Why do we have a postcount?

[agun]

....and do we really need it?

 

[Stephen C]

To keep track of how many posts I've made. Who's we? 

[Heath Long]

I think the OP is talking about the hierarchy that can be created on some message boards with the post count in the minds of some board members. It seems to happen often, although I have only seen it happen once on this forum myself.

[Stephen C]

 

I think the OP is talking about the hierarchy that can be created on some message boards with the post count in the minds of some board members. It seems to happen often, although I have only seen it happen once on this forum myself.

 

Holy guacamole, you got all that from what the OP said? That's pretty awesome.  

[agun]

 

To keep track of how many posts I've made. 

Who's we?

 

 

We the users, the ones with a poscount.

Do we really need to keep track of the number of posts we have made?

Does it serve any purpose other than to create preconceptions about the user?

[Stephen C]

 

 

To keep track of how many posts I've made. 

Who's we?

 

 

We the users, the ones with a poscount.

 

Do we really need to keep track of the number of posts we have made?

Does it serve any purpose other than to create preconceptions about the user?

 

 

I can't speak for you...well, I could, but that'd be nonsense.

I absolutely need to keep track of the number of posts I have made, yes. I need to know when I go over 9000, of course.  

[agun]

 

 

We the users, the ones with a poscount.

 

Do we really need to keep track of the number of posts we have made?

Does it serve any purpose other than to create preconceptions about the user?

 

 

I can't speak for you...well, I could, but that'd be nonsense.

I absolutely need to keep track of the number of posts I have made, yes. I need to know when I go over 9000, of course.

 

Do you think the need to know when you have posted over 9000 posts is a greater need than the need for a lack of hierarchy that could arise from having a postcount?

I also find it interesting that you would want to know when you go over 9000 posts. Do you regard it as your power level?

[Stephen C]

 

 

 

 

We the users, the ones with a poscount.

 

Do we really need to keep track of the number of posts we have made?

Does it serve any purpose other than to create preconceptions about the user?

 

 

I can't speak for you...well, I could, but that'd be nonsense.

I absolutely need to keep track of the number of posts I have made, yes. I need to know when I go over 9000, of course.

 

Do you think the need to know when you have posted over 9000 posts is a greater need than the need for a lack of hierarchy that could arise from having a postcount?

I also find it interesting that you would want to know when you go over 9000 posts. Do you regard it as your power level?

 

 

Absolutely.

Certainly.  

[agun]

 

 

 

 

 

We the users, the ones with a poscount.

 

Do we really need to keep track of the number of posts we have made?

Does it serve any purpose other than to create preconceptions about the user?

 

 

I can't speak for you...well, I could, but that'd be nonsense.

I absolutely need to keep track of the number of posts I have made, yes. I need to know when I go over 9000, of course.

 

Do you think the need to know when you have posted over 9000 posts is a greater need than the need for a lack of hierarchy that could arise from having a postcount?

I also find it interesting that you would want to know when you go over 9000 posts. Do you regard it as your power level?

 

 

Absolutely.

Certainly.

 

So you regard yourself as more powerful than other people with less posts like me? Does this power difference create any preconceptions in you and if so, do you feel those are accurate preconceptions?

[Kawlinz]

[Stephen C]

 

 

 

 

 

 

We the users, the ones with a poscount.

 

Do we really need to keep track of the number of posts we have made?

Does it serve any purpose other than to create preconceptions about the user?

 

 

I can't speak for you...well, I could, but that'd be nonsense.

I absolutely need to keep track of the number of posts I have made, yes. I need to know when I go over 9000, of course.

 

Do you think the need to know when you have posted over 9000 posts is a greater need than the need for a lack of hierarchy that could arise from having a postcount?

I also find it interesting that you would want to know when you go over 9000 posts. Do you regard it as your power level?

 

 

Absolutely.

Certainly.

 

So you regard yourself as more powerful than other people with less posts like me? Does this power difference create any preconceptions in you and if so, do you feel those are accurate preconceptions?

 

I think the more posts I have the less power I have, because I'm spending all my time posting on the forums instead of going out and getting powerful.

[agun]

I think the more posts I have the less power I have, because I'm spending all my time posting on the forums instead of going out and getting powerful.

 

By finding dragon balls? Please be respectful of the topic instead of acting like a troll.

[Stephen C]

 

I think the more posts I have the less power I have, because I'm spending all my time posting on the forums instead of going out and getting powerful.

 

By finding dragon balls? Please be respectful of the topic instead of acting like a troll.

 

I will be more respectful of the topic from here on out.  

