deliaselene wrote:pimpdave wrote:I am painfully unaware of internet forum culture, but are people truly more respected for having a high post count?
That seems like a poor indicator for quality. I would think that the relative erudition of the post would speak more towards whether or not the user is worth reading.
What I'm getting at is, does the post count matter at all? Why not just remove all posts from counting towards a post count? Would that negatively effect the forums?
How many people actually use post count as an indicator of a forum users legitimacy?
(ps. I don't)
interesting point
a high post count demonstrates active involvement in issues
Okay, I can see where that might matter, but why then would a place like Flame Wars count? I just noticed that my post count has gone up 1, after posting some drivel in FW.
Looking over that forum, there seem to be a few regulars, who prattle on and on, repeating themselves ad nauseum and posting drivel even worse than mine.
Might someone look at those users and think "Well, this chap posts an awful lot, he must have something valid to say, let me just read some of this here, doop de doop dee doo, OH MY! I'm wasting my life reading this, and it
contributes nothing except an opportunity for a bunch of mental dwarfs to repeatedly extol their own brilliance!"
Or instead perhaps they might think "Well, this guy seems to post an awful lot, guess he missed that day in school when we all learned about brevity being the soul of wit. I think I'll skip this post and read something by someone who puts more thought into their writing."
Point being, the whole thing is arbitrary. Something demonstrating more active involvement in the issues doesn't necessarily demonstrate more constructive, or valuable involvement. Honestly, a high post count, unless attached to someone having been on the website for a sizable amount of time would, to me, demonstrate a desire to have a high post count. Not active involvement in the issues.
But that's just my opinion. I think too many people are preoccupied with measuring themselves against others, and of course that carries over into this website. Instead of being worried about post count (all due respect to those of a differing opinion) why don't we try to be worried about posting quality content?