I’m dove-tailing off of a thread started by 1Terrapin1 I could have appended this to 1Terrapins’s post, but wanted to expound on what he mentioned. I’ve had some of the same issues, and more. I’d like to get some feed-back from others. First I’ll state that I unequivocally see more harm than good in making the statistics of who posts more frequently than others of no real value to hobbyists or providers.
My reasons:
Doing so makes it blatantly visible who is posting more than others. Who cares? Among other indiscretions, it has lead to snide comments from members….e.g. “get a life”. I personally had one client who shared that he seriously debated if he should make an appointment because of my high profile on TER. A high profile on TER (via the top 10 posters) could also help LE target the most active participants. My opinion is that if LE wants to target the most active participants, then let them do their own tallies.
A possible flaw in the system that I’ve noticed is that even if someone posts under an alias, the tally is still added to the total for the main TER handle. That’s fine and probably fair, but why make the tally so readily visible? What’s the value? I would like someone to explain what value exists in making those statistics so readily available to anyone. Doing so makes posters go underground. It also makes others quit (ala 1Terrapin) and many others. It also makes those who really have something significant to contribute to a thread, less likely to do so because of the count. I have personally witnessed the criticism of frequent poster, force the poster to go into a hiatus of posting. I hope that I’m wrong, but there may be those out there who do relish being in the top 10 of anything. In this case, I don’t think that many members want that title or distinction.
I’d really like to read from others; opinions. Perhaps there is a value to members that I am just not seeing. Please chime-in. Thanks
As a frequent alias user, I don't want to use my real handle for a multitude of reasons. I now find myself counting posts to stay off the top 10 poster list on the boards that I like to post on. The list serves no useful purpose, as far as I am concerned.
There are hobbyists that enjoy that feature, and they want their names up in lights for obvious reasons.
I would rather see the counter omit alias posts, so those of us who don't want to be counted can keep themselves anonymous.
who has often wound up on the top ten list on the general board. Since I wander around from board to board, making a general nuisance of myself, I've also wound up in the top ten, nationally, and on several of the less active boards. When I see that happening, I tend to back off a little. With the infiltration of trolls, and fewer interesting topics, (Hmmm, somehow related) it's easier to back off on the posting.
A while back, I might have sparred with the parasites, when they start spewing their garbage, but have recently decided that they are simply not worth my time and effort. That alone cuts down on the tally.
All in all, I agree. The top ten list really serves no useful purpose.
perhaps the list is intended as some sort of control method? since without it some people might end up posting hundreds of times a day.
I never put any stock into it myself since you can usually tell who's logging heavy duty usage just by perusing the daily postings.
I agree it's now used primarily as a weapon for the get a life haters, but an easy way to get around that is to just stop posting so much.
I do agree that there's not much practical usage to the list but if the argument against it is simply to stave off embarrassment at a high post count or soothe bruised feelings from board trolls, then to me that's not good enough reason to do away with it.
I have all but stopped posting because I did not want to be listed in the top 10 any longer. I'm no longer listed but I post very little on this, my home board, to keep a lower profile. I see no valid reason for this top 10 listing and know it prevents me from posting.
As for the ladies being in the top 10, why should anyone care? What would this board be with a only guys posting, a big "sausage fest"? No thank you! this board should be use to bring the ladies and men together, so I say to all the ladies post all you want, it your board too.
I've argued with STAFF about it for a year+ , but the new Admin doesn't listen to me. Why have a device in place that discourages board participation? It makes ZERO sense.
One thing the counter DOES highlight is how much SO MANY TER regional boards have been overtaken by female posters! This board is a prime example of that. The top 10 posters on most boards a year ago used to be men...... NO MORE.
I'll keep my mouth shut about the obvious reasons why.
I LOVE women, and am not against lady posters in the least. I like the lady flirts on the boards! I just think it's sad that so many men have left the boards. I also know the post counters are counterproductive to ALL boards, and both genders despise them.
I too love the ladies that post, - but extremely dislike the top 10 posters list.....it discourages participation of those who do not want extra attention.
It took me five hours to make the decision to post on this thread. I am no longer on the top 10 posters because trolls like to point out arbitrary numbers like that. For what purpose? I think the amount you post is neither here nor there. Yet, the point is THEY pay attention for no other reason but to harass those that do post. The trolls come here to stir shit because they have no lives, are cowards and must make chaos to feel good about themselves. Just like in high school.
I am in this lifestyle to increase my enjoyment and experiences. As well, bring joy and increase happiness within others. I am a hedonist. I have ZERO time for negativity in my world. After being an active member of this board for 20 months, I realized the board's trolls make this a negative place. I don't care about wk or bk; I just believe in The Golden Rule. As well, something my mother told me, "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." I refuse to share my positive, upbeat, energetic aura with vile people. So what if the vile ones are a small percentage, they ruined it for others. Often trolls will read a thread and jump on it with their negative vomit and it called an opinion. They will read threads they know will bother them, just so they have something to complain about. So, I know they will look at any thread I place and find something to knit-pick. I can think of a thread this past summer where an alias was flipped for name calling. This board loves to pick on some one or some thing all the time.
I throw my hands up to the sky and say..... Who Cares?
Aren't you still on vacation??? LOL Tis admirable (depending on one's perspective) that you work while on vacation. This can wait til you return from vacation my friend. After all, it appears that this has been a topic of discussion for many moons.
While I appreciate the "perspective" theme of your post, the deeper issue of my thread is usefulness of maintaining a top 10 list. It appears from the feedback thusfar, the usefulness of the top 10 visible statistics should be re-addressed and evaluated.
When I first noticed that I had made a top 10 list, I thought that was kinda cool. There were several other hobbyist posters who posted way more than me so I was always comfortably near the bottom of the lists. Since this summer, as most of the prolific posters curtailed their postings, I had, at times, become the #1 hobbyist poster on at least one of the lists. I didn't care for that because I feel there are a lot of other hobbyists who have much more useful info to share than I do. The list is often misinterpreted by the more shallow minded as proof that the Minnesota board has become Provider dominated and is now merely a Provider ad board. Some look at the Top 10 lists and see them as percentages, thereby proving their assertions. In reality, over the past 10 days, 64% of the posts have been made by hobbyists, nearly 2/3s. The other 36% were by providers and agencies. I would guess that that trend would largely hold true if the analysis were carried out even farther. I'm not sure at what point a board should be considered a Provider dominated board but I don't think we're even close. The Minnesota board is one of the liveliest boards around so their claims make no sense. The Top 10 list is inaccurate. There is at least one hobbyist who should be on all 3 Top 10 lists, based on a search of his posts by his handle, yet he appears on none of them! This has been explained to me as likely due to a programming glitch. Wouldn't it be nice, tho, to be in a 'stealth mode' (as one poster suggested) so we could choose whether or not to appear on those lists?! (nod your heads YES) And then there are the LE concerns with having a high profile. I'm posting much less now because I'm trying not to make any of the lists. It's really difficult to get off of the lists once you're on them. But, since I enjoy hanging out here, I can't resist posting now and then. I agree with most of you that the Top 10 lists are more harmful than helpful and I would like to see them eliminated or I should be able to opt out of them.
I agree..it serves no purpose other then to call attention to how much you post and how active you are on these boards.
It is interesting that since the MFP bust/shakedown..this board has gone from a hobbyist primarily in the top 10 threads...to provider in the top 10 threads.
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