Just a reminder for everyone ...

[finn's mom]

Okay, I decided to do my part to help. I put in Cute at Thesaurus.com and got these entries:

Maybe this will liven up the generic posting, LOL! I'm just being silly today!

how funny, i just did the same thing!

[Lizzie]

"Cute" is a problem too since it is read one way by people from the U.S. and another by those in England and probably Australia, etc. The first time my new mother-in-law told me I looked cute, I stormed off to my room and changed my clothes. I was 28, not 2. So, my reaction to "cute" is "yuck".

Which is all to say that I'm agreeing with others that we are a group of, often dramatically, different people with one thing in common that keeps us bonded together. I have to tell myself that posters who simply say something generic in response are being kind and sociable, and truly appreciate their response. Being me, I'd rather get one heartfelt response or none at all. I crave information, getting it and creating thoughtful responses, that's what I'm looking for here. That makes me a poor poster to many others on the forum because I won't simply respond to a thread to show that I read and appreciated it - sorry, but we must all be true to ourselves. Long live diversity!

[christa]

So I can't make smilies anymore?

Just kidding, LOL . . . seriously, this is a funny thread! Should we have a POST PATROL or something??? I've never heard such commotion and complaining about how people post and when they post and what they post. I have to laugh, I'm sorry. Sure, it's annoying to come on and see the same little threads day in and day out, but you know what? I realize that most of these threads have probably been started by 14 year olds and judging by the titles of the threads, I can see what they'll be and usually don't even click into them. Problem solved!

As for the responses, I have no problem with making my response short and sweet, nor do I mind getting a short & sweet response. What annoys me is when I go to the trouble of actually making a thread and getting no responses at all. THAT is annoying and a big reason why I don't start many threads. I try to make my responses as personal as possible, but how personal can you get on a message board? What kind of response do you expect? I guess in my case, over the past year or so, I have gradually just become more of a lurker . . . post only occasionally . . . Maybe that's what you want everyone to do? But if that's what everyone did, would this board be as successful as it's been in the past? It's booming constantly because people are constantly keeping it going . . . I guess I just don't see the harm.

[gini]

THE POST PATROL! Now that is funny! Yes, we definitely need one of those and an alarm can sound on your computer to alert you to the latest offender.

I have to laugh also, because you know that our Mayor hasn't missed a beat on this thread - but she is very silent. I imagine she is chuckling in the background.

Good night everyone - it's my bedtime.

[Russian Blue]

Actually, I have seen this topic brought up on many forums over the last few years. When you're new to a forum I think it's important to feel like your threads get responses from the people on that forum. I know that my first thread here at Pet Talk got a huge response and that is in part why I stayed. I figured that if that many people were concerned about Nakita and made me feel welcomed on my first post, I felt comfortable and appreciated by that community. So I do see the need to post, even a few lines to say that you agree with a poster or to provide support or to comment on a new arrival of a furkid.

But, there is a difference when someone posts one word answers or starts 'pointless' threads to either get noticed or to up their post count. A few forums that I have been on have removed post counts and titles next to usernames. After all, threads should be about quality not quantity. Once they removed the post counts, the number of 'pointless' threads greatly decreased and I think many of the mega posters left the forum because the 'goal' of being top poster was eliminated. That forum became one of my favourite forums to visit on the internet because the threads that were posted were intelligent, informative and supportive. You wanted to read the threads, not scroll by them. Not saying that has to be done here but I know a few posters who have cut back on their time here because they simply do not have time to scroll through a zillion posts to get to the interesting ones.

So, we're supposed to respond to peoples' threads, yet we're not supposed to reply with little one or two line responses. Do you want me to respond or not? :confused

I have totally changed my internet time over the last year. I have limited time and sometimes don't log in for a few days or weeks at a time. If I'm trying to show support or want to post sometimes I only have a few minutes before bed to view threads. Therefore, I only have time to post a few words of support, or encouragement or just type 'cute pics'. Though I doubt anyone would see me as a post hog since it did take a couple of years for me to reach my first pillar.

