What is a Successful Thread?

[Muzna]

This is a discussion forum. We have membership that spans the globe and amongst them are people that have varying degrees of exposure to the "rules" of discussion.

Those that have been in a moderated "debate" in school or college usually know the ins and outs...but there are others that believe in just screaming their opinion at the top of their lungs will give them the edge to convince and sway the public to their side.

I'm curious to know what you folks consider a successful discussion thread. What qualities do you look for in a debate opponent? What encourages you to continue a discussion with someone that has a contrasting view? What makes you give up and leave a thread?

Let's hear it....

[ghalib]

hmmmm....lets see...

well first and foremost, the opponent must show a degree of respect. We've all been involved in numerous debates with individuals where they degrade themselves by attacking their opponents' personality or character. Sometimes the hits go below the belt, literally and figuratively. Thats when I usually smile and walk away.

Besides the usual insults, its usually fun to debate people who use visual or verbal puns along with factual data. If the opponent convinces me that I am wrong, I smile. If I convince him, then I have a bigger smile. If we both can't agree, then I just punch his face. (kidding)

[ZZ]

Here is an example of successful thread

ZZ starts the thread asking

Can someone give me telephone number of Madhuri Dixit?

XYZ immediately gives tel. no.

ZZ calls up Madhuri calls up Madhuri and chats half an hour.

Wah! Wah! if only.

[Roman]

I am pretty sure there are many features in an unsuccessfull or successful thread that my occupied mind can dig up given some more thought on the subject, but one thing I would say abruptly - Personally speaking, any thread that is not written and has not been swamped with posts written in Urdu content using English alphabets has much more chances to be encouraging for me to participate and debate, than not.

[yazoo]

I reckon the Subject of the thread helps. Most people would probably ignore a title which gives too much detail.

For example rather than stating whos birthday it is in a title, its best just to say "Birthday".
I guess the topic has got to be one which most people would be able to answer. Not everyone would choose to reply to a topic on Astro-physics or Neuro-surgery. Only specialists would. The topic has got to be general enough to encapsulate as many members as possible.

Just a thought.

[azkar]

If some one walks away from this site with a smile and thinks about the happy time spent, I think the job is well done.

If some one walks away with a little ray of hope, a little guidance, or even a little encouragement, its still a successful thread.

Personally, I think the best threads are those where someone initiates a debate, people pour in with all sorts of different ideas and after all the majority settles on a single point. To me, this shows signs of constructive criticism and a mature audience willing to listen to others and resolve their differences in best the interest of all.

When I look around, I feel proud that we are generating a number of ‘successful’ threads.