What is a Repetitive Discussion? Repeated Topic or Repeated Sense? How to Judge?
By narendra2n
@narendra2n (445)
India
February 28, 2011 4:21am CST
Dear friends,
How a repetitive discussion is defined?
It is the sense which is repeated or a verbatim topic?
I have noticed many topics which have exactly the same sense, for example:
What is your favorite movie?
versus
The best movie you have ever seen and why?
versus
Which movie you like the most?
What is the ideal gift for marriage anniversary?
versus
What you will gift on your friend's marriage anniversary?
versus
How you choose a marriage anniversary gift?
How much do you love xyz site?
versus
Are you addicted to xyz site?
versus
Do you enjoy xyz site more than anything else?
There are multiple discussion on PayPal, deleted discussions, and myLot website itself that are exactly similar in their sense or underlying idea. I have always hesitated to respond them despite finding them very interesting and appealing.
What determines that a decision is repetitive and is likely to be deleted? It's sense, i.e., the main idea or its verbatim topic?
I think it is verbatim topic, but I am still very confused. What you suggest? Or What you have noticed?
Please do share your experience and thoughts. It will be very helpful to outline the basic features and qualities needed to diagnose a repetitive discussion before responding to a discussion.
(I have tried my best not to exactly type the discussions' topics here so that no one feel hurt. I do not want to point out any particular myLotter's discussion here. I just want to discuss what determines that a discussion is repeated one or what is criterion to judge it.)
5 responses
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
28 Feb 11
What is your favorite movie?/The best movie you have ever seen [and why?]/Which movie you like the most?
All essentially 'poll type' (can be answered in just a few words and leaves little room for discussion - note that many people would simply ignore 'and why'!); all essentially duplicates of each other.
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What is the ideal gift for marriage anniversary?/What you will gift on your friend's marriage anniversary?
Arguably 'poll type' and duplicates
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How [would/do] you choose a marriage anniversary gift?
Not the same as the above (therefore not a duplicate of the above) and definitely requires a descriptive answer.
How much do you love xyz site?/Are you addicted to xyz site?/Do you enjoy xyz site more than anything else?
All ask essentially the same thing, therefore duplicate topics. All 'poll types' (all could be answered by 'Yes' or 'No').
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Naturally, something which uses identical wording is a duplicate but also any discussion on the same topic, even though worded differently, is a 'duplicate' if it says essentially the same as a previous discussion. I have seen several 'discussions', for example, complaining about rising gas prices and several have been deleted simply because they raise no new points at all.
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
28 Feb 11
Even with the help of a number of members, Admin doesn't always see every discussion. I think that they tend to concentrate on the more flagrant violations and some discussions which you or I would see as 'duplicate topics' are not necessarily seen as such by the moderator.
I think that it is not worth the effort of wondering whether a discussion is a duplicate or not. If it clearly is, then don't respond to it (and report it, if you wish, quoting the URL of the previous discussion). If you happen to respond to one which is removed, it's unfortunate but that's the way that MyLot works. We have all lost responses at some time or another, sometimes when we could see no good reason for the deletion.
It's important to just accept if something is deleted (and if it is due to our own misunderstanding or lack of knowledge, to try not to do it again), and to get on with life.
@narendra2n (445)
• India
28 Feb 11
Well said, admin do not have that much time that every discussion can be reviewed and compared to previous ones.
That is what I have done. I have not responded to many interesting discussions which were duplicate due to their repetitive sense, but ultimately I had to regret as they were still there after a few days.
@narendra2n (445)
• India
28 Feb 11
Hi Owlwings,
These examples I have imaginary and I am not really asking about them. I was trying to put some examples of discussions. Unfortunately I could think of only poll-type only which I did not want.
I was trying to say that they have same idea in them but with different words.
So, you say those discussions with same idea should be considered as repeat discussions but they are still thriving well here without any deletion. I choose not to respond them but after a few days they are still flourishing with over thirty responses...
@zralte (4178)
• India
28 Feb 11
Hi narendra2n, welcome to myLot.
You have made a very good point there.
Obviously only admin determines what constitute a duplicate discussion and make a decision to delete them.
I think the main idea plus how it is worded in the discussion is taken into consideration. We are encourage to use the search engine to find out if a particular topic has already been discussed before.
