Low community interest in the Journals:

[Revenant]

I'm trying to figure out why, in a community of thousands of people, the Journals seem to get so little attention and so few viewers, and why that seems to be slipping.

[physics-fan3.14]

I know some people really enjoy the journals (like you, for example), but I just never got into them. Just like I pretty much never read blogs (sorry guys, I know some of you have great blogs, I just never got into them). I'm not entirely sure why, but I think I like the community and the discussion type format of these chat boards rather than the one sided journals.

[thebeav]

I don't know what they are.

 

Paul

[Revenant]

I don't know what they are.

 

Paul

 

Do you participate in the registry? If so, look on the sidebar, below where it says "News and Updates" and it has a section called "Collector's Journals."

[TomB]

I don't read the journal entries because they are a collection of disorganized essays that appear to be, at worst, custom-made soap boxes for rants and, at best, they are possible discussion topics doomed to face a future of no replies. If I want to discuss topics regarding numismatics or if I have a numismatic rant I simply come here and engage in a conversation.

[Oldtrader3]

The Journals started out trying to be a historical narrative. They have, for the most part ended up as a wandering narrative about not much at all or as TomB said, (in my opinion) inappropriate rants

[RI AL]

I voted no, because I don't even know what journals you're talking about. My membership expired but when I renew...I'll check it out...I promise.

[World Colonial]

I did not know what you were talking about it either until someone clarified. I would only be intested in them if they included one of the series I collect or some others that I do not but still really like, and that assumes they are well written.

[michael]

never head of the journals

 

how do you get to them? again i cant even find them on here

 

 

link please:)

 

 

[jgrinz]

Voted

 

No Yes and NA

 

I feel the journals have swayed from their original intent - they used to be

a good read when the rules are followed but usually ends up with "look what I got" or a ditto of a chat board.

 

If the rules are followed it can be interesting if the PERSON is articulate and THINKS and WRITES in "story writing fashion" about their exploits and plunders into their personal coin world ...

 

I am not articulate - do not think and write properly and do a lot of plundering - my stories would be boring to say the least

 

..........

 

 

Have to be a registry member if you are here is your link

 

Journal Page if a PAYING member

 

[Architecht]

Journals are essentially kind of syndicated columns by particular authors, just like blogs are. Except here we have a big collection of writers on a particular subject.

 

Just like blogs, the experience is likely to be that there will be many authors who don't do it for you, and a few that are favorites.

 

I would really love to get to an enhancement there to capture responses to articles as comments on the article rather than have people post responses as though they are new articles, but it's not a focus right now. If we had that I think the article list would feel substantially cleaner.

 

Some members have great articles:

 

http://coins.www.collectors-society.com/MoreJournals.aspx?PeopleID=7914&tab=MyJournal

[jgrinz]

MR Merrill's is one of the ONLY ones I read

Top notch writer

[jackson64]

I enjoy certain journal authors and some I don't read ( 15 "journals" about a 5 coin submission and its progress through grading bores me)...

 

I also enjoy writing in the journals and always am conscious of their purpose--"sharing the collecting experience"

 

At the risk of sounding immodest, I believe I have been the most viewed journal author for several years...some of my entries have had over 500 readers view them...but sometimes I think I have written something that is a fun experience or others might relate to and enjoy...and then only 150-200 people read it

 

In the end, I write them for myself..it is quite interesting to go back and re-read something I've written 3-4 years ago and see how my tastes and goals have changed or how my sets have progressed...if others enjoy them too ( and I usually get several messages after each post in my email)..then I think they are a great way to build community and enable us to build a bond with fellow collectors who think like we do...numismaniacs..

[Jeffrey Cardona]

I think the journals are quite interesting. Like everything else, some are really not worth reading...and some are quite fun. I try to add an entry or 2 each month. They usually consist of the coins I added to my collection each month or if I come across a great deal. I also post and enjoy reading the results of submission to NGC. But as quoted above I don't really care for reading a day by day blow about their progress....just not interesting to me.

 

But it comes down to "each his own"

 

Enjoy

[Revenant]

I enjoy certain journal authors and some I don't read ( 15 "journals" about a 5 coin submission and its progress through grading bores me)...

 

I think it's interesting to have people say that. One of the people that exhibits that posting pattern regarding coin submissions has won the Journal Award 2 years in a row now. Really, most of the award winners from the last 3 years exhibit one or more than one of the behaviors that most of the people in this thread have complained about. It seems as though what the NGC judges are looking for in the journals is entirely different than what the people here are wanting to see.

[Architecht]

MR Merrill's is one of the ONLY ones I read

Top notch writer

 

Yeah, best thing to do is find writers you like, friend them, and then read the friend's journals tab.

[Architecht]

By the way, it's interesting that you think of it as low interest. The number of contributions to the journals have climbed steadily for a long time and there are always new posts going up. I think the fact that individually each article only gets a certain number of reads is because most people develop authors they like and read them but not everything. Your poll supports this.

 

The end result is that developing a truly outstanding number of reads on any specific article or run of articles is probably less about overall participation in journals and more about each author really developing a following through outstanding and frequent contributions.

 

Our journal awards attempt to highlight those who make more interesting contributions. They're generally judged around the merit of the sum of all contributions for a year, so even if an author has a few lighter weight "what I submitted" articles, we don't penalize for that so much as reward the better insights.

[Revenant]

By the way, it's interesting that you think of it as low interest. The number of contributions to the journals have climbed steadily for a long time and there are always new posts going up. I think the fact that individually each article only gets a certain number of reads is because most people develop authors they like and read them but not everything. Your poll supports this.

 

The end result is that developing a truly outstanding number of reads on any specific article or run of articles is probably less about overall participation in journals and more about each author really developing a following through outstanding and frequent contributions.

 

Well, perhaps I was interpreting the situation incorrectly. This was mostly an attempt to gain new insight on the issue and I think it served that purpose for me. The number of journals and the number of people writing them has climbed gradually in the time that I've been on the site and that probably is the better indicator. I am still surprised though by the number of posters that simply didn't know what they were.

[jackson64]

I think they are somewhat different communities Revenant...whereas the journals are almost all registry members and primarily collectors...the forums here have a significant percentage of professional numismatist (those with either jobs in the field, consigners, dealers, some with web pages, some working for Legend, some for DLRC, some former NGC graders, catalog description designers..etc etc..)..

 

I think that may be a large part of the reason that many here don't follow the journals...

[Glossy]

I use to love reading the Journals and found them quite entertaining. I loved knowing that I was not the only coin nut out there, and many of the journals would affirm my point. Many are, in a very good way, funny and written by true coin nuts!!

 

But I can't find them. When I logged in they were "right there", so I would click on them and enjoy. Where are they now? I would love to catch up!!

 

[Revenant]

http://coins.www.collectors-society.com/MoreJournals.aspx?tab=RecentJournals

 

See if that works.

[Architecht]

When you log in, you see your dashboard. In the upper right corner is a list of journals written by people you have added to your friend list. However, there is also a tab on that area that you can click and see a list of recent journals, and another one to click and see a list of the last few of your own journals.

 

Also, towards the bottom of the page on the left-hand column is a list of the most recent 3 journal entries.

[TJ'S Coins]

This is all new to me...I must check them out...when I have time...