How to post to encourage me to award sMerits

[Jet Cash]

I've got more sMerit than time, and that's even after spending several days reading threads to hunt for posts to award sMerit. I'm not going to give up and give my points to a soup kitchen or a food bank for merits, because that throws away half of the merits, and it means that I don't have a chance to influence the forum. So here are some tips from me to get your posts considered by me - remember, this is just my opinion and attitude, most members probably won't agree with me.

- Ignore threads with smilies and non-text characters in the title, or that are capitalised. They are probably just worthless spam messages.
- Don'r bother with threads where the first post text is oversized and has fancy formatting. Again it's probably spam, and the message can't survive on it's own merits.
- Don't capitalise, colour or embolden your text. If you need to do this to make your post seem different and valuable, it probably means it isn't.
- Try to be concise, and split your message into paragraphs. This makes it more attractive and easier to read.
- Remember, your message is like  shop, if you want to get people inside, then the shop front need to be efficient and welcoming, and that doesn't mean you have to plaster banners all over it, unless you are closing down of course.
- Use punctuation to help your readers.
- Google is a handy spell checker. If you aren't sure of the spelling of a word, just type it into a Google search box
- Unless you are posting a cartoon, keep images to a reasonable size. A large image can hide your text, and lose you readers.
- Include negatives where required - " I could care less" means that you care a lot, and the omission of the negative gives a contrary opinion to your intention. This slows down reading, as I have to stop and consider the real meaning behind the comment.
- Re-read your message before you hit "post". If you don't understand what you have written, it's unlikely that your readers will.

This post reflects my attitude to thread scanning, I'm sure other members will have different priorities and ideas. Please comment in this thread so that we can all learn how to improve the quality of our posting.

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[bitperson]

I agree with most of what you wrote. Almost all your points are basic forum hygiene (and were, in fact, mostly non-issues in the days of text-only IRC, netnews etc. forums).

But as for 'could care less', I think it's an idiomatic expression that would rarely be misunderstod: http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-ico1.htm

[Jet Cash]

Thanks for your reply.

The reason I posted about the negative is that the its abuse seems to have expanded to many other phrases,and now it is neccessary to reread a couple of sentences to determine if the poster relly means to make a positive statement. The idiomatic expression may not be misunderstood in the US, but in English speaking countries it just jars on the reader.

I appreciate that these expresssions evolve. For example, how many people know that the correct spelling of this expression " I don't give a dam " doesn't include the letter "n" at the end of the "dam". The Dam was the smallest coin in the Indian currency in the old days of the British Empire.

[Toughit]

''''

This post reflects my attitude to thread scanning, I'm sure other members will have different priorities and ideas. Please comment in this thread so that we can all learn how to improve the quality of our posting.

Maybe these?

-   If your post is more that a couple of sentences:
               o   create it in a word processor
               o   save it
               o   check it in an hour  ( I always have to reword or add something after I have had time to think).  
               o   Is it formatted so that it is easy to read
               o   does it ADD something to the conversation
               o   if the thread could continue without your post, should you even add it.

-   If someone has called you names, made fun of your language, your grammar or your spelling, don’t instantly hit the reply button and prove your attacker right, wait an hour or two, and apply the rule above.

[shesheboy]

verry well said.

[J-N]

- Ignore threads with smilies and non-text characters in the title, or that are capitalised. They are probably just worthless spam messages.
- Don'r bother with threads where the first post text is oversized and has fancy formatting. Again it's probably spam, and the message can't survive on it's own merits.
- Don't capitalise, colour or embolden your text. If you need to do this to make your post seem different and valuable, it probably means it isn't.
- Try to be concise, and split your message into paragraphs. This makes it more attractive and easier to read.
- Remember, your message is like  shop, if you want to get people inside, then the shop front need to be efficient and welcoming, and that doesn't mean you have to plaster banners all over it, unless you are closing down of course.
- Use punctuation to help your readers.
- Google is a handy spell checker. If you aren't sure of the spelling of a word, just type it into a Google search box
- Unless you are posting a cartoon, keep images to a reasonable size. A large image can hide your text, and lose you readers.

You have described an ordinary first message of almost any bounty thread.

I am agree that the merited message must have punctuation and must be without a gross spelling mistakes, and I notice that you distribute your sMerits on the forum very well and correctly.

[Jet Cash]

Thanks J-N.

I had a quick look at your posts, and I thought that you made some nice concise comments. I gave you a merit for the latest one, but the merit is really to cover several of your posts rather than that one in particular.

I'm being a bit mean with my points whilst I watch the direction of the boards, that's why I only awarded one, sorry.

[EthanB]

I'd like to add my own personal suggestions, which have been compiled from years or researching, learning and improving myself. I have been highly influenced by a man named Jordan Peterson, so it's possible some of you have heard similar rules before.

A Post, like any piece of writing, exists at multiple levels of resolution. First, the selection of the word. Second, the crafting of the sentence. Every word should be exactly the right word, in the correct location in every sentence. The sentence itself, therefore, should present a thought, part of the idea expressed in the paragraph, in a grammatically proper manner. Each sentence should be properly arranged and sequenced inside a paragraph, the third level of resolution. As a rule of thumb, a paragraph should be made up of at least 10 sentences or 100 words. This might be regarded as a stupid rule, because it is arbitrary. However, you should let it guide you, until you know better. You have very little right to break the rules, until you have mastered them. - JBP

This is to say that your post and flow of writing should have salience and maintain a consistent thread throughout the post. This idea has helped me craft many paragraphs, essays and posts. There are further resolutions of analysis, but for our purposes we will stick with the first 3, since we are on a forum and not writing books (for the most part).

