Amazing how subjective viewpoints can be.

I am obviously biased (being in two of the current top ten posts) but I don't think it is easy to compare the quality of help a post provides.

I agree that a post that prevents a person from bricking their device is definitely an important post. But isn't a post that introduces hundreds of people to an application that they would like to install and use everyday important too? How would people find out about the availability otherwise?

I think it boils down mostly to popularity in the end, but that is what this thread is all about. If a post about preventing bricking only gets 50 thanks and a post about software gets 100 thanks, didn't more people find the latter post more useful?

To prove the point: I found Benson's and fiferboy's posts helpful not because they solved some device problem, but because they contributed positively and progressively toward this dialog. To me that value is immeasurable (ironically proving the points about stats? LOL ).

There's too many variables either ignored or set equal to "1" in your question to permit a reasonable answer.

Here's a thought experiment for you: For the next month, every time you hear a song you like on the radio, clap once.

Can we draw a valid conclusion regarding the quality of songs you did or didn't clap for on day 29?

What if one you didn't clap for on the 29th day, you did clap for on the 3rd day? Can we assume the song is crap or not?

How do we know, from our limited sampling of an already limited dataset, that you're not just clapping less (or not at all), overall, because of growing apathy with the test?

...just something to think about.

As a data analyst I have to fight my natural instinct to pick this topic to death... but in the end can't we just accept the system's limitations and flaws and use it for what it is? That is, a way of thanking people for WHATEVER they contributed-- be it something soft and fuzzy or hard and helpful.

Isn't that Pandora?

I hear you. Try being a "Systems Project Analyst" in the "Office of Planning, Evaluation, & Data Analysis", and see if that doesn't create the same urges.

I'm not trying to be argumentative, nor (for that matter) show any disdain for any of the listed posts, regarding software or solutions... just pointing out that no real validity can be applied regarding "usefulness" based on the metrics available.

I don't know. I've not been to that site, and it's blocked by our IT departments web policy.

I don't really think that's the point. It's more of a cool/interesting IRC stats sort of deal rather than a "these posts are the epitome of usefulness, everybody else sucks" sort of deal.

Look: the OP could have added " according to Thanks" to his thread title and this discussion would be even sillier than it is.

Perhaps it would be more revealing to see a list of the ten posts Texrat hasn't thanked.