Dear ladies and gentleman, fellow researchers of the modern imageboard culture.
I have come to you with a topic most unsettling:
You might have noticed for yourself that after a certain time and size of userbase, the quality of posts on any imageboard decreases rapidly (except when counteracted by moderators).
I would like to discuss with you the reasons for this decline. Maybe we can come up with solutions to prevent imageboards from fading into oblivion after a mere two or three years of existence.
From my own research I can say that imageboards live through the following cycle:
a) early death: the board never gains more than a few users.
b) flood: Due to low numbers of moderators, the board is flooded with disgusting images.
c) stabilisation: the administration succesfully fights the flood. Usually rules are changed/expanded at this point.
d) recognition: the board becomes known among users.
2. increase of post quality and creation on original content
3. increased size of userbase due to increased popularity
4. the process repeats from 2. until a critical mass is reached
5. the post quality decreases
6. drop in userbase size
7. one of the following events happens:
a) through moderation or other means, the post quality raises again, leading to 3.
b) post quality decreases further, driving away lots of users. The board eventually dies out or is taken down.
As I said, this life cycle model was derived from my own observations, it is not yet proven and some steps might be oversimplified.
It is commonly agreed upon that a posts quality can be roughly measured by the post being
a) on topic
b) a constructive enhanchement of the conversation
c) original content
By the way: The act of repeatedly creating substandard posts is informally called 'shitposting'.
Yet it has not been figured out thoroughly why and when post quality raises/lowers.
In hope for an avid and lively discussion,
your prof. B. Lauert
> Yet it has not been figured out thoroughly why and when post quality raises/lowers.
Sure it has -- mathematically, even:
http://www.pitt.edu/~ojboard/papers/reput.pdf