Meta Post Thread (What I've Learned from WP)

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LonelyJar
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13 Dec 2017, 8:08 am

After being on Wrong Planet for a few years, I have learned a few things about making posts:

1. Be aware of WHERE the original poster made their post. Things make much more sense when put into their appropriate cultural contexts. For example, when someone mostly types in English, it helps to know where in the Anglosphere they’re located, because the various dialects of the English language can lead to some confusion.
English and American Words
Differences between USA and UK English.

2. Be aware of WHEN the original poster made their post, for similar reasons. When someone posts about current events or the complete history of something, they obviously won’t discuss anything that occurs after their initial post. Even some forum games only make sense during a certain window of time, like games involving someone’s current temporary avatar.
Make a caption for the above member's avatar.

3. Don't make a post that’s too long. I learned that the hard way during a forum game I made involving making words using the Greek alphabet. At first, I wanted to put each word on its own line, but it made my internet browser crash and freeze, so I had to restart the page and type out each word with commas in between them.
Make English Words with Greek Alphabet

4. Embedding pictures and videos isn't always a good idea. First of all, images disappear when websites displaying them go offline; at least with hyperlinks, you might still be able to find what you're looking for via some internet archive.
Classic Early USA Cartoon Styled (Fan) Art

Second, videos might be imbedded improperly after some changes get made to Wrong Planet.
Trailers for Fake Movies

Lastly, it makes the page take longer to load than it would with just Internet links.

5. Don't use m.example.com OR https when typing URLs; it won't link to pages properly.

6. Don't double post, not even in different forums. It’s obnoxious and redundant.
Angel-Devil Hybrids Fans
Angel-Devil Hybrids

7. When making one of those A-Z game threads, say upfront that it's okay to skip tricky letters (like Q, X, Y and Z).

8. When mentioning someone's name for those A-Z game threads, explain that it’s okay for responders to use that person’s given name OR their surname. In my experience, the beginning of the thread utilizes one rule, but repliers start using the other rule sometime later.

9. When conducting polls, avoid things like false dichotomies and false trichotomies by making sure options include "more than one of the above", followed immediately by "none of the above" or "something else". Alternatively, allow WP users to select MORE THAN ONE option. (I’m not sure which polling method is ultimately more efficient.)

What have you folks learned about making posts on Wrong Planet?



kraftiekortie
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13 Dec 2017, 8:20 pm

Make sure you make yourself understood.



ASPartOfMe
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14 Dec 2017, 2:48 am

Do not think lack of responses means that Wrong Planet is a continuation of real life where you are disliked or ignored.

Sometimes when you expect a topic to get a big response it will not happen and sometimes visa-versa

Sometimes you get little or no responses at first and weeks or even months later the topic is getting a large and emotional response.


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LonelyJar
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24 Jul 2019, 1:03 am

Some other things I've learned about making posts with links to YouTube videos:

- If you want to link to a specific part of the video, add something like this to the link: "&t=1m23s", but without the quote marks. (This would make the video start at 1 minute and 23 seconds instead of at the beginning.)
- If you wish for others to listen to the video in stereo, add "&hd=1" to the link, but without the quote marks.



EzraS
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25 Jul 2019, 12:12 pm

-Become infamous.

LonelyJar wrote:
Some other things I've learned about making posts with links to YouTube videos:

- If you want to link to a specific part of the video, add something like this to the link: "&t=1m23s", but without the quote marks. (This would make the video start at 1 minute and 23 seconds instead of at the beginning.)
- If you wish for others to listen to the video in stereo, add "&hd=1" to the link, but without the quote marks.


Wow great info. Thanks!



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25 Jul 2019, 4:44 pm

My 13 years of being here and this is what I have all learned:


Don't make posts too long, members here have a short attention span and won't read it and will skip over your posts.

No matter how you word things and how you try to avoid being misunderstood, someone will always misunderstand your tone and interpret it differently.

You can make a post and someone out there will think you are talking about them.

You can make a thread but it can still get locked or removed not because you did something wrong but because members in it broke rules. And of course someone can blame all that on you saying you posted that thread to create drama and provoke people. :roll: Oh, that wasn't your intention when you created that thread, wow, you are that autistic then. Apparently you are responsible for other peoples actions. :roll:

Just because you have never gotten a warning or don't get any warnings doesn't mean you have not broken any rules.

You become a "troll" when members don't like your opinions so they report you. If not that, you are a "bully" and "abusive" and "insulting."

Don't make too many threads in short amount of time.

Don't talk about your special interests too much.

Double standards happen in the autism community too.

Coming back under a new account is "sneaking" on here or posting under a new guise even though you have mentioned what your other username is or mentioned you were here longer than your current account was created.

Talking about your own diagnoses and questioning it and wondering if you are having a burnout or just having lot of anxiety or depression can make some people uncomfortable and they somehow see it as an attack on their diagnoses.

On Reddit, it is called a throwaway when you create a new account to post something because you don't want it tied to your regular account and have people going through your post history but on here it is called a sockpuppet. Forums have different terms for multiple accounts.Some places might not even call it a sockpuppet.

My sense of humor is not everyone's taste so it makes some people feel threatened.

Defending yourself makes you look worse, not better.

WP rules apply on other forums as well. (I don't think this is effective anymore but it was under the old staff team back in 2008-2010).

I am a likable person and a unlikable person, mixed opinions there about me because every person feels differently about someone.

