Remove Post Counts for non-supporters?

[Bruce Lindfield]

Before the last big forum change, it was the case for some time, that only supporting members got post counts displayed by every post and this seemed to work well.

As before this, I remember there were many useless threads about who had the biggest post count etc.

Well I noticed that since the change and restoration of post counts for all, we have started to get a few more useless threads where it's obvious that people are only trying to increase their post count and there are now even threads which are only about postcounts!

So maybe it's time to go back to how it was and only have postcounts by supporters' names - this acts as an incentive to support and also stops "newbies" becoming obsessed with post count and posting as much as they can in a short space of time - just to "catch up"!!

I think it's a win-win!!

 

[neptoon]

just so long as guys like me who have been around for a while and woke up one morning to find their avatar gone don't have to start over again

 

[cgworkman]

So maybe it's time to go back to how it was and only have postcounts by supporters' names - this acts as an incentive to support and also stops "newbies" becoming obsessed with post count and posting as much as they can in a short space of time - just to "catch up"!!

Just delete the worthless posts. I don't take advantage of the system that way. Penalize the "bad apples" not the rest of us.

 

[Bruce Lindfield]

I think postcounts are a waste of time - "date joined" helps you know how long somebody has bee around and location is very useful if people are serious about it - but postcounts just encourage waste of time threads, needlessly competitive behaviour and overposting by newbies, desparate to fit in.

 

[cgworkman]

First, do you know this to be happening a lot, or is this just your interpretation of posts that are actually just people having fun?

Just exactly how do the new people win by your taking something away from them?

Yeah - God forbid anyone on here enjoy themselves!! Being part of this forum is both informative and fun. It's a vast knowledge base - but it's also a place for people to just "chat" about something they love - i.e. bass playing.

Some people want to "take things away" because something is not regimented enough - or it's to "relaxed". These people are usually controlling types.

I disagree with number of posts being worthless. You're able to tell how much a person has contributed to the forum. Yes you'll have those people who are idiots - but even if you take away post counts - they'll still be idiots.

 

[cgworkman]

I think postcounts are a waste of time - "date joined" helps you know how long somebody has bee around and location is very useful if people are serious about it - but postcounts just encourage waste of time threads, needlessly competitive behaviour and overposting by newbies, desparate to fit in.

Why does it bother you so much?? We could be discussing somthing bass or music related - in other words, you're driving your post count higher and higher with this "waste of time thread"

 

[Bruce Lindfield]

Why does it bother you so much?? We could be discussing somthing bass or music related - in other words, you're driving your post count higher and higher with this "waste of time thread"

This is a suggestion and aims to make the site better for everyone - so I don't see this as a waste of time, unless people make it that with unhelpful remarks...

I explained exactly why in my initial post - but it was based on comments made by people in another thread where several people were saying that something needed to be done about a current obssession with postcounts.

 

[Hellsgamerz]

Why would you take away the count? I'm not a supporting member, but if I was a resident of the US I would consider it. I just don't like to pay money over the internet, that's all. If we can't have avatars, please let us have the post count.

And delete the post-count threads. That'll help keep it clean.

 

[grovest]

I would also like to see post counts removed again. In fact I'm not sure what purpose they have for supporting members either, but they are an additional incentive to support the site so I suppose they should stay for supporting members.

Post counts encourage more insipid replies. Replies like '+1' add very little to a thread. The least helpful is when people quote large blocks of a post and don’t add a single character of their own. Not only does this not advance the thread, it wastes bandwidth.

Post counts encourage people to make assumptions about a poster beyond the information provided in a profile or the post itself. Many times these assumptions are wrong and the posts derived from them only waste time or frustrate the original poster. If one needs more information to be helpful, why not ask the original poster for more information or clarification?

Post counts encourage the stratification of posters into classes, not at all unlike 'supporters vs. non-supporters'. The result is that readers may give less weight to information from low-post-count posters based solely on post count. This is a detriment to the reader (who may be overlooking truly valuable information) and discouraging to the low-post-count poster.

To say the useless posts should just be 'deleted' misses the reality that administering a large board like this is a lot of work and prone to problems. For instance, not all empty posts will be caught. Plus, the mods would have to deal with people asking 'why did his '+1 ' not get deleted but my '+1' did?' In this case I think it’s best to have a system that requires less human effort, not more.

For the people who lurk before they join, I would wonder why they are lurking for so long if their join date matters to them. I don't personally believe join date means much of anything, but if someone did believe that wouldn't that person likely join soon after finding TB?

 

[John Deppel]

I'm going to have to go with Bruce on this one too. After posting at TalkBass a little over 6 mos. I have seen countless "Made it to XX posts!" threads. Like Bruce said, it creates needless competition. People desperately try to rack up the posts, and when they "overtake" someone, they seem to think that it gives them some sort of bragging rights. I personally don't see the point in post counts either.

