Quality Posting

[Cricket]

At times I am as guilty as the next guy when it comes to leaving short unnecessary responses to a thread, but when these responses begin to outnumber the quality responses, it has a negative impact on the community as a whole.

For the sake of discussion, I am talking about responses similar to the following.

• Me too.
• I agree.
• I disagree.
• Welcome.
• LMAO.
• Thanks .
• Nice article.

I am curious what others feel as to what makes for a quality response to a thread.

[chicgeek]

I agree.

[Linda in NY]

Me too

[Cricket]

Any chance I could get a few of you to take this thread seriously?

[chicgeek]

In other words, I agree and I like being a pain.

Threads are almost better off empty than filled with yes-men. If there are no new ideas added, then there is little point.

To add to this, this pads the postcounts of those who do not deserve the priviledges that some postcount levels receive, as well as often results in the topping of old threads and the "overturning" of forums.

[Cricket]

I guess what I am looking for are ideas of what others consider a quality post. For example, if you agree with someone, explaining why you agree, and what you base that opinion on.

[Linda in NY]

Cricket is right, you should have to qualify your response.

And as far as chicgeek, huh ?

And as far as my first post, I was trying to emulate on of my idols, chicgeek, well she was until her last post, now I'm lost.

[G10]

Any chance of a cup of tea in here, I'm parched! sorry girl! ;-)




This is not always the easiest thing to accomplish as there are so many people from different areas of the world and it isn't always easy for them to explain why they agree or disagree to what is said so sometimes people just agree to something and just say so.

Of course, there are the postcount-padders also and that is wrong, yes.

Then we also have the noobs who are new to forums in general and start off by saying I agree or disagree etc as they are still gaining confidence and experience online.

It is a tough call as there are a lot of variables to this and each one has to be weighed individually. That's my 2 cents anyway.

[Dan Williamson]

I believe that I used to be like this, but I had a few months out and generally grew up, now I tend to have posts which attempt to be unbiased, meaningful and not pointless.

However sometimes there are just threads which you have to answer stupidly to.

[Cricket]

LMAO . . .

I must be explaining my question very badly.

What I am looking for are ways (ideas) to help people to understand how to create a quality response to a thread.

[Dan Williamson]

Originally Posted by Cricket

LMAO . . .

I must be explaining my question very badly.

What I am looking for are ways (ideas) to help people to understand how to create a quality response to a thread.

Ahh, totally misunderstood you then but oh well. The general points for me are.

• Look at the topic.
• Address the problem (if there is one)
• If you can give advice then do so in a structured way.
• Get to the point and don't post idiotic things that go off-topic for miles (unless you address another quote in the post)
• Check that your answers generally factual (the worst thing can be when someone gives you bad advice)
• Proof-read your post.

But for places like this section it's a whole different ball-game. Thats just how I work, people generally call me insane..

[altyfc]

Originally Posted by Cricket

What I am looking for are ways (ideas) to help people to understand how to create a quality response to a thread.

From my experience of forums, a board where discussions are more in-depth and more reasoned has a tendancy to attract members of similar mind, as does one with a load of short posts.

By that, I mean...

- if you have a board packed with "me too" and "LOL" posts, the kinds of people that will register for a board like that (and post themselves) will be the kinds of people that also post like that. If someone wants to write at length, and have more purposeful discussion, then you won't get them joining.

- and of the course, the reverse is true also.

So........ you basically need to try to lead from the top, and the admin and mods need to post in a manner that they'd be happy for other members to also post.

Am I making sense?

[Atom]

Originally Posted by Cricket

At times I am as guilty as the next guy when it comes to leaving short unnecessary responses to a thread, but when these responses begin to outnumber the quality responses, it has a negative impact on the community as a whole.

For the sake of discussion, I am talking about responses similar to the following.

• Me too.
• I agree.
• I disagree.
• Welcome.
• LMAO.
• Thanks .
• Nice article.

I am curious what others feel as to what makes for a quality response to a thread.

Let them eat cake. Secret rule #1.

[Zap]

I could do without most of those.

I don't mind LMAO. That is at least telling someone that you enjoyed their post and appreciate their sense of humour.

Welcome
I agree
I disagree
Thanks
Me too
Nice article

...are pretty useless without some accompanying qualifying information.

[ewomack]

The general rule for quality could be defined as "something that elicits a thought that a macro couldn't run."

Or:

If you post "I agree" fill in the "why?"
If you post "great link" fill in the "here's why!"
If you have a single word to post that doesn't add to the discussion, think twice before posting.

Just my suggestions. I have no idea how one would go about enforcing these guidelines apart from deleting posts that don't meet them. But would that make it less friendly around here?

[South]

Take almost any user with a moderately low post count with a "me too" response, then click his/her profile and look at all posts by that person. 9 times out of 10 that person has a huge string of 5 word responses that add little to nothing to the thread. It's frustrating because it dilutes the thread.

I understand that everyone wants high post counts, particularly those who are new and wanting to see the mysterious hidden caverns of the site, but there are useful ways to accomplish that.

This is a big forum with plenty of specialty / interest specific sections. If none of the segments of the site interest you enough to have any real responses, then you may be in the wrong place.

So before responding, consider a few things:

Do you really have an opinion or new information about this thread topic? If yes, say it. If not, enjoy the reading then move on.

Later on when someone finds this thread to use as a reference, will your response help them understand better what they came for, or will it clog up the information line?

How often do you look at your own previous posts list? How does it speak of you as a contributor? Others look at it as well and use it to determine your worth as a contributor.

There are frequently lighthearted threads here about nothing specific (what are you thinking...favorite actor, ect) that are perfect if you just feel like throwing something out there.

In short, read your post as if someone else wrote it. What did you get out of it?

This is a great community and you'll get the most out of it if you stop watching post count and just get involved. The numbers will come, and in the meantime you'll be helping the community as a whole to grow.

[Atom]

Originally Posted by South

... Later on when someone finds this thread to use as a reference, will your response help them understand better what they came for, or will it clog up the information line? ...

This is an interesting comment. I must admit that I addressed Cricket directly, in my response. Very interesting indeed.

[Julie]

A quality post is one that adds to the conversation. Something new, a different perspective, another point, etc. It also clearly conveys your thoughts/ideas. If you state an opinion, you also explain it. If you state something as fact, you back it up with a link to reliable resources.

A bad post would be a hit-and-run post, such as stating an opinion without backing it up, or leaving a snarky reply. I would agree that the "me too", "nice article", "I agree" and similar short replies are worthless and typically don't add to the conversation. There are some instances in which they are fine, I think, some threads end up turning into more of a conversation between a couple people similar to one might have in a chat, so while most of the time such short replies are worthless, at times they do go with the flow... But I think that a lot of these short ones are made for the sake of increasing post count, which is seriously lame...

Personally, I don't follow all the "rules" in the lobby area. This is more of the let-down-your-hair, "fun zone". When I post in the other sections, however, it's because I have something legitimate to add to the conversation. I've been guilty of not so quality posts though as well... so.. there ya go.