Which part of a Discussion, You Pay More Attention to…!??
By kamran12
@kamran12 (5526)
Pakistan
March 22, 2008 8:52am CST
My dear fellow mylotians!
When you respond to a discussion, which part appears most important to you or which part is more telling… The Subject; The Body; The Question(s) or Intent?
If asked to list them in order of priority with regards to importance, how will you arrange them?
Which part of YOUR discussion you are most cautious about?
And, how does each part affect, in your view, the direction and quality of a discussion!?
Thanks!
6 people like this
14 responses
@ppcdude (150)
•
23 Mar 08
For me the subject is what interests me enough to respond to a discussion - like this one for example! I wear my 'heart on my sleeve' so I'm not really too cautious about what I write, as long as the response is relevant to the topic & not offensive to anyone then I will post back a response to anything that intersets me. The quality of the discussion descends from a good topic & I guess how many people also think the discussion is relevant enough for them to respond. If there are lots of responses you either have lots of friends on here or the discussion is of a high/interesting standard.
@kamran12 (5526)
• Pakistan
23 Mar 08
Hello ppcdude!:-)
I would agree that a topic is the first attraction that a discussion has to invite others. It's vey nice of you that you try not to be offensive, yet speak your heart freely. Have you ever found that topic and discussion have no relevance with each other?
You seem to be right in your observations about discussions having lots of responses! Thanks for sharing!:-)
3 people like this
@ppcdude (150)
•
23 Mar 08
Hi Kamran12 - That's no problem happy to respond! Yes sometimes a topic's original intention can get completely lost in other peoples responses! For example you may start a conversation about money & you find after a few responses the discussion has completely changed to something else! I think a lot people respond to the last post rather than the original question which can change the reslut of the discussion! which can be a little annoying sometimes... Anyway, do you want to know how I made $1,000,00 doing absolutely nothing? lol :P
3 people like this
@KrauseHome (36447)
• United States
24 Mar 08
Well, for me, it is definately the Title in a certain subject area that gets me first. And then I go from there, and read the discussion and see if it is worth answering or not. For the most part most of the time, the Title of a discussion I feel is what grabs me and brings me in and then I post from there. But there are also some of my myLot friends on here I know I can always trust so when I see a New discussion started by one of them, that is all it takes from them usually as well.
@chiyosan (30183)
• Philippines
24 Mar 08
Mine is always the subject. It get my attention and then i would read the first few parts of the discussion posted that is visible while looking for something to reply to.
Sometimes though when i have nothing more to answer and all subject seemed not interesting to me, i would read about a few line in the body part.. if it looks intereting i will open it and answer it.
4 people like this
@kamran12 (5526)
• Pakistan
24 Mar 08
Hello chiyosan!:-)
I think one of the main purposes of the subject IS to tell what one want to discuss, so naturally calling people if they are interested. Few additional lines as they appear alongside subject on lists do help in deciding whether or not one should respond. Do you read whole discussion of original poster or skip to questions part? Thanks for sharing anyway!:-)
3 people like this
@Angelwhispers (8978)
• United States
26 Mar 08
One of the things I have learned over the year I have been in mylot is that to get a great many responses you have to have an eye catching lead in or Title. It may or many not have to do with the intent of your discussion. Just something that makes a mylotter want to come in and read. Then I look at the subject and body of the discussion, during the course of my read if I feel the intent is to hurt or humiliate a group of folks I back out pretty fast so I suppose, the intent of the discussion is my biggest concern. Often when we are making a discussion we have to add a few questions to turn an observation or rant if you will into a real discussion and I am guilty of over looking the questions and choosing to instead focus on the message subject over all in my response to it. So to answer one of your questions here, is I am most cautious of the discussions intent. Not sure if I have explained any other of your questions here Kamran LMAO :))))))
3 people like this
@Angelwhispers (8978)
• United States
26 Mar 08
rotflmao :))) good deal, I did say I was guilty of single minded focus :))) So to have touched 2 questions I did indeed do well :))
2 people like this
@kamran12 (5526)
• Pakistan
26 Mar 08
You are very right about having a catchy Title for getting number of responses, Angelwhispers, in fact I conducted an experiment just to check this and have the same results as you have observed!
I, too, focus more on the body specifically to know the intent of discussion. The intent part is what takes most of my time about a discussion as I not only focus on the discussion starter but also on the comments made by the poster on the responses which is revealing as to where the poster is coming from and where he/she is going.
LOL! I did an experiment in this discussion too with the choice of questions I asked. I asked four questions and believe me you are probably the first one who answered two out of four. Rest of the people did not go past the first question!
2 people like this
@sarahruthbeth22 (43143)
• United States
23 Mar 08
For me it is the question. I don't care How it was asked as much as What was asked.I need to understand the question, that's it.Not everyone can pose a question elegantly.And besides ,there are many who are writing in their second or even third language.
