I have a question for everyone....

Do you find yourself more likely to read and/or reply to a thread based on who started it?


I'll put myself out as an example because well, most everyone knows me. And then the other person I'll use is a random "new person" who very few people know or have ever spoken to.


If we both made the exact same thread at the exact same time (but the thread creation creates 2 alternate universes).... which thread would get more activity? Mine or the new persons? This is assuming the exact same thread was made but I made mine in an alternate universe from the one the "new person" made theirs. Hopefully that made sense.


My points is:

Do you think there is a bias towards "established" or "popular" members threads over new people's threads?

Not for me, personally. It doesn't matter to me who started the thread. If I feel like I can give a good response, I will reply to it. Simple as that. 

I feel that such thread favoritism may be playing out in the fact that I am responding to this in the first place --despite the fact that there is no duplicate made by another person. I think there could be other factors that play into this. Aren't the more well-known members those that have proven to be respectful of others? Not 100% of the time, but usually I assume. Newer members tend to make duplicates both intentionally and unintentionally. I admit that I would be a bit biased here and would gravitate to the thread made by the veteran member. However, I could address the other person's thread first if it happens to have the discussion furthered by other members already. So for me, there is a possibility but it is not guaranteed.

AuraBlaze : that is a fair point. A more established member should be making good thread regardless...

but that doesn't immediately mean that new members make bad ones.

That is quite true, but with what I have seen coming from newbies in the past few months I have become biased to think that newbies will not make great threads. Even I made a duplicate when I was a newbie --though it was only a duplicate by technicality.

No not really, if the thread sounds like its interesting then ill read it. But i suppose people may favorite a thread because the person posted, either because its a good post or their funny or their friends.

No, I post in a thread based on how good of a question was asked/ how useful it was.

While it does sort of of seem that way I usually look into threads that interest me and if the discussion or topic appeals to me regardless of who made it. Though I do tend to see threads by "user" of those I have seen more often across the message board rather than those who more recently joined.

I don't hold a lot favoritism based on user popularity when responding to a thread. A popular persons thread might be the 1st thread I notice though. It really depends on the the thread issue and what terms I'm on with the guy who made the thread. So if its a controversial issue and the user who brought it up doesn't get along with me, I'll probably stay out.

I remember that people didn't reply often to my threads and polls, when I was new here. But when I became a trusted member, things has changed. So I guess there is some thread favoritism sometimes.
As for me, I try to be unbiased, but sometimes I might be more willing to reply to some threads than others.

When I am checking out the new posts, I typically look at the title of the thread. If it sounds interesting, I'll enter and then see who made it. But I do think that the bias has to exist. I have seen in the past threads with very similar topics, and one gets an astounding higher amount of posts than the other. Usually, the one that has more posts belong to a user who's name I recognize. But I like to see what other sides of the same topic there are, which gives me more to post.

I'd like to think that I don't partake in favoring one thread over another just because of the member who started the thread. However, I usually feel a little obligation to comment on a thread from a user that I know more personally than a complete stranger. Additionally, all threads that I feel like I have a suitable response to will get a post from me, regardless of its creator.

No I used to avoid threads by certain people but they are gone now so it is not a big deal. I usually just post regardless of whos it is. I really don't care. I do not think that it really makes a difference.

Much like rcarter, I look at the thread title more than I do who made it. I will look at the name once I am in the thread.

I avoid some peoples threads but i dont beeline for the well known users threads,i check what catches my interest.certainly there is some bias though,if i make a thread now it gets way more attention than it used to.

Well, knowing you are the popular one instead of the "new person" depending if the "new person" had a name for himself/herself. You will get the most replies since people wants to be known for posting in a popular thread. Not talking about the ones who commented in this thread, because I agree with them myself. I don't care if the person is popular or not. It's more about the quality and how good the question is that draws my attention to that thread. I like looking at threads with the quality, because it gives me a chance to give a decent reply instead of some question I don't understand or  make sense.

I find the responses of this thread interesting because my perception of what people have done and their perception seem to differ greatly.

However, I think a big factor that I can't fix would be experience level of an established "popular" member versus the newbie.... the experienced members are more likely to make good quality and/or interesting threads to the board since that person has a better idea of what the board will and won't respond well to.

i post in it for what its about if it interest or concerns me

no i don't reply to the thread just because who made it

I have to say that there IS a thread favoritism.

I will post in a thread if it interests me.

Generally, the well known members DO a better job selling me on the thread than a newbie member or someone not that well known.

Generally, the more well known members are more well known for their post quality, therefor, it is likely that if I click on a well known member's thread, I will be more likely to stumble onto a good thread.

So yeah, I'd say there is such a thing as thread favoritism, but keep in mind this is much like real life.

If William Shatner gives the president a document that is identical to the one that Joe Everyman gives him, then it wouldn't be a stretch to say the president would be more interested in Mr. Shatners proposal, even if it is EXACTLY the same.

Another example.

Your boss has recently hired a well known financial aid to the company. You yourself work in that department. However, you are new to the job, and you are not as well regarded as this new guy. The new guy and you agree on everything, and you both present the same identical net gain to the company. However, he will get the recognition because he is the well known guy.

It's not all bad though, every company, site, and group have those guys, but they also have the other guys, the unsung heros that do more than people think they do.

While it does seem wrong, there are times when I feel it cant be helped but to go to the better thread than the other.

The belief of 'popularity' between threads is not only on how new the user has been, but more on how the new user gives out the first impression to others. If someone was a neat typer, had an impressive thread that could not only make people think differently, but was well spelled, they couldn't help but to immediately go to that side since they had good qualities.

The other side that wouldn't be as popular would be those that break the rules many a time, create threads that make no sense, or that doesn't seem remotely interesting or impressive enough for people to even want to reply to, or have the worst spelling in the history of mankind that can easily irritate those that attempt to decipher it.

It can be easily related to in life frankly, make the right impression and people will know you would make more interesting threads in future days.

It's a bit unfortunate, and I can admit I've went through Favoritism for quite a while. I believe as humans, it can't be helped to like something that's more...likable than the other. It almost seems natural for us to go to something better for the appearance. 

Though this is just me, because it seems others here that replied believe otherwise.

geeogree : I already answered to this question but I do think that the title should probably be user favortisim? Just because this more or less has to do less with the threads and more on the users who are behind each of the threads.

Or maybe user bias?

I don't really don't care who made the thread. I notice the title more.