How To Make An Original PostThe phrase 'Original Post' actually has two meanings:
1. The first post of a thread
2. A detailed, interesting post that is appealing to its audience and will generate discussion.
Most people get the first one right. It is the second one that many do not get right. I will provide some assistance with the latter.
Below is an actual original post on THEM Anime Boards:
Quote:
I have two dogs a Maltese and a Yorkie my Maltese Molly well recently she started to hump ALOT my other dog and she sniffs her tries to interact with Bella if she rejects her she still tries to talk to her. Maybe to hump her I don't know she wasn't like this before Bella came is there a way to fix it? I really my old girl back
Some questions to ask yourself before creating your original post:
1. Will my original post appeal to my audience?The one specific thing that we have in common with each other is that we share a passion for anime. Anime-related threads will draw the most discussion and attention. However, many anime fans have other hobbies such as video games and manga. Furthermore, people in general having other things in common with each other such as watching television and listening to music. Topics such as these will appeal to our audience.
ANALYSIS: The original post quoted above is about a very specific topic that most of us know little about. It is not appealing to this audience and will rarely lead to helpful results. An internet forum dedicated to pets rather than anime would be more helpful. Even Yahoo! Answers can help you out.
2. Do other people care about my problem?The fact is that most people do not care about simplistic, mundane problems in strangers' lives. If your post is about a problem, make sure it is about something unique and truly difficult to deal with. If there is nothing unique or intriguing about your situation, then it will not draw significant attention or generate discussion. You may get some short replies out of sympathy, but otherwise that's it.
Furthermore if you do have a problem, make sure you provide enough detail for another person to give a useful answer. If a poster has to respond to your question with another question, then you have failed this part.
ANALYSIS: The original post above speaks of dogs humping things. Millions of people have dealt with this before in the past and millions more will in the future. A short search on Google will take less time to do and result in a better answer.
3. Do I provide enough detail to generate discussion?The thread title was only supposed to serve as an eyecatch to draw attention. Now the original post has to deliver on what the title promised. This is done by providing extensive detail on the intent of the topic and what exactly you are looking for in this thread.
Instead of looking at the bad original post above, I will post a good original post below:
Quote:
Thread Title: Games that are pieces of art.
Clear and concise. Good work.
Quote:
Which games have you played that's known for its lovely visuals and/or aural work? (I'm partially going to use this as a recommendation thread.) To give you a general idea what I'm looking for, I'm going to do a short rundown on the games I have either own or played myself.
Okami - Well, gotta start with this one, don't I? Okami has a visual style I simply haven't seen anywhere else (though I imagine Okamiden will follow up on that.) It's an especially lovely game seeing as they managed to incorporate this style to an actual working 3D platform game.
Ico - Jury's out on whether the graphics themselves are what's making this game special, but the design certainly does, which is why this game has atmosphere by the truckload. The whole thing plays off so well that I cringe every time Ico takes Yorda's hand and literally yanks her into a running motion. I'm always afraid he'll accidentally pop her arm out of its socket, even though I know that it will never happen.
Shadow of the Collossus - Like Ico, it has atmosphere by the truckload, but there's no doubt that the Collossi you fight in this game has to be the most beautifully designed ingame character bosses ever.
Legend of Mana - This one is a stretch, but I'm including it here on strength of its oft beautifully drawn background art. This is the sort of thing I would like to see more of in games. ...
The beginning of the post is excellent. It provides the detailed intent of the thread and provides an open-ended question for other members to answer.
The poster adds to this by including games that he thinks are artistic and reasons why he thinks so. In fact, the original poster here does this with
seven other games in the original post.
Well done!
4. Does my post catch the eye of the reader?This is not 100% necessary. However, it adds immensely to any original post. Providing images relevant to the original post and links to appropriate videos will give the post an extra kick to it. Some nice eyecandy will make any post more pleasant to read. After all, we aren't reading a term paper here
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Stay tuned for
Part 3: How To Post A Reply
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