when starting a discussion here in mylot....
By allen0187
@allen0187 (58444)
Philippines
February 10, 2010 11:39pm CST
do you set expectations for yourself as to the amount of response you will get?
i ask this because i'm deeply humbled by not just by the amount but by the sheer quality of responses that i get with the discussions that i started. i remember i used to have discussions that had maybe at least 10-15 responses tops and i can get no more than that. there are even discussions that i started that up to now have no responses at all. it was kinda discouraging at first but that only made me strive more to come up with better discussion topics that i know will get other mylotters typing their keyboards to share and impart their thoughts about the topic on hand.
yesterday, i started three topics and now i'm really pleasantly surprised that all three have a good amount of responses and each response really contributed something new to the discussion or further drove home a point that was previously raised. i know that there are other discussions there that are getting hundreds more of responses but knowing that there are discussions like that out here in mylot also make me strive more to come up with better, more relevant, more timely, and more interesting topics so all of us here at mylot can have a healthy exchange of views and opinions.
so to your mind fellow mylotters, what are the main points that a discussion topic should have so that it will garner a lot of quality responses?
feel free to chime in.
cheers!!
3 people like this
8 responses
@May2k8 (18079)
• Indonesia
11 Feb 10
I did not specify how many discussion I have to spend, so I have the steam to provide a vocabulary that really has a meaning in every word that I by then I was trying to develop from one sentence to be more alive. Combine several words into a precious value, sometimes I do not get it at all possible because of my lack unprepared in the face of some things. We need to do is jack up our brain to continue to imagine.
@udayrao2 (781)
• India
11 Feb 10
Hi Allen
I do not set a target- what I feel & comes to my mind and if I have the time I post a discussion - and like you said at times I do get good number of responses, sometimes not more than a couple and at times not a single one, and it is not that there are favourite topics for mylotters . And then sometimes you get more information or knowledge from even a single response - it is like using a global knowledge source. the main thing is to get a good informative response. Si I feel that the response should be checked by their quality rather than quantity.
regards
1 person likes this
@Sandra1952 (6047)
• Spain
11 Feb 10
Hello, Allen. I'm not surprised you get quality responses, because you post quality discussions, and that is the only way to draw in meaningful responses. When I start a discussion, I always try to have an original angle on the topic, give some background, and pose at least one meaty question that responders can get their teeth into.
I also only post discussions when I have time available to comment on responses. If the poster is available to comment as soon as responses are made, or soon after, the discussion is dynamic and mobile, and the responders will often come back with further comments, thus extending and enlarging the discussion.
On the other hand, if you post a topic before going out or going to bed, you're likely to come back to a raft of responses that need to be commented on. Because you need to catch up, you may not put as much thought into the comments as if you' commented as they came in. In addition, the responders may have checked back after a few hours, decided - rightly or wrongly - that you weren't coming back to the discussion, and moved on to something else.
I'm delighted that I get a lot of interaction in my discussions, so I must be doing something right. 
1 person likes this
@LetranKnight25 (33121)
• Philippines
11 Feb 10
Hello allen,
How are you? i am starting good discussions again after a month of getting used to. as for me, i just spout my mind in the discussion what ever and when ever i feel it.
but in regards to responses, you will be surprised that i don't expect that much or responses at all since most people now are into other topics that is relevant to them. so, not expecting responses gives me more time to think for more discussions.
in the end, i always get responses and i comment on them, and that's good.1 person likes this
@msfrancisco9369 (10002)
• Boston, Massachusetts
13 Feb 10
Hi Allen,
I seldom make my own discussions and experienced making some and got deleted. but i don't have discussion with no responses. almost all my discussions generated responses ranging from 2-3 responses to 30 plus responses or comments. those discussions generated responses are more of experiential discussions, relationships and about my sons. one thing i also learned from starting a discussion is having a catchy...intriguing titles.
Don't despair just have fun here. Happy Hearts Day!
@rosekiss (30380)
• Eugene, Oregon
11 Feb 10
Whenever I start a discussion, I hope to get some responses, but I really don't set a certain amount for myself, because if it didn't happen, I would be disappointed. I just hope that the discussion I start will get some responses, and I have, some more than I figured, and others, I didn't get quite as many as I thought I would. It sure does beat zero responses though. I don't really start all that many discussion because I have a hard time trying to come up with a good topic, one that users would be interested enough to respond to. It is much easier for me to jst post responses, ans it doesn't take much thinking that is for sure. 
Good luck to you and happy mylotting.
Good luck to you and happy mylotting. 
@merlinsorca (1118)
• United States
12 Feb 10
Well, I don't set goals for my discussions. Sometimes I even have discussions that I know will get very little or none, but I start it anyway because I just want to talk a little, not needing a response.
I think that for a discussion to get a lot of responses it needs to have an attractive title and some interesting questions that many people can answer. Also, the questions have to be broad so that many people can answer it. For example, if I start a discussion that is only about my country and people who are a certain age, then there would be many people that would not be able to answer that. Other than that, I guess you just need to post it in an interest where there's a lot of people
