The Top Regular Savers Discussion Thread

pecunianonolet

Soon going to unbookmark this thread as the level of useful posts is on a downward slope for a while now. The new forum software that makes quotes literally unusable adds to this across the forum.

10+ people writing that they have succesfully opend an account followed by another 10+ messages that they now put money in it is as valuable as trying to predict the weather from the bottom reading of an empty tea cup.

A little houskeeping to put at least the name of the building society / bank at the top in bold makes scrolling past it a lot easier. If it doesn't add real value or insight it probably doesn't need to be said. Less is more!

Hattie627

Thread highlighting etc

Slightly tongue-in-cheek, please could we outlaw posts that quote a previous post and then thank the poster, without adding anything useful. There is a thanks button below each post if you want to thank a poster.

Quoting a post and adding a thank you just creates additional posts for readers to scroll through without adding anything useful.

Hattie627

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82066434#Comment_82066434

Sometimes it adds reassurance if, following a poster reporting something, a second poster gives their experience confirming that position. However it can become tedious when further posters confirm the same thing. Some readers may need additional reassurance but beyond c. three or four confirmations it becomes unnecessary.

clairec666

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82066434#Comment_82066434

I'd make an exception for the recent Buckinghamshire issue where it was useful to hear if people had successfully deposited from Natwest/RBS without having to spend an hour on the phone. Or other similar opening/funding issues. Other than that, I see no reason why my funding successes are of any interest to anyone else, so I don't mention them.

The usual "scroll past if you're not interested" advice applies though.

Bob2000

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82066510#Comment_82066510

Using the thank you button instead of quoting a reply post then thanking the poster.

I will try to remember what you said because l tend to do this. If the person just gives me a few lines to confirm a topic l feel the thank you button is sufficient. But sometimes l get a more in depth reply which l appreciate their time and effort in posting.

Anyway thank you for the post on the subject.

Hattie627

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82066529#Comment_82066529

I can understand why you would want to thank a poster who has taking the time and effort to give you a detailed reply to a query. And it can feel good to thank the poster publicly (I get that!) but often it just clogs up the thread. A better way (if you feel that the thanks button is insufficient)might be to send a private message to the poster expressing your thanks.

Bridlington1

On ``thank you posts":

I'd say it depends on the context though, if it's simply a ``thank you" on its own then yes, the post seems a bit pointless, in fact one of my pet peeves at work is when people reply to my emails with just ``thank you" to the point where with some colleagues if I send them an email and I'm busy I just delete the first email they send as a reply without reading it as I know it's most likely going to be a pointless email.

If on the other hand someone replies with ``thank you" and then gives a bit more info then it's a different matter and it is nice to get those messages of appreciation sometimes. I'd say a good compromise would be as @Hattie627 suggests, where you send a private message to the person you're thanking instead, which is what some do already to be fair.

It's one of those though that's virtually unenforceable, as with other things, and adding too many rules has drawbacks in of itself. Moreover if you did add a rule which says ``no thank you posts" then I suspect it may actually generate more posts as many people probably shan't stop posting them but some users would reply to the thank you posts telling them not to post them as it clutters up the thread.

A reflection on the discussion overall:

Regardless though I hope the last however many pages have demonstrated one thing though, which is that no matter what decision I take there shall always be some who aren't happy with it, and at all times there remains a faction that would be quite content for this thread to not exist in its current form and for the forum to become more like reddit in its structure, but if that happened there'd be a different group of posters who'd be up in arms about it.

The job of maintaining these threads isn't always as easy as it may first appear though, I often feel as though I've got different people and factions trying to pull me in different directions on any given issue, it's a difficult one to balance sometimes. The threads themselves are continuously evolving, getting tweaked slightly here and there, I doubt they'll ever stop changing. Pretty much every detail, right down to seemingly trivial points such as the titles of the threads, exact thresholds for inclusion, have careful consideration and time behind them, often requiring more time than some would realise, all done on a voluntary basis.

Ultimately though I can only maintain these threads with the consent of a large enough proportion of the community as a whole, the same is true of other long-running threads on this forum maintained by other users. Personally I wouldn't want to lose these long running threads and feel they offer something that no other corner of the internet offers.

Kim_13

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82066551#Comment_82066551

The thanks button is the better way if you have nothing else to say, but if you have a follow up question or something to discuss/report about another Regular Saver then there is no harm in saying thank you personally and confirming that the advice worked at the beginning of the post.

clairec666

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82066643#Comment_82066643

Re. the "thanks" button

Generally agree. I always wrote a "thank you" comment because I thought it was the best way of showing appreciation to the person who had taken their time to answer my query. If you are replying to say that their advice worked, then that's a very valid contribution to the thread.

Happy to use the "thank you" button instead if that's what the general consensus is, but I see no harm in writing a thank you comment, and it doesn't really "clog up" the thread, the usual "scroll past if you're not interested" advice applies.

It's a bit different from the situation that @Bridlington1 mentioned - I realise now it's annoying to customer service staff to receive a pointless thank you message, and I was rather guilty of doing that until you brought it to my attention. But this forum is different, it's not our workplace, and people are giving their own time for free to answer other people's queries. So I feel a thank you is appropriate here. That's my opinion, anyway.

Section62

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82066581#Comment_82066581

It's one of those though that's virtually unenforceable, as with other things, and adding too many rules has drawbacks in of itself. Moreover if you did add a rule which says ``no thank you posts" then I suspect it may actually generate more posts as many people probably shan't stop posting them but some users would reply to the thank you posts telling them not to post them as it clutters up the thread.

^This.

If someone goes the extra mile to provide a comprehensive answer to a specific question then I think that should be publicly acknowledged if the poster feels it appropriate, although if all they can think to say is "thanks" then it probably isn't appropriate. We should be mindful that the forum is also used by new members, and some who never post. I believe an occasional deviation from the pure hard RS facts is valuable as a reminder the people posting here are human (and mostly friendly) and may serve to encourage new/silent members to contribute more to the forum. In which case seeing an occasional post saying "Thank you… +++" is probably more impactful than hitting the 'Thanks' button (which newbies may not understand/see) or sending a PM (which nobody will see).

There are some forums I used to use (but no longer do so) where the application of 'rules' has become so tedious it makes the forum an unpleasant place to be. All of us are different and communicate in different ways. So long as we are all working towards the same aim - saving money - we should all be tolerant of different people's approaches, provided the forum rules are complied with.

In terms of clutter/wasted space, the one thing I've noticed consistently generating clutter during my read-only and active participation in this thread - and unfortunately also the cause of much hostility/unpleasantness - has been when people try to police what other people post. I agree when you say that too many rules has drawbacks - it gives those inclined to 'police' more ammunition to do what they claim they are trying to stop.

I think you made a great choice by having this as a discussion thread with a separate 'no-chat' thread for those who prefer that approach. Maybe part of the issue is folk forgetting what you've set up here and the house rules you - as the person doing the hard work - have laid out.

Failing that, and reflecting on the last few pages, perhaps it is time to have a separate "The Top Regular Savers Discussion Thread Discussion Thread" where people who want to grumble about what other forum members post can grumble away to their heart's content, and those who simply appreciate other people's positive contributions can continue to appreciate them, and the excellent work you do.