A quick look at how Escapist users post

[Maet]

So, what you're saying with your fancy-schmancy maths skills is: People who make good posts, give good titles to their threads and who are known for doing so on a regular basis, get more views and posts than people who aren't?

Basically. Forum-posting is a popularity contest, no matter which way you swing it.

Edit: And actually, that's not what I'm saying at all. What I'm saying is that when you take a second to crunch the numbers, the attention a stupid thread gets is more or less proportionate to the attention a smart thread gets. No thread significantly rises or falls beyond an average of ~9.5 views per post which indicates that there is some discretion with regards to how a poster goes about their business. People look at what they want to, and ignore what they don't. It's pretty simple.

I'm curious, what are your predictions for this thread?

I'll get flamed for a bit and then swallowed up in the wake of the next batch of hot topics.

But seriously, this thread will be just another blade of grass in the field. There's no getting around that. If nothing else, I think this just proves that thread growth and popularity is rather stable and predictable (in these forums anyway).

Well, it just shows that quick simple threads are easier to answer. As Ultrajoe mentioned elsewhere; making longs posts on meaningful threads is often a wasted effort, as you tend to be ninja'd or just plain old ignored. And we all like to see the drama, but posting in controversial threads seems like a wasted effort, people won't read it and it will only be locked soon enough anyway.

Actually, I think this thread proves it's not a wasted effort and that posting habits are predictable and easy to track. People know what they want to post in and where to look for the discussions they seek, and there's a good chance they'll find it. If a person doesn't want to share what their favourite hotdog condiment is, then why would they click on a thread about it? Conversely, why would a person looking to debate ketchup and mustard look for their fill in a thread about Euthanasia? There's a thread and debate partner for everyone.

The data is a little vague to have any real conclusions made. The survey is over a very narrow space of time etc. But hey, who am I to criticise? !

I only made this to provide superficial conclusions. There's far too many factors and variables to consider. I'd spend days tinkering with nonsense to create more nonsense; there'd be no point. I'm just glad that it's only one hour I pissed away and not a thousand.

Edit -- What the hell does Ninja'd mean anyway?

 

[crudus]

Good heavens, I'm a statistic!!!

That is very likely considering only .0003% of people alive have never been part of a statistic.

Heh heh...I see what you did there...

Anyway, interesting idea, backed up with some solid math. Now, how do I exploit it...

The way I see it. step 1: make solid statistic. step 2: ????. Step 3: profit

topic: so now, what we need to do is learn how to manipulate the views to get posts higher! It'll be the nerd dick waving contest! Or better yet, learn how to get the inverse of the statistics. That's right, 10 posts per one view...THAT is efficient foruming.

 

[StarStruckStrumpets]

'Gaming Nude: An Illustrated Post Without Poll By Ultrajoe'

Mathematically, I just broke the internet.

I can feel it's pulse fading now...damn you!

 

[Lyri]

It's 9:10am, my brain has only just got itself functioning properly so I'm afraid I can't leave a ground shaking comment.
However, I can leave you with my applause at starting something like this.

*applause*

 

[minarri]

Not to be "that person" but what are you out to demonstrate with this? It's interesting enough as observational material, I suppose.

I think you wanted to test your idea that on The Escapist there tends to be one post per ten viewings? Perhaps if you're trying to reach a conclusion of some sort you might want to also calculate p-values or at least some standard deviations.

 

[Lost In The Void]

Edit -- What the hell does Ninja'd mean anyway?

While your typing a post someone beats you to the punch. For example someone asks where you get certain object you type the answer and post just to see the same answer in the post right above you. Thats being Ninja'd

 

[Lord George]

I am not a number....oh wait yes I am.

 

[Mstrswrd]

The fact that you took the time to do this, even if it is, by your own account with "hardly any data at all," is impressive.

I wonder what the ratio is for this thread?

EDIT: I realized I initially left my first line incomplete, so sorry to those who read it and went "What fact?"

 

[A Raging Emo]

That was quite interesting. Have a cookie for putting that together.

 

[-IT-]

The fact that you took the time to do this, even if it is, by your own account with "hardly any data at all."

I wonder what the ratio is for this thread?

