The number of posts by itself isn’t really a meaningful measure of blabbermouthedness; it must be measured in relation to the duration of the poster’s history. What you want is the Blabbermouth Index, or Blabex, which is number of posts divided by total number of days since joining. The unit is posts per day, and a normal human or average dog will have a Blabex of less than 1. An average of greater than 1 indicates an unrepentant blabbermouth.
Another interesting statistic is the ratio of total posts to total threads started, expressed as a percentage. This is known as the Visibility Index, or Vex, and is a measure of attention-getting inclination, and obviously, the lower the better. Social media experts recommend a Vex level below 1%, above which it starts to get annoying. I’m pleased to report my own Vex level is 0.4%. Trolls often have a Vex of 100%, known as a TrollVex.
Another good statistic is the ratio of total read time to total posts, an indicator of how much time a poster spends reading and considering before opening their virtual piehole. This is the Impulsive Posting Index, or Ipex, sometimes referred to as the Irressitible Urge To Post. It is the poster’s total read time, expressed in hours, divided by total posts created. Here, the higher the Ipex the better. Obviously a lurker who has made no posts at all but only reads will not have an Ipex (or, if you prefer, an Ipex of infinity). Appropriately enough, such a poster will also have a Blabex of zero, suggesting that in many ways this is the ideal poster.
