Well Sean - I didn’t respond earlier because the tone of the thread very quickly went toward the opinion that people with high post counts had contributed little or no quality content. I don’t agree with that sentiment at all. With the possible exception of HJ, the top 5 posters have been consistent contributors of quality content like build threads and garden / equipment photos and videos. Some of it long ago, but the content still exists and most of the top 5 maintain their old content for future readers by keeping the photos and links working where possible.
My count soared early after joining because I had very little to do at a full time desk job and spent a good 5 hours on most weekdays being paid to post (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-surprised.gif)Lately, I don’t post unless I have something to share or add to a discussion. I’ll be quite happy to step down from the top spot as for me it is a sign of having no life (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)
And my opinion of the Thanked count differs from the majority of posts in this thread as well. I use the Thank button to indicate I have read a post and liked it without adding a one word response post. It doesn’t matter if it was a valuable piece of information I was seeking, or a post that made me smile, or my acknowledgement of a reply on one of my threads.
Personally; I don’t think we need the statistics. We all have our favorite posters that we follow and I doubt anyone looks at the Post or Thanked count to determine what posts they should read.