A Poll of Probable Futility

[madmacmo]

A Poll of Probable Futility
________________________________________
I noted how the following thread played out in proving to be a most excellent demonstration of what has metastasized within LPF (and not just within the Other Section).
Making Quality Posts

As a member of LPF what do you personally plan to do? - Let me know your thoughts.


Nothing - I love it, LPF should become a chat room for me and my friends:

Make a Change - I want to go back to having quality technical discourse for the unadulterated advancement of our hobby:

Else: http://web.archive.org/web/20131117...jj485/madmacmo/th_put-up-with_zps172dd8c2.jpg

 

[ARG]

Nothing - I love it, LPF should become a chat room for me and my friends

I think some people may not realize that there is a chat room

Mibbit.com Webchat client

 

[RA_pierce]

In my time here, I've found that if there is a technical discussion, those who are knowledgeable and/or experienced enough to participate will. Noobs will discuss other things as they learn about laser stuff and get experience.

I don't see anything wrong with casual conversation or comments. It's not like there is always some important project going on "for the advancement of the hobby" (whatever the hell that means). The point of having a hobby is to do something you enjoy... in other words, it's supposed to be fun.

So why not just relax and have a good time? If you have a project that is important to you, share it. If someone just drops by the thread to say "wow that host looks like a dildo lol," either ignore it and move on or recognize the fact that your laser looks like a dick and laugh about it.

Every now and then, somebody's anus gets sore and a thread like this pops up.
I have one word for those puckered, chafed buttholes: Get over it.

 

[daguin]

There is a huge range of interests and experience in this forum

LPF is *not* a professional forum

It is the entry point of the hobby for many people

Limiting the discussion beyond what we already do would seem counter-productive

Peace,
dave

 

[dubious speculation]

I completely agree with daguin.

I also think that there is a fine line between the options that the OP has put forth. If I had to choose between one or the other I would choose neither simply because there is a time and a place for everything. If there wasn't any funny discussions or hilarious pics of LPF members, then there wouldn't be any threads like the gif thread or 'Ass cheek LPM calibration' .

I also strongly think that posts should be relevant to the topic of the OP and not a discussion between two or more members about what they did on the weekend.

As for the 'Holy post count' matter I think that there is nothing wrong with it as long as the posts are worth posting. If it is just useless junk for the sake of post count then the person is wasting his and others time.

Just my $0.02

 

[Cyparagon]

Oh! I like this game!

Labeled marionettes are the same as poking large letters with your heel, which is the same as canned luncheon meat.

Vertebrates or a redneck dressed as kim-jung-un caressing butt implants in addition to a vaguely ethnic conversation at an odd angle is the same as no luncheon meat in any point in the history of mankind.

 

[Trevor]

I don't think there needs to be a change, from an administrative standpoint.

I think it's good the subject was brought up; even if a lot of people didn't pipe up, that thread still brought the 'issue' to LPF's collective attention.

I think it will sort itself out.

Trevor

 

[Blaster]

I don't think there needs to be a change, from an administrative standpoint.

I think it's good the subject was brought up; even if a lot of people didn't pipe up, that thread still brought the 'issue' to LPF's collective attention.

I think it will sort itself out.

Trevor

I think a lot of ppl wanted to pipe in.But thought if i say something about someone in particular, is that going to come back and bite me back. I hinted that one person in particular has posted a massive amount of posts in the last week and is still basically spamming .I didn't say who but they will know who they are. And Ped mentioned in a casual post about the amount of posts they had put in a very short period of time. We all do it sometimes post stuff thats just a reply and isn't really adding anything to the forum , which is why very little was said about spamming, but there is going overboard. When its almost one spam after the other.

 

[Trevor]

I think a lot of ppl wanted to pipe in.But thought if i say something about someone in particular, is that going to come back and bite me back. I hinted that one person in particular has posted a massive amount of posts in the last week and is still basically spamming .I didn't say who but they will know who they are. And Ped mentioned in a casual post about the amount of posts they had put in a very short period of time. We all do it sometimes post stuff thats just a reply and isn't really adding anything to the forum , which is why very little was said about spamming, but there is going overboard. When its almost one spam after the other.

I feel like tiptoeing doesn't really get anyone anywhere. Those who need to be called out need to be called out.

Trevor

 

[pschlosser]

I may be among those people placing poor quality posts.

Sometimes, when I read something in a thread, it makes me roll my eyes, and there begins sarcasm growing inside that I just can’t (or choose not to) contain. As such, I sometimes make pointless comments that contribute little to a thread. Some still crack me up. :crackup:

But other times, when I think I have something to contribute, I may write a nine (9) paragraph post. Is what I contribute of any value? Well, who is to say? In a perfect world, in MY view of a perfect world, every opinion has value and every person has a right to speak (or write.) Maybe it’s that freedom of speech thing some people take for granted.

I find it amusing that post count sometimes enters this discussion. Does anyone really give an [expletive] what their post count is? I sure don’t. And anyone with a 1000 or more probably doesn’t either. But how the heck should I know, I’m not a mind reader.

There was another poster that I used to see post these Welcome messages on new member threads. He had a huge rep and over 10,000 posts. These posts all looked the same and were copy pasta. He was a strong advocate of correctly calibrated light meters. It didn’t bother me, but others whined about his posts. Does it really matter, though? That member doesn’t come around anymore. He got his feelings hurt and doesn’t want to play well with others. Gosh, I hope he's okay.

 

[chipdouglas]

I say we go back to the old days where bitches be runnin wild

Michael.

 

[andrewb]

This board has incentivized post count by instilling a '1 yr + 1000 posts equals vet status' rule. I think that's what's been driving a lot of the 'spam', or otherwise quantity-over-quality behavior we've seen on the board lately.

If we could incentivize time + rep count (or rep count per post) instead of post count in terms of determining vet status, I think we'd see different behavior.

(This, coming from someone who has been a member for 2+ years, and will likely never reach vet status by the current metric. Not that I'm complaining, but the 1000-post rule really doesn't encourage quality, IMO.)

-Andy

 

[InfinitusEquitas]

Wow, what an impartial poll! The questions are so very meticulously phrased so as not to create bias. The pictures so neutral. :crackup:

 

[ARG]

This board has incentivized post count by instilling a '1 yr + 1000 posts equals vet status' rule. I think that's what's been driving a lot of the 'spam', or otherwise quantity-over-quality behavior we've seen on the board lately.

I agree, there's no good answer though, except for removing the vets section. I do enjoy the section though, and would be sad to see it go should it even be removed

 

[InfinitusEquitas]

It's been discussed many many times. Subtract posts made in the Newcomers, and Off Topic sections. Stop posts made there from counting toward the total. It would drop post counts dramatically, and prevent off topic posts from being relevant, in so far as post counts are concerned.

 

[andrewb]

ARG,

Why not keep the vet section, but just tweak the criteria for getting in? (Keeping all current members in, but applying the change to new vets only.) Each new vet is hand-approved by C0ldshadow anyway, so it wouldn't be an administrative problem.

Make it 1 year + rep power >100, or 1 year + >10 posted reviews/tutorials. Reward people for *anything* other than raw post count, and I'm sure we'll see a change in peoples' behavior, when it comes to posting for post count sake.

-Andy