Forum Thread Reading User Behavior

13 years ago

Originally Posted by aaron_nimocks

Just wondering if anyone else is like me or what other people do.

When I open open up a thread here the first thing I look at is how many comments so I know immediately if it is an intersting topic.

Anyone else do this or how do you go about reading forums?

Some threads are interesting and still get very few comments, it can depend on who is on the forum on that particular time the thread goes out, if people are in the mood to answer, if people even know the answer.

I dont think: the more comments a thread has = the more interesting the thread is.

If i can help the person in the right direction with their question i will try to give it out.

Of course, many newbie repetitive questions get ignored by others to answer as the same question gets put up everyday.

Eg- "Whats the best way to make $10,000 a day - im new to Internet marketing"

and also many threads get loads of comments for the reason that the thread drifts in a new direction which has nothing to do with the original post.

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sbucciarel

Banned 13 years ago

Comments don't matter to me. Many people don't even thoroughly read the OP and just comment a bunch of crap that isn't relevant to the topic because they didn't read it to start with.

I just read what I am interested in. I also read topics that look like I might be able to provide an answer to their question.

Thanks
1 reply

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aaron_nimocks 13 years ago

Originally Posted by sbucciarel

Comments don't matter to me.

Two scenarios here...

So if you do a search on the forums here for lets just say "some product review". The top 2 results are a thread with with 40 replies and another with 1. Which one do you open first?

If you hit new posts and theres two similar threads for a topic your interested. One has 20 replies and the other has 1. Which one do you open first?

Or are you saying your eyeballs never even look over at the replies?

Obviously no right or wrong answer here, just trying to understand behavior on forums a little more.
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Diana Lane

13 years ago

I read the opening post first. Lots of reasons for this, not least that I'd want to know what my own opinion of the subject is before taking anyone else's into account. It would also seem rude to me to read all the rest of the activity before reading the post that inspired it.

I'd have thought there was potential for a lot of crossed wires in reading the OP last, but if it's common practice then it would at least explain some of the bizarre responses I've seen around here

Thanks
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aaron_nimocks

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Diana Lane

I read the opening post first. Lots of reasons for this, not least that I'd want to know what my own opinion of the subject is before taking anyone else's into account. It would also seem rude to me to read all the rest of the activity before reading the post that inspired it.

I'd have thought there was potential for a lot of crossed wires in reading the OP last, but if it's common practice then it would at least explain some of the bizarre responses I've seen around here

I don't do it for the reason of being rude or not getting my own opinion. If I end up reading and replying then it is my own opinion that I write.

I do it for the reason of wasting my time reading it I guess. Think I have just read so much crap on forums over the years it is kind of a shortcut for me to filter it out.

For instance the replies give me the impression that the post wasn't factual, copy/pasted, bad advice, ect. If the replies are like that then I won't read it.

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jasonmorgan

13 years ago

Brevity: the quality of expressing much in few words

Many posts lack this.

Some feel that more words equals greater quality. And some wonder why their posts are skimmed.

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JohnMcCabe 13 years ago

Aaron, from my own observation, if a thread has a lot of comments (and particularly if the comments span two or more pages), many people read the headline and maybe the first few lines of the post. Then they hit the reply button and fire away with what they think about what they haven't yet read... :confused:

Bill Platt (tpw) and Dan Rinnert both started threads where the opening few lines seemed to say one thing, while a complete reading revealed the exact opposite. It was both amusing and depressing to read response after response addressing the headline or opening paragraph, having obviously not read either the whole post or the following discussion.

As for your hypotheticals, if I'm looking for information on a product, I'll likely read both threads in chronological order. In the other case, I probably open the one with more comments first...
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tpw

13 years ago

Originally Posted by jasonmorgan

Brevity: the quality of expressing much in few words

Many posts lack this.

Some feel that more words equals greater quality. And some wonder why their posts are skimmed.

Hahaha... I can tell you are talking about me...

Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe

Bill Platt (tpw) and Dan Rinnert both started threads where the opening few lines seemed to say one thing, while a complete reading revealed the exact opposite. It was both amusing and depressing to read response after response addressing the headline or opening paragraph, having obviously not read either the whole post or the following discussion.

Those threads can be a lot of fun.

I cannot imagine reading out of order, because often a single post or set of posts in the replies miss the entire foundation for the original post.

Additionally, reading a book backwards frequently makes comprehension of the subject impossible.

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Will Edwards

13 years ago

I think 'thanks' is a good indicator of the post's usefulness.

Will

Thanks

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jasonmorgan

13 years ago

Hahaha... I can tell you are talking about me

No, not really.

Maybe the skimming part.

Some of you're posts are epic but it's for a reason... they are a mind !@#$%. You'll endlessly go on and on an on but you're doing it for a reason.

There is a difference between your serious posts and the fun ones. But hey, you wrote 'em, you know what I'm talking about.

Others, they write really really long posts that could be condensed down to half their length.

I'll admit it, if a post is really long and going nowhere, I'm not going to stick around 'till the end.

Could be a lesson in all of that... something like grab your readers attention from the top and keep it 'till the end. If you are losing the readers attention, your copy is bad. Most likely it's too long.

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tpw

13 years ago

Originally Posted by jasonmorgan

I'll admit it, if a post is really long and going nowhere, I'm not going to stick around 'till the end.

Could be a lesson in all of that... something like grab your readers attention from the top and keep it 'till the end. If you are losing the readers attention, your copy is bad. Most likely it's too long.

I admit it... I do the same thing...

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Caleb Spilchen 13 years ago

Originally Posted by tpw

I admit it... I do the same thing...

Bill,

If you don't like long posts... Why is every PM and skype message I get from you like 500-1000 words? You pretty much write me an essay every time.
--

But seriously, I always skim the first couple posts.

CAleb
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AnitaCross

13 years ago

Originally Posted by aaron_nimocks

Just wondering if anyone else is like me or what other people do.

...

Anyone else do this or how do you go about reading forums?

I'm relatively new to WF, so I spend a lot more time reading than I do posting. I find threads that interest me by following around the people whose posts I appreciate. (Click name to the left, select "Find more posts by...")

Then I choose threads with topics that interest me. The number of replies only influences me if I don't have a lot of time to spare. Then I prefer posts with fewer replies.

I've recently started going to the New Posts lists as well. Again, the number of replies only affects my decision if I'm stealing a few minutes away from something else.

In most cases I read the OP thoroughly. If I don't finish the OP, I usually don't bother with the replies.

-Anita

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