Lately I’ve been thinking about the quality of the Chief Delphi Forum. Many have commented the quality of posts has gone down hill since a few years ago. I’ve been reading a book recently and that inspired the following question I want to ask to all of you CD forum posters:
What is a “Quality” post?
What do you consider “Quality”? Why is some post better than others? How can you tell?
Like many of the questiosn I posted, I ask you to reply with thoughtful, insightful posts instead of the normal 2 sentence quick replies I see quite a bit now a days.
Quality? A short and simple post like this that doesn’t take a whole page to read and is straight to the point. Now that’s a quality post.
Though you know, that if one eloborates on his or her subject with even greater detail, more facts, etc. etc. then you have a real quality post. It has to be very descriptive, simple, “modularly complex” if you get what I mean. Everything sort of comes together.
My idea of a quality post is one that is clear, concise and helpful. I don’t mind seeing a little humor but when posts go off on “tangents” or have nothing to do with the discussion or thread at hand they seem to lack the “quality”. A quality post will add and carry the discussion along and not sidetrack it. If a thread has to deal with a problem/issue or someone is looking for an answer to a question a “quality” post should answer the question or give information or suggestions to deal with the problem/issue. Providing facts or formulas to how you came about the answer is helpful too.
Another quality post is one that does not repeat the words of its predecessors. If a person asks for help in a thread, the answer or answers only need be stated once so that said person can find what is needed right away without having to search through the different posts as much.
Also, a post that doesn’t point out what another has said in a negative way is quality. I really don’t like to see any tension here on the forums.
I don’t know maybe we should ask Brandon what a good post is.
Poor quality posts are made by people who respond to questions or make suggestions offering little beneficial advice. Essentially just posting so they can get their name in the thread.
Great question! I recently started a thread that I thought had become stale and unproductive. After a couple of slaps on the wrist (well deserved I might add) I sat back to look at the thread again. Sometimes what one person sees as a quality post and helpful, another finds useless. I think that every post should be looked at from more than one set of eyes and at different angles to tell whether or not it is a quality post. Even the state of mind that we have when we read something can alter our view of the post.
What is quality? My feeling is that a quality post is one that has been thought out and expressed with a sincere positive thought process.
The way I see it, your role as a poster is to provide interesting material for others to read, such that they read it through. If they want to read it through, chances are that it’s contributed to the discussion in a positive way. Using this basic test, one can determine whether or not a post is worth reading in its entirety (because that’s what this is really about):
*A quality post shows the poster’s insight toward the topic.
*
Basically what this means is that (assuming a poster has any insight at all) if he can articulate his insight to readers, and demonstrate his intelligence, he has succeeded in making a good post. The fact of the matter is that good logical reasoning, reading, and writing, are what lead to a good post, and are even more important than actual knowledge of the topic. An intelligent poster knows when and what to post. The lesson we should learn from this is that these skills are the things we should be thinking about when we make a post. *Am I really making sense? Am I being helpful? *Someone who can CAD with the best of them is useless at helping a rookie to CAD if he can’t make a readable post, and it really can be as simple as that.
Ken asked “How can you tell,” and that’s what I’ll go into for a second here. Let me explain my reasoning: First of all, we need to admit that there are posters out there that we really like to listen to, and conversely, those whose posts we couldn’t care less about, based on experience from reading their previous stuff. I personally triage posts for skimming based on a few points:
Going off-topic without good cause does not show insight. If you can’t show your ability to reason or develop an idea, save me the trouble of reading the rest your post.
Agreeing, disagreeing, or saying that you don’t know is useless. Nobody cares what you have to say unless you’re actually offering something useful or helpful.
The inability to spell or form coherent phrases does not show insight, and serves as a way for me to skim and decide whether reading a post is really worth my time. Much as we hate to admit it, this is the best
indicator of whether a post is not worth reading through. - An argument is always good, but unfortunately, many of the people on this forum are not mature enough to participate intelligently in one. This makes threads get out of hand, or results in people trying to lock perfectly good ones. So while argumentative posts are not bad per se, they can mess up threads, making them pseudo-bad-quality.
As it turns out, expository essay skills really help. If you can state your position and then support it later if anyone cares to read, you’ve made a good post. As such, there’s nothing necessarily wrong with “the normal 2 sentence quick replies” we are seeing. In fact, chances are I’ll read them, which, as I theorized at the start, is the whole point.
A new problem in this forum is what I call rep-bait. These are fluffy posts meant to appease one or more individuals in order to garner rep points. My stance on rep has always been that it holds little water in reality, but since not everyone shares my enlightened view, a lower quality reply is more and more likely these days.
Rep-bait is closely linked to all the esoteric discussion and inside jokes that go on between a few individuals on the forum. They actually ruin the experience for everyone else. “But Jon,” you say. “Those people have lots of rep points.” Yes they do, but they’re having their own little party on the forums. Do you think everyone knows what a JVN is? Edit:
I should note that this isn’t a shot at anyone, and that I’ve probably done this a few times too, before someone takes it the wrong way. Pfft.
Anyway, think about your audience and try to get them to read your whole post. If you do that, you’ve probably made a quality one.
