User blog:ChristianWallis/Discussions & The Wiki

Hey guys, some of you might have stumbled across Fandom's latest addition to the wiki, Discussions. When this strange new feature appeared we were unsure of how it was going to be used by our community. We've since given it some time and thought and we believe that the discussions should be moderated similarly to the wiki although off-topic posts, fan-art, and showcase style announcements, will still be allowed. We've written a list of discussions-specific rules  but they largely focus on controlling the overwhelming number of polls that were being posted there. This means that from now on there will be regulation of discussion posts in a way that is similar but not identical to how we regulate the main wiki itself.

You'll find my post on the discussions outlining the biggest changes, but on this front I actually want to talk about what you CAN do with discussions, not what you can't. Here are some ways we think wikia users might benefit from using the discussions. You can:

Use the discussions feed to announce your latest, shiny, finished story. (Please keep this to one post per story).

Use the discussions to start a conversation about someone else’s story (try to be positive). Maybe you want to praise a new effort, point out a story no one’s talking about, or post a full-blown review?

Use the discussions to talk about horror. What movies do you like? What have you read recently? What genres annoy you? What characters do you think are over-rated?

Ask for advice or help on a WIP story you’re writing. Maybe even seek out prompts to encourage your imagination!?

For many users who have never seen the discussions, it might come as a surprise to see just how active the community is. Not only are there daily posts, but there are many users with hundreds of discussion posts who've never posted to the wiki itself. These are all potential readers waiting for your stories My hope is that, as time goes on, we can see the discussions as a meaningful part of the wiki and community. That means that discussions users will find a great resource for finding new scary stories to keep them up at night, and wiki users and writers can find a place to discuss those stories and attract new readers.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask!