Lottery Post Journal

Is it just me?

I am personally getting increasingly annoyed by the posting of one-line nonsensical posts by people who don't add anything at all to a discussion.

I am tired of putting together a thoughtful message, posting it on a thread, only to come back later in the day and find a few one-liners posted by a couple of people who didn't really have anything of substance to say.

Sprinkled in between all those meaningless posts are some gems posted by people who cared enough to actually think through what they're saying, but it all seems to get lost between the nonsense.

It is starting to greatly detract from my enjoyment of the forums.

Am I the only one who feels this way?

If not, and if there is a general consensus on this, I am ready to start taking action.  I am ready to do some or all of the following:

  • Just delete meaningless posts on the spot
  • Warn people who do this that they are posting too many meaningless posts
  • If the activity continues, temporarily suspend people who do it
  • If after temporary suspensions do not work, then impose permanent suspensions

If I can't enjoy my own web site, then I wonder what's the point of it all?

I just know in my heart of hearts that I'm sick of it, and I want to make the nonsense end.

11 Comments:

  • Hey Todd, I am with you on this.

    <Just delete meaningless posts on the spot>

    Good idea, but you may be one busy deleter.

    <Warn people who do this that they are posting too many meaningless posts>

    That may work, but some people don't respond readily to warnings.

    <If the activity continues, temporarily suspend people who do it>

    That may be a good wake up call.

    <If after temporary suspensions do not work, then impose permanent suspensions>

    This may be the one. How about the 3 strikes rule?

    Also Todd, take a look at the membership list. There are over 20,000 members listed. Some of them signed up as far back as 2001 and never made a post. That may be OK, maybe they just like to lurke in the background and read other member posts. I am sure you can tell when and how often members sign in. If you see people that have not signed in for a long time, just delete them. Some members are listed as Active, others as Not Active. There should not be a reason to keep a Non Active member on the books. And then there are the one time posters who become members, then try to scam the group. Specially the ones with the 6 buck scams. They should be banned for life.

           Platinum John in sunny and cool Escondido, California

    By hosni, at 2:48 PM

  • Todd,

    I agree in full with your observations, frustrations and all around dismay concerning these nonsensical posts that certain persons post on your web site. Don't get me wrong, I love your web site, but you have to admit that there are a fair share of idiots who roam about on this web site totally proving their intelligence level every step of the way. It's not just in forums where these idiots cast their horrid smell about, you also see it in the email messages that you receive with lazy bastards wanting you to do workouts for them all the time. It's like ...... frickin' read the posts fully ...... read it again .... then respond intelligently, adding sensible and logical concepts to the forums and emails, instead of being lazy sloths.

    If this were my web site, I would make a general post in all forums setting out rules for posting. Then, after this inital post, if a person starts going mental with idiotic posts, I would:

    A. Boot them permanently if they weren't paid members or .....

    B. If they were paid members, I would strip them of posting privileges all together for one year.

    It sounds harsh, but it makes everyone realize that they should think before they post. For myself, I generally only post if I think that it's going to help others or add to a post that is helping others in some way. If I ever make an idiotic post, please alert me immediately because I'd hate to disrupt this web site.

    What do you think?

    On an unrelated note, I see that your birthday is a day after mine (August 20th). Too cool! Anyway, thanks for all your help so far and for creating this web site. I personally appreciate all your efforts immensely!

    Good Luck,
    John (A.K.A. ATOMIC DOG)

    By Atomic Dog, at 2:49 PM

  • man o man o man i am so glad you took notice to this some people with too much time on their hands. I think it's deliberate especially when you ask them to cease and desist.
    It's got to be like a slap in the face when they continue to do it even after you so thoughtfully ask them not to. Maybe you could post them a warning and if they continue to abuse your site in that manner you could limit the amount of posts they could make. If everybody was to do what they are doing a person would have to spend hours filtering through posts to fine good responses to them. I don't know how you are able to put up with it. Your definitely a better man than me cause i would have suspended their membership for a given period of time until they straightened out. Or said see you latter find another site to post the dribble on.

    If they have all this the time to spend on the net then they could go play POGO

    By four4me, at 2:56 PM

  • Todd,

    I am also becoming increasingly annoyed by people "hogging" the forum with nonsensical posts or pictures. To the point that I don't even check the forum or contribute much any longer.

    Some of these folks are just bumping the subject that they started up on the list of topics. I don't know if it's to increase views or responses to the subject or their own overall posts.

    The point is that meaningful posts are getting lost in the "fluff".
    (Also, many multiple posts could be included in one single post.)

    I don't know the solution, but when an individual posts 27 posts in a 25 minute time span, they are not reading the posts before their newest "contribution". When they are posting 25-50+ messages a day and their name is the last post on every active topic list and they are all posted a minute apart, it is a turnoff to even look at the thread. I'm finding myself analyzing the number of posts and the time they were posted by the member and am amazed at the frequency of posts by the same member(s) in such short periods of time. Is there a speed reading link on this site that I'm not aware of?

