Popularity on WP: A question

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30 Apr 2011, 4:08 pm

I also think who is popular is based on assumptions members make on other members. I was surprised when two members here thought I was popular. I am not sure why they thought it but if I were popular, my name would show up a lot in those popularity threads but it doesn't. It rarely does and I don't keep looking at them anyway because I pull the "Who cares" card. I don't even care.

buryuntime
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30 Apr 2011, 4:14 pm

It doesn't exist in the General Autism Forum, but does in others.

swbluto
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30 Apr 2011, 4:15 pm

In the real world, there's this set of invisible connections between individuals called "relationships". When most people think of relationships, they're usually thinking of the type that brings warm fuzzies to people (a.k.a friendships, romances, etc.), but they can also be described between people who are mortal enemies. The two properties that can largely describe the relationship is the fact whether or not it exists (Is person A even in the mind of person B? What about vice versa?) and the status of the relationship (What is person's A regard for person B? What about vice versa?).

The term popularity refers to being "well liked", or otherwise having a large number of people have some kind of "relation" to you that is positive -- that is, a lot of people like you or regard you positively. Now, while it's true that famous criminals are well-known, they're not exactly 'well liked by a large number of people', so they're not typically considered "popular". If anything, they're typically called unpopular.

Now this "popularity" concept extends to forums because they are largely comprised of social entities known as "users", and much the same principle applies. If you're well liked by a large number of users, you're considered 'popular', and if you're well-liked by a fairly small pocket users, 'you're not popular though you are liked'. If you're disliked by a large number of users, you're considered "unpopular", if you're known and disliked by a small number of people, you're just simply "unknown".

How can we tell if someone is liked by many? By the way they are treated by other forum members. If people are constantly agreeing with them and sending them some sort of positive regard (Such as virtual roses or *kisses* or <3 symbols or any such symbols.), then you can probably consider them liked. If they have a large number of posts, they're most likely going to be well-known, in which case by virtue of being well-known and liked, they're popular.

If a person has a large number of posts, but is constantly 'dogged' or 'disagreed' with or people consistently disapprove of their posting, you can probably safely consider them 'unpopular' -- well known but widely disliked. For example, Adolf Hitler is unpopular. Apparently, so are Fascists.

Last edited by swbluto on 30 Apr 2011, 8:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.

nemorosa
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30 Apr 2011, 4:23 pm

Moog wrote:

nemorosa wrote:

Moog wrote:

How not to be popular on WP: call everyone who disagrees with you a fascist.

That person was called "arrogant" before the "facist" accusations started flying.

And how does making a thread calling everyone fascists help that?

I merely note that calling people "arrogant" or "fascist" is unlikely to win you friends. One passes with nary a comment, whilst the other causes immense commotion.

Moog
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30 Apr 2011, 4:35 pm

nemorosa wrote:

Moog wrote:

nemorosa wrote:

Moog wrote:

How not to be popular on WP: call everyone who disagrees with you a fascist.

That person was called "arrogant" before the "facist" accusations started flying.

And how does making a thread calling everyone fascists help that?

I merely note that calling people "arrogant" or "fascist" is unlikely to win you friends. One passes with nary a comment, whilst the other causes immense commotion.

Neither makes for a comfortable cocktail party. Fascist is probably less acceptable though, in either setting.

And he did make a whole new, generally targeted thread about the facsist thing, which is probably why it garnered so much attention. The 'arrogant' comment was buried in a thread.

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klikmaus
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30 Apr 2011, 4:42 pm

Wow okay.

I am fairly new to wrongplanet so, for certain, I am oblivious to the structure and "clicks" that may-or-may-not exist in this forum or in other topics. To be honest I've only searched through topics that either caught my eye or related to the answers I was looking for.

ooOoOoOAnaOoOoOoo
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30 Apr 2011, 5:41 pm

Chronos wrote:

I suppose I'm having a massively Aspergian moment....

I've come across a few posts on occasion...the most recent one probably being right under this one on the main page, that talk, or rant, or complain about "in crowds" or popular people here on WP and, forgive me for being a bit blind to this matter, but I don't see it. Where are these claims coming from?

Who is determining who is popular and how?

How are people being excluded? Isn't everyone entitled to reply to a post? Isn't it permissible to respond to a post in a public forum whether one was involved from the beginning or not?

This notion of popularity is lost on me and I'm blind to whatever popularity aura people are perceiving. Could it be that there is no "in crowd" or people who actually popular and this is just an illusion?

I think that sometimes our minds can trick us due to our inability of those on the spectrum to gauge social situations for one reason or another.

I once went away on a class trip and was put in the same condo with two other girls in my class. They seemed to be rather good friends and seemed to talk about experiences outside of class so I assumed they had known each other for a while. When I finally came by the idea to ask them how long they had known each other, I was surprised to learn that they had only known each other since the start of the class, which was two weeks.

My point is, my perception was wrong, and it was wrong because as a person with AS, I did not understand how people socialize well enough to be able to gauge one person's social proximity to another accurately.