Just a simple reminder, although a post may be short, there is no reason to say that it isnt a quality post. sigh the whole matter of a quality post in its purest form seems rather subjective in my opinion. Naturally theres the ease in being able to tell a post that contributes to the discussion with an idea or a comment that others will find interesting, as outlined in all the replies above, but whats to make one post better than another post if they ask the same thing in different styles? Although none of the posts are actually physically rated aside from reputation, it seems pointless and rather banal to me that we are constantly pushing for quality, but we often point out when a post isnt needed or it may not be saying the most insightful thing in the world. There isnt a need for that in my opinion. Like any internet board, CD has its ups and downs, but it remains as great a tool as ever for communication, but when the chips are down or one is making a quick response to something, there isnt always time to elaborate or put together an essay like topic. There is a lot to be said for brevity too.
Kind of like a news article. Something that keeps you interested, and doesn’t force you to read to the end of the post to get the main idea. ( <- Don’t yell at me for this). I do read to the end of the posts, but I don’t think that a quality post is one that makes you read to the end to find the position of the person or the idea that they have. I guess this would be more like a standard 5 paragraph essay form, with a “Thesis Statement” and support, BUT please don’t write 5 paragraphs. I promise no lit teachers will subtract points for lack in symbolism in the posts.
And like it was said before, posts that are relevant to the thread.
A post which directly answers a posed question accurately
A post which provides useful new information or insight
A post which stimulates good discussion
Thought out and planned
Well written, with few grammatical or spelling errors
A poor post is…
A post which offers nothing new
A post which was not proofread
A post which is off topic
A post with incorrect information, or even information that you aren’t sure of
A post which is insulting
These are just a few guidelines. In general if we take some time to think about what we write, and exercise some common sense, we should have no problem making quality posts.
A quality post is an intelligent post that adds to the thread and is pertanent to the thread. It doesn’t nessesarily have to be a long essay post or contain large words or witty wording meant to impress people. A post should not be like that of an English paper containing lots of fluff. I like posts that give me the information needed - sometimes short and to the point. If needed a post should contain the information to back up what the poster is trying to say such as the appropriate math or explanations for technical questions. The occasional humor is appreciated too.
Eric
[quote=“jonathan lall”]
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[li]A new problem in this forum is what I call rep-bait. These are fluffy posts meant to appease one or more individuals in order to garner rep points. My stance on rep has always been that it holds little water in reality, but since not everyone shares my enlightened view, a lower quality reply is more and more likely these days.
[/li][li]Rep-bait is closely linked to all the esoteric discussion and inside jokes that go on between a few individuals on the forum. They actually ruin the experience for everyone else. “But Jon,” you say. “Those people have lots of rep points.” Yes they do, but they’re having their own little party on the forums. Do you think everyone knows what a JVN is?[/li][/quote]
I’d like to add another ‘quality’ item to the list - those that post something solely without the intention of targeting one, or a group, of individuals. This has happened entirely too many threads and posts during the 2004 season.
I’ve heard an awful lot about reputation since the whole system started, and it seems that the consensus is that the system is fine. There are a few individuals that still complain - do you think the people with the most reputation are undeserving? Do you assume that since you have lower reputation points, which bring no rewards or prizes, nobody is reading your posts? I am afraid that in both cases, you are sorely mistaken.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with posting speculation or an opinion, though it appears other people do, as I’ve gotten negative reputation for doing just that.
Speculation, though it may, at times, be inaccurate, is the basis for most ideas brought forth from ChiefDelphi. Everything starts with an idea, an uncertainty, a “What if…”. If we have potentially useful, but not verified information, why not share it? Good things can certainly come of this, be it the poster being proved wrong, resulting in him or her learning a lesson, or the speculation being proven right, offering a solution to the problem or whatever the situation may be. I see no harm in offering your share of knowledge.
Posts, in my mind, should be:
Concise and focused enough such as not to be rambling
On-topic enough such as not to be on a tangent (though short tangents for humor or related purposes are OK, as long as they do not grow out of hand, at which point a moderator should step in)
Not repetetive, unless that repetition serves to reinforce an uncertainty
btw this is probobly a perfect example of a poor post
or is it
I am making a point
I am providing clear and accurate information
and i am presenting it in a manor that (hopfully) doesnt offend or upset anyone
i dont know what makes a quality post, quality but i know that things like one word replies that involve just agreeing with someone, w/o adding to the conversation are examples of poor posts
Personally, I think it is good when someone makes a post (especially if the thread is someone asking for help about something, or asking a question such as this one) by bringing a different view-point in… although not always helpful, it can sometimes allow the thread-starter to get kick-started into finding the solution if people just giving simple answers aren’t enough. Whether it be in the form of reading material that could help, or by going far over-and-beyond what the question is to help the person not only find the answer they’re looking for… but also understand why that is the answer and/or how it works.
It’s an uncertain and opinionated question, therefore illiciting uncertain and opinionated responses. Repetition is bad, in forms of certainty, as I attempted (albeit poorly, as the case may be) in my first post. In certain situations, however, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it.
Now that’s a quality post.