POPULARITY CONTEST

I have the biggest thread.

I'm new myself so I'm curious as well.

Well, you have the coolest avatar. I have the biggest mustache. And Kicky has the biggest thread. Good start.

I'm huge in Japan.

She sure is. Why, she's over five feet tall!

I thought she was maybe a sumo wrestler.

I love the humor (honestly), but can we nip these sarcastic posts in the bud and start to get some honest answers? The last thing we need here is another 15-page thread about absolutely nothing.

What have you got against nothing?

Note: There are a lot of really cool people who don't post much, and this leans toward the more loquacious folk.

Popular depends on the crowd. There's a pretty large crowd that really enjoys the "nothing" threads.

Popularity in that crowd seems to depend partly on how much the internet plays a part in your love life (i.e. talk about sex incessantly) and how infrequently you are ever caught posting anything coherent or serious. That comes across as slightly negative only because of my own distaste for it (when it's witty it's fun but witty is by definition not the average), it's a fun loving group of mostly good people.

In this group you have folk like kicky (safe to name, everyone knows he's typing with one hand on a2k) and some gals who I won't name.

This group meshes well with the class clowns, heck they are all wannabe class clowns but only a few pull it off by being consistently funny. Gus is a good example of this. He's popular for being funny.

In politics, the popularity usually centers on political affiliation and the partisan crowds usually favor those who go the furthest to bludgeon the other side. Basically, the most irrationally agressive partisan ranting gets you favor in the partisan circles because it's more about beating up the "enemy" in this crowd than anything else.

So witty putdowns and the will to be a total ass to those diametrically opposed to you will score you points there.

Thing is, in these crowds the calm rational folk are often respected, if not popular. To do this you need to also avoid flaming. nimh is a good example of this as is fbaezer (though he's around less).

On the political spectrum I probably (haven't really considered it) thought of myself as one of those but was probably too willing to debate without niceties to really be one of those folk (though I've learned a lot recently and am not as willing to debate).

Anywho, moving on to where I AM popular. Techie forums. In the techie crowd the popularity is measured simply by how tirelessly you work for others for free. You give free code and tech support and all is good. You just have to be stupid enough to take on the time sink and smart enough to know what you are talking about.

timber, monger and don are great examples of this and they'll often have newbies join and ask them questions by name. On the web dev forum few people answer questions so I'm popular there only by default (and sweet jebus I wish some other webbie would help out).

In relationships you usually have the emotionally mature crowd who consistently give not only good advice but advice couched in palatable terms.

It's all about tact and diplomacy there. So you have folk like Noddy, sozobe, ehBeth and such (really way too many there to mention). The secret is to be helpful and most of all understanding. Those who condescend all the time there are usually disliked by all (not just the target).

Notable there is O'Bill who has good instincts there and has a "wake up girlfriend" (friendly) style that sets him apart and showcases his heart. Either that or people welcome a chance to agree with him (the crowd in that forum will usually disagree with him on foreign politics as Bill is a hardliner there and a softy with gals).

You have some heavy hitter intellectual types like Setanta/History (not around much cause, well I'm gonna say it, he's picky and dislikes elements of how the site is run) whose posts actually cause an audible thud when posted (like a big book falling on a table). You also have Frank in religion. The secret here is strong and knowlegeable opinions mixed with a passion for the subject matter.

Joe from Chitown makes this list easily because he has a differentiating intellect and is witty.

This leads me to the science crowd where you find the likes of ebrown, Brandon, satts, rosborne979, farmerman (also popular because of offbeat syle and humour) and a bunch of others.

If you discuss film you are likely to run into LW and a host of others but most notably him.

In philosophy you'll find mini cults of certain lines of beliefs with relatively shared popularity within the groups.

Aw crap, I don't have the time to do a good job here. So lemme cut it short before I start trying not to miss people.

I'm already starting to see people I missed (i.e. eva is so in the relationships group I mentioned) and must swear off this thread.

But I do want to note that I have not been on A2K much recently so my observations are skewed against newer folk (I tend to hang out in less colourful informative threads these days where personality isn't an issue).

I visit here frequently, but I didn't join until recently, and I seldom post.

I don't have any opinion about anyone here, but as with most forums, some of you seem to know each other well.

However, even with my few posts, there are over 30,000 registered members here with fewer posts than I have. There are over 20,000 with no posts at all.

Maybe all the popular posters scare them.

LOL ... nothing is just fine. In fact, given that this thread has pretty much been a dud (apart from Craven's first post), I probably shouldn't have made that comment.

By the way, Craven, thanks a lot for your post. Needless to say, it was exactly what I was looking for. It took some effort and I appreciate it.

Aargh - Craven took compassion on you, because nobody was responding seriously.

Thing is, did you really expect them to?

Mostly people won't respond to popularity contests that are, avowedly, thus. We like it dressed up in some sort of fluffy disguise.

Fair enough.

Craven
You forgot me...sniff!

Anyway, there are way too many popular people to me and I wouldn't even know where to begin.

If you're interested in the political and international areas, here are a few you should take a look at:

ehBeth
fbaezer
Georgeob1
JamesMorrison
nimh
Pifka
Steppenwolf
Thomas.

If they can't change your mind on an issue, you should at least be motivated to examine your own point of view.

SCoates and his deadpan delivery is the funniest, though that's a little subjective.

Would you please quit trying to get us to fulfill your fetish?