Getting higher rank messages

[jfellrath]

I'd rather be the executioner of the keg.

As long as he's not protecting it from me, he can be called anything he wants.

To comment more on this whole post count thing, though... it has always been my understanding of internet etiquette that you only post if one of the following is true:

1. Someone's question has not yet been answered fully.
2. You have something more to add to a topic.
3. You're not just repeating what someone else has already said.

I think that the internet has allowed all people a place that they can always let their opinion be known, which is why you see message boards become so popular. On the dark side of this, though, is that people who don't often let their opinions be known in real life (off the internet) don't know how to handle it when their opinions are challenged - and that's led to flaming.

This forum does a much better job of simply letting opinions be opinions than most, that's for sure. And that's part of what's made it such a fun community.

But in any society, whether real or virtual, there are going to be people who look to elevate their status. And on internet forums, post counts are a way to do that. It is an indication that you spend more time on the forum than other folks. The folks who write forum software recognized this and in the interest of creating a more desirable product they created such things as post count tallies and nicknames for post-count levels.

So what does having a high post count mean? NOTHING. It doesn't mean you know more than me, or I know more than you, or you belong here more than me, or vice versa. It's just something fun to do.

Am I blathering? Yes, I am. I've run message boards in the past (and some particularly volatile ones, for that matter) and you always see post-counts and post-ratings and such be taken way too seriously.

This forum gets it right, generally: treat others as you would want to be treated, and you'll do fine.

[bubba]

One of the great things here is the group is chatty. Not every post needs to be serious or particularly "on topic". That's a good part of what really makes us a community of friends rather than just another special interest group.

[jfellrath]

One of the great things here is the group is chatty. Not every post needs to be serious or particularly "on topic". That's a good part of what really makes us a community of friends rather than just another special interest group.

Point taken. I look at it this way: if we were all sitting in a room together having a discussion instead of posting on a forum, would I repeat something that someone else just said if it wasn't germane to the conversation?

Probably not. There's no point. And there's nothing about that notion that's anti-community or anti-social.

[furrycelt]

I would like to add that by far this is the most mature and civil online forum I have ever been in. And so everyone needs to pat themselves on the back for that.

Also, I too am annoyed by how the "new posts" link seems to *expire*. My way around it is this: From the Xmarks homepage, I click on "new posts", from that, I do not simply click on the threads, but do a Ctrl-click or a Shift-click. I open what I want to read into a new tab or window. I never close the "new posts" window until I am done with that list.

(This process is made easy by FireFox or by Avant.)

-ian

[AckZel]

I would like to add that by far this is the most mature and civil online forum I have ever been in.

That could have something to do with the average age... near 40 or something like that?

Most forums I have been in are mostly around or under 20 years old... And there is problems with mature and civil conduct.

[Mike S]

Ian,
That is a very good idea of yours. I admit to never having thought of that, and will be borrowing that browsing technique from now on. Cheers!