FanPost

The Art of a FanPost

I've noticed a disturbing trend on Mile High Report lately of members posting FanPosts for the sake of posting, rather than to formulate an idea or theme, describe its substance and to challenge the thought processes of the audience. It wasn't until one of the longer tenured community members reached out to me that I realized I wasn't the only one who felt this way.

The FanPost isn't your normal bread and butter post that you would see on any typical message board, in fact, Mile High Report has no platform available to support the kind of posts you find on those message boards. That is not to say message boards don't have their niche, it's just not what people come to MHR for. In fact, the FanPost is not just a post, its a presentation of an idea that has been researched or thought through. 

I am going to go through the process of creating kick ass FanPosts that will stand up to the eye test and help ensure that your ideas and thoughts will not only be read by the community, but discussed as well. After all, the entire point we are here is to write, think, discuss and learn - among other things.

I will be quoting MHR Staff writer on sabbatical, Steve Nichols, heavily throughout this post. He is like the God Father of the Bronco fan turned blogger on Mile High Report. An MHR University Special - Building Your Rep at MHR is the most important MHR post you could ever read. It starts out with the best description of what MHR was and is for you, me and anyone else who comes along. That's a good start for those who want to see what many of us are trying to maintain as the site grows, but without the help of each new active member its a battle that can't be won.

Some of you may wonder why your FanPosts get little to no feedback or just negative feedback. In most cases, I noticed that it wasn't the idea or thought people had a problem with. It was the presentation of it. First off, here a few things to avoid:

  • One paragraph FanPosts. This reeks of message boards and for the most part, MHR readers won't even bother making it through the one paragraph. To me, it fails the eye test and I move on immediately.  The author didn't see fit to spend much time on their thought, so I sure won't waste my time on it!
  • Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling. If you have too, open a word processing program and run the grammar and spell check prior to posting. No one is perfect, and even a nit picky perfectionist like me makes mistakes - even got criticized for one particularly bad article that had two or three obvious errors. People are mostly forgiving of an error here or there, but when the entire post contains horrible grammar, punctuation or spelling it will fail most eye tests - including mine.
  • Learn to use paragraphs effectively. A paragraph is usually more than one or two lines and usually less than 20, but for the most part a good paragraph usually contains most of these logical events:
  1. Presents one main idea.
  2. Convey thoughts which are connected by both association and rhetoric.
  3. Show its main idea in a subtle, emphatic expression.
  4. Normally supports the main idea, but may offer objections or limitations to it without allowing the idea to be thwarted.
  5. Usually expands into the wider view of the subject.

It may sound like a paragraph is a large collection of many sentences, but in reality each idea or thought determines how long a paragraph is. The length is always something you'll develop with your own style. As you can see, my own style of paragraphs run about 3-5 sentences. The eye test pass/fail grade is what is important and one long gigantic paragraph isn't likely going to entice many people to read your work. To a lesser degree, one sentence paragraphs can also frustrate readers.

If you don't feel you have a subject matter that warrants a FanPost, then the comment thread of any variety of other Stories or FanPosts would be the place to share your singular idea. MHR is likely to have a recent story or fanpost on any current events topic, but don't let that discourage you if you truly have a unique or fresh take on the subject. Many times, a FanPost is an expansion or response to another FanPost. You don't even need to state that is, generally readers will get the idea.

Hopefully, we will all come together to work hard to maintain the integrity of MHR and inspire each other to put forth the effort to generate thought provoking discourse during the good times and bad. A good way to ensure we reward those who put forth the effort is to rec their post. I do this frequently, even if I disagree. Seeing a few recs on a post also tells me I will probably enjoy the read, so to rec a post also tells those of us who do not have the time to read everything which posts are worth a look-see.

So now that we understand the art of creating a well read and received FanPost, let's talk about how to discuss the issues in the comment section. For another trend that has begun to worry me is how community members have begun treating each other in the comment sections. This problem has been discussed frequently over the years, but its time for all of us to accept responsibility for the way this community purports itself. We are adults, so let's treat each other with respect even when we're frustrated. It's advice I haven't always followed in the past, but I will strive to do so moving forward.  

Football University - Building cred at MHR / Part 1

Football University - Building cred at MHR / Part 2

MHR Tech Tips - Making your Fanpost Rock!

I won't go into much detail about what the expectations are for just about anything you would need to know is linked above, but if you have been an MHR community member for a long time, you probably miss the small town feel it used to have. Well, if you like that small town feel, its up to you to be the model citizens. If you feel someone is not acting in accordance with the respect and humility that is appropriate then flag the offending comment and then post a reply to the comment stating that you have flagged it as un-befitting a MHR member. In the end, MHR is what you make it. John Bena is just the guy who owns the land; it's up to us to build the farm and grow the crops!

Now on to the real reason we are all here...

GO BRONCOS!

This is a Fan-Created Comment on MileHighReport.com. The opinion here is not necessarily shared by the editorial staff of MHR.