    If one sees their name too frequently on the "last post" list, perhaps they are posting too frequently. If one starts an extreme number of "inane" polls, perhaps they are posting too frequently. The active topics list has grown from about 8 to 13 pages a day recently and many of us don't have time to wade through the fluff.

    The two solutions that I can see are a cooperation from posters to limit their posts to well thought out posts and condense multiple posts into a single post; or a daily posting limit (decided by you) for all members, whether they are paying members or not.

    You have brought up a good point and you are totally correct. Approaching 20,000 members the problem will only increase and posters who have something to offer the forum will keep losing interest in it.

    Thanks for noticing and addressing the problem. Whatever you decide will sit well with me and a lot of the other members here. Personally, I'd like to see a limit of number of posts and threads started in a 24 hour period.

    Rick

    By Rick G, at 3:12 PM

  • Thanks all for your comments. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one with these concerns, and it helps to see that these comments were written by people whose opinions I highly respect and trust.

    Hosni, when scammers come to the forums and peddle their scams, I permanently terminate their memberships, but I keep their usernames (in suspended state) in the membership list so that they cannot sign up again using either the same username or e-mail address.

    Now that I see how others concur with my initial thoughts, I'll be more vigilant in imposing the rules here. Atomic Dog, I do have rules posted - check out the Rules link on the left side of the page.

    Thanks to all.

    -Todd

    By Todd, at 4:15 PM

  • Todd:

    I agree with what you say, in general. However, I think you've already taken care of the problem with the BLOCK feature.

    To be honest, I believe you ought to run the site any way you see fit. We can all have preferences, wishes, heart-felt desires, irritations, distractions, but it's your site and it's your business how it's run.

    The remainder of us have options you've provided for filtering out the posts and posters we find objectionable. I'm using it, and I believe others could find themselves a lot more relaxed about things if they'd use that feature more, as well.

    I do think the suggestion someone made above is laudable.... that each forum have a clearly defined set of guidelines about what goes between the fences of that forum.... if a post is outside the fences, let it be known it will be automatically deleted when it comes to your attention.

    I think you have a lot to do, just keeping the site running and offering all those fine enhancements provided to us, many of which are free. Seems to me the users can take some responsibility to BLOCK posters they find objectionable or offensive without you having to be constantly the dump-site recipient for those kinds of complaints.

    Just my thoughts. I appreciate you, appreciate this site you're providing us with all the enviable free and premium membership features.

    Jack

    By Rip Snorter, at 6:12 PM

  • Thanks for your remarks Jack. As usual, you've given me a lot to think about. I think I will silently delete the blatant offending posts in the short term, until I come up with a long-term strategy. Thanks.

    By Todd, at 6:22 PM

  • hi todd, i read your entry ,may the person are persons don't realize that they are doing any thing wrong.Yes by all means put a warning on their post or maybe mine, i want know unless i'm told, what is meaningless and what is useful? You know what? I think this should be in the forum for all to discuss. What do you think? Thanks Todd for reading this.

    By delores247, at 3:23 AM

  • Delores,

    Thanks for your comments.

    This is directed at just a FEW people, and they DEFINITELY know what they are doing is wrong, and they are PURPOSELY doing it anyway.

    I appreciate your concern, but I did take great care to explain, in great detail, that this is not directed at people like yourself.

    I would suggest that whenever I post a message about policy like this, that you read it extra-carefully, and read it multiple times if necessary, because I am very precise in the way I words things, to avoid confusion.

    I have found that no matter how carefully I word things to be sure that innocent people do not think that they have done something wrong, there are always people who immediately jump to the conclusion that I am talking about them, even though I am clearly not speaking about them.

    Like I said in several other posts, just keep doing exactly what you're doing.

    DON'T CHANGE ANYTHING ABOUT THE WAY YOU'RE POSTING.

    The ones who I was addressing in my warning KNOW WHO THEY ARE, and I will deal with them privately at this point forward.

    Thanks again for posting your concerns. You are a very nice and VERY WELCOME member of Lottery Post, and I hope you enjoy being here for years to come.

    Good Luck,
    Todd

    By Todd, at 9:55 AM

  • Good morning Todd, thank you for your kind remarks I really enjoy this post, All my kids are grown and have their own lives, it gives me a special world of my own to explore, not just for fun. It is amazing how much i have learned about myself and confidence you and members of the post. I was sheltered and homebound for years with a disability,I am still ill but with medical tech, I am much better taking medication to be able to function.Last but not least, I have a goal to complete my college education in the future.You would be amazed to know that I memory so much better than it was months ago, I can't believe I am actually typing this letter without asking a lot of questions.Well Todd pat yourself on the you've suceeded in helping someone and that person is myself.I have the confident to make better future for myself and take my knowlege to help some one else. Many thanks.

    By delores247, at 10:59 AM

  • Delores,

    That's VERY inspiring! Congrats on your recovery, and best of luck to you in all things.

    -Todd

    By Todd, at 9:30 PM

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