Tips & Tricks: How to Make Threads that have impact

<< W.I.P >>


Not saying Im an expert, but just want to lay out a list of points that might help you make a thread with good impact.
These are not hard and strict rules, but just guidelines.
Please contribute your own ideas, and I will update this very first post. We can pass this link on to anyone who might benefit from it.

General guidlines:

1. There are many types of threads made in GLP. Threads for fun, hate, anger, more fun, breaking news, alert type of threads, research threads etc.

2. Most of the threads don't need much thinking to post. But certain threads, where the author has a lot to say, and has some kind of knowledge or deep expertise on the subject, then one needs to work on the best way to present these threads.

3. If you think there is a lot you need to say, its best you register for at least a free account. This has a lot of benefits. Others can message you, you can have an avatar, your name has recall value, people can research the different type of threads you have made over a period of time. If you post as an Anonymous Coward, all the threads you make cannot be co-related or searched based on your name. If you have a permanent IP thats fine, but in case of people with dynamic or changing IP's this can be a problem.So people can only search your past material based on either you name, or a word in your subject title.

GLP has a single page/single-section scrolling format as opposed to the classified format that many forums have. For a high traffic forum like GLP, this is the best format. News flies fast and things need to keep moving. Loging into one section, then logging out to another section takes time. The less you need to peck and search , the better. But this is my opinion.


4. Avatars don't generally say anything about you. Its just an avatar. People choose avatar's for many reasons. I chose mine for a particular reason, although Im male. People do say things like Im a 44 year old male pretending to be a 20 year old female (excuse me? Lara Croft is at least 26. No way she can move like that without many a years experience!) But Im okay with you thinking Im pretending to be a 24 year old sexy busty female.
So, avatars are chosen for a multitude of reasons. Avatar's too have plenty of recall value. Avoid changing your avatar every few days or weeks. But its your show and you can do whatever you like. Remember , these are just guidelines. Not hard set rules.

5. WIP.






2.Making Thread with Impact

1. Research your subject well. And I MEAN WELL!
Avoid getting excited at something you just read off the net and scramble to get it off so you feel good.
Remember we don't post on GLP to make money, nor are you going to get any kind of publicity. You are just an avatar, or a photograph.
Yes there could be freak chance that you might post something that could get you famous. If it makes national news, then the news channels might just come in to interview at your house. But ....don't bet on that.
From what I've seen, most people , especially news channels like to take credit for all discoveries for themselves.
Even if you are making a ground breaking discovery and it does make ripples, the chance of you getting credit is pretty slim. (I've seen it happen)
But remember GLP is for sharing news. Not to become famous. You want to become famous, go write a book or rob a bank.
Personally speaking I consider GLP as a service to the world public. We tell the world the part of a life they would never see by themselves. So this is like a selfless service you do. But, hmmm there are always exceptions.

2. BREAAKIIIING!!! HOLY SHITZ!!!Don't SHOUT!!!!!!!
Avoid making great and big EXCLAMATIONS, UNLESS what you are posting is REALLY BIGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!HOLYYYYYY SHIHIIIITTTTTTT is not the way to go!
If it isn't , then avoid trying to draw peoples attention to your thread by using caps , exclamation marks or shouting in any way. You might get the number of views the first few times you do, but soon people are going to catch on , and you will be on many people's ignore list.

3.Choose a title that conveys what you want to say . Avoid making it too boring, or peeps will just give it a miss. Grade your subject matter according to its importance, and title it appropriately.

4. Avoid using the words CODE, DE-CODED!!!, SOLVED!!!, CRACKED!!! unless it is some real kind of secret that you have definitely de-coded or solved or cracked. Remember there are a lot of intelligent people out there with years of experience in spotting fakes. So you will soon be on peoples avoid and 'nut' list if you keep repeating yourself. IN all my 7 years here, I may have used the words de-coded or solved or cracked only 3 or 4 times.

5. Avoid trying to find a CODE!!!! in every goddam thing. Reason is if there isn't any code, and people realize you are just trying to grab attention, then you get largely ignored. This can soon wear out your viewers, and no matter what else you have to say , you will be treated like a clown until you change your name on the forum. SO good luck with that.

6. Again, RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH. AND MORE RESEARCH before posting anything important that you really want to convey.
Play critique with yourself. Take the most toughest GLP'er and imagine reading his replies.
Poke holes in your own theories. Raise the bullshit flag to your own post in your mind, and see how you can improve it. Troubleshoot a little , and you will see the weak points in your post. Correct your mistakes, and only if you feel you have covered most points, hit the post button.

