The Psychology Behind The Number Of Posts

[cabinetman]

I always read about a poster who is anticipating reaching a certain level. I would like some opinions of the members here on this subject. Be truthful.



"I'M NEVER WRONG - BUT I'M NOT ALWAYS RIGHT"

[linear]

I've made >10k forum posts, just not all on this board. I admin or own other boards, and I've adminned boards in the past in the size class of this one.

I believe it's an inherent tendency for people to equate postcount with authority, however wrong that may be. Some board admins remove the display of postcount field to counter that, and the tendency for people to post less worthwhile items as they near a post milestone.

One technique I like that overcomes this is the "thanks" button. Every post gets a button, and if you found it helpful, you poke the thanks button, which increments the poster's count of thank yous, which is displayed. This rewards quality over quantity and encourages helpful posting.

Some forums can get clicqueish, and it's somewhat aggravated by high postcounts. It's not a real problem here because the welcoming atmosphere makes for gentle introduction of newbies.

[ChrisD]

It's a counter. To me, watching it would be tantamount to watching the second hand on a clock.

I have seen people bump up their post count to a round number with 'empty' posts but it was always done in good humor, not in a competitive way. Of course, sometimes hitting a certain number makes you reflect on how much you have actually contributed to the forum and so people talk about it. But that's just the kind of thing the Coffee Pot is for, right?

I guess the one time that it had special significance in this place was when the title 'Forum Windbag' just one day appeared next to Monte's name. He had hit a certain milestone and that was the default title for it. A lot of us thought it was funny.

Now, why am I suddenly a bit depressed?

[bfrikken]

I hope this makes sense. I try to only post if I mean it. But I do get a kick out of my post count. So if this was post 500, I'd feel like I hopefully offered 500 worthwhile posts. I have no problem if I'm at 500 in the timeframe someone hits 2,000. I generally ignore others counts when reading their content.

This question brought to mind Monte and his number of posts. I remember just reading a lot of his that were short little thanks or encouragment. But a lot of em. So, I'm sure many felt that even his short posts were adding value cause they were positive and encouraging. "Way to go's" on finished products, or a simple, "I agree with so and so" to confirm he read and agreed with the solution.

[jwaterdawg]

Thanks. I haven't really paid attention to it until now. Now I've got this pink elephant following me around. BTW, post #483.

[Kristofor]

Bump


Oh, wait I'm not someone who worries about post count...


There are some things which can be learned by post count. Nobody here comes close, but there are tons of folks on some of the other boards I read with 50,000+ posts. What this generally means is you're dealing with a student or someone with a job that doesn't require much attention so they're basically chatting back and forth and chiming in on 50 threads per day.

Frankly, I can't add much beyond personal opinion on lots of topics so I generally won't post to those unless I think I have some unique insight. Perhaps a more interesting comparison would be to see the ratio of messages readosted... The "thanks", "helpful", "good answer" type ranking systems do seem more generally useful, especially when the search engines take that into account on which posts to return on a given subject.

Kristofor.

[kwgeorge]

I think that post count is a bit overrated by some and I agree to some of what you said. For me I generally do not pay much attention to this and just post when I feel I can be helpful, sometimes to argue a point when I disagree and to gain information from others.

Ken

[ed2kayak]

Posts

I have lurked this board for info on & off for years. I recently registered, to facilitate the search feature. I actively ready about 10-12 news groups of interest, but only post, if I feel I can contribute something that was missed. Great forum, much good info here!

[ed2kayak]

I actively read about 10-12 news groups of interest,....... Good thing I don't post often, spelling isn't so good.

[LCHIEN]

Some people will use any excuse to increment their post count... but not me.

[Tom Miller]

I don't have...

[Tom Miller]

...a prayer of...

[Tom Miller]

...catching up to Loring.

[Tom Miller]

...but I'm trying.


p.s. Did you know that you can't post within 30 seconds of your last post?

Regards,
Tom
p.s.s. Welcome aboard, ed2! I see you doubled your post count in one thread!

[leehljp]

I personally look at the post count on other forums when I enter as a newbie - in order to get a quick guage on the situation. Post counts - in and of themselves - are not a good measure, but combined with the tone of the answer or response will give an indication if the answer is trustable.

Another guage is the join date. On another forum that I am a member, quite often people come on and in one month think they know everything. If I were a newbie to that forum, it could become quite confusing.

All told - a combination of things help me analyze the validity of answers:
Join date.
Number of posts.
Tone of answer and attitude portrayed without general use of condescending tones.
Sensibility and logic of the answer.

When three or four people with high post counts chime in on a subject and agree or even disagree, It quickly becomes evident that some good advice is being given. When three or four newbies only come in and give answers, I go ahead cautiously. This is where I read "post counts" and generally give more credence to it.

PART 2:

Concerning what was said above about Monty and people like him - He was genuine! I appreciated seeing someone doing what he did and with his attitude. His post numbers enhanced it, to me, because I saw how much and how dedicated he was to helping, thanking and encouraging people. Even though he did NOT do it for the numbers, I personally think it would not have been noticed how great a person he was if the post count was not there. His attitude in the answers plus his post count (dedication) said it all about him!

PART 3.

I have seen this come up on other forums too. What is the problem with seeing post counts? I, so far, fail to see a problem or a negative with it.