Whither Chowhound Chicago?

Looked in today, just to see what was being posted and, well, ummmm, found this:

"If I had to give a review (and its been over 1.5 years since I've been there, so there may be some more recent opinions out there), I would say that Ditka's is a crossover restaurant between a steakhouse and an upscale restaurnt (ie Trotter's, Pluton, etc.). It does not reach the level of either (or the cost of the upscale places) but does provide a happy medium."

Wow.

Pretty bad.

I like the repeated Buca recos too. Yummy.

You know, if you think it could use help, and that the advice is bad, why not post there and give good advice? I'm sure your input would be appreciated

leek wrote:You know, if you think it could use help, and that the advice is bad, why not post there and give good advice? I'm sure your input would be appreciated

Leek,

Though the advice may be bad, at least it's advice. What I find so deadening about CH as of late is that for every person who posts an opinion, there are 5-8 posters requesting information. This question/answer model is something CH promotes, and I think it works for awhile...it stops working after the first year or so when you realize that much of what you're doing is simply searching the archives for answers to the same questions posted by people who come to the site once, ask a question, and leave without ever reporting back.

Then again, Will, Erik, C2 and a few others continue to provide content, without which there would be little reason to check that board (and that's very unfortunate).

Hammond

Hi,

I think answering questions several times and doing the research others seem unwilling to do has the bonus of learning the bounty of information yourself. I bypass the best-pizza, best-dog quests unless they provide a new angle to the question. I do scan the answers because someone may advise some new information. I will post links back to answers in older posts, to avoid coming up with new content as well as teach by example.

Just last week, there was a question about g-shaft candy. I put more time into it because I was keenly interested myself in something very regional and almost a lost culinary lore. The end-user was grateful to have the information and I learned something. I consider it an even score. I am more favorably inclined to answer when I learn something myself.

Leek, after you, I insist.

jeffb wrote:

Leek, after you, I insist.

Jeff, I'm not the one criticizing the site

leek wrote:jeffb wrote:

Leek, after you, I insist.

Jeff, I'm not the one criticizing the site

I say this is a poster, not a moderator. Is there any need to criticize Chowhound.com? Of course one can have agreements or disagreements with site policy, software or moderation style, but those things have nothing to do with the posters or the quality of the posts. In that sense, the spirit of this thread is a bit askew.

It has been my goal and desire for a long time to simply have all the people interested in talking about, who relish the relish, who'd eat at Johnnie's for lunch and Tru for dinner in one site, all interacting. Let's first find and gather all of the "us's". Then, let's make more of them us, foodies, hounds, chowists (although I'm not so keen on that last term). Obviously, people pick where to discuss and chat for a number of reasons.

I'd rather seek to bring people together to one place because the tips are so good, the writing interesting, the knowledge amazing and unsurpassed. To me, I look at the number of good posters, not the number of bad posters--it is easy to ignore or skip inanity, one can only value value. That place used to be Chowhound. Today, it is LTHForum. Which is cool.

Rob

Vital Information wrote: Let's first find and gather all of the "us's".
Rob

I confess that one of my goals in visiting CH is to find people who should be lured here and lay down the trail of breadcrumbs. The most recent was the person who posted an apologetic inquiry about McCormick and Schmick and then, one minute and 45 seconds later, posted an apology for not noticing that there had been previous discussions further down on the board.

The problem with *ANY* message board is that there are takers and there are givers.

The takers are the people who come on the board and ask a million questions and you *never* here from them again. They want others to plan their trip, direct them to a good meal, etc. with no real effort. They don't want to use search functions or even attempt to do any research.

I planned an entire trip to Reno and never asked a single Chowhound question. Why? Because Steve Timko's posts (and a few others) had all of the information that I ever could need. I did nothing but paged back for ONE years worth of posts. Maybe it took me an hour MAX.

I will contribute freely. However, you get very bored answering the same questions over and over again. Especially if the questions are of a nature that a Google search would yield the answer.

jlawrence01 wrote:The problem with *ANY* message board is that there are takers and there are givers.

Jlawrence01,

You're right, of course, but what continues to impress me about LTH is that most people give more than they take. I think the CH model works fine for what Leff wants it to be, which is, in part, a continuing give-and-take of chow tips. Questions drive the dynamic.

People ask questions on LTH, which is just fine, but more often than not, they are coming to share wisdom as well as seek it, which is why I find myself here rather than CH.

Hammond

Rob, I agree, generally.

The best thing on the CH Chi board lately is that someone named for 70s porn star Harry Reems is answering questions about where to have a party for kids. Ooooooh!