Guide on How To Reply To Forum Threads without Looking Stupid

This post is based out of my pure frustration of seeing so many state-the-obvious replies and basically spam new threads with simple one liners to get as many eyes as possible on their signature links. I'm tired of it, as it bloats the community and makes some people here look like idiots spewing out bad information in topics they obviously know nothing about.

So, without further adieu, I present:

Justin Dupre's Basic Guide to Replying to Thread's Without Looking Stupid

1. Stop and Read the Whole Thread

Many times, an OP might write a long post with multiple questions or statements that need to be addressed. How many times I've seen an OP with multiple questions only have the first one answered can't be counted.

2. Take Your Time

How many people do you see rush to be the first person to reply to a message? How many of those first replies are well thought out and take the time to answer the OP with some significance? Very likely, this is a rare occurrence as as many people rush to spam their sig links as possible.

I know through tracking that simple one liners without much of a reply just to get the first reply get much less clicks than posts on 2nd pages with a well thought out, dedicated response. They also get more Thanks, too.

3. If You Know Nothing About the Topic, Don't Reply

It frustrates me to see people replying that have absolutely no business replying. You're giving poor information to the OP, and to anyone who actually know's what they are doing, you look so dumb.

So many times I've seen this and want to kick that poster in the face. After this post, if I see any crap like that, I'm calling you out and you better have some data to back up your claims.

4. Stop Quoting Smart Replies

I've seen these sig link spammers base their whole spam career around quoting the smarter posts. After each quote, they might add a quick quip like "Yeah, what he said. I do this, too."

Now there can be positives in validating someone's post, but when replying to anything, you should try to provide value in your post. Maybe add some extra info that poster left out if you really do use that method, or clarify on some of the details the poster might have missed.

5. Add Value To Every Post

This goes with number 4. If all you are doing is giving quick one liners, how much do you really think you are helping out? You're not and you know it.

Give away an inside tip, post a link that gives exactly the answer the OP is looking for, be descriptive. Stop posting these vague 1 - 2 sentence posts that add nothing but filler to the post and your post count just so you can spam your links left and right.

6. Thanks and Motivational Posts

Every once and a while a post comes along that is a helpful case study or someone who just had their first profitable day.

I'm all for motivating and thanking these people for healthy posts. They don't come around, too often, and giving the OP the thanks or motivation they deserve to keep providing great content or encourage them to do more is good for them. It'd be hard to build a WF link spamming career out of this anyways

[B]7. More Good Info [B]

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Honestly, I think all these link spammers need to be called out. When you have 1000+ posts that are only made up of posts of 30 words or less, that is an issue in my book.

Maybe I'm being a little nit picky, but a lot of my grudge comes out of seeing people that capitalize specifically off of users here, giving very little if nothing in return.

If you have anything productive to add to this list, please post a reply!