10,000th post ... again

Well, I've been here before. Several times, in fact. Once when I hit the real 10,000th post, which included the stuff from the original forum, back in the Uni-Sol days. I have no clue when that happened. Then when I hit 10,000 including the posts in offtopic. Then when the "official" count here went over 10,000 the first time, before 700 or so of them got deleted. (Lots of outdated mod stuff being cleared out.)

So, this is the 4th time I've hit 10,000 posts as a Warrior. This time it may stick, unless someone decides to delete a thread I was in or something. In keeping with the tradition, I'd like to give something back. But not the usual "Here's a discount" stuff.

I would like to make a suggestion.

We see all sorts of posts griping about this and that and how thus-and-such makes us unsubscribe and how this-other is annoying and how something-else inspires projectile vomiting. All manner of "Things that make you go YUCK!" Sometimes the posts make a valid point. Sometimes they're due to inexperience. Occasionally they're idiotic. And sometimes they're just frustration poking its head up.

The one thing that almost all of these threads have in common is that they achieve nothing positive. They attract people who just want to complain, and add to the mistaken impression that everyone in the industry is a scumbag.

Sure, we have our share of them. Every industry does. Complaining alone never did much about it, in any industry.

So, here's my suggestion: If you find something distasteful or annoying, post alternative ways you think a person could get the same result without being what you see as a schmuck. Start the threads with a special beginning:

A better way to...?

So, it might be "A better way to get your subscribers' attention?," rather than just complaining about subject lines. I think you get the gist of the thing.

The idea is to first get the thought of the poster away from the nasty aspect of what's bothering them without pretending they don't have a valid objection. Then to focus the replies on a more constructive path.

Phrasing it in the form of a question should get people's minds going on alternatives, rather than looking for more ways to sound the same.

Let's face it: Complaining here isn't likely to get too many people to change what they're doing. It never has to any large degree, and it probably never will. What you can do with a more constructive approach is help the people who don't see the better alternatives to avoid the same bad habits for themselves in the future.

Not to mention that it would turn the b__chfests into brainstorms, which are much more profitable for everyone involved.

And it will help the newer folks to understand what creativity on the bright side of the line is all about. That you don't have to do something sketchy or flat out unethical or annoy your customers to get the results you want.

That would be a good and useful thing for everyone, I think.


Paul