer to each other affectionately.
I get the feeling that I know a lot of the members very well and would be able to approach them without fear of rejection when the day finally comes to make the move from the UK to DR. I only hope Criss CCCCCCCCCCCCC lives up to his larger than life persona, he seems to be such a character.

Logging on and reading EVERY thread that you've missed since last logging on is a must. It's like a fix. Imagine if you'd missed something someone had said about how the stray dogs manage to each an entire chicken carcass and not choke to death, you'd never forgive yourself, would you.

By the way, how do they manage to do that ?, in the UK dog owners would recoil in horror at the thought of their lovely little pooch coming across even one bone let alone a complete skeleton.

Well, as a dedicated background lurker I can honestly say that I have never seen a message board that comes within a million miles of this one. It has real personality.

Buy for now and keep the messages flowing.

Paul
 

Mr_DR

Silver
May 12, 2002
2,506
60
0
This board is addicting and most of the times people post comments that makes me laugh, I always look for threads and posts that gets AZB going...lol
 

jrzyguy

Bronze
May 5, 2004
1,832
22
0
Yes....this board is VERY addicting.

I like hearing all the information and local politics going on there. I also like giving first timers some advise after traveling regularly to the DR for about 5 years. I like hearing the stories of the ex-pats living there...as it is my dream to finaly find enough $$ to actualy buy there and spend time traveling every inch of the island.

I REALLY like reading anything polical on here....as I can debate talk about dominican politics with my closeted dominican man. (I REALLY doubt any of his other gringo friends know who hipo & leonel is).

I also love any discussion about bachatta here. Believe it or not it IS catching on here in NYC...there was just a big concert at Radio City and there was something on the morning news on FOX about what's hot in the latin community. And some gringo down the street the other day was blasting bachatta in his truck like a bocho....and i HAD to go over and ask him who he was listening to. "he's bachatta" lol...he had no clue..but he was digging it:)

I guess...bottom line...this board helps keeps me in my domincan spirit. I am half mexican 1/2 scottish.....very tall and look more scottish than mex or latin....but my travels to the DR..AND this board has really helped me embrace the latino within me.

THANKS!
 

Ricardo900

Silver
Jul 12, 2004
3,269
37
48
I read an online newspaper article about the Dominican Republic and they listed some of the government agencies phone #'s and they listed DR1 as the OFFICIAL website of the Dominican Republic.
 

BushBaby

Silver
Jan 1, 2002
3,829
329
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www.casabush.org
As a poster on DR1 for over 6 years, I can say I have found it to be addictive, informative, helpful, & at times ...... Bl^^*y Frustrating!!! Some of the infighting leaves me cold & some posters I find very infuriating by their lack of respect for other peoples views!

On the negative side, I find the community spirit it used to have some 3-4 years ago has depreciated somewhat & I would like to see that return. Just a SMALL example of this is that just last year we had someone responsible (or posters who took the responsibility upon themselves) to check birthdays each & every day & then enter a quick post of congratulations. Chirimoya, a long serving poster & news writer for DR1, has a birthday today & nobody recognised that until late afternoon when she reminded me by PM & I made the post. Since then, just 6 people have been in & most of the "long serving" contributors & fellow moderators did not acknowledge it at all. As I say, a small point but one that really helps to build the community spirit if handled right!!

As Rob would expect of me, I am also concerned at the level of censorship on the board & would welcome a reduction in this area. Personal attacks? .... Yes edit or cut them - ALL in favour of that as these have NO place on a community board. Similarly, foul & abusive language should be moderated & edited where deemed necessary, but serious questions, a desire for clarification, a well presented & serious view which differs from the accepted view of the board administrators SHOULD be allowed to remain as a topic & NOT be 'Closed/Deleted' until the thread starts to get abusive or intolerant. Censorship has been a thorny subject on this site for many a year & I don't expect it to get sorted overnight, but I DO feel a bit more freedom for 'considered' & 'articulate' speech should be given.

My final point is that I feel the "WARNINGS" box to be an absolute time waster. I will write what I feel like writing on this board FULLY expecting to have my knuckles rapped if I overstep the accepted views of the other posters - NOT the management team. IF HB, CC, Chirmoya, PIB, Anna C plus the others I have learned to respect over the years, wish to challenge me on something I have written, I will listen & agree, disagree, enter into debate with or retract as I think is appropriate. Hopefully, we can always remain friends at the end of any such disagreement. Warning points have absolutely NO fear for me & I consider them to be an insult because they insinuate that I am a child unable to be controlled by reasoned arguement/verbal reprimand (off board is preferable for this). I hope many of you agree with me on this point, but if not, ..... no worry, it is MY view!

