So, this weekend, someone said to me in chat: "How can you be the chat admin if you only have like 2000 posts in the forums?" And then the "Oh no, my post counter stopped working!" thread was posted... And it got me thinking... how do we define contribution on this site, and how SHOULD we define contribution?

There are those people on the forums who come here and spend most of their time in the Politics/Religion/etc. and F&G threads. There isn't anything wrong with this, but on the other hand, does running up posts in F&G, where you get a post for uttering 1 word, mean you are a bigger contributor then say, someone who has far less posts, but contributes lengthier posts into the BDSM-related threads (BDSM Gen Talk, My BDSM Life, D/Sw/s area, etc)?

Don't get me wrong--there is a little something for everyone on this site--writers, newbies, o/l, r/l, non-BDSM, and whatever makes your boat rock, you should do it. But when did the post count start being something we should reward? Like "oh hey Bob, great job there on spending 10 hr in F&G posting back and forth one word answers. You posted so much these past few weeks we're going to give you a reward for how much you posted." Versus, say "oh hey Sally, your posts recently in My BDSM Life have been very insightful & helpful as resources for newbies, but because they are quality and not quantity, you don't get rewarded with a Hall of Fame badge." Anyone else see anything wrong with this? We're a BDSM site. Why do we reward F&G posts? Let people go crazy in F&G, have a lollapalooza--but WHY do we reward that more then we award substantive, BDSM posts?? Anyone else here see the irony?

I am not angry or bitter, or whatever other feelings people want to attach to it... I just think that it's something to think about with respect to what we "reward" in our little society here. Do I suggest more awards? God no, we already have a ridiculous amount of them as is, and to be honest, I can't stand the thought of more little icons in sig blocks (sorry, that's my personal opinion there). But people, when did satisfaction for helping someone out, for lending a newbie a hand, for posting resourceful lifestyle information, for having thoughful discussions, get trumped by this ridiculousness of running up post counts?

For those who have 5000-10000-15000-20000-30000+ posts and want to jump down my throat by saying "hey I contribute a lot here, damn it, you are trying to say I don't"--that isn't what I mean AT ALL. I am talking about the vast group of folks who NEVER post in F&G, don't have enormous post counts, but get overlooked because we reward strictly on points. Again, if you want to post like a mad, crazy person in F&G, go for it! Nothing stopping you, and if that's how you get your kicks, GREAT!!! I have noooo problem with that!!! But shouldn't we also be rewarding substance & quality over quantity?

Just something for people to chew on & think a little about...



Respectfully as always,

delia