What Am I Doing Wrong With My Threads, Be Honest...

I am guilty of reading without replying, have been doing more of that lately. I'm glad we have the star and flag system now, that always helps the author to get some recognition.

I always find your threads and posts interesting ad, guess I should make more effort to reply to them and all the others I find interesting.

See I suffer from pretty much the same thing, it's obvious I haven't made many threads at all in comparison to you guys, but my thing is that I shy away from even posting on threads because I don't want to sound lame, or just echo what others have already said.

reply to post by anxietydisorder


My record isn't looking any better. Do you have any advice for me? What am I doing wrong?

Originally posted by antar
OK that above is just too difficult to read! How do you guys make it in a neat little row?

We took screenshots

Edit: Oh, I see AD has already explained it. I've got an easier way to do it that doesn't require additional programs:

1. Go to the page you want to screen capture.
2. Press the 'Print Screen' button on the keyboard (usually near the Page Up/Page Down key
3. Open an image program of your choice
4. Select 'Paste' from one of the menus or simply press 'Ctrl + V'.
5. Edit then to your desire then save.

[edit on 8-2-2008 by Beachcoma]

I got really frustrated by this once to and ranted about it on BTS that rant turned out to be my most popular thread and went 16 pages long before it died.

www.belowtopsecret.com...

I understand your frustration my friend. I don't really know the answer I just know that sometimes it just seems unfair that reality gets swept aside for some sensationalist garbage that has no real factual basis in reality.

Aw AD don't worry...

I luv ya!

To be honest, I think some posts are missed due to the sheer amount of traffic and threads created, so don't take it personally.

You had a great thread about scientology... hmmm?

Remember it is quality not quantity. I would also consider my friends list rather than my post count.

reply to post by whatukno


Ironic that a thread with the title "My Threads Always Die" became such a big hit, no?

I'd go with...

The popularity of a thread on ATS can only be measured in N's. Here in a place where chaos Theory rules supreme.

It's a lot of random crap.

Maybe I should star a few more ops rather than just reading and then buggering off.

BTW I don't think your doing anything wrong.

MonKey



Edit: Spelling

[edit on 8/2/08 by ChiKeyMonKey]

Originally posted by anxietydisorder
You've been peeking at my stats jensouth, you naughty girl...

Oh AD!! You make me laugh. If you don't want someone taking a peek...then stop exposing your stats

I only took a peek because of this thread, and BTW, your stats speak for themselves.

Originally posted by anxietydisorder
Stormrider,

Well, for one thing, stop using words like "garner". Sheesh!

I know you may be kidding, but think about.
Is my vocabulary an issue ???

I was kidding and NO your vocabulary is not the issue. I'm sorry if I tickled your "worry" bone.

I know I use some words to express myself that aren't in the common vernacular, and my use of topic specific nomenclature can throw off the best of us without a dictionary search. But I think it's important to rise to that level instead of dumbing it down to a common denominator.

I couldn't agree more. There has been far too much dumbing down taking place, not just on ATS but across every level of society. Try not to stress too much about what the other person is thinking of your post or whether they take the time to reply; you will usually have many, many more people who read your OP than actually take the time to reply but that doesn't mean that they didn't learn something new or find a new perspective on a particular subject.

Just keep putting it out there. As you can see by the responses you have already received, you are doing just fine.

Here's my thoughts on this one:

Are you asking questions or providing answers? If you're giving answers, most may read and bypass. If you're asking questions, it's possible that more members will be inclined to respond. Threads of mine that had success tended to be those that asked a question with a degree of controversy. I always tried to inject my opinion within a thread after it had a few responses.

How neutral is your opening post? Like I said, if your providing answers or approaching it from one point of view, members may not respond or enter with a typical knee-jerk reaction. If you remain neutral and ask controversial questions, you may garner honest responses from both sides. This can be key.

What time of the day are you authoring your threads? If you're authoring a thread when most of the board is off-line, it may be resting in the ashes by the time anyone logs on.

But the fact of the matter is, most threads that are authored do not get many replies.

AboveTopSecret.com Statistics

Total topics (threads): 319,525
Topics (threads) with replies: 216,480
Percentage of topics (threads) with replies: 67.8 %

Only 67.8% of all threads have a single response. That means less than 33% of all threads do not even get a look!

Topics (threads) with more than 50 replies: 12,006
Topics (threads) with more than 100 replies: 3,872
Topics (threads) with more than 250 replies: 756
Topics (threads) with more than 500 replies: 228

 

 

3.75% of all threads have more than 50 replies.

Looking at the stats, is it really something that we're doing wrong? Or is it the dynamics of any message board?

I guess I shouldn't feel too bad after seeing the stats posted above.

I also do tend to start thread in the middle of the night when there are low numbers of members on the boards. So I'll just keep banging away on my keyboard and not worry about it so much, though I will tweak a few things based on the suggestions you folks have posted.

Thanks.

reply to post by anxietydisorder


I don't know if this works, or if I just have a knack for picking topics.

I pretty much post only in breaking news these days - I like the different takes on different current events.

Devils advocate is a good position for me to take - I find I learn more that way, although I sometimes stick to my own opinion as well.

Presentation and spin - it's good to really let go and have a damn good thrash at things sometimes, but this often leaves no room for others to post what they think.

Keep it simple if possible - state an opening position then introduce other aspects as the thread evolves, this helps keep it live and introduces new area's, if others haven't already done so.

If you write them when not many other members are on the board, give them a bump when people ARE on - even if it's just flagging it.

I've had my share of dead threads, but I suppose everyone has - I just keep going, like a terminator