7. If you want un-interrupted flow of reading matter, without having an unwanted reply like a BS flag etc interrupt your flow, then :
>Make the first post. PUt most of your info here.
>Immediately you make the post hit the reply button for the number of replies you need Un-interrupted and mark it with <<PLACE HOLDER >> or << WIP >> then work on the rest of your posts, and keep updating them as you finish.
Avoid using up more than 3 or 4 place holder replies. We need feedback, and its not etiquette to occupy the first ten replies by yourself.

8. Avoid a wall of text. People hate text walls. I usually skip posts with more than 7 lines in them. Type out your subject matter in an interesting way.
Avoid making short 'POETRY' lines like this:

The quick brown fox jumps over the slow lazy dog.
The quick brown fox jumps over the slow lazy dog.
The quick brown fox jumps over the slow lazy dog. .
The quick brown fox jumps over the slow lazy dog.
The quick brown fox jumps over the slow lazy dog.

Reason is, to read five lines my eyes need to break the line at least 5 times. Thats tiring! Its much preferable to lay out lines in one long string and go onto the next one only when you finish the line. Like this;

The quick brown fox jumps over the slow lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the slow lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the slow lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the slow lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the slow lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the slow lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the slow lazy dog.

Avoid having too

many spaces in

between lines

as they are pretty tiring to catch up to!!!

Use a compact paragraph as much as possible. This is way much easier to read than having to navigate all the empty spaces in between.


9. People love pictures. Try to embed pictures in your post. Make sure the pictures you post are not copy-righted in any way. Use pictures to convey what you need to say.



Embedding pictures is easy. You need to have a paid account. You need to upload it as a smilie, using the custom smilies link on left. Then upload it and wait for a mod to host it. Use colorful pictures to set the mood.


10. Take your time to post something really important. Use a storyboard to ease things for yourself. Or you could also use a mind-map if you work with that. I use a story board format and sketch out things the way I need to post them with a pencil. If Im working with a lot of embedded images as smilies, I upload all them a day prior to my post, and then use Photoshop to spread out all the smilies in the order I want them posted. This will clear things out for you in terms of a complicated post, and will make for a better presentation.

11. Spellos can be a rael problem. Discerning readers can get bugged if you keep mis-speeling words. Take time out to do a thorough spell check. Even if you have made a spello, then edit your thread until there are no more spelling mistakes. You can do this only if you are registered.


12. Make sure your readers stick to the topic of your thread. Avoid personal conversation that have nothing to do with the thread. This is very un-professional. If the person is your freind remind him or her gently to get back to the main topic.

13. Avoid bumping without a reason. A few bumps are generally seen as passe, but after the third bump it generally considered not thread etiquette to keep bumping your thread. Obviously if people found your thread interesting, it would naturally be up on top and buzzing.
But 3 bumps is all it takes to know the general feeling and response to your post. Space out these 3 bumps over a period of time.

14. GIVE SOMETHING OF REAL VALUE. This is important if you want your threads to have real impact. Reward your readers with something of value for reading your threads. Avoid filling your threads with cut-paste spam, and put in something that you really took the trouble to get.

15. Avoid GREEN KARMA PINNING your thread for no reason. Its nice to see your thread up there pinned and secured, and people being forced to read it, but make sure its worth being karma-pinned. GLP introduced the karma system many moons ago, and this was a great oppurtunity that Trinity gave to posters to have something the poster feel, is either close to their heart or something the posters feel is important enough to be seen.
So use this opportunity wisely. Don't karma pin unless you feel it is really worth getting pinned.

16. Avoid changing the title of your thread every now and then. This can confuse your viewers, and also leads to the impression that you are not confident about what you are trying to say. Its also not fair on your readers as people do think about what you post.
Change your title ONLY if it really important or that things in your subject matter have REALLY altered enough to warrant a change.

17. A summary to your subject matter is a good idea in the very first lines of your post. This is for the fast-tracker who don't have much time, but would like to know what it is all about. And probably come back later to finish reading it when they are more comfortable.
List out the main points of your thread.

18. A Youtube video may not be seen by all. Most people do not have a broadband and work on a limited band-width. So chances are that your video may not be viewed by all.
If possible, and if you have a video that is important to convey the message, take the time to give a brief summary of the video for folk that can't see the video.



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W I P

(I need suggestions)

Last Edited by abhie on 03/11/2013 12:10 PM