Advice on how to make a popular thread?

I am current writing my new (and much improved) edition of ALS's Good News Corner but I want some advice on how to make it a hit. I am (and going to be) spending a lot of time and effort on the thread and I would hate to see it die.

Any advice from gold and silver member would be greatly appreciated.

Also any Good news you have for the new episode (this can be personal news if you want) then please U2U me.

ALS

Advice on how to make a popular thread?


Well, pretty much anything with Nibiru going to kill us all, or a link betweens solar storms and [anything you can think of].
Add in a touch of evil Monsanto and sprinkling of Police Violence, and I'd say you've got yourself the hit of the week.

reply to post by alfa1


Naw this is how you do it.

Put Ron Paul in the title or

Put up a video of a police beating

You just need a truly interesting topic.

Nevermind the large print, exclamation points, or "Breaking news"...

I see the most popular threads are the ones with original content.
The ones with the best ideas, thoughts and good layout...i.e., pictures...


Other than that...
Why do you care?
ATS is not a popularity contest.
And if you look at the gold/silver contributers...they all have one thing in common.
Lots and lots of composed threads and posts.
Not just one large thread.

reply to post by ALOSTSOUL


Making a popular thread and a good thread are two very different things as far as I can tell.
Ive had threads I have spent ages on go unnoticed and throw away threads where I just posted a video i thought would be interesting to people go flag crazy.

So I guess the easy way to get flags is
1) Make sure theres a youtube video in the thread (people like shiny distracting things and dislike reading)
2) Make it about a divisive issue that will cause disagreement

The other way to get flags is to come up something truly interesting, original, well written and researched which I assume is the way you want to go.

Actually I've changed my mind.
Its my experience from other web forums that the most popular threads are those where you get to talk about yourself, and really dont have to bother with reading anything that other people have written.

"What music are you listening to now?"

"Show us a youtube video of your favorite band."

...and so forth. Very popular threads.

reply to post by ALOSTSOUL


If you want to make a hit. Don't make your post to good. Don't spend time being to accurate, because then people wont know how respond.

Make a topic with outrageous claims, and maybe a prediction or two. Set two camps up against each other, like Christian's against atheists. Atheists love to argue/attack religion.

And don't make it to long, people don't like to read, they like to argue.

OP, give this a read-

www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by ALOSTSOUL


Well i know i am not a gold or a silver contributer but i thought i would throw in my 2cents anyway. Well a lot of the above posts make a lot of sense but i am pretty sure they did not read the thread you created erlier. The problem with your erlier thread was that you made the first post then you just stopped posting good news but instead you replied to everyone that commented on your post. There for not adding to the post so people could keep on reading more good stories but instead killing it with thank you for the thank you reply.

If you put up a thread with stories and are seeking feedback from them on what touched them the most or if you are seeking that other people contribute there stories, put your questions at the end of the first post so people either feel the need to contribute or if they are not seeking to contribute they can at least keep reading good news instead of just scrolling through thank you posts.

If you put up a thread with a good news story, people will simply read it, maybe give a star or toss in a reply with a thank you and maybe toss in how one of those stories made them feel and simply move on. You have to give them something more or maybe challange them to go search the web even if it´s just for one good story as they are more rarer to find.

The real problem with posting a good news story is that, "it´s good news" no one can argue with good news and it simply lightens people up and makes them happy. Now if we put up say for exsample "Company in Canada Killing baby seals for new type of carpets" You will get instant replies of people being outraged and alot of replies from people that research the company and post there findings, there for building something up to talk about in the thread.

So if you really want to get this good news thread up you will either need to find something to talk about with those stories that you post or just keep them coming so people can come back to the thread and read more stories. But if your not seeking to just get stars and flags and really just want to make people´s life´s a little better you should defenetly think this a bit through and toss it up.

Hope any of this helped and thumbs up to you if you are doing this for the right reason.

(see what i did there in the last line " If you are doing this for the right reason")

Well, I suspect the most important key to a popular thread is dependent on the members.

Many of us have made threads we feel are really good, only to have them languish because no one was really interested in the topic, or didn't have anything to contribute.

My favorites are the threads where all sorts of members add their own research and discuss the overall subject. I tried experimenting with being always present in the thread to answer anyone's general questions or comments; but even that is no guarantee.

If you don't mind an unsolicited piece of advice; the most important thing is that the thread satisfies you.

Decide up front if what you have is a question or an opinion, and make it clear to your readers what your hoping to get from them. Don't be shy about restating what they have said in your own words, which sort of compels contributors to explain and amplify their comments. And don't let the detractors get you down. Just as in real life, they are everywhere and some enjoy simply 'detracting' from threads (it's a D-ego thing.)

Easy. Start with a strong condemnation of everything Israel/Zionism. Pander to the islamofascist apologists. Tie it together with the "evil teapartiers" and the racist obowmarx phobes taking money from starving poor people to spend on defending the zionist occupation of poor palestine. You should get a couple hundred flags fast.

reply to post by sonofliberty1776


Actually that's better advice than I gave.

Carry on.

It's simple.

Just write about something interesting and show us proof in your thread.

That's the only way to make your thread to be popular.

Cheers.

just make threads on things you like and you will get a feel for it...

Title your thread with, "I have something important to tell you" or "I can't believe what I just overheard."

Start the thread by stating that you can't give out too many details or they'll know it's you. "I overheard my boss talking to the head of my agency that FEMA is ready to go."

Next, tell us that you broke down and cried when you told a family member. "I said goodbye to my family and made preparations but they refuse to go. I will miss them so very much..."

Give us no information but keep reminding us that an "event" will occur "somewhere" on a future date. Make sure the date is about a week to 3 monts away. You'll get more stars the longer the wait for DOOM. The only specifics you should give would be, "A megaquake will occur on 24 September in the midwest"

Tell us to prepare, in God's name PREPARE! Log off, change your user name and give yourself stars and flags.

People will follow suit because they figured you actually ran for the hills, when in fact, you're sitting at home, eating slim jims and drinking very expensive scotch.

Good luck!

From what I've seen lately? Open a thread about something extremely inflammatory towards a certain group of people. Seems to never fail haha.

reply to post by ALOSTSOUL


Dear ALOSTSOUL,

I am neither gold nor silver, just a member. I love the idea that you are posting good news and inspirational things. I believe that saying how these stories effect you in the title might be a good way to let readers know what is in store and we could all use some good news. Just a thought. Be well.

I was going to suggest the same as many on this thread have already done.. Namely, to choose a topic that will automatically get you lots of stars/flags, good ones at the moment are ones that question God,Religion/Obama or post a video of an alledged alien/ufo sighting and ask for 'expert' advice, since they always gets lots of attention..

But your not after stars/flags right?, so best advice I can give is this.. Find a subject that interests you, take the time to research it, write it up and then share it. So you only get a couple or so replies/flags for all the time you spent on it, what matters is that you did all this regardless. In creating the post you gained knowledge from the research you did, which in turn helps you to further your own research in areas of your particular interest.

Trust me, quality, well researched threads here are never forgotten, the 5 second, ten-a-penny ones are.

Reply to post by ALOSTSOUL

Easy.

Make a thread on the evils of Jewish people. Make sure you reference protocols of the elders of Zion, throw in some Palestinian support (or anti-Israel…both work just the same). Then cover it all with a nice layer of anti-jewish, but call it anti-zionist.

Boom. 150 flags and more stars than you can count. Nevermind the 50+ pages of discussion that will follow.


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