When people are ignored or argued with, they feel unpopular. The ones who everyone agree with, pat the backs of and respond to are the ones who are perceived as popular. It's just like every place else.

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30 Apr 2011, 10:58 pm

ooOoOoOAnaOoOoOoo wrote:

I....
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aj164/5674121987/
Don't get it...

I more frequently reply to posts when I disagree with them, and I certainly don't choose to reply or not based on who the poster is. If they say something I have a response to, I reply, if I have no response, I don't reply.

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01 May 2011, 12:16 am

Chronos wrote:

I more frequently reply to posts when I disagree with them, and I certainly don't choose to reply or not based on who the poster is. If they say something I have a response to, I reply, if I have no response, I don't reply.

You're different, then.

Usually, there's multiple ways to say the "same thing", and some are 'nicer' and/or 'more polite' than others, and people will often choose the less polite and more aggressive way of saying something when it's a person they dislike (Or, conversely, the nicer version when it's a person they like). Also, a dislikable person is easy to spot by the sign they're effectively getting ganged on by the same group, thread after thread.

Also, what kind of responses a given user receives is influenced by how much they are generally liked.

In the real world, the equivalent is like this: The "Cool person" says something ridiculous and the crowd laughs, whereas an "uncool" person says the same thing and the crowd disapproves -- the difference isn't what's being said, it's the person who's saying it and how they are regarded by others. The same is generally true online. 'Likable'/'popular' people tend to get 'nicer' responses, everything else being equal.

To be more illustrative of how likability influences the type of response: Suppose Sally really likes Tom and Tom asks Sally to the prom: How do you think she's going to reply? Now, imagine that Tom has gone and killed her brother George, and now asks her to the prom: How do you imagine her reply might be different?

The reason for the difference in her reply is simple - it's all due to likability.

Chronos
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01 May 2011, 12:48 am

swbluto wrote:

Chronos wrote:

You're different, then.

It wouldn't be a first.

But let it be known, I do not decide whether or not to reply to a post on the basis of whether or not I like someone, I do not necessarily dislike people I disagree with a lot, and I do not necessarily dislike people who's posts I never or seldom reply to. In fact, quite frequently I tend to like them quite a bit.

Not that I fathom myself particularly popular, but for future reference, I suggest that anyone who wishes to get my attention for whatever reason and feels I have previously ignored them, to PM me and give me a few days to reply.

ooOoOoOAnaOoOoOoo
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01 May 2011, 12:59 am

Chronos wrote:

swbluto wrote:

Chronos wrote:

You're different, then.

I think I am the same way. I argue with people, not because I dislike them, but they could think that's the case. I think of it as a discussion, not an argument. When I don't respond to someone, it's often because I can't think of a reply or I worried it will be taken the wrong way or look bad. I figure it's best to not reply in those circumstances.

bee33
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01 May 2011, 1:02 am

swbluto wrote:

Also, what kind of responses a given user receives is influenced by how much they are generally liked.

I think that's much less true on WP than on other forums. People here tend to say what they mean (as far as I can tell) and to respond to the content of posts rather than the poster's personality or likability (again, as far as I can tell).

swbluto
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01 May 2011, 1:12 am

bee33 wrote:

swbluto wrote:

Also, what kind of responses a given user receives is influenced by how much they are generally liked.

You're probably right, as it seems "personal feelings" tend to be less influential in individuals who are not-purely-NT. But there's still quite a few posters who are influenced by personal feelings towards a person, I think, so I think the general trend would be evident in a few cases. Apparently that user who started making accusations of Fascism thought so, anyways.

nemorosa
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01 May 2011, 3:13 am

swbluto wrote:

Usually, there's multiple ways to say the "same thing", and some are 'nicer' and/or 'more polite' than others, and people will often choose the less polite and more aggressive way of saying something when it's a person they dislike (Or, conversely, the nicer version when it's a person they like). Also, a dislikable person is easy to spot by the sign they're effectively getting ganged on by the same group, thread after thread.

Also, what kind of responses a given user receives is influenced by how much they are generally liked.

In the real world, the equivalent is like this: The "Cool person" says something ridiculous and the crowd laughs, whereas an "uncool" person says the same thing and the crowd disapproves -- the difference isn't what's being said, it's the person who's saying it and how they are regarded by others. The same is generally true online. 'Likable'/'popular' people tend to get 'nicer' responses, everything else being equal.

This is spot on and exactly what I wished to say, only sometimes I have great difficulties expressing my thoughts.

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01 May 2011, 2:04 pm

Chronos wrote:

ooOoOoOAnaOoOoOoo wrote:

Maybe replying to posts when disagreeing has something to do with the urge to correct things and thus stems from AS. I don't feel offended if someone replies to my post disagreeing with me. Maybe this is what I falsely project to others and then get what is described here as 'unpopularity'. 'Maybe', because I feel just as uncertain about the outcome of my actions as klikmaus, I suppose.

Zen
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01 May 2011, 2:19 pm

Chronos wrote:

swbluto wrote:

Chronos wrote:

You're different, then.

If you're different, then I'm different too. I completely agree with this. And I have no idea if you're "popular". :lol:

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