 

[paul]

I would also like to see post counts removed again. In fact I'm not sure what purpose they have for supporting members either, but they are an additional incentive to support the site so I suppose they should stay for supporting members.

Post counts encourage more insipid replies. Replies like '+1' add very little to a thread. The least helpful is when people quote large blocks of a post and don’t add a single character of their own. Not only does this not advance the thread, it wastes bandwidth.

Post counts encourage people to make assumptions about a poster beyond the information provided in a profile or the post itself. Many times these assumptions are wrong and the posts derived from them only waste time or frustrate the original poster. If one needs more information to be helpful, why not ask the original poster for more information or clarification?

Post counts encourage the stratification of posters into classes, not at all unlike 'supporters vs. non-supporters'. The result is that readers may give less weight to information from low-post-count posters based solely on post count. This is a detriment to the reader (who may be overlooking truly valuable information) and discouraging to the low-post-count poster.

To say the useless posts should just be 'deleted' misses the reality that administering a large board like this is a lot of work and prone to problems. For instance, not all empty posts will be caught. Plus, the mods would have to deal with people asking 'why did his '+1 ' not get deleted but my '+1' did?' In this case I think it’s best to have a system that requires less human effort, not more.

For the people who lurk before they join, I would wonder why they are lurking for so long if their join date matters to them. I don't personally believe join date means much of anything, but if someone did believe that wouldn't that person likely join soon after finding TB?

Very well said. (for a while there I thought this thread was headed into no-mans-land...). I believe a user's post count is not and should not be a guage of their value or worthiness of respect. If you want a stat by which to judge a user, is not the 'join date' a much better marker? I have a lot of respect for a lurker (I prefer the term 'observer' - the ability to listen well is a virtue , who has a join date of last year, and a post count of 10. Bottom line: I see no real benefit to post counts. The rush to increase one's post count for status feeds off of the bandwidth paid for by supporting members. Putting the burden on already overworked mods to weed out free-post threads isn't an option IMO.

 

[Frank Martin]

So I just noticed that something was up with the post counters (which were still on this morning): that side seemed a bit smaller than usual - and so I saw that it had disappeared

Now that I am reading this thread, there are points in which I can agree, but there are points, in which not.

Eliminating the post-count is fine by me. I wasnt into too much posts about nonsense: in 2,5 years, I was only now getting close to 1000...

I think it is better for new members and newbies seeking advice, though. They could see if someone has more experience if they looked at the join date and the post-counter; this way it was easier to sort out which advice to take.

Instead of the post-counter, I think it would not be a bad idea to have categories like
- New member (0-250 posts or less than half a year)
- Member (250-1000 posts or less than 2 years)
- Veteran ok, like something along the lines of that...

This would not induce that same post-race: the results will be less visible. Even though this may put people into categories, I think the divide will not be as big as was with post-counter

So what do you think?

 

[Hurley]

Instead of the post-counter, I think it would not be a bad idea to have categories like
- New member (0-250 posts or less than half a year)
- Member (250-1000 posts or less than 2 years)
- Veteran ok, like something along the lines of that...

It is a cool idea, but I think it will still encourage these "status" threads. Now, instead of someone posting, "Yeah! I reached XXX posts!", it would now be, "Yeah! I'm now a [XXX-XXXX post member]!"

I've noticed that supporting members had their counters removed as well, while Mods still have them. Is there a reason for that? I don't think Mods would be too concerned with their post counts.

I'm going to support within this week. I really want an avatar, which is the biggest incentive for me.

 

[cgworkman]

Before the last big forum change, it was the case for some time, that only supporting members got post counts displayed by every post and this seemed to work well.

As before this, I remember there were many useless threads about who had the biggest post count etc.

Well I noticed that since the change and restoration of post counts for all, we have started to get a few more useless threads where it's obvious that people are only trying to increase their post count and there are now even threads which are only about postcounts!

So maybe it's time to go back to how it was and only have postcounts by supporters' names - this acts as an incentive to support and also stops "newbies" becoming obsessed with post count and posting as much as they can in a short space of time - just to "catch up"!!

I think it's a win-win!!

Well you got your way - so can we drop this discussion??

 

[Matt Till]

phh, my thread was ignored and it came first... phhh

 

[HeavyDuty]

Maybe we should keep the counts for Gold subscribers? That way we can lord over the unwashed...

 

[ironmaidenisgod]

Did my 'MY 100th POST' thread start this thread?

If so I'm sorry.

 

[Bruce Lindfield]

Well you got your way - so can we drop this discussion??

No, I think it should be an ongoing,continuous debate........

 

[Matt Till]

Did my 'MY 100th POST' thread start this thread?

If so I'm sorry.

It's always been a "problem." People associate post count with knowledge more often than not. But if you think about it, if someone has 100 posts a day, that means they aren't spending that time practicing/becoming a better bassist.

So to answer your question, Yes, it's completely your fault.

 

[cgworkman]

No, I think it should be an ongoing,continuous debate........

Well that confirms what I suspected in the first place.....