[Heath Long]

Back to the OP. I can only speak for myself with the post counts and badges. I was happy to get my philosopher king badge. I enjoyed the recognition and I think that those who donate to that level deserve recognition among the community. Plus, it is just good marketing. It is basic psychology. I would bet that without that little digital badge there would be a > 20% reduction in donations.

Having said that:

My badge does not make a post that I might make on a given issue more valid. My low post count does not make a post that I might make on a given issue less valid. I do not weigh donation levels or post counts into my deliberation on the validity of a statement made in this forum.

 

[MrCapitalism]

 

Please be respectful of the topic instead of acting like a troll.

 

Do you believe that your posts have been respectful of this topic?

 

[agun]

 

 

Please be respectful of the topic instead of acting like a troll.

 

Do you believe that your posts have been respectful of this topic?

 

 

Yes. Do you?

[Stephen C]

 

 

Please be respectful of the topic instead of acting like a troll.

 

Do you believe that your posts have been respectful of this topic?

 

 

4.5 have 1.5 have not.  

[agun]

 

Back to the OP. I can only speak for myself with the post counts and badges. I was happy to get my philosopher king badge. I enjoyed the recognition and I think that those who donate to that level deserve recognition among the community. Plus, it is just good marketing. It is basic psychology. I would bet that without that little digital badge there would be a > 20% reduction in donations.

Having said that:

My badge does not make a post that I might make on a given issue more valid. My low post count does not make a post that I might make on a given issue less valid. I do not weigh donation levels or post counts into my deliberation on the validity of a statement made in this forum.

 

You are probably right about the badges increasing donations but they also create a hierarchy that can create preconceptions and biases that are detrimental to the community. What we may gain in donations by giving such insignia we may loose by users who don't participate as much in the community out of some kind of inferiority complex due to lower user status.

Regarding the postcount I do believe it causes concious and maybe even unconcious preconceptions and biases that are best avoided. Yet all the reasons I see for keeping the postcount are quite trivial.

[MrCapitalism]

4.5 have 1.5 have not.

I thought the DBZ reference was perfect []

[Stephen C]

 

4.5 have 1.5 have not.

I thought the DBZ reference was perfect /emoticons/emotion-2.gif

 

Perfectly disrespectful?

It would of been 5.5 have and 1.5 have not, but one of my posts which i thought was respectful of the topic was removed by a mod, possibly because I mentioned his name and a post he made in this thread. it seems he's deleted his own post as well. UNLESS, I'm goin' nutty which is totally possible. 

Oh also, check you out! 1265 posts! Going for that 9000! I got some catching up to do.  

[Arius]

[View:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiZeOgxpCmI]

 

 

[NotDarkYet]

The postcount is useful to me so I know the approximate FDR experience level of the poster.  

A high postcount indicates that we have similar values and I'm not gonna be wasting my time with a passive aggressive troll.

A low postcount (less than 20ish) means I should be careful interacting with them, because I don't know anything about their values relative to mine.

[agun]

 

The postcount is useful to me so I know the approximate FDR experience level of the poster.

A high postcount indicates that we have similar values and I'm not gonna be wasting my time with a passive aggressive troll.

A low postcount (less than 20ish) means I should be careful interacting with them, because I don't know anything about their values relative to mine.

 

 

Your argument that a high postcount indicates similar values is supportive of my argument that a postcount creates unnecesary preconceptions, unless they are not preconceptions and they are factual, in which case this community lacks any amount of users with high postcounts and different or opposing values, which leads me to think that either all users are, in time, enlightened to the values that are the norm amongst high postcount users or those with opposing views and low postcounts leave out of a sense of being treated with contempt or isolation. I hope the former is true but we could easily solve the latter by removing the postcount. After all, it's much more reliable to just remember the username and their values instead of relying on preconceptions based on postcount.

I believe that the mere acknowledgement of preconceptions based on postcount is reason enough to remove it, specially on a forum dedicated to the discussion of philosophy, a study that in part aims to remove society's preconceptions and replace them with rationality.

In what way do you mean you should be careful interacting with a user with a low postcount? Is this not also true for someone with high postcount?

 

 

[nickhk]

 

...postcount creates unnecesary preconceptions...

 

Postcount is a record of posts made on the forums.

Postcount is a variable that is updated for individual users each time they post.

Postcount does not create anything.

 

I understand that you mean something like "Users may form ideas or be skeptical about a new user."

I could be mistaken about that.  Is that what you're getting at, or is this exclusively about postcount?

 

 

 

...acknowledgement of preconceptions based on postcount is reason enough to remove it...

 

Do you suppose that username and avatar may also cause other users to form preconceptions about a user?  Should those also be removed?

 

 

 

Aside: There's agun in the room.