I LIKE DR1, that is why I still post here. DR1 is part of my life & I have many friends here. But unlike some, it is not my WHOLE life in that I have many other interests. I feel I still have something to contribute to this board & will continue to do so until I am removed or find my frustrations overrunning into my other interests.

Thanks for all the hard work administrators/management team, but please listen to some of my comments here & take the action that will help us grow even more healthy. ~ Grahame.
 
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Robert

Stay Frosty!
Jan 2, 1999
20,574
341
83
dr1.com
Actually, the warning system has been very successful. It was added for a specific purpose and luckily "our" gut feeling was right. As I have always said, 99% of posters will never get a single point.

The advantage of being DR1 is that you get to see a more complete picture of events. I would guess that 90% of the posts that are deleted or edited, 99.9% of our posters never get to see. In some cases they see this as censorship without having all the pieces of the jigsaw.

Keep the feedback coming....
 

Pib

Goddess
Jan 1, 2002
3,668
20
38
www.dominicancooking.com
BushBaby said:
On the negative side, I find the community spirit it used to have some 3-4 years ago has depreciated somewhat & I would like to see that return. Just a SMALL example of this is that just last year we had someone responsible (or posters who took the responsibility upon themselves) to check birthdays each & every day & then enter a quick post of congratulations. Chirimoya, a long serving poster & news writer for DR1, has a birthday today & nobody recognised that until late afternoon when she reminded me by PM & I made the post. Since then, just 6 people have been in & most of the "long serving" contributors & fellow moderators did not acknowledge it at all. As I say, a small point but one that really helps to build the community spirit if handled right!!
I take umbrage at your remarks. Actually no, but I have something to say. It was I who started keeping track of everybody's birthday, and it was long before Chiri came here, I don't think she posted it in the original thread. But you are right, it was unforgivable that I forgot to post about it, in my defense I must say that all my friends are warned that if I forget their birthdays is not lack of love but senility settling in. I have forgotten the birthdays of every person I love, so in a way forgetting someone's birthday is just a 'welcome to the family', so to speak. If all my loved ones held this against me I'd have nobody around by now. :cry: I think the community spirit is stronger here than ever. Nothing to cry about the old days.

About censorship, I will repeat what I say in another thread. DR1 moderators are wishy-washy, tip-toeing, hyper-sensitive, new-age pacifists compared to moderators of other forums I frequent. And we even pay to be there. There will always be somebody screaming 'I am been reppressed!' around here. Just today one of my posts was deleted by Rob. No skin off my nose. Really, I don't mind at all. No problem.

:: sticking needles at Rob's voodoo doll ::
 

Lambada

Gold
Mar 4, 2004
9,478
410
0
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www.ginniebedggood.com
Robert said:
Actually, the warning system has been very successful. It was added for a specific purpose and luckily "our" gut feeling was right. As I have always said, 99% of posters will never get a single point.

The advantage of being DR1 is that you get to see a more complete picture of events. I would guess that 90% of the posts that are deleted or edited, 99.9% of our posters never get to see. In some cases they see this as censorship without having all the pieces of the jigsaw.

Keep the feedback coming....
Has it? I'm interested in the success of the warning system, because being a wishy washy liberal, I always thought carrot was better than stick. Could you perhaps enlarge a bit on the success of the warning points system? How do you define success?
 

kingofdice

Active member
Jan 16, 2002
406
29
28
Forget what you may personally think about thread handling or expressing opinions which is pretty miniscule. I doubt that many posters have really ran a newspaper. Beyond the informational aspect of DR1, that's what it really is - a daily newspaper. And it is really not that easy to decide what gets reported as news and what doesn't. I think Dolores and her staff do an excellent job of determining what's newsworthy and then writing it a concise manner.

Furthermore, the Webmaster's job is a whole lot more than being a thread referee. He has the overall responsibility for who hosts the site, ensuring that the operational integrity of the database is maintained to high standards, and the hardest part, staying up with newest advances in software and information technology.

So, please dear PIB, take the needles out of Robert's voodoo doll. You might be giving him a bad back, when he is up for soccer play in the park.
 

miguel

I didn't last long...
Jul 2, 2003
5,261
2
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Let's see!!

Here are hundreds of things that I like about this site. Good information when needed. Some nice people that come together when someone is in need of an ear and support.
Also met some members that I think are very nice, Charlie and AZB.