Create an outline from a few key-sentences, then elaborate on these sentences, then make the sentences make more sense, flow together and use more precise language, then edit and arrange your sentences to create a sound point in which everyone can follow and acknowledge. The purpose of production is to produce. The function of editing is to reduce and arrange. Therefore, do one at time or else you may find your post a disorganized mess that nobody can read and you cannot recognize your original thought out of it. Write a few different versions of each sentence and pick the most fitting version to include in your post. Re-arrange the sentences, the paragraphs, even the words if you must. Do not click post until you've read your post at least 5-times and have made tremendous changes to make it a much more quality post.

Ask yourself three easy questions (can be expanded into more) for the aesthetic considerations (which seems to be Jet's primary peeve) .

• Are your sentences careful and elegant? Do your words/sentences say what they need to?
• Are your paragraphs an elaboration of a single idea?
• Does the post stand as a single unit? Is it making an identifiable and intelligent statement?

There are also some technical considerations to take into account, such as the relevency to the original topic, the content of your post (are you making a convincing argument?) and your style of writing, which includes grammar.

Pick an idea that is clearly of interest to you. Analyze that idea. Make your posts original. If you are uninterested in your writing I can promise that nobody else will find it interesting or worthwhile. Stick to even these simple suggestions and your writing can be leagues better.

[cynical]

@ Jet Cash, very good points and they make sense in fairness as do the other additions.

Now I have on occasion broken nearly all of these "Jet Cash rules"
although I do try and create constructive well typed posts.
here is my latest one from today  
There are times where I really need to "highlight" a word like below to show how crazy or funny etc. it can be.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2890847.msg29716683#msg29716683

The Dow Just Lost Even More Than Bitcoin. But Don't Call it a Stock Market Crash

This is what we are up against with the mainstream media.
They love to give Bitcoin and Crypto a good kicking at every opportunity.
Lets see if they apply the same Armageddon news flashes to this news as they do to Crypto especially if the Dow falls further.

http://fortune.com/2018/02/05/stock-dow-bitcoin-market-crash/

While Bitcoin, which fell as much as 23% on Monday,
shed nearly $18 billion in market value during the day,
the stock market fared even worse: The Dow stocks alone lost more than $300 billion.

[nullius]

I appreciate that these expresssions evolve. For example, how many people know that the correct spelling of this expression " I don't give a dam " doesn't include the letter "n" at the end of the "dam". The Dam was the smallest coin in the Indian currency in the old days of the British Empire.

That is hypercorrecting with an incorrect folk etymology.  I am aware that what you say appears in some published books.  Don’t believe everything you read; this notion is given no credence by etymologists.  I don’t currently have OED access; but some searches found this post on another board by somebody who evidently did, discussing yet another popular but spurious folk etymology for the expression:

Originally Posted by PictsiePat
And for what it's worth I don't think that the infamous dam in "Gone with the Wind" was actually swearing. I have always understood the phrase "I don't give a dam" was a reference to a tinker's dam which is a small relatively worthless blob of metal. But I could be wrong, dopers correct me at will.

Gotta love the OED... ("The utterance of the word ‘damn’ as a profane imprecation." Ah.. the profane imprecation...)

The etymology section says that there were rumors that it came from the Hindi dam, meaning a small copper coin (I assume like a penny or as), which are "ingenious, but [have] no basis in fact." No mention of tinkers, but the idea of it coming from something worthless is there, but apparently is just a folk etymology. (It's interesting that the worthless bit of metal has changed between the ninteenth and twentieth centuries, no?)

This usage is apparently pretty old, witness "[n]ot that I care three damns what figure I may cut" in 1760 (From Goldsmith's Cit. W., the bibliography isn't online) and "[a] wrong system..not worth a damn" in Byron's Diary (1817).

My personal favorite is from what is apparently a journal called Eugenics Review from 1929: See the happy moron, He doesn't give a damn. I wish I were a moron. My God! Perhaps I am!

Yes, I am a pedant.  For the same reason, I will never accept the botched expression “could care less”, or possessive “it’s”, or “alot”.  Moreover, I am deeply prejudiced against forum posts which use such little horrors.

On-topic:  To encourage me to award you merit, give correct information; and do not not spread urban legends and folk etymologies.  (And to encourage me to reply in threads you start, please don’t habitually lock them when you peremptorily decide they’re done.)

[Jet Cash]

I forgot to include my own personal restriction. Don't beg for merits, or trade or buy them. If you do, and I add you to my beggar's gallery, then I will put you on ignore as well, and thus, I will never see your posts to award you any merits.

http://crypto-bounty.kat1.com/bitcointalk-beggars/

[Eternu]

@Jet Cash, @EthanB, must say that I enjoyed reading your posts very much. They are fine guidelines for people that want to improve, things that are usable on the forum as well as in real life situations.

After reading your posts I have been thinking a lot, and I realized fundamental mistake that people makes when it comes to posting (including me).

People don't look on topics like they look on live conversation, and they should. They should look on them like conversation that should be helpful to their best friend. Because normal person should never lie or give misinformation to their best friend. Would probably stay quiet when they have nothing useful to say, and if they say something it would be to help their friend. Would listen carefully what other people add to conversation. So if people approach topics/posting like this, bad posts would be lowered to a minimum.

I like to simplify things, and this is something that came on my mind. Probably this is nothing new for you guys, but I guess there are other people like me out there that could benefit from this kind of thinking.

[Jet Cash]

Thanks for posting that. I like the concept that a thread is a public conversation amongst members.