How to Tell if You're Flogging a Dead Parrot

[Sunstone]

I was actually under the impression that you and rev were not part of the seen and have memories of both of you feeling uninspired by them. Hence you were the targets. It's alright though, I wouldn't have faulted you guys for peeking-in.

I loved the comments people would leave with their fruballings. That was by far better than anything else about the system. I even found it inspirational at times. But I've mostly been of the insufferable opinion the forum would be better without the tallies.

 

[YmirGF]

I loved the comments people would leave with their fruballings. That was by far better than anything else about the system. I even found it inspirational at times. But I've mostly been of the insufferable opinion the forum would be better without the tallies.

Indeed. Then there are the times that you do take on the fence posts and see if you can find something amusing in the interaction. Sort of like... in real life...

 

[Curious George]

I loved the comments people would leave with their fruballings. That was by far better than anything else about the system. I even found it inspirational at times. But I've mostly been of the insufferable opinion the forum would be better without the tallies.

And I agree. I don't worry too much about people's tallies. I enjoy reading posts even if it does demonstrate a prodigality with my total words read reserve.

Something nice about reading the raw form thoughts of others.

The frubals notes were nice.

 

[Axe Elf]

Indeed. Then there are the times that you do take on the fence posts and see if you can find something amusing in the interaction. Sort of like... in real life...

WINNER!

There is that, for sure, but if you are knowingly engaging a fence post, you have to be prepared for that inevitable time when you tire of the sport and try to disengage, only to be taunted for running away. As long as you can accept that as the price of the entertainment, I suppose it's a fair trade.

 

[bobhikes]

You have been here longer than I, perhaps some of those counts are a little off because they used to limit frubals something fierce due to a couple of frubals orgies I believe @Revoltingest and @Sunstone were encouraging.

There may be some truth to that. Frubals were supposedly converted count for count but they were just one category, frubals. Today we have 8 different ways to approve a comment perhaps newer people will have a higher count because of this.

 

[Jedster]

@Axe Elf
So are all the billions of polygons reincarnated parrots?

 

[crossfire]

Sometimes the rational answer is not the popular one.

 

[Revoltingest]

You have been here longer than I, perhaps some of those counts are a little off because they used to limit frubals something fierce due to a couple of frubals orgies I believe @Revoltingest and @Sunstone were encouraging.

Correction.....
Frubal orgies weren't limited.
The resulting frubal inflation certainly influenced the move to the current system.
I never took part in frubal orgies, & never reached the stratospheric numbers of those who did.

 

[savagewind]

About ten percent.

 

[crossfire]

The ratings system has changed several times throughout the forum's history. The old-timers would have massively ballooned frubals, and the system was then changed to restrict fruballing, so when I started, a 10% rating was considered to be quite respectable. It has since changed to a less restrictive system, so it can really be difficult to tell from the ratings alone. You really do have to examine the content.

 

[Revoltingest]

It should be noted that among the diehards here 3,000 posts is like the @Revoltingest average before breaking for haggis and whiskey. Heck, the man is still in his bathrobe at that point. But seriously, the rating is generally on a downward slant the more one posts. High rating is good for the quality aspect of the forum, but the banter is what keeps RF alive. Let's try not to forget that.


Sounds like a great recipe to destroy a vibrant forum.
If you choose to stick around you may begin the appreciate that.

Aye, without pleasant banter, the forum would lose many of us.
One can seriously participate in only so many threads debating
the number of angels who can dance on the head of a pin.

Hey, @Axe Elf ....once you get to know us, you'll have a
sense of which posters interest you, & which to avoid.
It only took me about 70,000 posts to get the hang of this place.

 

[shunyadragon]

How to Tell if You're Flogging a Dead Parrot

The Parrot does not tell you to stop.

 

[Poseidon Soter]

There doesn't seem to be a forum for discussing the Forum, so I'll put this here.

I've been a member for about three weeks now, and I just wanted to discuss an observation that I initially made within my first week, and which has been gaining steam in my mind along the way as it is confirmed by repeated observations. Hopefully it will help others as it has come to assist me.

You know how sometimes you'll be sitting next to someone in a waiting room or something and you start talking, and they seem really nice and smart and erudite, and you start to feel a little camaraderie, and then they'll say something completely out of left field, like, "And that's how I know the aliens will pick us up before the world ends on Saturday" or something like that, and you just can't get out of the conversation fast enough?

That's happened to me here several times, where I think I'm getting involved in an interesting and thoughtful intellectual discussion, and then suddenly my discussion partner will come up with some nonsense tortured from an abstract concept like blood from a turnip--and more often than not, they can't even see where they've gone off the rails even when I try to walk them through it slowly!

