Please Vote On The Riff Page Activity (Read Below Poll Options)

[Rad Synner]

CJ's videos were great!

But if can give my 2 cents (yes, I intended that) I feel like it really comes down to no one is really leading by example... so what we are left with is highly edited videos like you mention and all that stuff. And so I worry that maybe some people feel uncomfortable posting in the riff section because all they see is highly edited stuff and they feel and think subconsciously like they need to do that and to be at that level to post anything.

I don't think that the riff page emptied out and got filled with highly edited stuff and people who post their stuff and never appear again because the school turned more social. As far as I can remember, there's always been these sort of things happening. And it's not gonna change.

And a part of me feels like it's too easy to just blame it on external factors. So then I wonder, maybe we all just stopped feeding that page. Maybe we let it ''starve'' by not using it. And it may be for 1000s of different reasons. Sometimes life comes in the way, motivation leaves, frustration and also a feeling of insecurity maybe for some.

And so yeah, we could just say ''Hey, let's all make the riff page active again'' and I am sure that for a week or two it will get lots of videos and be back to how it is designed to be but if we turn it into an event and ''force'' it to happen, then people will again leave after the hype is gone.

Instead, what I suggest is to lead by example. Just do it. All of us who want to turn the riff page into an advice and feedback and all the good stuff page, well let's go there and do just that with consistency. With effort. And it's going to require effort and discipline at first but the more we all show how imperfect we are and how we all go through the same struggle, the more people who, for example, might be more introvert will get exposed to that and will see an opening that this is a ''safe space''. See it as a domino effect sort of...

So yeah, maybe we should just take a look at ourselves and how we can make this a better place and then take action. Take a look at what we have done and what we could do. Maybe instead of telling people how they should use this school we should just use this school in the way it was designed to be and so when someone comes and checks what's up, they'll know exactly what kind of place this is.

At least, that's what was on my mind.

But then again, what do I know. I'm a fucking bass player.

 

[Jak Angelescu]

I'm gonna be very real here. Many students keep offering suggestions that would make them inclined to post more. Even one of the biggest voted response was "no incentive to post riffs".

We have revised and have advanced this site twice now with so many new features and have tried our hardest to keep the students engaged, and it's still declining.

Many students have shown frustration the community and site is "not what it use to be". I feel the same way.

I'm trying to figure out the missing puzzle to bring back the sparkle this site use to have, and all I keep hearing is new suggestions of features to spark the activity.

If we need contests all the time and consistently update features like Firefox to keep people engaged, it's going to be an ongoing battle that will never end. We never had to do that in the beginning.

I'm not sure what happened.

 

[Jak Angelescu]

CJ's videos were great!

But if can give my 2 cents (yes, I intended that) I feel like it really comes down to no one is really leading by example... so what we are left with is highly edited videos like you mention and all that stuff. And so I worry that maybe some people feel uncomfortable posting in the riff section because all they see is highly edited stuff and they feel and think subconsciously like they need to do that and to be at that level to post anything.

I don't think that the riff page emptied out and got filled with highly edited stuff and people who post their stuff and never appear again because the school turned more social. As far as I can remember, there's always been these sort of things happening. And it's not gonna change.

And a part of me feels like it's too easy to just blame it on external factors. So then I wonder, maybe we all just stopped feeding that page. Maybe we let it ''starve'' by not using it. And it may be for 1000s of different reasons. Sometimes life comes in the way, motivation leaves, frustration and also a feeling of insecurity maybe for some.

And so yeah, we could just say ''Hey, let's all make the riff page active again'' and I am sure that for a week or two it will get lots of videos and be back to how it is designed to be but if we turn it into an event and ''force'' it to happen, then people will again leave after the hype is gone.

Instead, what I suggest is to lead by example. Just do it. All of us who want to turn the riff page into an advice and feedback and all the good stuff page, well let's go there and do just that with consistency. With effort. And it's going to require effort and discipline at first but the more we all show how imperfect we are and how we all go through the same struggle, the more people who, for example, might be more introvert will get exposed to that and will see an opening that this is a ''safe space''. See it as a domino effect sort of...

So yeah, maybe we should just take a look at ourselves and how we can make this a better place and then take action. Take a look at what we have done and what we could do. Maybe instead of telling people how they should use this school we should just use this school in the way it was designed to be and so when someone comes and checks what's up, they'll know exactly what kind of place this is.

