Alright.. this was a bit of a joke.. sorry. But it was also a test.. my theory is that tabloid style headlines are more attention grabbing & interesting than something philosophical or thoughtful.. what do you think? Are we more naturally drawn to human carnage, rather than introspection? Do we prefer reality show sensationalism to truthful documentaries? Is hysteria more fun than history? Not a bad headline, either, don't you think? How about any more for fun? They can't be too long, because the title has limits.. this is about the limit: Zimmerman denies global warming with nazi creationist birthers polar bear hunting Atheist commie trapped by Arpaio gay sex sting. escapes in climate change storm
I just wanted to let you know, I was able to tell this was a joke thread without having to click on it, all I had to do was move my mouse cursor over the topic to read the first few lines of your OP.. which is what I do for practically every thread I see
Not a problem.. this wasn't a 'gotcha!' thread, but something for fun. I do the same thing, as i'm sure most do. If i were more serious, i would have put some ominous sounding first few lines.. but i figured most people would get it by the title alone. I hope a little self deprecating humor isn't too offensive for us.. sometimes the seriousness of the posts are suffocating, & a little levity brings some fresh air...
Yep, it's all in the hook. Also you state up front your sentiments regarding the topic, then you lay on the readers a bit of backup for your observations or claims -- usually by way of a link and a paragraph or so of some professional's . . . opinions or claims, and then you sit back with a chuckle on your lips to see the response. But it's like being an angler. Some anglers are better at the fishing game than others because they instinctively know how to make a baited hook look or smell more attractive than the hooks of other anglers. Then also you have to know how to set the hook on the first strike so as to prod or inspire -- in the case of a sweetly or cleverly baited OP -- the poster into . . . replying to your reply. If you can just get a reply from him (or her) to that initial reply or entice some other poster at that point to reply then usually you are in business. You can begin the process of landing your prey while rebating your hook frequently enough to continue luring in fresh -- um -- fish. Sigh . . . I totally suck at doing that, by the way . . . which is why I seldom bother creating OPs anymore.
Nah, nothing so clever.. i have just noticed that some threads that seem to be thoughtful & require thinking are mostly ignored, while the more sensational ones are gobbled up. You remember the flood of zimmerman threads.. why? One thread would have been MORE than enough to say all there is to say about some stupid cop wannabe getting in a fight with a gangsta wannabe & shooting him. Young blacks are killed every day in almost every large city in america, so there is nothing remarkable about it. What was remarkable was the sensationalism! The whipped up frenzy from the media to hype this into something it never was. For me, the reverse is true. I find so few posts that capture my attention on issues.. most are tabloid stuff, or polemical talking points designed to distract us & muddy the waters, not inform. So i tend to start threads on topics that pique my interest, & some of them resonate, some don't. C'est la vie.
Ok, this thread has been moved, appropriately, to an off topic forum, since it was. But here are the stats as of today: Zimmerman denies global warming with nazi creationist birthers polar bear hunting Started by usfan, Feb 19 2014 02:23 AM Replies: 4 Views: 228 ..and as a control, here are a couple of other threads i started.. these happen to have the same number of replies, but notice the difference in views. the zimmerman thread had over 200, & the other didn't even make 100. Now i get it that abstract concepts that require thinking are more difficult.. a person has to make some effort to reply, & think things through a bit. Whereas a hysterical thread can ride on emotion. Little thought is needed, & talking points can be regurgitated. The later threads also had more time for viewing, but the title just did not have the 'grab' needed to arouse interest. 'That's one small step for man.. one giant leap backward for mankind' Started by usfan, Feb 12 2014 09:02 AM Replies: 4 Views: 87 Survival of the fittest.. 4 ways to do it. Started by usfan, Feb 04 2014 10:11 AM Replies: 4 Views: 88 And as another interesting sidenote, here is a longer running thread with a lot of views.. noted the topic, which seems to inspire more discussion. It's not particularly polemical, yet it does appeal to the 'atheist vs theist' long running battle of wits. It was not a headline grabber, but got the attention of the philosophers, & had a fair bit of discussion. What is God like? Started by usfan, May 27 2013 06:47 AM Replies: 271 Views: 11,292 This doesn't mean anything, of course. It is just an observation about human nature, at most. People can respond to whatever they want.. there are no rules of etiquette or mandates in a forum like this. If something interests you, you respond. That's it. Sorry to the mods for cluttering up the forum with a pointless thread, but it seems those are more common than not. Perhaps others of my uninteresting threads should also be relegated to a basement forum, where they won't distract everyone from their true interests.
Every time I see the titles of The Enquierer or The Globe in a magazine rack I laugh, but I certainly won't buy or read through them. It has to at least be believable carnage or hysteria, if you go too overboard then you're just following in the footsteps of The Onion and we already know it's not real. People want carnage and hysteria that's real...or at least realistic. lol!!!