BUT... I'm starting to figure out how to see potential situations like this coming before they actually manifest themselves--and it's hiding in the information the site gives us for free--what I will call our "Rating-to-Post" (RTP) ratio!

Almost every single time I have unknowingly engaged with someone for whom the languages of logic and reason might as well be written in Klingon, I have subsequently noticed that they have a very low "RTP" ratio. Like if a guy has 3,000 posts, but a rating of only 300, it's a pretty good sign that their grasp of rational discourse is going to be tenuous, at best. Someone who has 3,000 posts and a 2,000 rating is going to be a much better choice for meaningful dialogue.

I haven't run any statistical analyses to determine the exact degree of this correlation, but if I had to spitball it based on personal experience, I would say that you have a fair chance of meaningful discourse with anyone whose RTP is over 50%. Between 25%-50%, you may have a chance of getting some semaphore signals through the fog, but you are probably just wasting your time if you are trying to have a rational discussion with someone whose RTP is below about 20%-25%.

The hard part is forcing yourself to pay attention to that when you are considering how (or if) to respond to someone--sometimes even when you see that 12% RTP, you just can't help yourself--NO ONE could possibly not see the logic of THIS, right? Right??? Oh crap, not again...

So I'd be interested in hearing if others may have observed something similar in their own interactions, or if my observation causes you to pay closer attention to RTPs, or any other thoughts along these lines--but be advised that I WILL consider your RTP when I am determining whether or not to take your post seriously, in this or any other thread. I've been burned too many times already not to.

Trouble with such reasoning is that you exclude posters who are saying unpopular things (which can still be entirely reasonable and make one think about things, or how to argue one's corner better). And things can be unpopular if the forum as a whole, or a particular thread, is dominated by posters of a particular leaning. It seems as if this forum is overall left-leaning. So if I post rather more right-leaning posts, I might expect to get less ratings as a result.

 

[Curious George]

Correction.....
Frubal orgies weren't limited.
The resulting frubal inflation certainly influenced the move to the current system.
I never took part in frubal orgies, & never reached the stratospheric numbers of those who did.

See my post to Sunstone after his correction.

 

[Brickjectivity]

BUT... I'm starting to figure out how to see potential situations like this coming before they actually manifest themselves--and it's hiding in the information the site gives us for free--what I will call our "Rating-to-Post" (RTP) ratio!

You did not invent RTP. I invented it.

Almost every single time I have unknowingly engaged with someone for whom the languages of logic and reason might as well be written in Klingon, I have subsequently noticed that they have a very low "RTP" ratio. Like if a guy has 3,000 posts, but a rating of only 300, it's a pretty good sign that their grasp of rational discourse is going to be tenuous, at best. Someone who has 3,000 posts and a 2,000 rating is going to be a much better choice for meaningful dialogue.

I do not think that ratings have any practical meaning. They are a game, and if you play the game you get more. If you ignore them they ignore you. They are a tiny competition for those who are interested in competition. If you give likes then other people give you likes -- as long as what you are saying is not controversial. If all of your posts are controversial then that will limit your likes a lot. Your focus then is on discussion, so don't expect lots of likes. Its like a little candy crush on the side, nothing serious. Also sometimes likes help to keep users involved. It feels nice to get a like, even if you're posting something mundane.

Any time you are feeling sorry for @Sunstone give him a like. You might improve his feelings of personal worth.

 

[Revoltingest]

See my post to Sunstone after his correction.

No need.

 

[crossfire]

<...>
If all of your posts are controversial...<...>

[satire] You rang? [/satire]

 

[columbus]

So I'd be interested in hearing if others may have observed something similar in their own interactions, or if my observation causes you to pay closer attention to RTPs, or any other thoughts along these lines--but be advised that I WILL consider your RTP when I am determining whether or not to take your post seriously, in this or any other thread.

The fastest way to get ratings is to post snarky sociopolitical/sexual double entendres.
About Trump.

Trust me.

Things didn't used to be that way, when posters gave frubals. Then, you made a comment to the recipient explaining why you thought their post extra-good.
Then along came the RFormation, and "likes". No thought required, any idiot can press a button. I used to consider a 10-1 ratio pretty good. But now, if you don't get a rating every other post (2-1, since you don't seem to understand maths) you aren't trying hard enough.

Tom

 

[Brickjectivity]

[satire] You rang? [/satire]

You don't even feel guilty about all of those posts about asparagus.

 

[crossfire]

You don't even feel guilty about all of those posts about asparagus.

I haven't met a cat that doesn't love it!

Have you tried it yet, little kitten? Mwahahahaha!