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What makes a thread successful?

Khoshi

[b]とてもかわいい![/b]
2,647
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It depends on the construction of the posters, really.
I like well mannered but short discussions. If it seems like an interesting topic, it'll get posts.

Also, I'd factor in the structure of the original post. If the OP has an informative post and makes sure it's not too long, it's sure to grab a poster's eye.
 

Miss Anne Thrope

Disgusted
212
Posts
11
Years
Short, grammatically correct, interesting, not something everyone has seen before, something people want to discuss*.
*Of course different people like different things though.
 

Her

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I tend to view successful threads as threads with, quite simply, a significant amount of replies to it. Not saying that the thread is good, as some threads have clearly demonstrated the fact that a successful thread is not necessarily a good thread. But yeah, to me a successful thread is one of a large amount of replies, something that generates discussion, activity and the all-important thread views.
 
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Totally depends on what forum it is in. Amount of posts is a decent way of measuring it, but also I think threads where people quote each other a lot and actually communicate are successful threads. Generally!

In the RP corner, the quality and length of posts is what makes a thread successful 8D For Art galleries, the number of views a thread has gotten might be a better measure. Same for a thread featuring rules for a section or the forum, I suppose.
 

Tetrakeet

Lilligant's Caretaker
239
Posts
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In my opinion...

A good thread can be identified by a lot of replies and views as well. I know for a fact that many people will lurk and never post, since most things might have been said already. Lack of replies and many views usually means the thread is viewed, but no one has much to comment on. It all depends on the thread's original purpose.

We have to consider what type of thread it is:

Was it made for replies?
Was it made as a database?
Was it made for an opinion poll?
Was it made as reading material?
Was it made as an information area?
Was it made as a "forum game thread"?

All of these types of threads will have different number of replies. A forum game has little to no posting value, but they are fun and usually have a high post count when they are successful. A database can have lots of useful knowledge, but there is usually little point to reply to a database unless someone feels compelled to comment on the information for some reason (which is usually narrowed down to an opinion). Story threads can have a small number of replies but a lot of reads. Opinion poll threads can be seen as successful if many votes are tallied, yet no replies may exist at all. If the original poster is clever and finds a way to encourage people to respond as if their post is important and will matter, it could bring in many posts as well. To avoid being too redundant I'll end my thoughts here. I'm sure everyone gets my point by now anyway. ^ ^;

TL;DR- In the end, it all depends on what the thread was intended for. The "success" of a thread usually depends on the thread's original purpose.
 
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For D&D I'd say having a high quality of discussion. Many threads that open up with discuss! often disintegrates into posters just one-timing their opinion, and the non-existent conversation doesn't go anywhere. I appreciate longer answers in D&D that responds to multiple people and multiple points. I also feel that thread responses is more important in D&D vis a vis thread views because if the former is low and the latter is high in a thread, I feel that the topic is controversial, but most viewers don't find themselves informed enough to state an opinion/begin a debate or that there's not much debate to begin with.
 
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I'd say that "success" is getting a lot of people interested in the thread so that they'll post. A thread without posters is like... I dunno. Can't come up with a cheesy metaphor at the moment. But posts from a lot of different people is what I think would make a thread a success.

I think you make a thread like that by not making it complicated, but it can't be too simple either. There's a butter zone that will get people to reply because it won't require them to write a tl;dr essay (which is a turnoff for most people) but also isn't so simple that someone won't bother adding their opinion (which comes from seeing a topic one too many times). I think the butter zone is more toward the simple side though.
 

Kotone

someone needed a doctor?
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i think it depends if it's a thoughtful topic, has a lot of views, and has a lot of responses.
 
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I think it's directly linked to posters. Or voters on a poll.
Because views just mean you've looked at it, perhaps because the title was interesting and/or misleading. But for people to post, they have to have something to say. Therefore a successful thread will be one with many posts. Or in Pokémon Manga / Comics, one that has more than 3 users reply to it in a month :P

However, if it's a question then it's successful as soon as a satisfactory answer is produced, whether that's one that's produced within the first couple of posts (i.e. a question about tech) or 8 pages later (comparing two different pokémon, for example).
 
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The reason why the threads are so successful is, in my opinion, following:
Simplicity and the community

Since PC is open to everyone, everyone can post and since the topics are easy to understand, there's no missunderstanding.

Maybe, I should give some example, to show, what I mean:
I'm also a part of a community dedicated to game design (RPG-Maker and stuff). In that forum people tend to be really harsh regarding critique. Surviving there means to have a pretty rough skin and most beginners get nearly ripped apart with critique if they try to show the concept of their game.
Discussions tend to be really long. The OP is long and the replys are even longer and beware to post something which lacks of any evidence that what you said is a hundred percent true. These discussions tend to drag on for many many pages and mostly the same people are replying (and no beginners).

PC on the other hand has a very friedly community, I remember being positively surprised when I made my first post. Also Pokemon is a really easy and wide topic giving one the possibility to post in many threads without fearing to do something wrong.

Seems like I got a little bit carried away. Let's just say threads on PC become successful, because it's so easy to reply to the uncomplicated topics, meaning that everyone can do it (since PC has so many members) ^^"
 
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I don't think that any thread can truly be considered successful just by looking at the number of replies or view count alone, but it has to do with the quality of the thread and the promotion of discussion within it.

