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One man's pointless is another man's pointed.

Replying to a question of how to breed angelfish with ' I like cake.' or something is pointless and most people would agree that it is pointless. It's blatantly pointless. Past that, however, I don't think I was ever given a special "judge the worth of someone's posts" badge and made sheriff of how people should answer questions county.

edit - this is not in response to your post or anyone elses, babelfish. It's a general post. I did not read your post before writing this one.

[span class="edited"][Edited by jake 2004-08-13 20:32][/span]

[vote]No... [/vote]

why let it even bother you.. take what information you need, leave what you don't

[vote]YES! ]:|[/vote]
Pointless posts and unhelpful replies are one of the main reasons I only come around here once in a while anymore. I got so tired of posts full of dis-information or just plain unhelpful bellyaching that I could no longer bring myself to be a part of it. I don't care how bad other sites are or what people in charge are trying to do about it at their own place, when I go looking for information about something and all I get back is unrelated dribble or posts filled with that lovely "you are an idiot and I know all so don't bother to ask me" attitude I don't go back for more of the same anytime soon....

I have been a member here for some time too, not coming sporadically as I do now, but also as fiendishly frequent as anyone who posts that they are addicted. I have also been one of the people "in charge of things" so to speak. I feel I have seen these forums at their best and at their (IMO anyway) worst. I know most people that visit here are not idiots and most of them honestly think they are doing others a favour with whatever responses they can give, but it is true that even one bad apple will spoil the whole bunch. Letting things go when it comes to pointless or yes, even hurtful information is bad for the whole site and it bothers me a great deal, it always has.

** I am not 100% sure about your thread topic in Site Feedback Sin, it won't let me in to make sure I am on the right track with my reply. Sorry if I am going in the wrong direction with my opinion here!!**
L.

[vote]YES! ]:|[/vote]
I dont think my answer is really a YES!..but a "yea"...

The ranks, badges, post count, karma has really driven some people to post for those reasons.

Personally, I would feel better if the post count, badges, ranks, quiz score could be disabled. I know the quiz score already is, which I have disabled, but the badges dont actually disable, and the post and karma still remain there.

If the post count and misc could be disabled, you'll see who actually is posting just to rake up the points.

[vote]I hadn't noticed... [/vote]
Does that mean I make pointless posts? (probably not, I try to only post when I have something ot say)

I definitely think this is not nearly as much of a problem as on a lot of the forums I'm active at (none of which have as many members as post here). There are some people with chronic pointless-posting problems. Don't seem to have any here.

Edit: However! People around here do seem to have problems with directly answering questions. I asked if melafix was ok for scaleless fish and I got lectured on how I shouldn't be using meds on minor injuries (I later explained that they hadn't healed for a while and the main antagonist apologised and tried to be more helpful). I didn't get a straight answer for several posts. People here seem to be a little trigger-happy when it comes to certain topics (Particularly overstocking!) that they fail to answer the question (often having NOTHING to do with overstocking) until several pages into the thread, if ever. I wouldn't call it pointless posting (the point is, don't overstock), but it is entirely off-topic and only polite if it is the context of answering the question the person who started the thread was curious about. Or at least answer the question and then adress the issue (be it overstocking, incompatibility, cycling, whatever).

[span class="edited"][Edited by superlion 2004-08-14 02:41][/span]

><>

That said, there's a line between accidentally unhelpful (read question wrong, not enough time to fully explain, looking at stock list and lecturing about overstocking rather than reading the post) and just plain can't miss it pointless ("I need to know the habits and feeding preferences of Blue Lobsters" "I ate lobster once". The latter should be eliminated, but the former everyone does occasionally, it's not a big deal.

That is exactly what I was trying to say

And I must say that I agree completely with Jake. He put all of my thoughts into much betetr words than I could come up with (thank you!!).
Sometimes I am the culprit of making "pointless" posts, but to ME they don't seem so pointless. For example, if someone says, "I am trying to breed my angelfish, does anyone know how to do it?" and the thread didn't get any replies, and I was curious about it, I'd bump it up with a statement like, "I was wondering the same thing too, if anyone could help..."
Now, to someone who didn't know I was "bumping", that reply would seem pointless, yes? Even to some of those who KNEW I was bumping, it would seem pointless.
The point of the matter is, most people here are good people. They do not post to get their count up, no matter how much other's like to think this is the case, because for the most part, no one really pays attention to post count. We have had countless discussions on this in the past. People post different things for different reasons, and I myself feel that I am in no posistion to judge on whether it was "pointless" of them to reply. Hence, I am not a mod
Just my thoughts,
Brandi

[vote]YES! ]:|[/vote]
There are a few posters that have many posts (some over a thousand) with the majority of their posts just repeating what the previous posters have said. Its nice to get consensus on an issue, and the views of more than just one or two people, but the above example are the only posts certain indivisuals make!

[vote]YES! ]:|[/vote]
Pointless posts right along with people having nothing positive to say (that goes for recovery room as well though)...

