I know in several topics within this section I've mentioned about quality posts being an important factor for a site's survival. But before I deliver my own thoughts/rationale on what I think a quality post is (I'll post my own thoughts later), I'd like to hear your thoughts. So then, what do you define as a quality post? Is every reply equally good or are there things that you look for? And do you think quality of posts makes a difference for a site?
What is a quality post to you?
- Thread starter VirusZero
- Start date
I agree.ShadyX said:
The above would be an example of what a not quality post is. A quality post, as Shady said (because I do agree lol), shoul ADD to the topic and, be at least a sentence if not more, and at leas show that the poster somewhat knows the English language and not have lazy mistakes such as shorthand, lingo, etc. or every word misspelled, not capitalizing I or first letter of the first word in a sentence, etc.
See? I could have said two words here but instead I added a whole new paragraph to the discussion. Quality posting is not hard and not doing it is just being lazy.
A quality post will bring content and possibly a new idea into the discussion, if a user posts something totally irrelevant to what is being discussed then this would not be a quality post.
A quality post should bring something new to the table and not just repeat what other people have already said. Oh and keep that IM and text chat out of the posts please 😛
A quality post should bring something new to the table and not just repeat what other people have already said. Oh and keep that IM and text chat out of the posts please 😛
Generally I think quality posts must:
1- Be over a sentence long.
Since if they're less than a sentence usually I don't feel they have put sufficient thought or effort into the reply. I'm not asking for an essay every time, all I want is a reply that shows they've read the topic and have taken a bit of time to actually think about it before replying (also related to number 6). I'm not always against single sentence replies, but most of the time a quality reply needs more than just one line to go into detail.
2- Be on topic.
Even if a post is several paragraphs long if it has nothing to do with that topic then it's worthless as a reply. Perhaps it could serve as another topic...
3- Add to the conversation.
There is no point in adding only "I like that too" or "thanks for sharing". There's nothing really interesting or engaging about those replies. Sure I suppose you could ask them what they thought, but why repeat yourself? (Since a lot of people will ask at outset what they thought. ) Along with that thought if someone asks "why" for a question (especially involving whether someone likes "x" or not) then it's not really the fact that they like or dislike "x" that is important... it's the why. Generally the reasoning is more important to a topic than a person's actual position.
4- Not be littered with or composed solely of smilies.
I find that over use of smilies tends to make replies look terrible. To have posts that are only smilies is just unacceptable since there are no actual words there.
5- Not have text/instant message/IRC/leet or chatspeak.
I don't mind a few spelling or grammatical errors (even if most modern browsers have a spell checker built in now so there really isn't any excuse for a lot of spelling errors now) but purposeful misspelling cheapens the entire site. Sends a bad message that we allow that sort of content to be posted and I feel it does really deter others from joining.
6- Not be copy/pasted.
Let me qualify this a bit... If someone has already typed up a well thought out reply to an identical question before then I see no reason they can't reuse either their previous reply or at least relevant parts of it. But copy and pasting "i like that, thanks for sharing" or something equally like that is just additional spam. (Especially if this makes it so you can't even tell whether they've actually read the topic or not.)
Though:
- Why do you think so many people post low quality replies?
- Is there any way you can think of to increase quality?
- And ultimately does quality matter or is it numbers only?
1- Be over a sentence long.
Since if they're less than a sentence usually I don't feel they have put sufficient thought or effort into the reply. I'm not asking for an essay every time, all I want is a reply that shows they've read the topic and have taken a bit of time to actually think about it before replying (also related to number 6). I'm not always against single sentence replies, but most of the time a quality reply needs more than just one line to go into detail.
2- Be on topic.
Even if a post is several paragraphs long if it has nothing to do with that topic then it's worthless as a reply. Perhaps it could serve as another topic...
3- Add to the conversation.
There is no point in adding only "I like that too" or "thanks for sharing". There's nothing really interesting or engaging about those replies. Sure I suppose you could ask them what they thought, but why repeat yourself? (Since a lot of people will ask at outset what they thought. ) Along with that thought if someone asks "why" for a question (especially involving whether someone likes "x" or not) then it's not really the fact that they like or dislike "x" that is important... it's the why. Generally the reasoning is more important to a topic than a person's actual position.
4- Not be littered with or composed solely of smilies.
I find that over use of smilies tends to make replies look terrible. To have posts that are only smilies is just unacceptable since there are no actual words there.
5- Not have text/instant message/IRC/leet or chatspeak.
I don't mind a few spelling or grammatical errors (even if most modern browsers have a spell checker built in now so there really isn't any excuse for a lot of spelling errors now) but purposeful misspelling cheapens the entire site. Sends a bad message that we allow that sort of content to be posted and I feel it does really deter others from joining.
6- Not be copy/pasted.
