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My Great GAF-Experiment: nobody reads the OP

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J

Jindrax

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Before we get into this, yes I'm this bored, classes are slow this semester ok...

So anyone who's ever made a thread on GAF has noticed how a lot of people don't even bother reading the OP and just post stuff. People either just come in and post their opinion on what they think the thread is about based on the title. Or read two lines of the OP and go on a rant. Or skim down and read a reply they don't like and reply to it.

I wanted to see how bad it actually was. So I devised an experiment to test it.
I made this thread (it's now 7 pages long). Not only does the OP contradict itself... it's actually just copy pasted from articles and other forum comments that I could find. I didn't even reread it.

What I did do, was put in a set of instructions... Three quarters into the OP I clearly state this is not to be taken seriously and it's an experiment. To show that you've read this far you have to work in the number 7 into your reply to this thread.

Now just looking at the first page, only about 10% of the people read the OP and put in a number 7. The other 90% of the people blindly agree or disagree with my OP or start discussions with other people.

Some of the replies are even funny as hell... People replying to Gaffers simply writing a joke post with the number 7. People saying they agree with the OP... even though they haven't read it.

Now what you do with this useless information is up to you haha. But do you read the OP before posting?
 
Oot really is the best game of all time.

Eta- I read titles and only skim posts. If it's interesting, I sometimes go back and read the whole thing. I rarely click links though, unless the OP is so vague that it makes no sense. No matter what, I'll post something because I must be heard.
 
Aww, I saw this before seeing that thread.

It's fun seeing how people work it into the replies.
"A lot of people would say Final Fantasy 7."
Well played.
 
I didnt read all the way through it originally, but after a few hours I felt compelled to go back and re-read it as it wasnt sitting right with me.
The thread title was weirdly worded.
Edited my post when I saw it :V
 
Yeah, I always tip minimum of 15%.

But seriously, that's interesting I suppose. Will have to check the fake thread out.

Also, I wonder what you mean by "I didn't even reread it if it"?

And, finally, you made GAF go offline for me for a bit.
 
What? I'm pretty sure every one reads the OP's before replying. Not sure why you would think they don't. Do you have any proof?
 
My advise to anyone creating a new thread is to always include a reference to "pineapple on ham pizza" in your post.
Believe me ... EVERYONE will read it.
 
More seriously though, eventually threads kind of get away from the OP and start to feed off themselves regardless of the original content.

Also, a lot of people aren't going to read the content in a thread titled "OOT is the best game ever" because it's kind of a tired and well treaded road. They know what someone would consider OOT the best game and either want to agree or refute, not read the same old arguments for why it's great.

I think it's up to the thread creator to entice people to read the OP by titling it properly like "Why I think OOT is Better Than your Favorite Game" or something stupid like that.

It would be interesting to repeat the experiment using different styles of OP and titles and lengths to see if one style was better than the other at getting people to actually read shit.
 
I wonder if you'd have more people read the whole thread if it was a more controversial opinion. Maybe not. I just wouldn't think I'd need to read such a long post about how Ocarina of Time is the best game. It's pretty much a standard GAF / internet throwaway opinion. Tell me why you think Other M is the best Metroid and I'll be more interested.

Also, the further you get into an opinion thread, the less the OP matters. You skip to the end to read what the most recent discussion is about and agree / disagree with the most recent 50 or less posts. I mean, that's how I do it, ...I think.
 
I'm honestly surprised nobody explicitly pointed out the instructions on the first page. Also it's hard to know if people saying FF7 or 1997 are following the instructions or being genuine.
 
If you think very few people read the OP, I wonder how many can say that read the link posted in full, not just the parte quoted.

For example : the amount of people in every anita sarkeesian thread complaining that she didn't do something that she does after 5 minutes of video is always impressive.
 
I passed the first part but simultaneously failed the second part of seeing who catches up on the thread before posting
 
my pineapple pizza sensor went off and directed me to this thread

that shit is disgusting OP you should feel bad for making a topic about it
 
marrec said:
More seriously though, eventually threads kind of get away from the OP and start to feed off themselves regardless of the original content.

Also, a lot of people aren't going to read the content in a thread titled "OOT is the best game ever" because it's kind of a tired and well treaded road. They know what someone would consider OOT the best game and either want to agree or refute, not read the same old arguments for why it's great.

I think it's up to the thread creator to entice people to read the OP by titling it properly like "Why I think OOT is Better Than your Favorite Game" or something stupid like that.

It would be interesting to repeat the experiment using different styles of OP and titles and lengths to see if one style was better than the other at getting people to actually read shit.
Click to expand...
Sounds like someone doesn't like to read the OP.

Edit: it's a joke within a joke, check his fake thread. He wants you to post a 7 here as well.
 
Kudos OP, I think it's a worthwhile experiment, hopefully gets at least a few people to be a little more thorough.

The thread was bizarre enough with its title and points to make it non-obvious you should spend a bit of time parsing it looking for clues.

Now I only wonder if I'm missing a secret code for this thread. Edit: I think your instruction is a little confusing, I read it as referencing the previous thread, but I'll bite. Took me 7 seconds to correctly process it.

Fracas said:
I'm not going to read your OP when you put the whole point in the title.
Click to expand...

So you want more clickbait titles...?
 
I read the OP for that OoT thread and was put off by the inconsistencies and change in tone lol. Then I saw the 7 thing, and promptly knew not to take the thread seriously. Interesting little experiment.
 
You should have kept it going, that was the most entertaining thread I read in ages.

Edit: Lol, I passed the test in the OOT thread, but only skimmed this one. 7777777777
 
I think this experiment only makes sense if the title has nothing to do with what's actually within the OP. You made a title that has a huge grammar issue in it making it seem like you were saying OoT was the best game ever or asking if it really was. You proceed to explain your issues with the game and then you said you think Super Metroid is better. Most of the posts were about how OoT either was or wasn't the best game, a question even the OP wanted answered.


I don't think that OoT thread was a good example of this experiment and I think pointing people out about being in a grand experiment is lessened by that thread for being what it was.
 
Maybe only 10% read it because it was a badly written boring OP that repeats itself and contains no real information?
 
I do this with the GAF Secret Santa. Guess what? People still missed the "secret word" for the form despite having a checkbox saying they read the OP in entirety.

7
 
squidyj said:
Maybe only 10% read it because it was a badly written boring OP that repeats itself and contains no real information?
Click to expand...

Formatting matters as well.

The way you present the OP is going to matter just as much as the content contained. If you have big fucking text blocks with little break for the reader people are going to be less inclined to read the whole thing.
 
I saw the thread but didn't even bother clicking on it based on the title. There are so many low-effort shitty threads in Gaming which should get ignored and fall away yet people here apparently don't have the same standards as me I guess.
 
Luap said:
Yeah I really noticed that in my recent thread about hands-free orgasms, and I pointed it out in the last post:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=219192572&postcount=246

So many people came in with drive-by posts saying pretty much the exact same thing, even though I had already addressed it twice.

Fun experiment, OP. It's fun to read through the original thread and chuckle along with those who were in on it.
Click to expand...

Hero of the thread of the year :D
 
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