Should we have a chatter free announcement thread, or individual for each birth?

yogahh

So we are getting so so so close to baby time! A small convo going on in the Random thread now... wondering what people would prefer. Some BMBS have one thread to announce all births. It is a running thread, as a sticky at the top of the page for easy access. But it would be no chatter so that it doesnt get too overwhelming. Or would you guys prefer to post a thread per arrival, so we can all ohh and ahh over the cuteness that is your baby? No opinion on my end at all, just wanted to get a group consensus so no one is accused for policing the board at that time! And a cute baby gif to get us all in the mood

yogahh

Oh my gif didnt post...here ya go!

2.red.heads

Majority of the vote wins!  But...just my opinion.....when I see a discussion with 200 comments there's no way I'm joining in.  It makes me feel like hardly anyone will really read my comment and I don't have the time to read them all (or keep up w/them constantly).  Just my 2-cents (that no one asked for).   

kami09

I feel like we might as well have a long thread just to check daily...but stopping someone from starting their own thread is impossible.  I do like reading birth stories so I voted for the second lol

balamama

I voted for one chatter free thread bc I love checking it daily to see the new additions but can we do both where people have the option to link their birth story posts in the sticky thread too? Then we get the best of both worlds. 

AdorkablePixie

I think we should do both.

Charla1224

I love the idea of reading some of your individual birth stories, asking questions, and cooing over the cuteness of you're babes but, I'm afraid we'll see 101 threads started by all the mysterious ladies of HDBD and it will clog the feed. 
So, what would be included in an announcement thread? An announcement, birth story, and possibly pictures? Do I only get to respond with a "Love It?" That's the part that breaks my heart a bit. I feel like I know some of you and I want to share in the excitement of your LO's birth. 

dsmith211

I vote individual ones just bc I know I won't be able to resist chatter.

yogahh

Charla1224 said:

I love the idea of reading some of your individual birth stories, asking questions, and cooing over the cuteness of you're babes but, I'm afraid we'll see 101 threads started by all the mysterious ladies of HDBD and it will clog the feed. 
So, what would be included in an announcement thread? An announcement, birth story, and possibly pictures? Do I only get to respond with a "Love It?" That's the part that breaks my heart a bit. I feel like I know some of you and I want to share in the excitement of your LO's birth. 

https://forums.thebump.com/discussion/12656044/march-2016-birth-announcements#latest

This is how March is doing it as an example.

yogahh

I cant add a third option to the poll (to have both)... but I have to say I don't understand the point of both. If we have the chatter free, and you want to congratulate someone, send them a PM. If we have one per birth, then there is NO need for the chatter free... just saying...

kami09

I guess chatter free would be nice for people who aren't really active but want to announce.

But we chatter about all kinds of crazy things and we are going to stop once the actual point of us all being here happens??

seasalt123

I don't like the chatter free threads with just announcements. I kind of like seeing a story/announcement posted and then reading the questions and interactions. So I voted for option two. But I would also not mind a single thread WITH chatter. I wanna hear birth stories and ask questions etc. 

yogahh

kami09 said:

I feel like we might as well have a long thread just to check daily...but stopping someone from starting their own thread is impossible.  I do like reading birth stories so I voted for the second lol

Seriously... remember when we had the gender thread, and randoms would create their own thread with a "yeah its a boy!" .... I feel like it would be a lot of that again. But we couldn't stop it then and probably wont be able to stop it again!

avidkeo

with my first one we had an announcement thread, for those that just wanted to announce. Those that wanted to write a detailed story separately were encouraged to. I was one of those that didnt bother with the whole story, just the announcement, so having one thread to put that in felt like less pressure (no idea if that even makes sense lol)

ETA I dont think we need to be as picky as march! their first post was in January so people naturally replied with support. That was jumped on pretty quickly. can we let common sense prevail?

LadySamLady

I think I'd prefer both, or at least I personally wouldn't mind if people announce in their own thread because it feels SS worthy to me. I really like scrolling through the chatter free threads on other BMBs and seeing all the babies in one place. So basically I'm no help here. 

Charla1224

I actually really like the way March is doing it. I would hope that many of the regulars would post in the announcement thread and create another thread with birth story details. I don't think short term lurkers would go through the effort.
Though, I get what you mean @yogahh about it seeming redundant. But I would like to publicly share and celebrate many of the regulars around here rather then just PMing. I want to be able to ask questions too. 

