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Subject: Psychology of B.net posters

Join Halo Haven for all things related to Halo 4


Tell her that If you jingle my bells, Ill promise you a white Christmas - Call Me Venom
The world can't end next month. My yogurt expires in 2013 - Princess Cadence
If Apple invented a car, would it have windows? - Xxembers

I've only been a member for less than 3 years now, but during this time I've observed patterns and consistent behaviors associated with the posting style of this site. The way something is worded, as well as the content therein plays a critical part in the amount of attention a topic receives. Topic attention also depends on the original poster, as well as the reputation of those in the thread.

For example, a thread about the original poster themselves encourages people to read the original post. However, a thread asking a general question containing the same subject matter may not be directly inviting people to read the OP, thus people are more likely to post their own opinions and less likely to respond to the OPs.

Another example would be neutral, innocent threads as opposed to biased and opinionated ones. A thread that stirs emotions of its reader will garner more attention than one with a passive original post. This is most commonly observed with positive praise threads verses negative criticism threads. A topic of controversial subject matter naturally attracts more attention because people react to it faster, and are thus hastened to post their opinion. The media has been employing this tactic for decades, which is why there is more bad news than good news.

Furthermore, the creator of the topic may also influence its attention. A recognizable member of the community - whether they are respected or notorious - may attract more people to post therein. However, this is a double-edged sword, as one who is known among the community is expected to adhere to the status quo that they have established. This often leads to topics by said poster shifting discussion to the posters themselves rather than the actual topic.

In my opinion, a prominent and successful member of the community knows how to use this to their advantage. Unfortunately, most of these members resort to trolling, and they are inevitably fed by those who make it all too easy.

What do you think of my observations? Do you have any thoughts to add, or am I speaking gibberish?

I've always found the psychology behind this forum quite fascinating

[Edited on 09.11.2012 1:43 AM PDT]

  • 09.11.2012 1:30 AM PDT
  • gamertag: iBIind
  • user homepage:

Whoo.

You missed the reaction to ban or remove anything that has an upshoot in negative behaviour.

Ban MLP, ban MLG talk, ban the flood, etc.

  • 09.11.2012 1:39 AM PDT

"I hope nothing, I fear nothing, I am free"
"A person needs a little madness, or else they never dare cut the rope and be free." - Nikos Kazantzakis
"The ink of the scholar is more holy than the blood of martyrs" - Hasan al-Basri
Black Chapter, for all religious and political debate that doesn't fit in the Flood.

tl;dr

;)

You've got to know your audience. Long winded posts in the flood need to be in the right place or they go unread, and expecting anything intelligent from the Septagon is a pipedream.

Still, the amount of attention key content creators get, even if it's relatively poor (as, on average, they're deemed to produce higher value content than most. A simple introduction to the power of brand names.) is an interesting one. People read what interests them, and if they know the poster they might deem it to be more likely to be interesting, even if it's not something they would usually read.

  • 09.11.2012 1:44 AM PDT

Join Halo Haven for all things related to Halo 4


Tell her that If you jingle my bells, Ill promise you a white Christmas - Call Me Venom
The world can't end next month. My yogurt expires in 2013 - Princess Cadence
If Apple invented a car, would it have windows? - Xxembers

I'll make a minor edit to account for controversial topics.

But yes, threads about things that are heavily debated naturally attract attention. People want to share their opinions and comment on other opinions.

  • 09.11.2012 1:44 AM PDT
  •  | 
  • Fabled Mythic Member

“Strange,” mused the Director, as they turned away, “strange to think that even in Our Ford’s day most games were played without more apparatus than a ball or two and a few sticks and perhaps a bit of netting. imagine the folly of allowing people to play elaborate games which do nothing whatever to increase consumption.”

The Black Chapter!

Posted by: Primum Agmen
tl;dr
Can't quite decide if this is deeply sarcastic, or proof that there is no God.

  • 09.11.2012 1:46 AM PDT

That's quite the observation...for me, as noticed by a few members, I lack a sense of humor(according to internet standards) and that in turn I guess makes it easy for me to be trolled or angered...any sort of distasteful conduct will likely get on my nerves...I'm the exact same way off the internet as well...

  • 09.11.2012 1:47 AM PDT

Posted by: Kurosaki_Kun

I know, right?
Jay acts like she's better than everyone else simply because she's a chick.
I hope she chokes to death.

Threads that encourage people to talk about themselves are popular because people like to talk about themselves. You don't need a psych degree to know that.

By the same token, threads that encourage people to voice strongly-held opinions are popular because everyone with an opinion likes to believe theirs is worth hearing.

  • 09.11.2012 1:59 AM PDT

Posted by: jaythenerdkid
Threads that encourage people to talk about themselves are popular because people like to talk about themselves. You don't need a psych degree to know that.

By the same token, threads that encourage people to voice strongly-held opinions are popular because everyone with an opinion likes to believe theirs is worth hearing.
Or they get their kicks from annoying and insulting others by some way to prove themselves better in some sort of way by measuring their manhood with some sort of excuse to flaunt their e-pen about.

  • 09.11.2012 2:15 AM PDT

At the moment, The Floods mentality is "If you want a hot-topic and/or attention, make a Halo 4 thread".

What you describe is pretty much the general rules of discussion, internet or not. It can be applied to real life, not just isolated to Bungie.net.

  • 09.11.2012 2:31 AM PDT

"I hope nothing, I fear nothing, I am free"
"A person needs a little madness, or else they never dare cut the rope and be free." - Nikos Kazantzakis
"The ink of the scholar is more holy than the blood of martyrs" - Hasan al-Basri
Black Chapter, for all religious and political debate that doesn't fit in the Flood.

