Can we have meaningful titles for threads please?

I don't recall the last time I've started a thread here in board business, but I can't help myself. I'm so tired of seeing threads with titles that don't tell you what's in them.

What's this?
- Instead of "Is this a Russian space shuttle?"

August the 3rd WWIII Begins!!!
- What about "Bible Codes predict WWIII begins on Aug 3, 2006

An Absolute Massacre
- Why not mention the IDF? That's what the thread is about

A MUST READ!
- Who knows what this is about? I guess I'm forced to click the link. Maybe it's a thread about monkey poo on trees.

I can't say that I always do this perfectly, but I think we should all try to put a little more effort into the thread titles. It would make it much easier for everyone to find information and help maximize the time you spend on ATS. I personally don't have the time to look at every thread here and a nice title would help members and visitors alike. Imagine walking into a library where the books were labeled with names like "A Book", "I Can't Believe This", or "It's About Time". I almost think the headline screamers are worse than the all caps thread titles. At least you might be able to tell what they are screaming about.

If you're thread was mentioned don't take it personal. I had to have a few examples. O by the way, have you read the information in this thread?



Look at This Post

Originally posted by dbates
A MUST READ!
- Who knows what this is about? I guess I'm forced to click the link. Maybe it's a thread about monkey poo on trees.

Monkey poo is a scintillating topic, and always a must read, but I'm biased.

I must concur, a well reasoned title, spelled correctly, and not in "all caps" is the ticket for helping members find the kind of threads they want to read, or are interested in.

dbates, great topic

I totally agree, I'm sick of broad thread titles that could be a description for every other thread on ATS. Make your titles relate to the thread, not stuff like check this out!, WTF is this?, OMG...., , etc ... you get the point.




Sporty

Dbates no everybody is a writer savy as your self, some people do what they can to make their tittles stick out.

Perhaps we need some guides for. . . how to make outsanding threads and most amazing tittles.

Originally posted by marg6043
...some people do what they can to make their tittles stick out.

I'm certainly all for that.

And beer, don't forget the beer...

Tittles & Beer





The titles are very important. Make good and relevant titles please

Amen to that. In fact, I think the "LOOK AT THIS! READ THIS!" thread titles have the opposite effect to that which is intended, i.e. they turn most members away. The newer members may be pulled in, but anyone who's been here more than a couple of months is already disenchanted with "mystery prize" threads and their ambiguous titles.

Moral of the story: If you want your thread to get attention, choose a title that is descriptive of the content. You'll be improving the quality of your contribution, and the quality of ATS as a whole.

[edit on 2006-8-3 by wecomeinpeace]

It's like a Headline
I call them Threadlines..

this is a short page on the basics of writing a headline.
www.adventure-road.net...

I agree though, nothing worse than a Title that says "lookee here!"

Maybe because if you put to much infomation in the title, people won't read it.

It's called a tease.

I like a little tease with my beer and tittles. Is that wrong?

Originally posted by whaaa

I like a little tease with my beer and tittles. Is that wrong?

No it means you have an artistic thread given by the beer.

I am more to the point, I don't like to waste to much time on things.

Originally posted by wecomeinpeace
Amen to that. In fact, I think the "LOOK AT THIS! READ THIS!" thread titles have the opposite effect to that which is intended, i.e. they turn most members away.

Ditto on the Amens. This is one of my pet peeves, but since it's my peeve, it's my problem and those I don't like to make a fuss about. I save my fusses for other matters usually. Yet I'm glad to see other's don't like it either.

Another peeve of mine is about complaints that don't offer solutions, so in that spirit:

Make a new rule and start charging points to threadstarters with titles that need fixing.

Pet peeve or not, we should strive to use the headline to describe our topic, not titillate, scare or get people to click on the link---only to be disappointed.
A good title should pique the interest of the reader, while the initial post should inform the reader and get him to reply.

I think the only forum that should be exempt is Introductions, because originality counts there.
For the rest of the board, it's not so much originality as accuracy and reader interest.

We are. after all, not trying to emulate the 24/7 news channels or The Globe, so I think we should avoid overly sensational titles.


My 3.75-cents

The quality goes up then down....you never know what to expect. The geniuses know it all, while the average intelligence people know nothing according to some.

"Fidel Castro is a Teddy Bear"???

There's a classic.

How ignorant can one get.

Sub-Titles

I'm all for thread titles that are descriptive and accurately reflect the topic at hand, but I think it might be best if we focus on the phenomenon and try to avoid going too far down the road of using this thread as a way of listing and deriding specific choices for thread titles.

Yes, examples have been given, and yes there will be disagreements about the best choices for thread titles, but it's still a decision left up to members.

So if someone -- especially a new member -- should start a thread titled "Question..." or (God forbid) "Two questions..." in BQ&B, I hope we can find it in our hearts to forgive them.

[edit on 8/3/2006 by Majic]

I don't bother with them, to me it's like getting spam in my email,except I can't delete them unopened.

DBates, thank you for bringing this to the forefront, because I have seen a lot of this too. It got me to thinking about how we would be able to show new members what quality posts should look like. What if when someone joined, they got an automatic u2u with a sample thread of both a quality forum post, as well as a quality ATSNN article, so they could always have a template to look back on? Maybe just making them more aware when they first join would help ease the chance of this happening? Just a thought.

Originally posted by DontTreadOnMe
Pet peeve or not, we should strive to use the headline to describe our topic, not titillate, scare or get people to click on the link---only to be disappointed.

What if you can do both? I always find it fun to tell people exactly what a thread is about yet when they read it its something totally unexpected.

WestPoint,

Perhaps I should have said have a title that misleads the reader, only to be disappointed.
I'm sure we've all seem those titles, you click and nothing to do with the title.

Oh I wholeheartedly agree

My favourite is BREAKING NEWS!, thats always a good one.

I dont understand the mentality of vague thread titles. If you want to attract people to your thread what is the point of attracting people who are not interested in reading its content? ATS members dont get advertising revenue for the amount of views their threads receive. On the flip-side, if you clearly indicate what your thread is about it will attract people who actually want to read its contents. Isnt that the goal?

Originally posted by DontTreadOnMe
I'm sure we've all seem those titles, you click and nothing to do with the title.

Yeah, when I look at the current threads in the ATS home page some of those just have really bad titles, they’re more like written expressions than titles, so I don't usually click on them, but if I do most of the time I end up going like.