3 people like this
@kamran12 (5526)
• Pakistan
23 Mar 08
Hello sarahruthbeth22!:-)
I would like to agree that if question is well understood then one can respond appropriately and accordingly. However, I do see that sometimes, perhaps, one has to read the discussion to even understand the question. You are so right about people writing in second or third languages, I am one of them! Thanks for sharing!:-)
3 people like this
@sarahruthbeth22 (43143)
• United States
23 Mar 08
Unfortunately, there are people who are writing in there native tongue that can't write a clear discussion so you have to read the whole thing to understand the question.
3 people like this
@sarahruthbeth22 (43143)
• United States
23 Mar 08
D'oh. I meant their native tongue.
2 people like this
@sunshinelady (7609)
• United States
26 Mar 08
I think that the body is the most important part. The body tells you what the member is wanting to tell you and also what his/her feelings are on the discussion. If the discussion is put together well I will read it and if there are questions I will answer them. You have a discussion that is easily read and understood to be able to get members to respond to it. This is how I decide if I am going to respond to a discussion are not.
3 people like this
@LilyoftheThorns (12918)
• United States
23 Mar 08
What always first attracts me to a discussion is the title. If it has an interesting, different title I will defeniatly check it out. If it also has a very upfront title, that tells me what exactly the discussion is about, and it interests me, I'll also check it out.
If it's really long, it has to have an interesting/good start or I'll get bored with it really fast. And sometimes I don't finish reading discussions because I was bored really fast.
@LilyoftheThorns (12918)
• United States
24 Mar 08
Yeah I don't read long posts a lot. Sometimes I'll skim through them and then reply, or just read the beginning and some different areas and reply. But on a few occasions I have read an entire long discussion because it was interesting and well written. But shorter discussions are defeniatly easier to reply too! =)
3 people like this
@kamran12 (5526)
• Pakistan
23 Mar 08
Hello LilyoftheThorns!:-)
The Title is surely the first attraction to a discussion. So, I understand your getting interest in a discussion from the title. Long posts can be boring, though some can be quite interesting, it definitely is up to poster to keep the interest for the people to read till end! Thanks for sharing!:-)
2 people like this
@CoffeeAnyone (3210)
• Canada
23 Mar 08
I look for the headline first no matter what the topic and if it catches my attention then the content and how it is written. I enjoy straight to the point discussions. Long bodied discussions don't usually hold my attention. I hate to say that because I am guilty of long winded responses which is just as bad.
3 people like this
@kamran12 (5526)
• Pakistan
23 Mar 08
Hello CoffeeAnyone:-)
Headlines are the first attractions to a discussion and in order to make general people participate, the title should be of value, I agree! If possible, straight to the point discussions do tend to be easy on eyes as well as brains, sometimes they just can't be without explaining the perspective! Other responders have also shared that long winded discussions loses their attention, so I understand. Thanks for sharing!:-)
PS: Seeing your screen name, I am off to make a cup for me!:-)
2 people like this
@ctrymuziklvr (11057)
• United States
22 Mar 08
Usually it's the subject that will get my attention and then I check out the body. If it's too long I seldom even respond because I lose my train of thought while reading it. For me the body is the most important part because it gives information on the subject and what the writer thinks about it.
@kamran12 (5526)
• Pakistan
22 Mar 08
Hello ctrymuziklvr!:-)
You have an interesting point about losing train of thought in too long a post. I do read them though!:-)
You are right, while it's the subject that takes the first attention, body is very important to grasp the object of discussion! Thanks for sharing!:-)
2 people like this
@paid2write (5201)
•
22 Mar 08
The subject is important because it acts as a headline to get my attention, but I always read the question or topic carefully before adding a response. Sometimes the discussion is not about what I thought it would be from the headline, so I would never just read the headline. If there are other responses I read those before adding mine, because what I want to say may already have been posted in another response and I may want to word it a bit differently.
@kamran12 (5526)
• Pakistan
22 Mar 08
Hello paid2write!:-)
Subject is definitely important as it's the first thing that catches attention. It seems that you truly follow mylot guidelines while responding to a discussion. So, if I am reading correctly, the most important thing to you is the body of discussion?
2 people like this
@DevilHands (573)
• Philippines
23 Mar 08
More on the subject actually. The subject just goes to show if I can actually answer the question. There are times that I badly want to post a comment but I can't since I might be talking nonsense to the discussion. Haha... for example, if it was a question for mothers or probably someone who have an experience with having a relationship. Then definitely I'll avoid the topic since I can't answer them anyway.
3 people like this
@mnsrwt123 (2057)
• India
22 Mar 08
Well, i think the more i concentrate while on responding is Body rather than the subject, but i choose the discussion by seeing the Subject, as it gives me an idea about the discussion topic,,,
3 people like this
@alexigne (903)
• Philippines
27 Mar 08
I pay attention to all the part... I read it all and feed the information to give my best response...
But if you want to know how did i choose the discussion i am going to answer... I look first on the heading then the body and i open it... Why??? because it already gives me an intention to post a reply...and i can't resist to act or show some interest...
Before i reply i make sure that i read it all to give an appropriate respond..
Sometimes i also read other reply to make sure that i don't offend other mylotters...
1 person likes this