Posted by: Telec
Posted by: Primum Agmen
tl;dr
Can't quite decide if this is deeply sarcastic, or proof that there is no God.
Why can't it be both?

  • 09.11.2012 2:33 AM PDT

Posted by: Kurosaki_Kun

I know, right?
Jay acts like she's better than everyone else simply because she's a chick.
I hope she chokes to death.


Posted by: o0MrCheesy0o

Posted by: jaythenerdkid
Threads that encourage people to talk about themselves are popular because people like to talk about themselves. You don't need a psych degree to know that.
So that's your master plan... that's why you've filled the Flud with boring, "tell the Doc about yourself" threads :|
LOL

The people posting in them don't seem to find them boring.

  • 09.11.2012 3:06 AM PDT

Posted by: Enormous Corgi
Posted by: Unanimate Objec
There's no way Nate Hawbaker's favorite hero is Alan Stuart


ALAN IS A BEAUTIFUL MAN!


Posted by: MURDUR 587
You missed the reaction to ban or remove anything that has an upshoot in negative behaviour.

Ban MLP, ban MLG talk, ban the flood, etc.



Ban ban ban ban.


I agree with you Goat. Sometimes, if I'm looking for a large amount of the general population on Bnet to post, I'll wait until a certain point in the day where I know people are getting off work, school, etc.. and logging onto Bnet.

It's quite interesting really, who gets more replies, how, why, who the OP is. Be something interesting to look into.

  • 09.11.2012 3:36 AM PDT

Posted by: Kurosaki_Kun

I know, right?
Jay acts like she's better than everyone else simply because she's a chick.
I hope she chokes to death.


Posted by: o0MrCheesy0o

That's because they're boring people!
That's a lot of people you're tarring with the same brush, there.

  • 09.11.2012 4:08 AM PDT

This world wants to drag you down... And the weight, that guilt they want to hang around your neck, you don’t have to carry it one more step. You think they won’t let you rest, but it’s not up to them. It never was.

Posted by: A 3 Legged Goat
Another example would be neutral, innocent threads as opposed to biased and opinionated ones. A thread that stirs emotions of its reader will garner more attention than one with a passive original post.
This is something I've noticed. Diplomatic threads and posts tend to get less replies. Maybe people prefer controversy? Maybe their silence is agreement?

  • 09.11.2012 4:10 AM PDT

"I hope nothing, I fear nothing, I am free"
"A person needs a little madness, or else they never dare cut the rope and be free." - Nikos Kazantzakis
"The ink of the scholar is more holy than the blood of martyrs" - Hasan al-Basri
Black Chapter, for all religious and political debate that doesn't fit in the Flood.

Posted by: jaythenerdkid
Posted by: o0MrCheesy0o
That's because they're boring people!
That's a lot of people you're tarring with the same brush, there.
Doesn't mean he's wrong. I mean, how boring must you be to tell the internet your problems? ;)

  • 09.11.2012 4:19 AM PDT

Posted by: Kurosaki_Kun

I know, right?
Jay acts like she's better than everyone else simply because she's a chick.
I hope she chokes to death.


Posted by: Primum Agmen
Posted by: jaythenerdkid
Posted by: o0MrCheesy0o
That's because they're boring people!
That's a lot of people you're tarring with the same brush, there.
Doesn't mean he's wrong. I mean, how boring must you be to tell the internet your problems? ;)
Haha, can't troll me!

  • 09.11.2012 5:09 AM PDT
  • gamertag: ankerd
  • user homepage:

Bringing in Fikst. Bringing back lmao.
Inheritor # 475 world,

#6 In the Country.

Halocharts.com

Great post.

  • 09.11.2012 7:44 AM PDT
  • gamertag: [none]
  • user homepage:

My face will be the last thing your puny race ever sees.

50% of this web site are losers 49.99% are -blam!-s 0.01 are good people.



OT: Your post is very true.

[Edited on 09.11.2012 7:55 AM PDT]

  • 09.11.2012 7:54 AM PDT

(^}>

Posts praising things the majority of people hate always get loads of replies. They usually get locked in the end.

  • 09.11.2012 8:07 AM PDT

<_QuAnTuM_>
What's your talent?
Posted by: DabilahroNinja
I can see through windows.

Posted by: WinyPit82
Like they always say, "You mess with the Helix Nebula, you get the WinyPit82."

Hi there! be sure to click that homepage link!

I already know this.

but hey, that makes sense for me...

  • 09.11.2012 8:12 AM PDT

Posted by: A Bit Of Zero
This thread would have appealed to me more if it was written with crayons.
Posted by: King Dutchy
I broke one of the cords for my X11s because I couldn't get past the final American course in Doritos Crash Course.

If someone writes a positive thread about a subject that is generally well received, there's nothing much to discuss as you can only really agree.

I think people like to discuss bad news or negative subjects because it usually means something needs to be changed, or in some cases people feel things are fine the way they are.

This causes people to argue, sometimes constructively, with the intention to change people's minds or welcome a change of heart themselves - these are the best kind of threads.
More often than not though it leads arguments where both sides just want others to hear their opinion no matter what the outcome is, usually with the intention of "If you're not going to agree with what I'm saying, I'm just going to make you angry about your choice instead."


  • 09.11.2012 8:18 AM PDT

"Except we, we're the zebras. All fenced in...and ready for the slaughter!"

||S-fen Knee-cheh
||19th Shock Troops Battalion

The only reason I read this thread is because A 3 Legged Goat posted it.

  • 09.11.2012 8:25 AM PDT

|Best group|FileShare|Bungie.me Profile|Do it!|Click here!

If I am not posting, then I am reading what you might have posted.

I like your observation, it appears to be all too true!

  • 09.11.2012 8:38 AM PDT

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