Newbie board

[meinfs]

I really appreciated it when people welcomed me to this board. I don't get to welcome each and every newbie but I try.

The simple act posting a message of welcome is an act of putting one's self out there. It is an important one even if it was cut and paste with nothing more than our icon. That member still went to the board and looked and put himself out there. Even if nobody else reads it, I'm sure the recipient will appreciate it.

If we think that counting one's number of posts isn't the important thing, then this issue of whether Welcome Newbie posts ought to be counted or not should not matter. Keep it as it is; that is, counted.


So what if a member attempts to inflate his post count by posting in the newbie section -- I say the member logged in and spent time in the forum whether he's "contributed" to the forum or not. We want members to spend time online, do we not? Now quality postings? That's another matter.

IF we are to judge what someone posts as a contribution to the kilted life or not, then that's a slippery slope. Let's not even go there (although I will a little). Because I've read many a post that I felt was unnecessary - and even then by whose criteria? Mine in that case. We all have different takes and perhaps standards. Some may consider other's trash as treasure ...

Sure, posts of 1000, 2000, 3000 and so forth are impressive -- it attests to the time that these members have spent on the board. You can see who they are and what they've posted. And you can tell if a person has posted 1000 "welcome newbies," messages and have contributed nothing else. Is he/she a lesser member then?

The minimum criterion that I subscribe to, in my humble opinion, is that we count, as a contribution, the TIME that a member has spent on this esteemed online forum. That time is easier to quantify in the form of a post, not just the length of time being online, mind you.

In my humble and non-confrontational, non-whiny opinion, with that particular criterion, I can argue and offer to the rabble that OFF-TOPIC posts be counted as posts towards one's post count. Granted that it's not necessarily kilt-related --- these posts are time spent on the board, not by strangers but by members we're getting to know more. And for what purpose? For some, personal posts about their lives and activities not kilt-related. For others, indirect connections to the kilt, e.g knitting, and other handcrafts or other hobbies. What do these things mean for me -- they amuse, they entertain; perhaps I can learn something new, something different that may contribute to my whole being and set of experiences, especially of my view of the experiences of kilt-wearers. I appreciate the fact that somebody posted something of themselves. And the beautiful thing is you do not have to read anything in the forum called off-topic since you know that it's likely going to be not kilt-related! I recently learned that OFF-TOPIC posts are not counted toward the post score and my immediate reaction in my mind was "why not?" Yeah, why not?


Many attest that they don't care what their post count is -- then if that's the case, then it shouldn't matter. If so, then one shouldn't begrudge others who's racking up 'points' for seemingly "less" valuable posts. We know who they are (are there any??). I am more for inclusiveness -- any post counts, even if for statistical data-gathering reasons only -- because it is time spent on the board. Actually, I put forth to the rabble that statistical data-gathering IS a sufficient reason.

Actually, ask yourself what does the post count mean to you anyway, ultimately?


Here's perhaps a crude analogy but one that I can speak of from my own experience: as a salsa dance instructor, when I was starting out, I've had a heated debate with a fellow instructor once about who teaches the beginners, who teaches advanced, etc and what "value" we attach to these efforts in the form of monetary value and difficulty level for the instructor. My take is that one hour of instruction is one hour regardless of instruction level, given the same number of students. We get paid the same; period. It's the same amount of time yakking. And teaching beginners is not necessarily an easy thing to do; in fact it can be more challenging. I shouldn't be paid less because I enjoy teaching beginners. We both can and are capable of providing the various levels of instruction. And it all averages out.

To connect this analogy to this discussion: a post is a post! What's it worth? What's my worth? [To me, ultimately not important, but it is important for site and user statistical data - and can be fun too, especially when one jumps from a mere peasant to a knight :]


Anyway forgive my flight of consciousness rambling; in the end, I respect what the moderators believe is the best for the board. I'm just offering my personal thoughts and suggestions on these matters.



Peace!

Off my soapbox now