Random Thoughts 9: Attack of the Vapid Posts

[hobbsyoyo]

Previous Threads:
Random Thoughts 1: Just Sayin'
Random Thoughts 2: Arbitrary Speculations
Random Thoughts 3: A Little Bit of This, and a Little Bit of That...
Random Thoughts IV: the Abyss Gazes Back
Random Thoughts Five: Ya rolls the dice, ya takes yer chances
Random Thoughts Sechs: Eeeeehhhh...
Random Thoughts VII: Do the Hokey Pokey
Random Thoughts 0o10: Special Limited Deluxe Collector's Edition


So what random thoughts do you want to inflict on the world?

 

[hobbsyoyo]

First thought: postcount should stick no matter the source thread

@Manfred Belheim
Thanks for helping me build my case that these threads reflect CFC culture and thus have value that shouldn't be discounted arbitrarily.

 

[Synobun]

Manfred is a man of the people, and we can always count on him to help prop up our agenda.

 

[Manfred Belheim]

I suppose if you do pointless horsehocky long enough, it eventually becomes culture

(that also counts as a random thought)

 

[Synobun]

I suppose if you do pointless **** long enough, it eventually becomes culture

(that also counts as a random thought)

That's what culture is, yes.

 

[MaryKB]

I don't understand why anyone even cares about postcounts anyway.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Random thought: I nearly bought another penguin last night.

 

[MaryKB]

I want a Pandas and Penguins chess set.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I don't understand why anyone even cares about postcounts anyway.

I definitely go hyperbolic about it, but I do care because it represents the amount of participation and the level of effort that goes into my posts.

 

[Manfred Belheim]

I don't understand why anyone even cares about postcounts anyway.

Oh my god we agree on something!

Is this one of the signs of the end of days?

 

[MaryKB]

I definitely go hyperbolic about it, but I do care because it represents the amount of participation and the level of effort that goes into my posts.

But who do you feel participates more: someone who writes a thousand ten-word replies, or someone who writes a hundred thousand-word replies?

 

[hobbsyoyo]

But who do you feel participates more: someone who writes a thousand ten-word replies, or someone who writes a hundred thousand-word replies?

If you are offering up other ways of tracking our progress, I'm all for it. I'd love to see wordcount next to postcount.

Unfortunately, that's not going to happen and postcount is a close enough proxy. Most posts are not 1000 words long. And most spammers/trolls drop out before hitting 10,000, reinforcing it's utility as a rough metric.

 

[Synobun]

I don't understand why anyone even cares about postcounts anyway.

I don't necessarily care. If it were up to me I'd delete my account and start over entirely from 0.

I suppose I care about the principle. Why do some posts count but not others? If post count doesn't matter, surely it is fine and good to just leave it as the default, where every post counts? Or remove all post count entirely? What gain is there in cherry-picking what counts and what doesn't, especially if post count itself "doesn't matter," "isn't a big deal," or whatever else kind of dismissal? Someone made the active decision to remove post counts from certain threads.

 

[MaryKB]

If you are offering up other ways of tracking our progress, I'm all for it. I'd love to see wordcount next to postcount.

Unfortunately, that's not going to happen and postcount is a close enough proxy. Most posts are not 1000 words long. And most spammers/trolls drop out before hitting 10,000, reinforcing it's utility as a rough metric.

But I really don't understand why tracking progress is necessary at all? I don't get what it proves ... like would you consider yourself more valuable than say Aimee, because you have more posts than she does?

 

[Timsup2nothin]

That thread ended just in time. I was about to be drafted.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

But I really don't understand why tracking progress is necessary at all? I don't get what it proves ... like would you consider yourself more valuable than say Aimee, because you have more posts than she does?

No not at all. You're looking at it like a competition. For some people it is, but for most it's not. While aimee doesn't have as many posts as some, she has more than the rando that just walked in to post spam about Ron Paul funbux or whatever. She will always have more than those randos, because they're randos and they come and go. Aimee's here for the long haul. That's all that postcount signifies to me, it's not a competition or a direct comparison.

 

[MaryKB]

That thread ended just in time. I was about to be drafted.

You may be demoted to Royal Footstool unless you start pleasing me immediately.

 

[Arakhor]

She will always have more than those randos, because they're randos and they come and go. Aimee's here for the long haul. That's all that postcount signifies to me, it's not a competition or a direct comparison.

So, you'd be appalled if, as at the GITP forums, post count was entirely invisible?

 

[Manfred Belheim]

Hide it! Do it! End this nonsense. Maybe after someone has made 100 posts or something, they can get a gold star to prove they're not a bot, but that's all you get to see.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I am mildly disappointed by the lack of creative numbering systems in the thread title.