*hits ctrl+F5 a couple of times to screw everything up*

Anyway, interesting post, curious though what the differences are between the subboards.

 

[wordsmith]

If the data is accurate, all NewClassic needs to do is make a thread entitled "Hot Females Abusing America's Power?" It may destroy The Escapist's SQL database, but it's a gamble we should be willing to take -- in the name of science!

Edit: also, is anyone willing to do stuff like the standard deviation on the data? It'd be interesting to see what's within normal distribution and what the margin of error is. It's just I can't be arsed to do math right now... or ever, actually.

We need to get on to NewClassic about this immediately!

 

[EeveeElectro]

Maet - doing the math so you don't have to since 1997.

I see my thread up there. I feel... special :')

This was quite interesting, I guess I'd never thought of it before.

 

[Lord Krunk]

I have no idea why my threads generally die quickly, but your last point on vague threads may just be the answer.

Certainly an interesting thread, this is.

EDIT: Regarding that last sentence I made, it appears that I have been inflicted with the most terrible blight of all...

YODITIS!

 

[Simalacrum]

so, if your a badge whore you should make a thread which is short with a simple question? gotcha.

 

[More Fun To Compute]

Mathematics is the best thing ever and if anybody can't accept that then they should put something in something then something it until the something somethings.

 

[Flishiz]

A quick look at how Escapist users post​

In December, I arrived at the conclusion, based on hardly any data at all, that the average thread will grow at a pace roughly equivalent to one post for every ten views, give or take the appeal of the thread?s title, the user who made it, the quality of posts therein, etc.

I think here you've found the inherent problem with the Escapist Forums. While the Escapist is by far the most developed and intelligent in large scale video game forums, people tend to make threads that don't mean much, where one can drop in, answer a question or respond to a poll without looking at all at any of the other comments, breaking down the so valued "discussion" element to be replaced with answering and leaving.

If I had to point a finger I would go at the badges for large numbers of views/posts. If there's anything that influences the kind of mindset of making a thread with no real substance, and expecting a lot of people to drop in, fiddle with the keyboard, and head on out, it's the post/view badges.

 

[Krelle]

There's one trend I noticed that you might not have picked up on. Threads that ask for an opinion (What tastes good on toast? What's your favourite colour? What's your idea of a night out?) get more posts per view than others. That is, people who view them are more likely to post than someone who views something about, say, pokemon being cloned. If you look at the topics you have listed there, the ones that are around 5 of 6 views per post are all asking for simple opinions / preferences.

I suspect that this is because of two things. 1) you can post without reading the whole thread, so even if they get long, who cares what other people said? and 2) People like to talk about themselves.

I know I do. Peanut butter and jam on toast, thank you very much. Strawberry jam. It's goddamn delicious.

I suspect that the same principles apply in both directions. Threads with a higher view to post ratio (more people just reading, not posting) seem to be "weightier" topics, like america abusing power or something. These are threads where you tend to look like a goof if you post without reading first, so some folk might click due to interest then after a page and a half of reading say "screw it" and wander off.

Or maybe we just click hoping for drama and wander off / don't get involved when it's not there /there.

Either way, badge whores looking for responses would do well to ask people their opinion. It's the internet. We're all hopelessly opinionated and, hell, if someone is ASKING us what we think that makes it even easier to tell them. (As opposed to running around giving opinions anyway, even when unasked.)

(Creamy peanut butter. So tasty. Zomg.)

 

[Arkengetorix]

I think here you've found the inherent problem with the Escapist Forums. While the Escapist is by far the most developed and intelligent in large scale video game forums, people tend to make threads that don't mean much, where one can drop in, answer a question or respond to a poll without looking at all at any of the other comments, breaking down the so valued "discussion" element to be replaced with answering and leaving.

I think any forum where there is a massive amount of members and a large number of non controversial threads breeds this. If your not talking about abortions, religion, politics, war then I think posters just kinda blend into each other. On some forums I found myself amalgamating several people together and basically seeing them as 1 person just because it was almost impossible to keep track of everyone. The "non reading" poster tends to be more noticeable in smaller communities.

 

[S.H.A.R.P.]

I'm usually in for some statistics, nice.