[NotDarkYet]

 

To the OP:

 

The postcount is obviously a rorshach object for you.... you are throwing your own insecurities into it

I think you should use your discomfort about the postcount to do a little self-examination.

.  

Ask yourself: " What feelings do I have when considering my "post status" compared to others?"  

"Why do I feel threatened by having a low postcount?"    etc...

 

Instead of projecting your insecurities onto us.

[agun]

 

 

To the OP:

 

The postcount is obviously a rorshach object for you.... you are throwing your own insecurities into it

I think you should use your discomfort about the postcount to do a little self-examination.

.  

Ask yourself: " What feelings do I have when considering my "post status" compared to others?"

"Why do I feel threatened by having a low postcount?"    etc...

 

Instead of projecting your insecurities onto us.

 

I did that before I created the thread.

It still does not explain why we have a postcount specially when it can cause someone to project their insecurities. We have reached the conclusion that a postcount creates unnecesary preconceptions. Then why not remove it?

[Arius]

This forum can be used to project insecurities.  Should it be removed?

[NotDarkYet]

 

 

 

To the OP:

 

The postcount is obviously a rorshach object for you.... you are throwing your own insecurities into it

I think you should use your discomfort about the postcount to do a little self-examination.

.  

Ask yourself: " What feelings do I have when considering my "post status" compared to others?"

"Why do I feel threatened by having a low postcount?"    etc...

 

Instead of projecting your insecurities onto us.

 

I did that before I created the thread.

It still does not explain why we have a postcount specially when it can cause someone to project their insecurities. We have reached the conclusion that a postcount creates unnecesary preconceptions. Then why not remove it?

 

 

What "unneccesary preconceptions"?

Unneccesary according to you.  Not me.   

The postcount is a FACTUAL ACCOUNT OF A USERS HISTORY ON THIS FORUM!  It is not a lie.   It is a fact.  

You have some insecurities about this...and that's fine...but it's not fine when you put this on us.

[agun]

 

This forum can be used to project insecurities.  Should it be removed?

 

No, but that's not a valid analogy because this forum has an important purpose. The postcount has a trivial purpose at best.

[NotDarkYet]

 

 

This forum can be used to project insecurities.  Should it be removed?

 

No, but that's not a valid analogy because this forum has an important purpose. The postcount has a trivial purpose at best.

 

Trivial?

Knowlege that someone has spent many years on the forum is TRIVIAL?  

 

It's interesting to note that you claim to know what is trivial information to others.

 

[Arius]

Importance is subjective.

[agun]

 

 

 

 

To the OP:

 

The postcount is obviously a rorshach object for you.... you are throwing your own insecurities into it

I think you should use your discomfort about the postcount to do a little self-examination.

.  

Ask yourself: " What feelings do I have when considering my "post status" compared to others?"

"Why do I feel threatened by having a low postcount?"    etc...

 

Instead of projecting your insecurities onto us.

 

I did that before I created the thread.

It still does not explain why we have a postcount specially when it can cause someone to project their insecurities. We have reached the conclusion that a postcount creates unnecesary preconceptions. Then why not remove it?

 

 

What "unneccesary preconceptions"?

Unneccesary according to you.  Not me.

The postcount is a FACTUAL ACCOUNT OF A USERS HISTORY ON THIS FORUM!  It is not a lie.   It is a fact.

You have some insecurities about this...and that's fine...but it's not fine when you put this on us.

 

Firstly I'd like to point out that I feel that your response is rather exagerated, specially the caps that I will assume is yelling.

You say the postcount is an accurate account of a users history on this forum. But this history is trivial in it's meaning, however I agree it is not a preconception. I never claimed that all the postcount does is create preconceptions, I said that it creates preconceptions and that the only reasons to keep it are trivial. But maybe I am missing a really important reason as to why we have the postcount, one that outweighs the danger of preconceptions and biases it creates.

Do you think having a factual account of a users history on the forum in the form of a postcount is important? If so, please explain why it's important and not trivial.

[agun]

 

Importance is subjective.

 

Is breathing more important than doing a sudoku?

[agun]

 

 

 

This forum can be used to project insecurities.  Should it be removed?

 

No, but that's not a valid analogy because this forum has an important purpose. The postcount has a trivial purpose at best.

 

Trivial?

Knowlege that someone has spent many years on the forum is TRIVIAL?

 

It's interesting to note that you claim to know what is trivial information to others.

 

 

We have the date we joined in for that purpose so using the postcount for that purpose is trivial, as that function is already covered.

[Heath Long]

The post count does not create preconceptions. People do. Because some find it useful, it should stay, so long as it is the will of the site owner. If someone has ideas that are skewed due to a post count, it is a problem for that individual and not a function of the post count.