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Please, do away with post counts.....

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Oldskool:

It seems as though some people post complete crap in order to bump up their post count.

I think we could all live without it........

paigeoliver:
I both agree and disagree. I agree that people DO that. But at the same time I disagree with doing away with post counts. Post counts serve a couple of real functions.

#1. They identify newbies. Important to know who you are dealing with.

#2. They help identify longterm active community members. This is very important when it comes to financial transactions. Even if I was a relatively new member I would know that I could probably trust Peale, Oscar, Howard Casto, or even PaigeOliver based on the fact that they are longterm community members, and thus aren't likely to screw me out of my money.

abrannan:
Then why not replace post counts with a "member since" date?  The problem I've seen is that people have a tendency to equate post count and  knowlege.  So if I post a bunch in the "Everything Else" category's movie quote game, I potentially look like I know more than someone else.  For people like me who aren't very vocal on the boards (Though I've been more vocal lately), I can get incorrect labeled as a "newbie".  I personally favor an "experience point" style system like the everything engine supports.  (see Perlmonks.org and everything2.org).  Granted, no system is perfect, and any system that can be gamed to boost percieved importance will be.

Also, I believe all of the individuals you've mentioned as being able to trust have some sort of special title to identify them, so my guess is you're not judging based on their post counts.  

paigeoliver:
Actually post count alone is usually a good indicator as to if you can take a chance on someone.

Look at it this way, if someone has 1000, 2000, or 3000 posts, then it is obvious that the message board is a big part of their life. A part of their life they are not likely to want to screw up over some minor deal.

nighthawk2099:
I agree with Paige.  I do feel that some people abuse the posts with junk, but when I first started looking around the board, I knew that when I read a reply to my questions from someone with a larger number of posts that person had some experience in that area.  Just my 2 pennies.

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