It has been consistently pointed out that post count means nothing on - that quality is more important than quantity.

If this is this is true, why not get rid of the blurb on the front page that lists the top five posters in terms of post count?

Also, why have the different levels (I just reached my millenium level recently, after being at the century level)? This seems to be a goal for some people to reach for. Getting to the next level, but why would that be needed if post counts don't mean anything? I'm with BoF, drop the post counts.

Scubatim, I haven't had a level statement in years. My statement is a made up captions one of my cats or both is supposed to be saying. You too can have a customized line, if you want one. You just need a little imagination.

Even here you rebute what I say. Says something, doesn't it?

I wasn't rebutting anything. I was passing on information that you could have a customized line instead of the level line. How is passing on information rebutting anything?

All you have to do is go to your user control panel and change it.

Good grief - some people will find anything to complain about.

I like the post counts and think they are completely necessary. If I reading something from someone with thousands of post counts and making a ridiculous but completely coherent argument, I'm liable to give it more thought. If I see someone make a ridiculous argument with only a few (relatively speaking) posts, I probably won't waste my time.

Obviously, there are a couple on this board that have 4,000 talking points and are as predictable as the earth's rotation, but that really is a minimal problem here.

Keep the post counts.

BOF I think you have to be a sponsor to change that line. those are the only ones I see that don't have the level statement. I have checked everywhere for amy setting I can adjust --y'know, just in case -- and don't have that option. Not complaining or nothing, after all Mike and Jaime where nice enough to capitalize my name for me

That may be true.

My current line is

After the election I will put both cats in the picture and have a line like "Ultimate Lap Cats."

A post count also gives us less-than-a-year n00bs an idea of how much a particular person contributes.

It's our only impression of you, since most of you are very vague in your "personal information" link.

/if n00bs don't count, that's a different story
//quality AND quantity can go hand in hand

Just for the record, I never said anything about removing post count totals in individual on screen profiles.

I did suggest doing away with the blurb on the front page listing the top five posters according to post count.

The other post count proposal was made by scubatim. I might add that he has every bit as much right to make his suggestion as I had to make mine. Again, I am not attempting to rebut scubatim on this thread, but we are talking about two different things.

LOL- After reading that scubatim agreed with Bof, I too, was waiting for the other foot to drop.


You guys are awesome, keep it up.

Hmm, I was actually thinking about this.

I've been at for 4, 5 years now and am just working on 800 posts. My focuses have become a bit narrower, and, normally, if I see someone else make my points for me, I simply read and do not respond.

I kind of like it, though. I'm not sure if it correlates with anything, but its a fun, zany number!

My best post count number was 666. Never gonna forget that one. (Thanks, Sleeper!)

OMG!!!

Ooooh, okay. I was thinking profile counts.

Good thing there was no voting. I'd have skewed the results.


That counts as a post....

Maybe I can bump my numbers up like that

I think your posts should at least be longer than your signature line to count.

Hey I remember that!

As for post counts I think they are a neat way to see just how many posts you have made(cept in Casual).

As for them meaning anything... not a bit.

If Charles Krauthammer or the Late Molly Ivins joined this site would their first 500 posts hold little to no water because they don't have a ton of posts or their join date was recent?

I have always thought it was very puerile to call out somebody just because they recently joined the site or their post number was low. We want to encourage people to join the site, because the more people that are debating and exchanging ideas the better off we all are.

If you jump on somebody's case because "they are a weekend wonder", then that poster may take his or her ideas and not return. I am sure that was not Mike and Jaime's vision for .

That's when you should have replaced your picture with something evil and retired the account. Or just show up in Casual Conversation (where posts don't count) with that evil-looking sidebar.


On a related note, long ago I suggested some way to show support or agreement with a post, like an "I agree" button of some kind. All I got was one smart-aleck response from Tonyman, but I thought it was worth a look. I still think that.

I have never cared one way or the other how many posts anyone has. Post counts are only good for keeping score if that is what matters to you. They are only numbers and meaningless number at that.

The most prolific poster is not the most profound.

What you say and how well you say it matters more than how many times you've said it.

I've hardly even noticed the top-five list on the homepage. If anybody's looking for glory by ranking in that list, I find that kind of sad. As "attractive nuisances" go, it doesn't seem all that attractive.


That's a risk, I guess, but I wouldn't assume that an unanswered insult means that the target skulked away mad. Maybe he or she followed up by PM to avoid taking the thread off topic. That's how I try to handle those things, though I'm hardly perfect in following that policy.

I think post counts are useful, I know they are for me. When I look at my post count I think, "Geez! How the hell much time am I spending here?" And then look for something else to do.


Aquilla

We were just talking about metrics.

There are tests to see how young/old your brain is. After age 50, maybe 60, there's this thing about keeping the brain young. I don't know, it seems silly to me.

Hey, I said, I've got a freelance writing gig to keep up, I'm learning Ruby, I'm learning Ajax, I'm learning XML, I'm reading background research for another novel, I'm planning out the high altitude tomato garden for the spring, I'm keeping up on music, I'm preparing for a music gig, and you want me to take a test to see how freaking young my brain is?

I've got three computers under my desk. I've got Fedora on one and a cool book about expert use of the command line. I've got more dang ideas than I know what to do with.

And you want to know how old my brain is?

Screw you. It's too busy to waste time with trivia.

Well. After that little burst of energy, I settled down and got comfortably drunk.

We are oftentimes distracted by metrics. I'm no exception, and in fact a good portion of my freelance writing has to do with metrics due to it being of a technical and argumentative nature. So, you pushed the technological envelope, huh? By how many foot-pounds? Just kidding, but it can seem this silly.

Quality over quantity is fine, but quality and quantity is the best of all worlds for productivity.

Eh, and it's subjective as to what quality is. One can produce a hundred widgets an hour, but if they are all laden with poison and will make your genitalia fall off, what good is it? You're a highly productive demon from the deepest levels of hell.

Huh.

Well.

Post this (hand gesture universally understood in the US/Canada, possibly other continents).

But really. The top five posters. Might you think it's mods who have to keep the children in line? Might you think it's prolific posters with lots of time on the hands, not enough time to get comfortably drunk, laugh it off, cook a little love? Why does "get down tonight" keep running through my overly young noggin?

Heh. Well, fun with metrics. It brings in the do re mi. Not here but elsewhere. I am very thankful for the illusions that make the world go round. A lot of them are pretty darn good ideas. The number of posts on does not qualify. It's really a measure of time spent waking up.

I think I have been insulted, and once I figure out if I have or not, I might be mad, or not.

Post counts are one of those trivial pursuit statistics. I for one like them. I do find them useful in profile analysis. I say keep them as they are or restrict them to the inner profile if you want to simplify the outer avatar interface.

However, my biggest complaint is the member search feature only works for active members. I understand the need to control memory usage but let's face, it saves maybe 2 whole kb at best. Topics involving banned members must be searched for by title, not by authour. I feel this is a weakness.

You may rank on top of that list, but you make sense and are reasonable most of the time. On top of that, you post a lot of links. It does appear that some folks are posting lame one liners to questions without any links, just to rack up 20+ posts a day in a futile effort to impress the rest of us.