I think that while views are an interesting stat, they really don't say all that much about the thread. For example, the views don't take into account some of the random bots that are browsing the site, which is why you might sometimes click on a thread and see something like this, despite it being a thread that may be locked or one that's from a few months back. If there were a way to filter out the views of non-members, it might be a better way of measuring a successful thread, but as it stands, it doesn't mean all that much.

Replies are a slightly better way to measure success, but again, there are many threads out there (like in PVP or even here, for example), where it's an easy to answer question, which means you'll see a higher rate of reply. But, many of these threads are "one and done," where a poster will make their reply, and never look at the thread again. When you start seeing threads with high post counts outside of one these types of situations though, that's generally an indicator of some success (either that, or an argument breaking out).

As for whether the definition of successful threads change across different forums, I guess it depends on how you look at it. Obviously, you'll get fewer views and replies in some of the less active forums, but if there's still quality discussion from a smaller group of people, I would say that a thread like that could be considered just as successful as any other.

So with all that said, I don't believe there's really any quantifiable way to deem if a thread is successful or not. However, I think that when you start seeing quality responses and a healthy interaction between the posters of any given thread, I would call it successful, even if it has a lot of views and replies or not.
 

Broken_Arrow

Paper Plane
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of course when Arrow chan posts on it!!! :33 what else? u.u

and also maybe just maybe depends on the topic...it has to interest Arrow chan! ^.^
 
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I tend to view successful threads as threads with, quite simply, a significant amount of replies to it. Not saying that the thread is good, as some threads have clearly demonstrated the fact that a successful thread is not necessarily a good thread. But yeah, to me a successful thread is one of a large amount of replies, something that generates discussion, activity and the all-important thread views.
Same thing for me. A successful thread is a popular thread.
 
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Sweets Witch

I just love ham jerky.
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Gotta jump on the "success = popularity" wagon here. The point of a thread is to stimulate a discussion and getting a lot of replies means a thread has accomplished that. The actual quality of the thread may be really good or really bad, but a bit of personal bias on behalf of each individual reader factors into that judgement. But people love to talk about things they like just as much as things they hate.
 
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I view a successful thread to be one with both many views and replies, it makes me feel as though the thread subject is interesting and it's inspired a lot of discussion.
 

KidCarter93

PokéTech Guy
132
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10
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I'll bring a slight bump to this thread just because I can ;)

As I'm also a member on a mobile development forum (mainly surrounding Windows Phone and Android devices) and I've made around 13,000 posts in just over a year, I've clearly been around enough of that forum to see the difference between successful and unsuccessful threads and a myriad of reasons as to what makes them so.

From encountering so many threads over there, the following reasons are what I believe to be the most important factors in deciding a threads success;

*Responsiveness - This, in my opinion, is one of the most important reasons I'm listing. In a lot of cases, the OP will make a guide or start a discussion and it will be interesting and therefore start well. For whatever reason, the OP will stop posting in their thread. This could either be because they've forgotten about the thread, they've lost interest in the thread or a multitude of other reasons. Sometimes threads will still survive regardless of whether the OP is active in the thread or not. Most times, however, this is not the case and the thread will simply fall because the OP wasn't being responsive enough in the thread.

*Interest - Of course, the topic has to be interesting to people otherwise they won't want to post there. If I see yet another thread created which is simply discussing something which has been done multiple times before, I won't want to post there as it's boring.
Having said that, a thread can't only be interesting. It also needs to have good angles which can be discussed so that it can bring more participation to the topic.

*Layout - No matter how informative or interesting the thread may be, if the OP is looking messy/disorganised or they really haven't bothered to put the effort into the thread then I won't even bother reading it. After all, if the information was important that the layout would represent that and therefore be appealing purely from a first glance.

*Language/grammar - No-one wants to read a post which requires translating even though it's posted in "English". Things like "ermahgerd, diz thred is gr8 n I wnt to join" are bloody horrible to have to read and therefore people won't read it.
If all grammar is missing from the post and it's effectively 1 huge sentence with no breaks, people won't want to read it.
It's different, however, if English isn't the persons first language and you can tell they translated it to English so they could post it. In that instance, it's perfectly acceptable because if someone can't natively write in English, how can we expect them to get all spelling and grammar perfect when people who do write English can mess things up pretty badly.

*Posts/Views - Even though these stats can generally inform you as to whether a thread is doing well or not, I class this as the least important point out of all I've mentioned. Views won't necessarily mean a lot as people could simply open the thread purely based on an intriguing title. Posts don't always count for a lot either as we're all aware that a thread could have 3,000 posts yet only have 100 or less decent responses. The rest could be filled with arguments and people just posting crap.
What I'll generally do if I'm scouting out a popular and successful thread to get involved with, is I'll skip to random pages throughout the thread and look at the replies. If they're of good quality, I know that there's a good chance I'll enjoy posting in that thread and I will be able to join in with the different discussions taking place.


That's how I judge a successful thread anyway :)
 
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  • Seen Aug 14, 2013
There is a saying that says forums posts should be short and keep things interesting like a skirt, :P that's a good place to start.
 
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