So what do post counts mean these days?

[Snowbear]

If the post counts were gone, the folks who are curious about how active a member is can easily click the "Find More Posts by Xxxxxx" in the drop-down menu that appears when you click on someone's screen name. This also lets you know what sorts of threads the member tends to post to

 

[H2Andy]

i have PROOF (proof, i tell you) that a high post count indicates a large
I.Q. and winsome personality

also, people with high post counts tend to be prettier and better adjusted

 

[dlndavid]

Has anyone voted?

 

[Hoosier]

Yes,

I vote that it is just for fun though. I think it is very important because it can be indicator how active he/she is. It doesn't matter if the post is a question or answer. We all share and learn each other through someone's question and answer.
Without having this kind of active members, our board can't survive.

 

[Jamdiver]

Interesting topic, Kim.

The average newbie's first thought is that there is an direct correlation between post counts, board status and perceived knowledge of matters related to diving.

Of course we all know that not to be the case, it's rather a reflection of the particular poster's skill at clicking "Post reply" and nothing else really.
Reading their profile and seeing how they responded to similiar questions is probably a better bet.

YMMV.

 

[TSandM]

I've never found, on any board, that a high post count indicates anything except that somebody spends too much time on line.

A very low post count associated with a provocative post may, however, indicate a troll.

I've heard it said that, if your post count is higher than your number of dives, that indicates a problem. In which case, I'm in trouble. No matter how hard I try, I can't dive as many times a day as I can post.

 

[Jamdiver]

I've never found, on any board, that a high post count indicates anything except that somebody spends too much time on line.

A very low post count associated with a provocative post may, however, indicate a troll.

I've heard it said that, if your post count is higher than your number of dives, that indicates a problem. In which case, I'm in trouble. No matter how hard I try, I can't dive as many times a day as I can post.

, just 1 more to 50 then i'll have about 18.5 posts to dives :11:.

 

[Kim]

A very low post count associated with a provocative post may, however, indicate a troll.

That's true. On the other hand I believe on SB there have also been cases of high posters being incessant/prolific trolls. Those things can hide behind many trees!

 

[pipedope]

I voted "just for fun" but it is not quite that simple.

The post count has as much to do with how long someone has been active as how active they are but doesn't really tell you much about skills, training or experience.

It is easy to have software simply count posts. Posts in the advertising areas don't add to the post count now.

I might be interesting to have a post quality index but I don't know any easy way to make something like that work.

Sorry, there is no easy answer but that socializing thing seems to help some. You don't actually have to socialize but can simply read a bunch of things written by the person you are trying to learn about. Then make your own evaluation.

Remember, don't trust anything I post!
Check it out. Look it up in reference materials, ask an instructor, ask several instructors. If you are qualified, TRY it out.
But whatever you do, Don't Trust What I Write!

 

[SeanQ]

Post counts don't give you any indication of the quality of the posts so they can be misleading. Some forums have a feature where you can give another user reputation points for their posts. Unfortunatly in the forums I have been to the feature is predominantly unused or abused. Perhaps if postcounts were removed from the sidebar and reputation was added it would encourage more people to use the feature?

I can't recall if this feature was on ScubaBoard around the time I joined.