The downside, in my opinion is that I know that there's a double standard and I can understand that. Some members are older and can get away with more things than an new member can. Some old member can actually say whatever they want and not even get a warning and if a newbie says the same thing, he/she is either "told off" of just get bannned. Same with the so-called "warning system", some would get a warning and some would not and to anybody, that's a double standard. But again, I can understand why it happens.
Anybody can show me all the figures they want but I believe that the number of posts and threads opened have declined since the "warning system" started. Maybe I am blind and nothing have changed.
It's a shame because this is a great site but I think that some are afraid to be themselves for fear of being banned. Not I. if I have to say anything, I will say it and if I get banned, I can truly say that I will NOT go out and kill myself. But lately I have nothing to say than to just post every now and then.
 

Mr_DR

Silver
May 12, 2002
2,506
60
0
Why not make an "Anything Goes Thread"

miguel said:
Here are hundreds of things that I like about this site. Good information when needed. Some nice people that come together when someone is in need of an ear and support.
Also met some members that I think are very nice, Charlie and AZB.

The downside, in my opinion is that I know that there's a double standard and I can understand that. Some members are older and can get away with more things than an new member can. Some old member can actually say whatever they want and not even get a warning and if a newbie says the same thing, he/she is either "told off" of just get bannned. Same with the so-called "warning system", some would get a warning and some would not and to anybody, that's a double standard. But again, I can understand why it happens.
Anybody can show me all the figures they want but I believe that the number of posts and threads opened have declined since the "warning system" started. Maybe I am blind and nothing have changed.
It's a shame because this is a great site but I think that some are afraid to be themselves for fear of being banned. Not I. if I have to say anything, I will say it and if I get banned, I can truly say that I will NOT go out and kill myself. But lately I have nothing to say than to just post every now and then.
I think it would be a good idea to make an anything goes thread for the people that like to get rowdy.But there should be like a pre warning that should advise you about the possible upsetting contents of the thread. Enter at your own risk. Then we can just get ready to rumble and moderators just there only for when it gets too extreme.
 

Robert

Stay Frosty!
Jan 2, 1999
20,574
341
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dr1.com
Mr_DR said:
I think it would be a good idea to make an anything goes thread for the people that like to get rowdy.But there should be like a pre warning that should advise you about the possible upsetting contents of the thread. Enter at your own risk. Then we can just get ready to rumble and moderators just there only for when it gets too extreme.

That will never happen.
 

Robert

Stay Frosty!
Jan 2, 1999
20,574
341
83
dr1.com
miguel said:
Anybody can show me all the figures they want but I believe that the number of posts and threads opened have declined since the "warning system" started. Maybe I am blind and nothing have changed.
It's a shame because this is a great site but I think that some are afraid to be themselves for fear of being banned. Not I. if I have to say anything, I will say it and if I get banned, I can truly say that I will NOT go out and kill myself. But lately I have nothing to say than to just post every now and then.

95% of posters have no idea what the warning system is and 99% will never get a point.

Post and thread count hasn't changed. We average around 250 posts per day. Some days we peek much higher (350+) depending on whats going on.
 

Robert

Stay Frosty!
Jan 2, 1999
20,574
341
83
dr1.com
Lambada said:
Has it? I'm interested in the success of the warning system, because being a wishy washy liberal, I always thought carrot was better than stick. Could you perhaps enlarge a bit on the success of the warning points system? How do you define success?

1) We get plenty of people posting URL's, making offers etc etc.
Basically spamming the board. The points system works very well in these cases. Before we would just delete these posters accounts as it's too much work going back and forth via PM or email. Now we warn them, it takes 2 secs, we have a log and they get a PM explaining exactly why they received points. It's cut down the amount of spam and been a huge success in these types of cases.

2) Some posters just don't get it. You can be super nice and spend lots of time communicating with them, why they shouldn't do this or post that, why we run the board this way, etc etc. It's very time consuming and often a waste of time. Now the moderators and DR1 have a tool that get's the point across very quickly when needed. It's been a great success and a help to moderators and DR1 in these cases.

As I have said from the start, 99% of posters will never get a warning point, even some of those that try and provoke us into giving points.

When you run and manage a board that is this large and with as many personalities, tools like this are a big help, even if some posters really have no idea why we have them or perceive them to be "the enemy". You need to forget about the warning system, it's just another tool that we use at our discretion, just like the "post a smiley" option. To date it's been a great success and it's staying in place.

I have been on some larger boards and as Pib has pointed out, that are ruled with an iron fist.
Vary rarely will you see the "owners" of larger boards take the time to respond and take a very active role in the message board. The workload is usually delegated out to moderator's or staff as it's very time consuming work. Plus some cannot see the return on investment and would rather be working on more revenue generating tasks.

We think a little differently at DR1...