LovingLife!

I like the idea of doing both! 

JessicaB0627

I kind of like the idea of both too, with the no chatter thread pinned. I probably wouldn't start my own birth announcement thread but I don't think I would mind at all if people did. I really liked scrolling through march's announcements and seeing all the baby pictures without clutter.

PYLWhammy

I really like the idea of the chatter free thread so we can see all the announcements in one place . But if someone wants to start their own thread as well, they should be allowed!

yogahh

Like I said I personally don't care... So if you all want both, both it is

evalynn24

I like the idea of both. An announcement thread pinned for the basics and any detailed stories, if people want to do that, can have their own thread without the, "that's great, but please use the announcement thread." comments. I hate when threads turn into scoldings. Honestly, we don't have very many new threads each day anyway and these are only going to last about 2 months.

amberraysofdawn

sillyfox

Another vote for both! 

seasalt123

Yeah I like the idea of both if possible! Birth stories are one thing I am very interested to hear, regardless of who posts them. 

arj14

wsgjmw1

I vote for both ! 

michellabanana

I voted both too! I agree with @2.red.heads, I'm not really going to join a super long thread.

mcb2016

I like one thread with chatter but there will probably be a tons of post started either way! 

Charissadeats

Another option could be a weekly announcement thread that allows chatter. Will keep the thread shorter than only one that allows chatter or a board with 100s of individual birth announcements. 

It's just a thought though - I am happy with any sort of announcement forum filled with happy stories. 

Par13

I'm in the both camp too. I won't post a lengthy birth story, but don't mind reading others. That will give me something to read during the first few weeks when I'm trapped in a rocking chair.

mumbolino

How about a separate birth stories thread, for those who want to share?

proudparent2b

I prefer individual because it seems like those due later on tend to get less attention/feedback on long threads than those at the beginning of the month.

doozer1345

I vote one or the other AT LEAST. Especially since our board is notorious for getting random people posts that we've never heard of before. Can you imagine how many fly bys we are going to have to have both on top of the regular posts? There wont be room for any posts other than announcements. I'd like to scroll down one thread to find the ones I know.

js8812

I feel like if there are fly bys who want to post their own thread, they're going to do it anyway. I think we should definitely have a chatter free thread (and get it going soon as there has already been at least one May baby born) and I don't care either way if someone will post a SS thread about their birth. I probably wouldn't FWIW. 

Bltbear82

I vote one chatter-free thread. While I would love to read the birth stories too, I'm thinking if we rely solely on individual posts we might miss some announcements just out of the sheer volume to wade through. There will definitely be drive bys who don't follow rules either way, but maybe individual threads would save everyone the trouble of telling them they should be posting in the one thread? I don't know. Neither solution is perfect and people will do what they want anyway. 

AdorkablePixie

Charla1224 said:

I actually really like the way March is doing it. I would hope that many of the regulars would post in the announcement thread and create another thread with birth story details. I don't think short term lurkers would go through the effort.
Though, I get what you mean @yogahh about it seeming redundant. But I would like to publicly share and celebrate many of the regulars around here rather then just PMing. I want to be able to ask questions too. 

I agree. Some of you that I know I'd really like to read the birth story, ask questions, and ohh and ahh over the little one.

hellogoodbye2

I feel like I participate on here a good amount, but I know once the birth stories start coming in I'm not going to click on them all and/or comment with congratulations...I just won't have the time! 

I say do both even though the chatter free one is more for me.

KissOfApproval

yes I want birth stories!!! but its so hard not to ask questions...or make comments!!! because...well....BABIIEESSSS!

sarawifenow

Chatter free all the way!

krisspy22

seasalt123 said:

I don't like the chatter free threads with just announcements. I kind of like seeing a story/announcement posted and then reading the questions and interactions. So I voted for option two. But I would also not mind a single thread WITH chatter. I wanna hear birth stories and ask questions etc. 

From my understanding the "chatter free" part is just so that people don't do the quote boxes and add their own comments if they are not birth announcements. So you can still tell your birth story and all of that in your announcement.

I hate clutter, but I love reading each story on the other boards and then seeing the pictures. So I think it's great that each post is that person's story and then cute pictures!

LadyStardust179

Both!