[finn's mom]

A few forums that I have been on have removed post counts and titles next to usernames. After all, threads should be about quality not quantity. Once they removed the post counts, the number of 'pointless' threads greatly decreased and I think many of the mega posters left the forum because the 'goal' of being top poster was eliminated.

I know you're not saying it should be done here, but, that would ROCK if it were! I don't know why I'd never thought of that before, but, it makes complete sense!

[beeniesmom]

I know that my first thread here at Pet Talk got a huge response and that is in part why I stayed.

Glad I didn't take the same approach.
My first thread got like 2 responses. From Robin and Gingers mom (thanks guys) ... but I didn't care. I liked reading about everyone here and have gotten attached along the way.

[finn's mom]

I liked reading about everyone here and have gotten attached along the way.

And, I know I speak for many here when I say I'm glad you stuck around!

And, Russian Blue, too! You both are part of why I stay at Pet Talk!

[JenBKR]

It doesn't really bother me, but I can understand why it might bother some people. I know there have been a lot of pointless threads started (although for the life of me I can't figure out who you guys were talking about in dog general), and sometimes I read them and sometimes I don't. There are times when I open threads with pictures and don't respond, either because I don't really have the time or because there's already plenty of 'aww how cute' responses, and I don't really have any intelligent comment to make

[shihtzulover850]

yeah neither can I. I haven't noticed that many pointless threads. Some yes but others no. Not to bad anyway...

[anna_66]

It's nice to check back on this thread and see that everyone can give and take constructive criticism (including myself) without getting all mean and nasty.
This is just one of the reasons I love Pet Talk so much

I guess we all have different opinions and that's fine because what a boring world we'd be living in if we were all the same

[K9soul]

Should we have a POST PATROL or something??? I've never heard such commotion and complaining about how people post and when they post and what they post.

I don't think it's a commotion at all, it's a discussion (and I think a very civil one) with different viewpoints on this topic. I think it can be very relieving to people to be able to express their thoughts on things like this from time to time. It's like having friends/family that do little things that irritate you, and over time it becomes more and more irritating because you are keeping your thoughts in about it. When you finally sit down and are able to discuss it and see their perspective, it can be constructive and make both sides of the issue a bit more aware and understanding. I know I've felt more of an urge to visit and post here and there again since I was able to express some of the things that have been bothering me when I visited PT.

Most issues start out petty and small and become bigger, communication of differing perspectives can really help curtail growing resentments and misunderstandings.

Some things that bother me I'm sure would seem very silly to others, and some things that bother others I cannot relate to or understand either, but I think it's most considerate to listen and treat feelings seriously even if they may seem small or silly or petty. Just my 2 cents

[smokey the elder]

One poster's pointless thread is another's earth shaking event. I don't think it's fair to judge. One always has the option to not open the thread, after all.

As far as "trolls" are concerned, I believe there have been only a few over the last several years that are really bad, i.e. nearly universally offensive. Most of the time there may be some bored kids who, if given a chance, may actually stick around and learn something.

I've written before about the "one-dimensionality" of type (no vocal tone or body language). Especially for folks for whom English is a second (or later!) language, we should not judge grammar so much. I wish I could find that funky paragraph with all the letters jumbled up, to show how we read words!

One thing I would prefer is that people don't use texting shortcuts. These are very hard to read for those more "chronologically gifted" folks like me.

[Alysser]

Another thing I have noticed is that people post smilies with sentences that have nothing to do with the smiley. For example, if they say "I took Fido for a walk today!" They post with smilies like this . What's the point in that? I find they just want to post smilies and it gets annoying to see 100 smilies in one post. It's been one person doing this around Dog general.

Another thing is, some people post in EVERY single thread they see, even if there is no need to. It's great to want to feel involved but do they have to post on every thread. The comments they post are usually 1 to 5 words and it's annoying to go through a thread and have to go over comments over and over agian made by the same person.