Let me qualify this a bit... If someone has already typed up a well thought out reply to an identical question before then I see no reason they can't reuse either their previous reply or at least relevant parts of it. But copy and pasting "i like that, thanks for sharing" or something equally like that is just additional spam. (Especially if this makes it so you can't even tell whether they've actually read the topic or not.)
Though:
- Why do you think so many people post low quality replies?
- Is there any way you can think of to increase quality?
- And ultimately does quality matter or is it numbers only?
Call me strange. I know I am. 😛
At times I would expect from members to have a lengthy post, for example like what Geoffrey did in his post, or like what I do sometimes, with paragraphs and explaining things to the core. Yet as VirusZero said it seems like it's hard for people to write that long unless they really have time and things to say.
So I kind of loosen up lately; I realize length of post doesn't truly guarantee everything (although it does play its role too). As long as the post is still related to what the topic is, it is already good. If it can be in form of statement or question which encourages user to reply back or give their comments again, that's the best quality of post, in my opinion, regardless of the length. Since that is what forums are for: discussions.
At times I would expect from members to have a lengthy post, for example like what Geoffrey did in his post, or like what I do sometimes, with paragraphs and explaining things to the core. Yet as VirusZero said it seems like it's hard for people to write that long unless they really have time and things to say.
So I kind of loosen up lately; I realize length of post doesn't truly guarantee everything (although it does play its role too). As long as the post is still related to what the topic is, it is already good. If it can be in form of statement or question which encourages user to reply back or give their comments again, that's the best quality of post, in my opinion, regardless of the length. Since that is what forums are for: discussions.
Actually I've found that quality posts aren't as important as you might think. People finding buddies on the site is the important part. We have loads of what I like to call "conversational" posts, short and grammarless. Usually they are on the chat threads and informal RPs. The more structured roleplays have players who usually put more into each posts.
A quality post is one that makes me think, or makes me think, Whoa, they really have a point there, I'll remember that one.
A quality post is one that makes me think, or makes me think, Whoa, they really have a point there, I'll remember that one.
Bluezone777
Dinner Team Leader
Quality posts do not find their way into topics devoid of discussion value. So if you plan on asking questions along the lines of " What is your favorite color?" then don't expect anything other then names of colors. In fact, I would avoid asking questions that start with "what" as they tend to just be the type you just answer and that's it.
Not all topics are equal and one should look at what topics they are posting to gauge what sort of discussion value they have and ensure the community is putting enough effort into posting in relation to the topic they are posting into.
Not all topics are equal and one should look at what topics they are posting to gauge what sort of discussion value they have and ensure the community is putting enough effort into posting in relation to the topic they are posting into.
Acorn, I would hazard a guess though that people finding buddies on a site is only one small aspect. A site really wouldn't survive if that's all that went on. (I mean if there's no roleplay going on then there's no reason for people to stick around right?)
So I would still say then that most sites probably do rely a lot more on higher quality posts. I'm not saying that they are the only important aspect, but I am saying that they can't be ignored.
Also given how much experience you have within the roleplay community yourself, you probably also know what roleplayers can be like and so if they see a site where the actual roleplay itself is all (or mostly) one line stuff they tend to leave quickly.
(I'm not saying all one line replies are bad. There is a time and place for them too. Especially in rapid-fire conversation style threads where too much more than that could be considered worthless fluff at best or godmodding/powerplaying at worst.)
I also want to point out that I do not think that length necessarily makes a post higher quality on it's own. (It's entirely possible to have a 6 paragraph post that is of low quality. ) Nor do I think that if a post is longer than another that it is automatically higher quality. To me, post length only matters (on debate, opinion and discussion threads) to show they've spent more than 30 seconds replying to a topic and thusly have put thought into what they're typing, beyond that length is largely irrelevant.
So if someone was searching for a roleplay buddy and an idea was pitched and they agreed with a one word post? That would not be what I am dealing or concerned with here. I would be totally fine with that because it's a markedly different situation.
So I would still say then that most sites probably do rely a lot more on higher quality posts. I'm not saying that they are the only important aspect, but I am saying that they can't be ignored.
Also given how much experience you have within the roleplay community yourself, you probably also know what roleplayers can be like and so if they see a site where the actual roleplay itself is all (or mostly) one line stuff they tend to leave quickly.
(I'm not saying all one line replies are bad. There is a time and place for them too. Especially in rapid-fire conversation style threads where too much more than that could be considered worthless fluff at best or godmodding/powerplaying at worst.)
I also want to point out that I do not think that length necessarily makes a post higher quality on it's own. (It's entirely possible to have a 6 paragraph post that is of low quality. ) Nor do I think that if a post is longer than another that it is automatically higher quality. To me, post length only matters (on debate, opinion and discussion threads) to show they've spent more than 30 seconds replying to a topic and thusly have put thought into what they're typing, beyond that length is largely irrelevant.
So if someone was searching for a roleplay buddy and an idea was pitched and they agreed with a one word post? That would not be what I am dealing or concerned with here. I would be totally fine with that because it's a markedly different situation.
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