Tucker

My post was speaking for myself. Not attacking a broad, narrow, or singular person(s). Everyone has the right to feel the way they feel on this issue and every other issue.

I see posts every day that, to me ,are pointless, but they might have substantial value to someone else. When someone is trying to decide what kind of filter to buy or something, they are looking for what a majority thinks. Therefore, if someone quotes a person that said " Eheims are great, I'd get a eheim 2026 pro II series." and than says " I agree! Great filter!"....that might be pointless to some people but to the guy looking for a new filter, it is corraborating evidence that maybe he should get an Eheim. If people were not able to quote someone and say that they agree, or even just say " I agree with xxxx, I'd get an eheim." because it'd be pointless, then how is the thread starter going to get a consensus on what filter to get besides a poll? But if he does a poll, people are just polling on his existing ideas for filtration, so how does he get new ideas? Think ya get my point.

Me, personally, I'm hesitant to say that someone's opinions or thoughts condensed into a post are worthless or pointless, because even if it is to me, it might not be to someone else. That's all I was trying to say, Babelfish, and not in response to your post.

[span class="edited"][Edited by jake 2004-08-13 20:34][/span]

[vote]YES! ]:|[/vote]
It frustrates me when someone is asking a specific question and the topic gets totally diverted without addressing their question.

As others have said, it's not a cut-and-dried thing. For example when someone asks "what's the best algae-eater" and others advise them on how to reduce their algae problems by adjusting light or ferts or whatever, I consider that an attempt to be helpful.

But the most frustrating thing of all is when someone goes off-topic and a whole bunch of subsequent posters follow them off-topic! Learn to control yourselves!

[vote]YES! ]:|[/vote]
Yes, it bothers me, cuz I am new, and am trying to gather all the info I can, as quickly as I can, so when there is a pointless reply, it wastes my time and I haven't learned anything. With that said, I hope I am never a culprit of it

I don't think I was ever given a special "judge the worth of someone's posts" badge and made sheriff of how people should answer questions county.

I suppsose that's to be considered a "creative personal attack" and it won't be edited....

While I'm in no position to judge the usefulness of other peoples posts, I do feel I'm active enough on the site to take an interest in keeping it a useful, helpful, and educationally informative site. IMO yes the quality of the posts have gone very far down since I first started reading them, long before I even joined.

^_^

Some people will quote a person, and then say I agree. Then the posts aren't so small.

---

They shade the glow of it with their mossy-misty costumes,
They wear masks of silk, porcelain, brass, and silver,
So as not to mislead with their own, ordinary faces.

[vote]No... [/vote]
typically, i feel it's up to the knowledgable people of this site to correct any errors and just ignore the people who believe that post count actually means something. also remember that part of the structure of the forums Adam has set up will not count small replies. so people who post "i agree" or some such to raise their post counts aren't getting counted (in theory).

---

"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

[vote]YES! ]:|[/vote]
]:|

~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is water at the bottom of the ocean

There seem to be an increasing number of posts made in the forums just for the sake of posting something, anything, in a thread.

For those who havn't seen it, i've put my concerns in a thread in Site Feedback ]] HERE &lt;&lt;

I know there are other members I've spoken to who share my concern/irritation at this trend, so I thought I'd see what the broader membership think..

So, Do pointless, time-wasting, & generally useless replys in response to genuine questions irritate/concern you?

[option1]YES! ]:|[/option1]
[option2]No... [/option2]
[option3]I hadn't noticed... [/option3]

[vote]YES! ]:|[/vote]
One line answers that don't offer any new information do annoy me...sometimes the question can be answered in just one line, in which case it's not annoying.
Are there posts that I would have deleted were I a mod, yes, and some of them posted by members who've been here much longer than me.

^_^

Well yeah, spamming is not such a good thing to have in informative threads.

Spamming should be kept in the recovery room, IMO.

Just my $0.02

-- Gomer

EDIT: People may post the same question on other forums to get the broadest possible information from their responders. Opinions do vary from site to site..

-- Gomer

[span class="edited"][Edited by Gomer 2004-08-13 09:23][/span]

[vote]YES! ]:|[/vote]
I also hate when they put duplicate questions in each category or post the exact question on every other fish website.

Kim]

I also don't like vague titles. No idea what they're asking about.

[span class="edited"][Edited by 2004-08-13 09:30][/span]

[vote]YES! ]:|[/vote]
Part of maintaining a great forum is making sure the first response a newbie gets to "what's wrong with my betta?" isn't "I have a betta and a frog" or "bettas are stupid and sickly" or who knows what else.
That said, there's a line between accidentally unhelpful (read question wrong, not enough time to fully explain, looking at stock list and lecturing about overstocking rather than reading the post) and just plain can't miss it pointless ("I need to know the habits and feeding preferences of Blue Lobsters" "I ate lobster once". The latter should be eliminated, but the former everyone does occasionally, it's not a big deal.

-Molly
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