At least, that's what was on my mind.

But then again, what do I know. I'm a fucking bass player.

I love everything about what you said

 

[Alicia Willis]

CJ's videos were great!

But if can give my 2 cents (yes, I intended that) I feel like it really comes down to no one is really leading by example... so what we are left with is highly edited videos like you mention and all that stuff. And so I worry that maybe some people feel uncomfortable posting in the riff section because all they see is highly edited stuff and they feel and think subconsciously like they need to do that and to be at that level to post anything.

I don't think that the riff page emptied out and got filled with highly edited stuff and people who post their stuff and never appear again because the school turned more social. As far as I can remember, there's always been these sort of things happening. And it's not gonna change.

And a part of me feels like it's too easy to just blame it on external factors. So then I wonder, maybe we all just stopped feeding that page. Maybe we let it ''starve'' by not using it. And it may be for 1000s of different reasons. Sometimes life comes in the way, motivation leaves, frustration and also a feeling of insecurity maybe for some.

And so yeah, we could just say ''Hey, let's all make the riff page active again'' and I am sure that for a week or two it will get lots of videos and be back to how it is designed to be but if we turn it into an event and ''force'' it to happen, then people will again leave after the hype is gone.

Instead, what I suggest is to lead by example. Just do it. All of us who want to turn the riff page into an advice and feedback and all the good stuff page, well let's go there and do just that with consistency. With effort. And it's going to require effort and discipline at first but the more we all show how imperfect we are and how we all go through the same struggle, the more people who, for example, might be more introvert will get exposed to that and will see an opening that this is a ''safe space''. See it as a domino effect sort of...

So yeah, maybe we should just take a look at ourselves and how we can make this a better place and then take action. Take a look at what we have done and what we could do. Maybe instead of telling people how they should use this school we should just use this school in the way it was designed to be and so when someone comes and checks what's up, they'll know exactly what kind of place this is.

At least, that's what was on my mind.

But then again, what do I know. I'm a fucking bass player.

Whew buddy you said a mouthful…and I humbly agree with you 1000%.

 

[Awex Came]

I'm gonna be very real here. Many students keep offering suggestions that would make them inclined to post more. Even one of the biggest voted response was "no incentive to post riffs".

We have revised and have advanced this site twice now with so many new features and have tried our hardest to keep the students engaged, and it's still declining.

Many students have shown frustration the community and site is "not what it use to be". I feel the same way.

I'm trying to figure out the missing puzzle to bring back the sparkle this site use to have, and all I keep hearing is new suggestions of features to spark the activity.

If we need contests all the time and consistently update features like Firefox to keep people engaged, it's going to be an ongoing battle that will never end. We never had to do that in the beginning.

I'm not sure what happened.

I've noticed there's been a lot less action from Syn himself over the past 6+ months or so, and I'm sure more engagement from him would drive up the overall engagement and may partially explain the lack of engagement

If you go and look at his recent posts, he only posted stuff 5 days in the month of May. A few of those days were only because we got 3 AOTM. He only posted one day in April (AOTM). He only posted 2 days in March (AOTM). One day in February (AOTM). 2 days in January. 3 days in December. You get the point. And that includes replies to threads and commenting on things, not just the creation of threads.

Obviously he's busy doing Syn stuff, but I think the students (not just me) are craving some more Syn time.

It's time to turn on the Syn Signal.

 

[Anna.VG]

I mean idk how it was before bc I just joined this community a month and a half ago... I watch as many as I can during my free time but I don’t comment anything because I don’t know anything about music, guitars or riffs hahaha, so I can’t do that feedback. Actually there’s not a lot of people who ask for feedback, the ones that post are just here to show how much they’ve progressed and stuff but most of them don’t ask for a tip or something like that. And when I see someone is struggling with something and ask for advice, there’s a few people here who help them with those troubles...

Maybe you should do new contests or a dynamic here so it can be more active and can inspire people, like “oh there’s a new challenge here, I’m gonna give it a try and post my result” maybe it inspires more people to post here.

 

[Gemma G.S.]

