Start Praising Good Forum Posts

[caspex]

In my life I recently learnt the lesson of giving credit where it's due. I used to rarely praise others yet often point out the mistakes or add my own opinion, only recently did I learn the benefits of praising things that you genuinely enjoy instead of staying quite. 

I urge the people here to give credit to posts they found to be of quality. A big issue I noticed with this forum compared to previous years is that the quality of posts went down. While I don't think the situation is anything serious, I think it is important to work towards a forum that holds discussions that are higher in quality.

The easiest change one can make is instead of reading a quality post and moving on (because it's good enough that you have nothing to add) you should drop a reply detailing what you found great.

I think if we did this more often people will be encouraged to drop more quality posts on the forum and push towards posting great insights. Whether one wants to admit it or not, the engagement your post gets matter. If the millionth post about Solipsism gets tons of traction but a genuinely great insight posted gets 0 replies, it discourages the person to post their best insights. 

I have witnessed so many times quality posts(especially in the spirituality section) get no engagement at all. I won't name anybody but there are some people here who I genuinely find to be regularly posting some high quality stuff, yet they get basically no engagement. 

It's because we post here to share which is why the engagement we get matters. If we engage with great quality posts; even dropping a simple "great insight!" can, in my opinion, greatly increase the number of quality posts on the forum. 

[Ulax]

great insight!

[jimwell]

1 hour ago, caspex said:

I urge the people here to give credit to posts they found to be of quality. A big issue I noticed with this forum compared to previous years is that the quality of posts went down.

People in this forum have already implemented this in various ways. They consistently like and engage with threads and posts they perceive as good. The problem is that people don’t truly see things for what they are; instead, they see them through the lens of who they are. It’s similar to Americans who voted for Trump. Do you think they voted because they perceived Trump as bad? Of course not. In their eyes, Trump was good; very good.  That was why they voted for him. The exact same mechanism operates in this forum. Users spend hours reading and replying to threads and posts they perceive as good. 

As the old cliche goes: Birds of a feather flock together.

 

1 hour ago, caspex said:

If the millionth post about Solipsism gets tons of traction but a genuinely great insight posted gets 0 replies, it discourages the person to post their best insights. 

The solution is: Post or reply for beauty or intelligence, not for social, forum, or external validation.

 

1 hour ago, caspex said:

I have witnessed so many times quality posts(especially in the spirituality section) get no engagement at all. I won't name anybody but there are some people here who I genuinely find to be regularly posting some high quality stuff, yet they get basically no engagement. 

As Leo has said in the past: It's lonely at the top.

[enchanted]

1 hour ago, caspex said:

In my life I recently learnt the lesson of giving credit where it's due. I used to rarely praise others yet often point out the mistakes or add my own opinion, only recently did I learn the benefits of praising things that you genuinely enjoy instead of staying quite. 

I urge the people here to give credit to posts they found to be of quality. A big issue I noticed with this forum compared to previous years is that the quality of posts went down. While I don't think the situation is anything serious, I think it is important to work towards a forum that holds discussions that are higher in quality.

The easiest change one can make is instead of reading a quality post and moving on (because it's good enough that you have nothing to add) you should drop a reply detailing what you found great.

I think if we did this more often people will be encouraged to drop more quality posts on the forum and push towards posting great insights. Whether one wants to admit it or not, the engagement your post gets matter. If the millionth post about Solipsism gets tons of traction but a genuinely great insight posted gets 0 replies, it discourages the person to post their best insights. 

I have witnessed so many times quality posts(especially in the spirituality section) get no engagement at all. I won't name anybody but there are some people here who I genuinely find to be regularly posting some high quality stuff, yet they get basically no engagement. 

It's because we post here to share which is why the engagement we get matters. If we engage with great quality posts; even dropping a simple "great insight!" can, in my opinion, greatly increase the number of quality posts on the forum. 

Excellent post and something that is needed to be heard on online forums. Online disinhibition effect brings out the worst in us. The nameless and faceless nature of the internet makes us forget we are talking to a human who is a lot more alike to us than different. 

Collaboration on ideas, questions (instead of brow beating), and "yes and" statements are much more persuasive than arguing. Argument merely increases defensiveness and inhibiting true learning and change.