doppelganger
Nov 20th 2008, 09:50 PM
I suggest that some threads have groundrules limiting contributors to two replies.
This is not really a technical suggestion (although I'm sure someone could accomplish it programatically if desired), but an operational suggestion for people to use from time-to-time.
I'm sure you've noticed that a lot of threads end up becoming super-long threads consisting of several people arguing back and forth. This ends up limiting participation, because few people want to wade through pages upon pages of posts.
I submit that if you can't get your point across in one post, with a follow-up post for clarification, then one of two things is happening:
You haven't stated your point very well.
You are never going to convince someone who doesn't agree with you.
If you want to start a thread that won't turn into a battle of opposing dissertations, and allows more people to add their point-of-view without their post being overtaken by a couple people going at it, and allows multiple viewpoints to be read without having to read tens of pages, how about this:
In the thread title, append "2 POST LIMIT" to your subject.
Example: "Should Christians smoke? :: 2 POST LIMIT"
You might also want to reiterate in the body of the post that each contributor is limited to two posts.
Some threads are intended as a debate forum, some are conversational in nature with a lot of back and forth, but some threads get "hijacked" into a debate when that wasn't intended.
I think the "2 POST LIMIT" approach could make some threads more pleasant to read, more pleasant to participate in, and could help people better formulate their ideas and really "make their post count."
This is not really a technical suggestion (although I'm sure someone could accomplish it programatically if desired), but an operational suggestion for people to use from time-to-time.
I'm sure you've noticed that a lot of threads end up becoming super-long threads consisting of several people arguing back and forth. This ends up limiting participation, because few people want to wade through pages upon pages of posts.
I submit that if you can't get your point across in one post, with a follow-up post for clarification, then one of two things is happening:
You haven't stated your point very well.
You are never going to convince someone who doesn't agree with you.
If you want to start a thread that won't turn into a battle of opposing dissertations, and allows more people to add their point-of-view without their post being overtaken by a couple people going at it, and allows multiple viewpoints to be read without having to read tens of pages, how about this:
In the thread title, append "2 POST LIMIT" to your subject.
Example: "Should Christians smoke? :: 2 POST LIMIT"
You might also want to reiterate in the body of the post that each contributor is limited to two posts.
Some threads are intended as a debate forum, some are conversational in nature with a lot of back and forth, but some threads get "hijacked" into a debate when that wasn't intended.
I think the "2 POST LIMIT" approach could make some threads more pleasant to read, more pleasant to participate in, and could help people better formulate their ideas and really "make their post count."