Funny you should mention that, LC. I noticed that it was some time before I hit 1,000 posts and then flew up to 2,000 fairly quickly by comparison. I hit that last week and, if you’ll notice, I’m over 2,100 already.
How? I’m not quite sure. A lot of MPSIMS, to be sure. A chunk of Pit, a slice of IMHO and a sprinkling of GQ and ATMB. I think the biggest part comes from posting in the purely pointless, chat-like, threads: your Coldfire is gone, let’s trash his house (aka: Guy Stuff takes Holland) threads, your Roshambo competitions, your Threadkillers endurance trials…etc.
Having sporadic down-time at work helps, as does typing and reading fast. Being terribly bored at work and at home right now accounts for last weeks ~20 posts per day (I took most of the weekend off) but I think the major factor is simply finding a lot to pipe up about. Not quite handy-ish, not drive-bys, but posts similar to what I would do in real life: make a comment to people I “know” if what they are talking about looks interesting.
Oh, and answering questions and fighting other ignorance, of course.
Why do we post so much? Some of us are just naturally garrulous. No one to talk to at work or home (except the cat), so here is a good place.
[li] I’ve learned a lot[/li][li] I’ve (I hope) educated someone[/li][li] I’ve said hello to Opal a lot[/li][li] I’ve improved my typing[/li][li] I’ve developed a lot of other interests as a result of these boards.[/li]
(Wow, I’m a veteran! - I noticed my 500th post, and missed everything else after that. Damn, I feel old.)
I am a personal/executive assistant working for ONE guy in an office that’s about…700 square feet. He travels three days out of the week and I sit in this office alone with my precious DSL, just waiting for him to call and tell me what to do (I know, it sounds very sordid, but really it’s not)
So. Sometimes I’m extra super busy making flight arrangements and typing letters and such. And other times I’m sitting in a room by myself for 6 1/2 hours with nothing else to do.
I keep telling my husband that when I finally publish my book I’m going to have to dedicate it to my boss, since it was primarily written in this office
p.s. he knows that I do a lot of personal work in my downtime, I don’t try to hide the Straight Dope either, not even when he’s standing right next to me. The way we both figure it, as long as I get my work done and he’s happy, who cares?
I started posting very slowly. Took me ages to get to 100 posts. But then each subsequent 100 seems to come quicker.
I put it down to the fact that I kinda know more posters now. Therefore when they’re talking about something interesting I want to chime in. Before I knew them, I probably would have kept quiet on a lot of the same comments.
I stay at home with the kids. I break up the monotony of the day by periodically sitting down and checking out the SD for 15 or 20 minutes.
I read fast, and I type fast.
I have a relatively fast internet connection, and a reasonably fast computer.
I spend a lot of time answering polls in IMHO which doesn’t take a lot of thought or time (unlike a debate post which used to take me half a day to research back in the days when I was up for such stuff).
And with all this, my average is still only something like 3 posts a day. Of course, when I’m in school, or busy all day, I don’t post much at all, and when I have nothing but free time and I’m avoiding housework, I’ll do 10 a day.
This post? Five minutes to write, and that’s with doing some quick calculations to figure out my average posting rate. Give me ten minutes after the kids go to bed, and I can still make my average daily posting rate. It still won’t interfere with my plans for the rest of the day.
Well, I don’t even have a computer at home so I have to fit my work in around my posting schedule!
Actually, I have a great computer and connection here at work and my work load generally allows me to post as much as I want.
I, also, like to talk. A lot. Ask anyone who’s met me at a DopeFest! My dad used to call my Mighty Mouth. I try to be a good listener though. Really. I do try.
I have often wondered about these mega-posters myself. I don’t have time in the evenings or on weekends to post (kids and other stuff to do, don’cha know), so all my posting goes on at work - when I have time. I’ll bet that sometime in the future, I’ll win the award for taking the longest to hit 1,000 posts.
I’ve never really concerned myself with the number of posts I’ve made. I figure that I have what I have, and I contribute what I can, when it’s relevent for me.
Making some quick calculations, I find that I make an average of about 100 posts per month. Given my tendency toward massive megaposts, I’d guesstimate that my posts average about 100 words each. Given my typing speed (in the 50 wpm area), that’s 100*100/50=200 minutes per month, or less than ten minutes a day of typing. Double that to allow time to think about and research posts, and it takes less than half an hour a day to respond to every thread I’m interested in–I’m discounting reading time, since the lurkers do that as well.
So it takes very little extra time and effort to contribute what I can to the proceedings. I can usually cover it while I’m eating lunch at my desk, or when I do my email at home.
Why, yes! Quite often! MPSIMS flirting threads can be incredibly taxing. Intellectually, I mean. ::studiously avoids looking in hardygrrl’s direction::
I have no life, so that helps with the time bit. And I can type decently fast, so that also helps.
And I can think on my feet normally, so that’s a plus.
Given an hour and sufficient thread material, I can post . . . ten times? Maybe more. That’s more than some people post in a day. But of course thread material doesn’t usually come that easily, and I read the threads, too.
I was, at one point, up to nearly 20 deathless gems per day. I think my PPD count is down some since then, but obviously I’ve posted a lot. At last count, it’s near 13.
Thank you all for your thoughts on this post. I’m beginning to understand that most of you really post here because you enjoy discussing in-depth and meaningful topics. coughs
Myself, one the other hand:
[self hijackus eruptus]
I hereby involk my powers as the creator of this post and require that hardygrrl flash this thread, posthaste.
My dad used to call my Mighty Mouth. I try to be a good listener though. Really. I do try.