Low effort rule

[Asta]

Have searched Rules & FAQ, but could not find out what this is. Can someone tell me? Does it mean a person needs to post X number of messages per day, week, etc? Do likes, hugs count as effort? Thanks.

 

[not_a_robot]

This thread would count as "low-effort content".

 

[Asta]

What does that mean? Because it's not long? People are supposed to write a wall of text or they will be banned? We're not supposed to ask any members for help if we don't understand something??

 

[not_a_robot]

Sorry, was being facetious.
Posts don't need to be long or frequent. Low effort content is generally considered irrelevant or not thought-provoking, adds nothing to the discussion.
Ask a mod, they'll explain.

 

[Asta]

Thank you. I wrote a mod a week or more ago. Have not heard back.

 

[Soul]

I'm not sure what it means either. I guess if I posted only emojis or gifs all the time that would be low-effort. Or asking one-word questions just to interrupt: Why? How?

 

[TiredHorse]

I'm not sure what it means either. I guess if I posted only emojis or gifs all the time that would be low-effort. Or asking one-word questions just to interrupt: Why? How?

I've always assumed it's to dissuade people from trollish replies consisting entirely of "you're an idiot," or "that's a dumb idea," or off-topic tangents and thread-derailments.

 

[Black_Knight]

What if you put in a lot of effort but what you say still comes out sounding low effort? How do we measure the effort that one expends while making a post when we have no direct experience of it? Conversely, I'm sure plenty of people could whip out thoughtful posts without expending any effort at all. What do we do with them? I wish we had those meme thinking emojis because that's what I'd post here.

 

[TiredHorse]

What if you put in a lot of effort but what you say still comes out sounding low effort? How do we measure the effort that one expends while making a post when we have no direct experience of it? Conversely, I'm sure plenty of people could whip out thoughtful posts without expending any effort at all. What do we do with them? I wish we had those meme thinking emojis because that's what I'd post here.

Honestly, I've always considered it the "broken taillight" rule of the forum: just as a cop will ignore you if you only have a taillight out yet are otherwise innocuous, but use it to pull you over if he has grounds for suspicion, the admins won't ban you for "low effort" posts that no one complains about, but as soon as it becomes apparent that you're a troll, they can potentially use the "low effort" rule to ban you.

ETA: So if you're going to be a troll, take the time and make the effort to be a well-spoken, thoughtful troll.

 

[oopswronglife]

I take it to mean don't turn this place into Reddit where its nothing but hundreds of stupid memes, lame jokes, and insults following every post...where the comment's sole purpose is attention whoring rather than discussion.

Likes and hugs etc are reactions on their own. You don't have to make a comment just to put a smiley etc.