• Banno
    23.4k
    Mentions are, roughly, the number of times someone has responded to a post by quoting or naming.

    Comments are the number of posts.

    I wonder if the ratio of these two - mentions divided by comments - could be a proxy for that poster's contribution to forum growth.

    Mine, sadly, comes out at 0.93. Someone with a ratio greater than 1.0 would be encouraging more replies than posts, and hence more conversation.

    Recognising those with a larger mentions/comments ratio might encourage forum flourishing...

    ...or might encourage trolling.

    Anyone willing to share their mentions/comments ratio?

    Can we get the ought of post quality from an is of mentions/comments?
    1. What's your mentions/comments ratio? (37 votes)
        1 or more
        27%
        More than 0.8 but less than 1
        49%
        More than 0.6 but less than 0.8
        22%
        More than 0.4 but less than 0.6
          0%
        Less than 0.4
          3%
  • Maw
    2.7k
    Don't feel bad mine is 0.8 and I would expect anyone over a 1 is pretty rare.
  • Outlander
    1.8k
    Anyone willing to share their mentions/comments ratio?Banno

    0.67

    Can we get the ought of post quality from an is of mentions/comments?Banno

    Encouraging responses is far from post quality. If one posts vague, confusing, easily refutable, or simply provocative things their ratio would be quite high, wouldn't it?

    Also, whether or not I directly reply to a topic (without quoting) or quote part of the OP is solely based on if I'm in a state of mind where I need what I'm replying to to literally be in front of me to avoid losing focus. Which is a toss up depending on the time of day (or complexity of the post). Basically, it may not be a reliable indicator of too much.

    Edit: Never mind. Replies to topics produce a mention. Lol. See that's what I'm talking about. :grin:
  • Banno
    23.4k
    Encouraging responses is far from post quality.Outlander

    Perhaps; it's an empirical question.

    Would having a mentions/comments ratio of less than, say, 0.1, be grounds in itself for a ban?
  • Maw
    2.7k
    Don't respond to Streetlight you'll only make him more powerful
  • Banno
    23.4k
    Added poll for a quick assessment.
  • Streetlight
    9.1k
    "So from this, the One Intellectual Principle, and the Reason-Form emanating from it, our Universe rises and develops part, and inevitably are formed groups concordant and helpful in contrast with groups discordant and combative; sometimes of choice and sometimes incidentally, the parts maltreat each other; engendering proceeds by destruction"

    A description of my ratio, and definitely nothing to do with Plotinus' Enneads.

    "All good and beauty, and everlasting, is centred in The One, sprung from It, and pointed towards It, never straying from It, but ever holding about It and in It and living by Its law" :cool:
  • Banno
    23.4k
    ...

    (just pushing your ratio up a notch...)
  • Srap Tasmaner
    4.6k


    0.77

    I'm honestly surprised it's even that high. It feels like about half that.
  • praxis
    6.2k
    A ratio over one to one probably indicates trolling behavior, such as is evident with NOS.
  • Maw
    2.7k
    A ratio over one to one probably indicates trolling behavior, such as is evident with NOS.praxis

    To this point, if you have a lower ratio people likely agree with the comment.
  • unenlightened
    8.8k
    1.02

    Did I win?

    Always a question, always an incomplete thesis ...
  • Banno
    23.4k
    Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers
    -Voltaire
  • SophistiCat
    2.2k
    1.0 :cool: (whatever that means)
  • Philosophim
    2.2k
    Personally, I think we should ignore such things. It shouldn't be the number of posts, it should be the quality of posts. It shouldn't be the number of mentions, it should be the quality of mentions. We are discussing philosophy where shows of status or symbols of superiority should be discouraged.
  • Srap Tasmaner
    4.6k
    Personally, I think we should ignore such things. It shouldn't be the number of posts, it should be the quality of posts. It shouldn't be the number of mentions, it should be the quality of mentions. We are discussing philosophy where shows of status or symbols of superiority should be discouraged.Philosophim

    On the other hand, a couple of recent threads raise issues about the forum's culture that in my mind do relate to questions of privilege.

    There is the longstanding issue of the mods and admins preferring and even enforcing certain styles and points of view. That's a real thing. Posting here is, as the saying goes, not a right but a privilege.

    But also: the behavior and worldview gestured at these days with the word "privilege" is in part a case of Burns's Doctrine: none of us know how others see us. We don't know even know what Banno's Ratio means: is a high number good because you're engendering conversation or bad because the conversation you're engendering is likely filling up the cry? Is a low number good because people generally agree with you and have nothing to add, or bad because no one finds what you post worth responding to?

    (There's a book called Another Bullshit Night in Suck City where an old drunk explains that getting beat up was good -- at least someone noticed him and took enough interest to bother beating the shit out of him.)
  • NOS4A2
    8.3k
    1.1

    But I have a lot of haters.
  • tim wood
    8.7k
    But I have a lot of haters.NOS4A2
    Wanted, worked for, earned, got.
  • Hanover
    12.1k
    Where do I find the data to compute my ratio?

    This one ought generate a bunch of good Samaritan replies that I won't need to respond to.

    Game on!
  • Harry Hindu
    4.9k
    0.94 here.

    I know, when I post, there isn't much left to say after that. :cool:

    Wanted, worked for, earned, got.tim wood
    Admitting you're a hater?...nice!
  • DingoJones
    2.8k
    How do you check your stats?
  • fdrake
    5.9k
    I wonder if the ratio of these two - mentions divided by comments - could be a proxy for that poster's contribution to forum growth.Banno

    ...or might encourage trolling.Banno

    A song for the bad side of having more reactions than actions on TFP.

    Pissing on parades and constant sarcasm
    Fly paper comments and repudiation
    Crap metaphysics gone out on a limb
    These are a few of my favourite things

    White coloured snowflakes and endless religion
    More bloated red/blacks with no precision
    Dog whistles, dodges and dead OLP
    These are a few of my favourite things

    Pretension, delusions and misinterpretations
    Bruised ego bollocks and self flagellation
    Theories of everything found in the bin
    These are a few of my favourite things

    When the troll posts
    When critique stings
    When I'm feeling sad
    I simply remember TPF things
    Then I don't feel so bad
  • Philosophim
    2.2k
    There is the longstanding issue of the mods and admins preferring and even enforcing certain styles and points of view. That's a real thing. Posting here is, as the saying goes, not a right but a privilege.Srap Tasmaner

    There is also a long standing history of trolls and misbehaving people who get their posts revoked, who then go and complain about how unfair it is. Legitimate posters who have been revoked politely talk to the mods and do not make public posts whining. Trolls do. I see such public posts as little evidence of abuse by the mods.
  • tim wood
    8.7k
    Just for the heck of it, what do you say the opposite of hate is?
  • Judaka
    1.7k

    1.1 but I think we can come up with more reasons for this
    (1) Comments which address multiple people at once
    (2) Not always responding to people who mention you
    (3) Always mentioning someone in your comment

    These things are true for me and I think it has that effect of having more mentions than comments.
  • praxis
    6.2k
    I have a lot of haters.NOS4A2

    Any lovers?
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