Reply To: What kinds of posts do you like to see?
Obviously, not every post can be brilliant — I don’t expect them to be, either. There are posts I like to see that aren’t particularly brilliant, just good. And posts are good when they:
- Tell me something about their authors. I mean “something” like interests, personality, etc. Preferably something good, or at least neutral, of course — I wouldn’t think of a post as good if what it told me was that its author was an illiterate, antagonistic bigot (and that is not drawn from any incident that has occurred in this forum, Lord be praised). Like Spiff, I’ve been enjoying the Introduce Yourself posts, but it doesn’t have to be an outright introduction.
- As a corollary to the above, express, and where possible explain, enthusiasm for a subject — Spiff mentions the threads for JoCo gigs, which are great. I’ve also enjoyed the posts in the Favorite Songs thread — even just hearing that someone really enjoys a song I don’t listen to much makes me more interested in listening to it again. Doesn’t have to be JoCo-related; those just happen to be some of my favorite examples.
- Are clever, witty, intelligent, funny, informative, etc.
- Go beyond mere fact-dump. I have a fervid appreciation for lists of facts, and I post them myself on a regular basis, but a lot of times, fact-dump is an end to discussion. Convenient example, no criticism meant of anyone who contributed: In the last few posts of this thread, there was some discussion of forum members’ account numbers, etc. It’s not a bad topic (although it isn’t quite on topic for this thread), but it runs the risk of devolving into, “I’m number this! I’m number that!” I could see a more interesting discussion start up, using the same data, on things like, how fast has the forum grown? (It took about 4.5 months to get from 101 to 201 members; it took about 1.5 months to get from 601 to 701 members.) What spikes are there? How do we relate these statistics to something meaningful?
- Similarly, encourage discussion. That includes asking questions or starting threads where discussion takes place; it also includes replying when others have discussion topics, particularly replies that are open-ended enough to invite further responses.
- Post something creative that’s JoCo-related. It doesn’t have to be brilliant — I will appreciate it even if it’s just a straightforward cover of a song with nothing original about it.
- Are gracious. I’m not very good at this one, but — y’know, when you’re right, don’t rub it in; when you’re wrong, acknowledge it with thanks. (Not saying you have to — just saying I like when you do.)
- Are, if anything, underconfident. I like people who think about what they say — not that confident people can’t be thoughtful, but people who aren’t confident ought to, and often do, put more thought into their posts.
- Express some familiarity with what’s going on in the thread. If you can’t read the whole thread, at least figure out what the thread’s about and who said what.
- Are self-policing. That’s a selfish wish — I don’t like having to get on people’s cases, and I’d really rather the forum take care of itself. If you see something someone does that doesn’t seem to fit with the forum code of conduct, speak up! (Graciously, of course — but speak up!)
So what does it take for me to notice you? Either a small number of exceptional posts or a consistent level of good posts will do. Or, just read the threads, read the threads and I will like you.
One other thing: I really enjoyed, and largely agreed with, Ben’s comment about “largely informative posts that stay on topic,” particularly the part about the fluidity of discussions. One thing I’ve just recognized is that I regard posts within a thread more or less the same way I regard threads within the forum: the stated purpose of the forum is JoCo discussion, so threads on that subject are always encouraged, but off-topic threads are generally welcome as well. In the same way, whatever the stated purpose of a thread is, posts on that subject are always fine, but off-topic posts are generally okay too. (It’s a fractal pattern!) I’m not real picky about on-topicness, as long as off-topic posts aren’t drowning out people who want to stay on topic.
I know, tl;dr. But drat it, I care about the forum, and I’d like to see more of what I’d like to see.
* (they both tip over when you saw their legs off**)
** (if you quote this answer I’d appreciate credit)