Short posts

[Randy]

How do you feel about very short posts? Members replying with just one-word answers?

Do you encourage your users to use complete sentences and make longer posts? Maybe you don't care either way?

How do you feel about forums that have character limits in place? (for example your post must be over 150 characters or the software wont allow you to submit your post)

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

Doesn't bother me. Not every response to every thread needs a paragraph. It depends on the thread / case-by-case basis. Of course there are some threads where a longer post would be appreciated.

Never been a fan of character limits. Been on a few forums that have them and its very off putting to rephrase my answer several times to meet their dumb quota. I usually wont stay active on a forum with a character limit.

 

[McConnaughay]

Not every thread warrants discussion. In those instances, a one sentence / one word reply may be appropriate. At the same time, I do wish certain posters weren't so unwilling to elaborate on their opinion and share it. Often, you will have threads of "Nopes" and "Yeps", and it makes things feel a little pointless.

 

[Cory]

If they are forum game topics, then sure, one-word posts are perfectly acceptable. Maybe even polls perhaps, but if they're topics meant for discussion then I would prefer members have a little more depth to their post than a few words or less.

 

[The Raven]

Well depends on the topic. I don't like one word posts. Example. Topic is about spaghetti and a user says: I like it.
What is the point? Where is the discussion going? The concept of any topic is to have a discussion that will make topic active.

 

[Shortie]

I guess it depends on the topic and also why you are posting on the forum in the first place. Some forum owners tend to hire people to post on their forums or even request post packages to be completed on their forums. When this is the case, I feel that more time and dedication should be put into the replies and threads as well.

If you are someone who tends to post around forums for fun, I would say that short replies are not an issue but would hope that threads were a little longer to get a conversation going.

 

[Al]

Not every thread warrants discussion.

Then don’t respond. You should only reply to a thread if you have something useful, helpful or entertaining to contribute. Otherwise, it’s just trash for the sake of boosting your post-count.

 

[McConnaughay]

Then don’t respond. You should only reply to a thread if you have something useful, helpful or entertaining to contribute. Otherwise, it’s just trash for the same of boosting your post-count.

What are you on about? I was responding to the topic's question. Not every thread warrants a discussion. Sometimes you don't need a long, drawn-out response. Sometimes, just sometimes, a short reply will suffice.

 

[Al]

I was responding to the topic's question. Not every thread warrants a discussion.

I know you were & I was responding to you. That’s the purpose of discussions, right?

 

[Mati]

It doesn't bother me at all

 

[Uncrowned]

It doesn't bother me, but I do try to keep track of topics that start to devolve into simple replies and try to pick them up a bit if I can. I do have a rule for out Serious Debates section that states you need to rely with more detailed posts, but that is about it.