Post counts

[quiet_riot]

I found them to be useful to see how sad of a bastard you are. If you joined in 2009 say, and had over 40k posts then it just showed what a sad sack you are.

 

[SWP's back]

People will always pick the status quo. In fact that has been a massive problem stopping the development of the forum for years.

6 years ago I added a Like button for Facebook as we were starting to customise and update the software, keeping it relevant and current. It caused absolute uproar and many long term users said that they'd leave the site if we didn't remove it. 3 months ago we added a Facebook button, Twitter button, Google+ and RSS subscription buttons and nobody has said a single word about it.

If we take a vote now I guarantee it will come down on the side of keeping post counts. If we have it in a month I guarantee it will come down on the side of no post counts. People on here are extremely change resistant as a general rule.

Let's have a poll now.

Keep no post count for a month.

Then have another in a month.

It'll be fun.

 

[SWP's back]

Ric you could always remove the post counts and have a membership status where you move up a tier dependant on how many posts you have eg

New Member - 0-99
Member - 100-999
City Member - 1000 - 2499
Gold - 2500 - 9999
Platinum - 10000 - 49999
Superbia - 50000+

You get the idea

If only there was a Facebook like button for this.

 

[bluemoon98]

Thing is with post counts is that people are prejudged if someone with 15 posts comes on and says something differing an opinion of a 10,000 posts member. I know a few on here who act like the big I am with their large quantity of posts and seems when a member with a lot of posts reply to a member with little posts they are often talked down to and seems unfair.

A lot of people (and myself included) do sometimes see a post and look at the post count or past posts to determine if the member is a rag or a wum or maybe just someone who takes a back seat and posts when he/she feels like it.

Verdict is No post count or an option to disable or enable viewing of a post count?

 

[SWP's back]

I found them to be useful to see how sad of a bastard you are. If you joined in 2009 say, and had over 40k posts then it just showed what a sad sack you are.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm

 

[Damocles]

If only there was a Facebook like button for this.

Click the number next to the Quote/Reply buttons on the right of the post :)

I'll get my tin helmet ready

 

[waspish]

Bottom line none supporting city fans who come on here in sheeps clothing taking the piss or sly digs generates more traffic just like a post saying "todays the day" and thats why we will keeps getting them.. Doesn't bother me one bit I know how it works and its a great forum mainly because of it! Post count wise should be visible and shouldn't be changed just because half dozen MOAN tell them to grow up grow pair get on with it like the majority of us do with the so called city fans taking the mick..

 

[Damocles]

Bottom line none supporting city fans who come on here in sheeps clothing taking the piss or sly digs generates more traffic just like a post saying "todays the day" and thats why we will keeps getting them.. Doesn't bother me one bit I know how it works and its a great forum mainly because of it! Post count wise should be visible and shouldn't be changed just because half dozen MOAN tell them to grow up grow pair get on with it like the majority of us do with the so called city fans taking the mick..

That's not at all how it works and it's fucking offensive to suggest the moderators would dishonestly allow wums on here because "it generates traffic" (which is doesn't, and in fact it lowers traffic quite a bit)

You have no idea how it works

 

[DerderderPabloZabaleta]

My take on this for what it's worth. I have 6,000 posts roughly, so decide from that whether this is worth reading.

Firstly, people take the Internet way too seriously. This forum has several prominent members that have an attitude of "if your opinion doesn't match mine, you're wrong (and a ****)". They don't seem to understand the definition of opinion and the fact there's nothing wrong if people disagree, it prompts discussion which is the whole point of a forum. I firmly believe people use this forum as a parallel life where they can feel self importance they may not have in the real world. If you get defensive about me saying that, chances are you're one of the people I'm talking about. Some people just cannot cope with the prospect their view is wrong, be it on a forum or face to face, people are who they are but for the love of god, it's the internet and a user forum where the sole purpose is to discuss. Not "shut up, you're wrong you ****", or similar.

Wtf does that have to do with post counts? Well, they are probably best described as credibility counts and i'm guilty myself of using it to judge a member based on what he/she's put. It might be complete rubbish - but I generally find those with lower counts post either more WUM related material or just complete nonsense. It's very plausible someone with 50 posts just wants to cause trouble, and less plausible that someone that has put the time into racking up 10,000 posts is here purely to piss people off. Though, there are one or two. In that case, rightly or wrongly it's a barometer to make a judgement on the credibility of a post. At the end of the day, if new members were genuine enough to engage in real discussion, their post count would rise and they will be viewed differently. Not saying it's right, but it's generally the case. We all had to go through the "newb" period, so why can't they.

Ric probably didn't set up a forum so that people could 'qualify' to have their views heard, so it's a double edged sword. I can see the logic of removing them as it creates an even ground, but I do see it as potentially causing more thread derailments and arguments, because in the past users may have ignored someone that has posted something dodgy, whereas now they might engage them and it's unlikely to end well.

At the end of the day, the forum has a Poll function and we live in a democracy, let people vote and go with the majority. It's also Ric's forum and if he doesn't want counts, tough shit. If you feel strongly enough that losing the post count is of detriment to your viewing pleasure, join mumsnet.

I agree with a lot of the sense you've talked there and there are an awful lot of angles to this in my opinion.

As somone who uses the forum sparingly I don't tend to take things too seriously here.

I would post more but often find myself typing a reply to discussion and then giving up, this can be sometimes because I feel there is no point arguing with the common held opinion when it's backed up by a few established posters and you'd be a fool to not acknowledge that this can happen on any Internet forum.

I think it's important to understand why this decision has been made and what the longer term aims of the forum are. Ric and Damocles have done a good job of explaining both - at the end of the day we're all here to talk about the club we love and have a bit of a laugh doing it.

Plus it's the internet so really it shouldn't be taken too seriously, we all have lives to live!

 

[waspish]

That's not at all how it works and it's fucking offensive to suggest the moderators would dishonestly allow wums on here because "it generates traffic" (which is doesn't, and in fact it lowers traffic quite a bit)

You have no idea how it works

I take your point and i believe you in what you say, but thats my opinion, a controversial post generates traffic thats why threads gets of topic and mods will step in but posts that wouldn't be are posted because of it..