I joined the SDMB in 2000, and I’ve got a little bit more than 6,000 posts to my name. Even after getting laid off, with all the free time in the world to spare, I don’t find my post count to be rocketing upward. I make maybe three or four posts a day; often less. On a busy message board I’ve administered since 1996, my post count breaks 7000; many of them board-related messages to staff members, moderator actions, and so on.
Meanwhile, on the Straight Dope, there’s many members that have incredibly high post counts; 20,000 or more. Some even participate on other message boards, so their posting activity isn’t just limited to the SDMB. So, how do they do it?
My post count is just short of 11,000 at five posts per day for six years. I could easily see it being over 20,000 if I were more interested in the board as a whole and more active. It’d only require doubling my post per day count and I know there’ve been days where I’ve posted four times that.
I always figured it was partly due to some people having jobs in which they have free reign to surf while they work. I don’t have internet access at either of my jobs, and three days a week I work 13 hours a day, so that’s a big chunk of time I can’t read or post at all.
If I sat at a desk for 8 or more hours a day, and had internet access, my post count would be a lot higher, I suspect.
Some of us are eclectic and chatty. Others are combative and live for the Pit and GD. A few love debates so much they are always there fighting over the minutest word or fact.
My posting actually went down until the last few weeks. I found I have been extremely active in the Game Room. I have two games, Baseball and Football thread keeping me busy in there. That and an active week in ATMB trying to help out a little are half my posts for the past week.
Overall I am in the eclectic and chatty club. I read and post in all forums. I don’t post on other boards though. Actually I appear to be addicted.
I’ll be at 20,000 in a few weeks I guess. :eek:
Jim Two of my favorite posters snuck in while I was composing my thoughts and finding the other thread.
At my last job, I had unlimited internet surfing available. I spent a lot of time of my day on hold. So, I was able to greatly increase my posting.
Also, with my new laptop, I keep it on the coffee table with the tv in front. This computer is large enough to make typing comfortable, so I"m often posting on here while watching sports or a movie. I’m not the type that has to give 100% attention to what is on, so I"m often online at the same time.
Your posts tend to be interesting and have some effort behind them, while a lot of theirs are throwaway thoughts that have already been posted three times in the same thread, but they didn’t see that because actually reading past the OP takes away time in which they could be postPostPOSTING!
ETA: I’m not saying I’ve never made a dumb joke post or whatever, but I do at least read the whole thread before responding.
You’ll find that is often not true. Despite the volume of my posts, I rarely do as you said and I usually note when I am answering without reading the thread.
I don’t believe the 4 posters I mentioned as being the heavy hitters in GD do this and I have not seen posters like Sampiro, **Liberal **or **Marley23 **do this as three more easy examples.
I agree with this statement and mentioned it in detail in the thread I linked to.
Posters like me are very heavy in the Game Room now and MPSIMS and Café, but I also post often to the other forums.
I pointed out 4 that are heavy in GD and you know some posters accumulate huge numbers in the pit. So while the forum breakdown would show individual trends, I really don’t think there is an overall catchall trend.
This is something I’ve wondered about for years, given that I only read these discussions daily and it takes a huge amount of time. Now, not only reading the discussions with thought, but then formulating thoughtful, acute, eloquent responses to Big Questions, day in, day out?!?
Or is it just that I’m an information addict that finds almost everything fascinating - the mega-posters only spend time on their special interests and never even glimpse at the myriad non-essentials? Even then, hours spent on the Straight Dope per day.
Are there really loads of jobs that enable a person to spend her working hours at discussion forums? I’m baffled and a bit envious.
