I like it being there, but I’d get over it’s absence, and in reasonably short order. I generally don’t notice anymore, but I did notice when I first started lurking – it’s a starting place for knowing who knows what’s going on. And yes, I know that the date thingy will generally give you the same info. And, by far, it is not the PRIMARY way someone should be earning respect, nor, for that matter, is it how people get mine (content, content, content :)). As has been mentioned, though, it CAN help to fill in the missing pieces about a poster (not the big, important types, but the “I wonder . . . huh!” types). About the only time I check post count/date anymore is when (a) someone says something interesting and I don’t recognize the name or (b) someone says something inflamatory, inane, or generally outide the boards/my standards of conduct. The combination of low post counts and recent sign up dates makes me MUCH more likely to be forgiving of mess ups (or to make me roll my eyes when I’m in a bad mood or someone’s particularly cluelss). And I find it interesting when I stumble across someone who’s been around forever with a low post count. It just gives you a little more info about the poster.
So in short, I’d say I like the post counter, but would be perfectly happy to see it retire to profiles.
Post parties? I’ve dropped by, I’ve been annoyed by the proliferation, I’ve ignored them . . . it depends on who, and when. I’ve never thrown one, and feel no need to have one.
I think titles/labels will only make whatever percieved problems we have worse. I do think, however, that at least some of what gets blamed on post-padding is tongue in cheek. I’d say occasional boredom is a more likely culprit, and I doubt that too much less of it would go on without the counters. The excuse would just be gone.
To a degree I don’t much care about post counts . . . yippee for you for having lasted this long. Yayfun, to quote andygirl.
Over at TMF, they have starts to designate the number of posts a person has. 100 earns you a small yellow star, 250 another one, 500 a third, and 1000 gives you a nice big gold star. I think 5,000 and you get a red star of the same size. To find out a person’s post count, you have to go into their bio information.
Very little. I’m more impressed by people who’ve been here longer even if they rarely post. For example, Zev_Steinhardt has 895 posts. I have 3700-something. Does that make me four times as valuable a member as he is? Hell no. I just have more to say. He posts more in GQ than anywhere else.
I’m not obsessed with it, contrary to popular belief. I have a lot to say, as it rather blatantly obvious when you look at my post count. I’m not proud of it inasmuch as I don’t think it makes me cool, but I’d like to think that a healthy number of my posts have been useful to someone else on here.
Maybe instead of listing someone’s post count we could just list it in their profile? People would probably care a lot less then, as a person’s post count is in their profile. There would most probably be fewer pots-count parties that way.
FWIW, I didn’t have a pcp for post 100, 500, 1000, 2000, or 3000. I see no reason to have one—I posted this many times. Big woop. I enjoy the SDMB and I use it. But in the Grand Scheme of things, there are 12300-some users and nearly a million posts. One user and 3700-odd posts don’t make that big of a ripple.
I don’t really care about the post counter. But I think people with obscenely high counts either A) have big mouths, or B) no sex life, because they never do anything but hang out here. Possibly both.
I’d be in favour of supressing the post count for the MPSIMS forum only.
I’d reiterate what has been said by others: a high post-count does not get you respect, but it does generate expectations. If you’ve a hundred or more posts you should be posting in the right forums, noting WAGs as WAGs and generally behaving yourself. On the other hand a person with just a few posts should not be jumped on for the odd mistake (for either of the two obvious reasons).
[sub]And the reason I never had a post party was server-load related, not because I’ve got no mates, clear?[/sub]
Normally I’m not a big fan of the post counter (or parties, as I’ve stated ad nauseum), but recently a new poster named magdelane registered on the boards, and it made me think.
She seems cool enough, but I’d like people to know when it’s me, ya know what I mean?
I like Zette’s idea about putting it in the profile.
I approve of the post count and registration date display. As a newbie trying to find my feet here, it helps to know who’s been around for a while - the elder statesmen so to speak. But I wouldn’t like to think people are posting just to boost their count; I’ve found the board to be very slow recently and some consideration is needed.
As for post parties, maybe we could make an exception for 10,000 posts.
