Hide links -Yay or Nay?

[ellane]

A question for the general community. I've been reluctant to hide links because I thought it was sort of putting the cart before the horse. A person has to thank a post before they even get to see if the download has the quality and content that the downloader expects. But I'm starting to wonder if there aren't some beneficial aspects for the community to hide links.

Usually when I come here I notice that members of the community equal about 60% of the folks viewing while guests equal about 40%. I'm starting to wonder if it wouldn't be a big boost to the forum if we hid links and made some of these guests join the community.

There's no doubt in my mind that thanks for my posts would probably increase 20 fold, seeing the amount of downloads versus the thanks. But, the thanks aren't the important part. If we leave bare links, then chances are better that guests will just repost those links elsewhere. There's also a good possibility that studios will be able to complain to both the hoster and this forum if they don't have to divulge themselves.

I'm just real curious as to what folks see as the pros and cons to hidden links.

 

[frota]

Yay!

1. Anybody is happy to get "Thank You". That leads the posters to post another one. Those cycles make the forum spirited/animated.

2. Clicking "Thanks" button is very easy/handy for the downloaders and prevents being filled with a flood of thank-you-posts on the threads.

Both are benefits for the forum.

 

[wildchild]

It's been discussed before but I definitely agree yes. Sometimes people are in a frantic state to get the video and start playing with their willies that courtesy is often ignored - I've been guilty of that.

I like sharing the videos and I think a little thanks for me goes a long way.

If I tihnk a video is really hot I like to bump the thread up, to make sure it gets more exposure, so more people can enjoy it!

And ellane, dear, you use megaupload so people should be thanking you even more.

 

[Bender001]

This has already been discussed in length in another thread.

 

[Voyager]

One of the major advantages to "thanking" on the forum is that we have a record who had access to the links.

While it is more of a pain to hide the links, this little trick has helped to identify forum members who report links back to the studio for removal. Often times, you will find 5 posts where the links have been removed within one day after posting, and in the thanks section, there is only one name common to all of these removed posts.

Additionally, it does help to keep links alive longer for the poster.

 

[ellane]

This has already been discussed in length in another thread.

Yes I saw that after the fact. Had you checked back on the other thread you would have realized that.

 

[paul1nz]

Thanks to see the links is OK, but leave the screen shots open, it gets really annoying to have to say thanks to see the screen shots

 

[Jamoo]

Thanks to see the links is OK, but leave the screen shots open, it gets really annoying to have to say thanks to see the screen shots

Who is hiding the previews? Send them to me! :butslap:

 

[gb2000ie]

Thanks to see the links is OK, but leave the screen shots open, it gets really annoying to have to say thanks to see the screen shots

Does that happen on this site? I've never seen anyone do that here.

B.

 

[yoyo888]

It also gives us posters as idea what people like. Helps me especially as I will only post the kind of clips that get loads of THANKS. For clips I post that dont get many THANKS I know is not popular so I try not to post clips similar.