It’s interesting because the last few times I posted to the riff section I had more activity and feedback then ever before (greatly appreciated btw fam). I guess I just personally haven felt like I’ve had anything worth posting lately to post haha For instance, I’ve been working on the mad hatter solo and I’ve pretty much got it down, I don’t want it to be perfect or anything but it’s just not to a point where I think “yeah I’m stoked to post this”. I suppose it’s more of getting the self to be inspired to share, at least for me

This is how I feel a lot of the time, too. To be honest the One String Challenge (with a sprinkle of @Jak Angelescu posting that "the riff section is a ghost town" meme ) really helped me a lot - before that I didn't really feel like I had anything worth posting. And the past week or so I've just been busy. So for me I guess it all comes down to motivation and inspiration, personally.

 

[Mike Creuzer]

I think one of my goals was to make it so, for people who didn't want to comment, they could at least leave a like or heart or something. I think we should discuss some new reactions too...

 

[Jak Angelescu]

I've noticed there's been a lot less action from Syn himself over the past 6+ months or so, and I'm sure more engagement from him would drive up the overall engagement and may partially explain the lack of engagement

If you go and look at his recent posts, he only posted stuff 5 days in the month of May. A few of those days were only because we got 3 AOTM. He only posted one day in April (AOTM). He only posted 2 days in March (AOTM). One day in February (AOTM). 2 days in January. 3 days in December. You get the point. And that includes replies to threads and commenting on things, not just the creation of threads.

Obviously he's busy doing Syn stuff, but I think the students (not just me) are craving some more Syn time.

It's time to turn on the Syn Signal.



View attachment 1632

I agree with you. I personally know his motive for being less active, and certainly respect it. But I think we all can agree we miss seeing him here.

 

[Jamie London]

CJ's videos were great!

But if can give my 2 cents (yes, I intended that) I feel like it really comes down to no one is really leading by example... so what we are left with is highly edited videos like you mention and all that stuff. And so I worry that maybe some people feel uncomfortable posting in the riff section because all they see is highly edited stuff and they feel and think subconsciously like they need to do that and to be at that level to post anything.

I don't think that the riff page emptied out and got filled with highly edited stuff and people who post their stuff and never appear again because the school turned more social. As far as I can remember, there's always been these sort of things happening. And it's not gonna change.

And a part of me feels like it's too easy to just blame it on external factors. So then I wonder, maybe we all just stopped feeding that page. Maybe we let it ''starve'' by not using it. And it may be for 1000s of different reasons. Sometimes life comes in the way, motivation leaves, frustration and also a feeling of insecurity maybe for some.

And so yeah, we could just say ''Hey, let's all make the riff page active again'' and I am sure that for a week or two it will get lots of videos and be back to how it is designed to be but if we turn it into an event and ''force'' it to happen, then people will again leave after the hype is gone.

Instead, what I suggest is to lead by example. Just do it. All of us who want to turn the riff page into an advice and feedback and all the good stuff page, well let's go there and do just that with consistency. With effort. And it's going to require effort and discipline at first but the more we all show how imperfect we are and how we all go through the same struggle, the more people who, for example, might be more introvert will get exposed to that and will see an opening that this is a ''safe space''. See it as a domino effect sort of...

So yeah, maybe we should just take a look at ourselves and how we can make this a better place and then take action. Take a look at what we have done and what we could do. Maybe instead of telling people how they should use this school we should just use this school in the way it was designed to be and so when someone comes and checks what's up, they'll know exactly what kind of place this is.

At least, that's what was on my mind.

But then again, what do I know. I'm a fucking bass player.

Well said good sir!
For a bass player..
No but seriously, well said haha

 

[Jak Angelescu]

I think one of my goals was to make it so, for people who didn't want to comment, they could at least leave a like or heart or something. I think we should discuss some new reactions too...

I wouldn't worry about adding new reactions. The more buttons and clicks you give people, the less they need actual verbiage for true dialogue and conversation.

 

[Mike Creuzer]

I wouldn't worry about adding new reactions. The more buttons and clicks you give people, the less they need actual verbiage for true dialogue and conversation.

Well they are there already. I think the point of a reaction is to send love when you can't type or just have nothing to say. Discourse cannot be forced.

 

[Jak Angelescu]

Well they are there already. I think the point of a reaction is to send love when you can't type or just have nothing to say. Discourse cannot be forced.

No I agree. Discourse can't be forced. I never said anything about the ones in place. I said I don't think it's necessary to add new ones.

