Which is strange. I had a really good day yesterday. The air is nice and cool and dry today. I’ve got a fairly easy job to do at work today … how could life be better?
But listen … you’ve heard me rail against post parties in the past and for the large part I don’t mind them so much if they represent a real milestone. For instance, matt_mcl’s recent 5000 post party. That represents someone who’s been around for a while, contributed a lot, and deserves the recognition.
But lately it’s getting a bit silly with people wanting the recognition for hitting 100 or 200 which, frankly, is about a week’s work for some people. I don’t want to call a halt to them altogether because they can be fun, and I understand that for some of you it’s the only chance that you’re ever going to get laid. < rimshot > On the other hand, I don’t want it to get completely out of hand.
So, I guess I’m looking for a consensus here. Would a policy of no post parties for under 2000 posts be a workable idea?
As the initiator of two of those “ridiculous” post parties this past weekend, please let me tell you that as far as I am concerned, post parties have nothing to do with post count. They are appreciation threads. By the time a person reaches 1000 posts, they have been around long enough that they have made friends, and quite probably people have been touched by them in some way. A post count party is a place to say so.
I would never start one for myself, not that I am saying it is wrong to do that. But a place to say nice things to people you like is a good thing, IMHO.
So yes…I think they should be limited to the big ones…1000, 2000 and etc. But I don’t think they are ridiculous for the real milestones.
These days, 1000 posts is chickenfeed. I bet if you had a survey like this a year ago, people would have been in awe of 1000 posts. (Ok, many of you were here - was 1000 a bigger deal? I’m guessing it was.) I bet that if you took all of the currently registered members and tossed aside the people with only fewer than, say, 10 posts (i.e., people who probably just taking up space and not contributing much), you’d find that the average person has a post count that’s in the high hundreds, anyway. People like handy, tracer, and Coldfire wreck the curve, of course, but even if you tossed them out too (since they’re mutant anomalies), I bet the number of posts per member is still pretty high.
I say make it more like 2,500. Unless you’re starting a thread to be appreciative of someone and are extolling their virtues as a person, rather than just pointing out their high post counts. Post counts ain’t everything.
I’m with Scotticher on this one. I’m not particularly fond of those “woo, jello, alcohol, nekkedness woo” parties, but I do like the opportunity to mark and appreciate people’s contribution to the boards at the milestones - every thousand or so.
Personally, I think the 1000 is possibly the nicest one - it’s quadruple figures and it might be the first time someone gets a legitimate chance to say “Huzzah for being here and contributing!” and for other people to say they appreciate it (or not, as the case may be).
I don’t see then point of ‘em anyhow. number of posts has NOTHING to do with quality of posts OR longevity of usership. A high post count doesn’t mean that you always add intelligence and thought to a conversation…most of the time it means you were that bored so often that you had to add your two cents’ worth.
Why post count parties at all? Birthdays and Christmas and National Jellybean Day aren’t enough? We have to call attention to the fact that we wrote a certain number of messages on a message board?
Doesn’t anyone else see this as self-indulgent tripe?
[sub]note: I did not use the word ‘ego’ once. Except in this addendum, to point out that I didn’t use it.[/sub]
Personally, I have never opened a post party thread, nor would I start one, so it’s a non-issue with me. I didn’t even notice that I got to 1000 until some time after.
Sometimes I’m a little embarrassed that I’ve achieved over 1000 posts. I’m not sure it’s something I’m proud of…OOH, look! I spend way too much of my time ignoring real life hunched over a computer! Yay for me!
[sub]Yes, I realise that everyone on these boards is a real person, and real connections are made. But I don’t consider SDMB real, interactive life, or the people here as important as any of my RL friends.[/sub]
Of course, I once was guilty of such things. Once upon a time I would post constantly and add nothing but valueless crap. The past few months I think the quality of my post are little better.
Of course, my opinion is just that. I can always not open the thread if I chose. I do drop in them from time to time if I know the poster (thru my reading).
Some people like to show their appreciation for other posters and start a (insert number here) post party.
Hey what ever cranks their tractor.
I would prefer recognition from other posters in the form of money and gifts instead
I’d have to think it’s self indulgent if you begin them yourself; not everyone does that, of course.
Also, the likelihood that you have contributed more than “valueless crap” to this board increases exponentially if you have more posts. That might not seem logical, but here’s my reasoning. If you posted nothing that was of any value to anyone else, people would either ignore you completely or would flame you. If they ignored you, you would probably post less, not more. If they flamed you, you’d post more, but unless your return flames were of a certain quality, you’d probably not win anyone’s respect. You might either continue the flaming to get your point across (in which case you’d have to increase the quality of your posts) or just post not-very-well-thought-out messages, in which case you might not last long on here, anyway (because few people will respect you, and you would then see little reason to stay on).
Which is a long-winded way of saying that if someone has a substantial post count, they’re more likely to have contributed something than someone who has a low count. I wonder if there’s anyone who has 2500 or more posts and has never contributed a single message of substance. (Ok, I know many of you can come up with one person in particular, but let’s not turn this thread into a flame of him, ok? :))
The best thing about post parties is that they give you the chance to praise someone for something they’ve done on here. I don’t think you should have them simply because Poster Bob reached 2000 posts; you should have them, perhaps, because Poster Bob reached 2000 posts and has generally provided posts that are informative and/or entertaining, and because Poster Bob is a darn nice guy, too.
A great many threads on the boards are utterly inane. At the moment there are few post parties. Why not let it ride until it becomes a problem?
Besides, friendly banter in a post party is one heck of a lot more healthy for the boards than the ongoing hostility found in some other posts. If I were to limit threads by subject, post parties are not where I would start.
Ummm, about that quality vs. quantity thing… I just want to go on record by saying, like, what you guys said before, “me too”, like totally, you know, fer shure.
Don’t say I don’t contribute, uh, total quality stuff here even with a mini-post-count
[sub]Gotta love those “me too” posts! A girl has to get to the mega-numbers somehow[/sub]
If you want to argue “use” to ‘the board’ all of MPSIMS and The Pit should be scrapped. (Along with every one of my posts. I’m a fluff poster. I post fluff. every great issue ever discussed here would not noticed if every one of my posts were deleted. Honest.)
Yea, the “little” mile stones look silly when you are sitting on a 3000 post count. but they may also be a way for “newbies” to say hello. Just as the bigger ones can be appreciation threads or a good time.
Also, post counts are easier for people to see than birthdays or whatnot.
You can put a smack on any lower number ones if you wish, or even the whole practice. I’m sure we’ll have our fun and mashed potatos somehow. from my seat though, I can’t see how it would help anything. We’d still start “useless” threads from someone’s POV.
Maybe I should get whooshed, but I never understood the “party” bit. Where’s the beer? The chips and dip? The loud music? The obnoxious drunk that everyone wished would pass out already? The increasing drops of pee in front of the toilet?
I could have 500 or 50000 posts, I never think to look at it.
