Please help spread the word!

Culture, Media, General Culture, Chains, General Discussions
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Hi everyone!

A quiet forum is not very fun. As you may know, Hungry Onion is only 6 days old. Many of the boards are just getting started. We need to get to a critical mass of users before we can have lively discussions. So if you think the site has promise, here’re something you can do to help get the site really going:

  • Start a thread (or a few!) about a topic you are excited about- restaurant you visited, cooking techniques, wine, whatever you are passionate about! Others can then have something to respond to, kickstarting discussions. (i know- a bit of a chicken and egg problem)

  • Spread the word!

    • Email your friends about the site (make sure to include the address www.hungryonion.org- the site isn’t ranked high enough yet to show up in the first page of search results)

  • Put the address www.hungryonion.org in your user profile on other sites.

Unlike a corporate-backed site, this is a site with minimal resource (basically just me in my spare time), so any help is very much appreciated!

Cheers,
Sampson.

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3

I’ve linked to both this site and, ahem, the other one (foodtalkcentral) in my FB/WFD group & have encouraged members to move.

I do wonder if it wouldn’t make sense to combine efforts of both sites in one place… but — “not my monkey, not my circus” as they say in Poland.

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4

I’ve posted on FB, pinned it on Pinterest and promoted it on my local CH google board.

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5

I’ve wondered if the founders of the new CH alternatives have considered combining their efforts, too. Makes sense to me, but what do I know?

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6

He he. And now I did this:

http://www.chowhound.com/post/places-1025271

Likely won’t stay up, tho.

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7

WHOA, gurrrrrrlene!

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8

LOL

It’s already stayed up longer than my post mentioning Hungry Onion did.

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9

Oh my. I am lucky that I can even see this (before they take it down).

So I see. So there are a few other competitors too. The thing is that if there is only 1 alternative to CHOWHOUND, then I think it will win. The problem is that they are multiple websites trying to take on CHOWHOUND. It is like a revolution, but with multiple factions. We will see how everything turn out. I am hoping that hungryonion will take the lead, but we will see.

P.S.: I feel like FoodCentral is more of a Los Angeles heavy site, and HungryOnion is more of everything else. I hope the two can somehow consolidate. Well, actually they will. It is really a matter of how they will consolidate – willingly or unwillingly.

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Gone now. But I updated my profile :smiley:

http://www.chowhound.com/profile/1579555/following

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Pooof. Gone.

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if they take down direct url, how about using bit.ly to shorten/ disguise the url?

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Yep, it’s a 404 already.

And good to see/read you again Lingua!

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So I got a warning the other day from Marcela about not mentioning other sites in the East Bay article and told her I would not post links to groups nor scatter post about them and only direct mentions to those who seem unlikely to stay on CH.

I’ve been posting to those folks to email me, period and until now, they’ve been allowing that.

They are stopping posts and warning folks about all sorts if non infractions, it’s such a police state over there, increasingly, with floggings apparently scheduled to continue until morale improves.

This is what I sent, and she never replied in any way, to warn me:

"I understand. I only did so because so many have posted it previously and the article and references to it stayed up. I’ve chosen not to post any links to other sites on CH out of deference to the situation. I’ll point out, though, in the past, we have been accustomed to unfettered posting of alternative sites and comparisons with CH with never a peep from moderators. They had the best site and were secure about its future.

I’m mostly addressing only those folks who seem most unlikely to remain, and am not scattershot broadcasting to users nor will I.

Folk do seem to be feverishly searching the net and finding the alternatives on their own, anyway. More local food journalists are alerting their readerships of the migration now, too, as they are feeling a need for the intel they’re now hard put to find for their regions as before.

I do feel for those of you left trying to plug the holes in the dam.

I wish you all luck. This feels like a situation with no winners. :-/"

I also sent this with the subject “Just an FYI for Comparison:”

The Chowhound Team |  | Jun 1, 2004 01:36 AM

If you’re wondering where some of our regulars are, and miss their contributions, they’ve opened a separate site of their own. See link below to check it out.

We invite everyone to choose their favorite flavor…or to enjoy both. As with restaurants, the more choices the better. Since a few users of Chowhound have been unhappy with its management, we’re pleased that every Chicago food lover now has alternatives to choose from. We welcome here on Chowhound the participation of anyone who can be happy working within our boundaries as a moderated discussion.

This is just an announcement. Please, in order to keep this forum tightly focused on chow (one of our central precepts here), we ask that you not reply.

Link: http://lthforum.com/bb/index.php

So now, even asking an individual CHer to email you is forbidden speech.

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I am encouraged that within a week, the HO membership list is in triple digits. The reason for this post is to second your request that more of us take the initiative to start more threads. I’ve begun a few, and could easily spend the whole day laying a whole clutch of 'em, but that would bore my fellow readers.

If you haven’t taken to your keyboard due to digital stagefright, just picture your readers naked - chances are, in some cases you’ll be right! :wink:

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You will definitely not bore us! Please feel free to add more!

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I think there are thrree main ways to improve this site.

First, getting more memberships and getting people to notice this site. This, however, is only part of the solution

Second, generate high quality original post. Without high quality post, the number of membership not only will not increase, it will decrease.

Third, participate and interact with others. Even with the most informative original post, it is not generate membership. People join social sites for interaction, not just pure knowledge.

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I see there’s now a topic at foodtalkcentral asking about combining Hungry Onion and their site. People seem open to it, but I suppose that’s something the site honchos will have to decide on.

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Frankly, the two sites will get combined sooner or later. It is really how they will get combined. The two sites owners can talk to each other and work out a path to combine them. Or as time goes on, one will simply win out and there will be a migration.

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It may not be inevitable. FTC seems California-centric, which is understandable since CH has talibanned so many veteran west coast Hounds. I see that it has added Delaware but otherwise seems regionally-focussed. IMO, if there is to be a merger,
FTC should be subsumed into HO, since the latter has a broader scope. Or, if it prevents ruffled feathers, perhaps the two organizers can unite under a new moniker.