I was here in the beginning. And students would engage with conversation when things got funny. Now all they have to do is click a reaction button. That has been proven to be one of the biggest pitfalls of social media: people don't comment as much now that reactions have taken a stronghold. So many people say "people react to my stuff but never comment" on social media sites. So I was just simply stating I don't think adding new reactions is going to help our situation

 

[Awex Came]

I agree with you. I personally know his motive for being less active, and certainly respect it. But I think we all can agree we miss seeing him here.

Most definitely. To anyone else reading this, just know that he does actually sign on and see more things than you think, even if he doesn't post, comment, or like.

 

[redlipsofdeceit]

But then again, what do I know. I'm a fucking bass player.

Well, at least today you said very important things. It was about time!
Seriously tho, I felt inspired by what you said!

 

[Adin Shepherd]

I am not sure if this is something that can be set up, but is it possible to add tags to riff titles?

I ask because Jak was saying she has had feedback that people have posted to the riff page asking for help but received none. Perhaps the riffs in question are getting lost among the covers? Or are titled in such a way it is not clear they are looking for help?

Maybe rather than fragmenting the riff page with multiple categories we could have tags you add when you upload. For example, you uplaod a video of your bands new song and want to know what people think, you could add 'Original Music' and 'Feedback Wanted' tags. Or if you need help with your playing a 'Help Wanted' tag (or possibly more specific 'Help Wanted - Theory/Technique/Lesson, etc).

You could even add a 'I am not interested in helping any of the students or contributing to the school in a meaningful way but follow my Insta for more covers' tag

Then if I wanted to see if there were any 'Help Wanted' videos I can just search the tag and have them all right there.

Perhaps even something on the upload page stating the school is a safe space for learners and that disrespectful comments will not be tolerated, and to be sure to report any such comments. May make people uploading for the first time feel a little more comfortable about it.

I know it has been said multiple times through various threads but likely goes unseen to newer members.

 

[Calvin Phillips]

Hey everyone. I'm taking it upon myself to dig around for a solution for the continuous drop in riff page activity. The reason being, is that I've spoken with several students who have gone MIA from this school due to the fact that they no longer get the help or feedback they need. I'm trying to do this for them. Also, this was an integral part of Syn's "Community-Based Learning" part of the school. So I'm trying everything to revive it.

So, please feel free to have a discussion below as to WHY you don't leave comments, ratings, or even post videos. Or feel free to select from a poll option.

I get views but little comments myself. Ice wondered why.

 

[Calvin Phillips]

I'm gonna be very real here. Many students keep offering suggestions that would make them inclined to post more. Even one of the biggest voted response was "no incentive to post riffs".

We have revised and have advanced this site twice now with so many new features and have tried our hardest to keep the students engaged, and it's still declining.

Many students have shown frustration the community and site is "not what it use to be". I feel the same way.

I'm trying to figure out the missing puzzle to bring back the sparkle this site use to have, and all I keep hearing is new suggestions of features to spark the activity.

If we need contests all the time and consistently update features like Firefox to keep people engaged, it's going to be an ongoing battle that will never end. We never had to do that in the beginning.

I'm not sure what happened.

I think syn tv will help. It's going to be a big upgrade

 

[Calvin Phillips]

I've noticed there's been a lot less action from Syn himself over the past 6+ months or so, and I'm sure more engagement from him would drive up the overall engagement and may partially explain the lack of engagement

If you go and look at his recent posts, he only posted stuff 5 days in the month of May. A few of those days were only because we got 3 AOTM. He only posted one day in April (AOTM). He only posted 2 days in March (AOTM). One day in February (AOTM). 2 days in January. 3 days in December. You get the point. And that includes replies to threads and commenting on things, not just the creation of threads.

Obviously he's busy doing Syn stuff, but I think the students (not just me) are craving some more Syn time.

It's time to turn on the Syn Signal.



View attachment 1632

Syn also watched and liked MANY videos last month. You're not looking at all the activity.

 

[Calvin Phillips]

I think one of my goals was to make it so, for people who didn't want to comment, they could at least leave a like or heart or something. I think we should discuss some new reactions too...

My issue with the likes is you really don't know if they watched the video. That's honestly all I look for. Show me you watched it. Something will stand you to you. I see people comment with emotes all the time on instagram pictures so why not here too? Just some things to think about. My personally am posting my songs as examples of my attempts at theory. Not really looking for anything but more trying to help others who say they struggle with writing. But like I said before I did notice very few comments.