Creating random polls on members counts as a personal attack

WP rules change under different staff team due to rule interpretation.


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IsabellaLinton
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25 Jul 2019, 4:53 pm

I've learned that everyone, everywhere, everything, ends. Just like real life.



Joe90
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29 Jul 2019, 11:42 pm

I've learnt not to bump old threads. I used to bump old threads when I first came here because I wasn't quite sure how internet forums worked, and I wondered why some members attacked me for it. Now I completely understand why, for these reasons:-

1. Sometimes the bumped thread is completely outdated and is no longer appropriate to discuss

2. If the bumped thread is a personal question by the OP, like asking for advice, you are actually responding to someone who is either not a member here any more or has resolved their issue and no longer needs advice or discussion on the matter

3. If you've been here long enough, you post a reply to an interesting thread, only to realise that it is an old thread and you had posted a similar reply in it before

4. If there has been an argument in the bumped thread, sometimes resurrecting the thread can continue the argument

5. It is best to just make a new thread rather than bumping old topics


However, I wouldn't attack other members for bumping old threads, especially if they are fairly new. But I think new members should be acknowledged more clearly about bumping old topics that died years ago. Some topics are OK to be bumped, such as tell a joke threads because those sorts of threads are timeless.
A few weeks ago a thread got bumped from 15 years ago, by the same person who created the thread, and it seems like he came back to the thread to continue the argument that was in the thread. I mean, 15 years is a bloody long time. I was still in school 15 years ago. :mrgreen:

Old threads are OK to read if you are bored and want to be nostalgic and search the forum's history. Even I do that sometimes. But bumping the really old threads that died years ago is different.


EDIT: I've just checked the date of the OP and it turns out THIS thread is bumped. But I suppose this sort of topic isn't so bad to be bumped. Even so, still a little ironic in my part. :P :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:


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League_Girl
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30 Jul 2019, 12:20 am

Quote:
4. If there has been an argument in the bumped thread, sometimes resurrecting the thread can continue the argument



I saw that happen here once. Someone bumped an old thread from two years ago (this was around 2009) and there was a post in it made by a member who hadn't been here in months and it was a negative post about women. Members here responded to that post negatively and the the thread turned into a drama fest because members were getting provoked by an old post in a thread that was bumped. The thread was removed as a result and I was reading it while it happened.

I am pretty sure it was all unintentionally what that necro bumper did. I give people the benefit of the doubt by not assuming the worst.


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League_Girl
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30 Jul 2019, 12:22 am

This thread was bumped by the same user who posted this thread.

Now I want to see that 15 year old thread. :lol: Continuing an argument that was long over, seriously?


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ASPartOfMe
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30 Jul 2019, 3:51 am

Joe90 wrote:
I've learnt not to bump old threads. I used to bump old threads when I first came here because I wasn't quite sure how internet forums worked, and I wondered why some members attacked me for it. Now I completely understand why, for these reasons:-

1. Sometimes the bumped thread is completely outdated and is no longer appropriate to discuss

2. If the bumped thread is a personal question by the OP, like asking for advice, you are actually responding to someone who is either not a member here any more or has resolved their issue and no longer needs advice or discussion on the matter

3. If you've been here long enough, you post a reply to an interesting thread, only to realise that it is an old thread and you had posted a similar reply in it before

4. If there has been an argument in the bumped thread, sometimes resurrecting the thread can continue the argument

When I first joined Wrong Planet got used to loathe necrobumped threads for these reasons. It soon became obvious that not only was necrobumping tolerated on Wrong Planet but with the similar topics feature it is encouraged, so my options are deal with it or leave. I still do not like it most of the time but I have made my peace with it and on occasion necrobumped a few threads myself. There are a lot of threads whose topic are still relevant. Do we need 10 threads about musicians who are or might be autistic? Sometimes it is fun to look at the names of long-forgotten members. I still will not necrobump a thread that is let's say 5 or 10 years old.


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League_Girl
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30 Jul 2019, 3:54 am

One of my old threads was bumped and it was about my mother playing the aspie card on me. I noticed a pattern in her behavior and I noticed it was I "took things literal" but someone who necro bumped it had something useful to say and it made a lot more sense. I think that thread was from 11 years ago or 10 years ago. I hear another one of my threads was bumped but I only saw one of them.


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Joe90
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30 Jul 2019, 4:06 am

League_Girl wrote:
Quote:
4. If there has been an argument in the bumped thread, sometimes resurrecting the thread can continue the argument



I saw that happen here once. Someone bumped an old thread from two years ago (this was around 2009) and there was a post in it made by a member who hadn't been here in months and it was a negative post about women. Members here responded to that post negatively and the the thread turned into a drama fest because members were getting provoked by an old post in a thread that was bumped. The thread was removed as a result and I was reading it while it happened.

I am pretty sure it was all unintentionally what that necro bumper did. I give people the benefit of the doubt by not assuming the worst.


I'm sure 99% of the time the necrobumper is not deliberately bumping the thread to continue the argument, but by bumping an old thread with an already existing argument the chances are the argument could continue and rules end up being broken.

Quote:
Now I want to see that 15 year old thread. :lol: Continuing an argument that was long over, seriously?


This one

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=801&p=8258972#p8258972


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01 Aug 2019, 6:13 pm

One more for the Gipper: label any potentially "not safe for work" material as NSFW.