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2/24/2022 1:41:16 AM
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Why "AMA" threads are boring, a review by someone with way too much free time.

As many of you know, this subforum has had many "AMA" posts pop up over the years. Hell, I probably made one at some point as well. Well, I'm here today to tell you why nobody likes them (or the people that make them). First, for the uninitiated, an "AMA" ("Ask Me Anything") thread is a type of low quality post that people put out like shovelware apps on a mobile phone. Companies know that nobody wants them, so they come preinstalled on smartphones to keep people from getting rid of them. It's very much the same for AMA threads. Many users post them simply because they know people find them annoying. For example, someone recently posted a Chick-fil-A AMA thread for the specific purpose of annoying Girraffalope, who was trying to encourage people to start making more quality content for OffTopic. Just as Girraffalope had said, the post was bland, unimaginative, and filled with regurgitated meme responses that contributed absolutely nothing to the forum as a whole. The core problem with AMA threads is that the topics people choose don't actually generate questions worth answering. Let's get back to the "I ate Chick-fil-A, AMA" thread for an example. Nobody has any legitimate, compelling questions about your experience of eating at Chick-fil-A. The only [i]decent[/i] question would be to ask if you enjoyed it. In such a case, it would have been more productive to simply make a thread about your experience eating at Chick-fil-A instead of relying on others to create the content for you. If an AMA thread doesn't prompt any good questions, the readers will have to resort to responding with unfunny regurgitated memes. Most of the memes are already dead, and if not, this process only kills them faster. Another problem with AMA threads is that the content is often (intentionally) unrelated to the title. For example, a thread titled "My goldfish just exploded, AMA" could have a topic body that reads: "Lol get rickrolled XcQ." Much like clickbait on YouTube, this kind of post only serves to annoy and/or aggravate readers that want to have actual discussions. So, to reiterate the problems, AMA threads: -Require zero effort or originality -Don't generate compelling questions -Drive memes into the dirt -Often aren't related to the topic Now that we've identified the [i]problems[/i], we can suggest [i]solutions:[/i] 1) Just don't post AMA threads. Make something productive or entertaining instead. (This is the ideal solution) 2) Come up with unique AMA topics that generate compelling questions. Example: "I've now completed everything in Pokémon Legends: Arceus, AMA about the game." 3) Stop making AMAs into shitposts, they aren't funny and nobody laughed. L + Ratio + You're bald + get stickbugged lol 4) Stop responding to AMA posts with low effort memes, you're a part of the problem. If you're going to respond, ask questions that contribute to the post. If you have any other reasonable suggestions to make AMA threads more productive (or if you have alternative thread ideas for people), feel free to comment them here.

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  • Just in general, the mundane details about your life are not newsworthy. People don’t care what your mom made you for lunch or that your crush is dating so-and-so. Share that -blam!- with your friends if you must, you don’t have to post it here.

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