Post of the Month/Year

[JimmyV]

At the 57:06 mark of the audio version of the News/Notes/Housekeeping podcast (2/5), Pete announced a new contest where the 10 most "popular" threads of the month would be recognized during the first show of the following month. It's an interesting idea, but I would caution that popularity (typically measured by the total number of posts) is a horrible way to evaluate a post's worth. There is a certain devolution that threads endure where a topic is raised and/or a question is asked, and then by the third or fourth page of the thread, the topic has been answered and beaten to death, and then what ensues is irrational argument, board wars, name-calling and drift of continental magnitude. This is certainly not always the case. But it is certainly typical. Very few threads that drone on to page 14 and beyond do so because what is being posted at that stage is useful or informative. It's more like: "I'm right, and you're wrong. And I will continue to take on all comers who dare disagree with me!"

So while the concept of a Top 10 Threads contest is admirable, I would urge the judges to use far more subjective criteria in picking the winners than the simple objective measure of "popularity" if that translates into thread length. Size doesn't always matter. Just my $0.02.

 

[WebmasterPete]

You assume that our metric is total number of posts. It's not. The only objective measurement are actual analytics - the total number of views a thread has received, which is what the list is based on.

 

[JimmyV]

You assume that our metric is total number of posts. It's not. The only objective measurement are actual analytics - the total number of views a thread has received, which is what the list is based on.

I listened again and the only word used to describe the selected posts was "popular". I confess that I do not know what is meant by that, as it was not explained. Popularity can be measured objectively by total posts or total views. It can also be measured subjectively. The latter is superior. Otherwise, the Best Picture Oscar would be based on ticket sales or total screen days.

 

[quietgirll]

I listened again and the only word used to describe the selected posts was "popular". I confess that I do not know what is meant by that, as it was not explained. Popularity can be measured objectively by total posts or total views. It can also be measured subjectively. The latter is superior. Otherwise, the Best Picture Oscar would be based on ticket sales or total screen days.

Interesting, I don't think "best" and "popular" are considered synonyms?

 

[wgeo]

I don't know about the argument over how the thread of the month is chosen, I think anyway the podcast crew chooses is fine by me. I went to read the thread that they chose as #1 (the college program "frump" trip report) and I really enjoyed reading it. So kudos for pointing out things that we might not always notice that are interesting to read.

Gina

 

[WebmasterPete]

I don't know about the argument over how the thread of the month is chosen, I think anyway the podcast crew chooses is fine by me. I went to read the thread that they chose as #1 (the college program "frump" trip report) and I really enjoyed reading it. So kudos for pointing out things that we might not always notice that are interesting to read.

Gina

Which is the entire point. There are thousands of new threads started on the DIS every day, and tens of thousands of posts. The idea behind this was to highlight the ones that are attracting a lot of attention and point them out to people - threads and topics they may have otherwise missed. Also, I wanted to find a fun way to recognize people who post on the boards and whose threads resonate with other DIS'ers.

 

[WebmasterPete]

Otherwise, the Best Picture Oscar would be based on ticket sales or total screen days.

Well, I'm not handing out Oscars here. Since I wasn't sufficiently clear in the show, you now know the criteria being used to select these.