Yes, there are lots of discussions which are very similar to each other. It is our duty as a member to report to the admin those duplicate discussions we find. The admin is human, and therefore can miss something as well. Once you report it, the admin will see the discussion and determine if that discussion is a duplicate or not.
@narendra2n (445)
• India
28 Feb 11
Yes, you are right that admin determines whether the discussion is a repeated one or not and we must report if we find a repeated discussion.
That is what I want to know -- How to know if a discussion is repeated or not?
Definitely I cannot report all the discussions which seem repeated to me. There should be some criteria for it. What are those criteria? If possible please make it a bit clear.
@zralte (4178)
• India
28 Feb 11
Sorry, can't help you there. You'll have to use your own judgement. If you hang out here often enough, it is easy to spot as you see the same topic of discussion, sometimes in a span of 5 minutes, sometimes a day later, etc. Or you can use the search engine. If you think a discussion could be duplicate topic, search for it in the discussion.
@narendra2n (445)
• India
28 Feb 11
I was unable to judge because of this confusing question as to what is really the main sign of a repeated discussion. That is the reason why I have invited myLotters to discuss this topic.
In my last discussion I came to know that even search has some faults and it sometimes does not show previous discussions...anyways thanks you very much. I hope I will receive an answer sooner or later...
@mermaidivy (15395)
• United States
28 Feb 11
I have seen it many times since I have joined mylot. I think even though there often are duplicated dissions whether the topics are the same or not, people has their own points of view from time to time. Honestly, I would just respond to the discussions whether I have responded it before or not, maybe I get something different to say when I see the creator's content.
@narendra2n (445)
• India
28 Feb 11
But you do not worry that there is more than 80% chance that it will get deleted and your effort of responding it will be wasted? Means you take the risk and respond to a discussion even when it looks repetitive? That is very brave.
@hardworkinggurl (37063)
• United States
28 Feb 11
I hang out here quite often so it is very easy for me to spot and or point out duplicates and similarities. Often times members complain that there was absolutely nothing wrong with their discussions but they still got deleted. What they do not understand is that main reason is that it is duplicate.
With my great memory I can remember what I responded and or comment to all week and with well over 500 members in my friend's list, as I view the email alerts I can see the numerous violations. I use to send PM to members that their discussions will be deleted as it is quite similar to one prior and they would get upset, so I try not to impose that way any longer.
The other problem is that many, and I mean many members are not tagging the discussions so when they search the toolbar they say it does not work and there was no such discussion. That is not entirely true as the search bar cannot find a discussion if there are no keywords attached to them. I have seen many discussions with 5 - 6 responses and still no keywords attached to it unless I tag or someone does.
The only way to determine if yours exactly won't be a duplicate is to not mirror other members style and you create discussion in your own fashion. As similarities has no bearing over duplicate discussions and surely admin will have the last say.
@narendra2n (445)
• India
1 Mar 11
It is very nice of you that you care for your friend myLotters and sent them personal messages when they are out of track. Actually, if they had accepted your advice they would have saved some loses after deletion of their discussions.
Yes, it is correct and I also have seen many discussion with keywords. Although, when I responded to them I did add keywords so that they can be searched in the future.
So, duplicate discussion is verbatim discussion according to you.
I think you have good observation and rationale here as I have seen many many discussion on a single topic which are having same sense and basic idea but I have not seen verbatim discussions.
@kishuvishal (22)
• India
28 Feb 11
Dear friends , its totally ones subject whether to transform repetitive discussion or to create a new one? its totally dependable on how a personality thinks ? in our day to day life , we often see people doing repetitive things just for the sake of doing things or a job so it become their habit and habit some times transforms into attitude . Its as simple as that its the same daily routine to be blamed off?
@narendra2n (445)
• India
28 Feb 11
Welcome to myLot dear Vishal,
Here you will always have fun and you will enjoy discussing things here.
Actually, when there is a repeated discussion, it is deleted by the admin as myLot do not want to have repetitive discussions because they are just wastage. When a discussion is deleted, your response to it also deleted and you earn nothing for it.
Therefore, before responding to a discussion we have to ensure that it is not a repeated discussion.
You are right that some people are in habit of doing repetitive things just for the sake of doing things. But for us it is very important that we identify before responding to a repeated discussion.
Thanks for choosing my discussion for your first response.
Please make sure that you read the FAQ and guidelines. You can find them here:
http://www.mylot.com/o/faq.aspx
