to give an important thread more attention. With five recs minimum, it ends up on the "GREATEST" page and many posters go there first. But, it still drops off the General Discussion page if there are not posts. So, by posting K&R it kicks back up to the top of GD at least for a short time.

Or is it only by writing K&R it can get to the top of GD?

say more than you appreciate and agree with the post and its importance.

craft a relevant comment that actually furthers the discussion. I'm imagine that was the original purpose of the mechanism, to encourage discussion and make posts more visible when they sparked more meaningful discussion. IMHO

threads with no comment.. only a link.


Or those who post a embedded video with nary a single comment as to what it represents or why they posted it.

you shouldn't be posting. Maybe some people play it like it's a game.

a "conversation", and "meaningful discussion."

Sometimes you just let the brilliance of another shine, acknowledge it, and move on.

that I forgot to mention.

On one of my early posts on this forum I got a K&R from another DUer, but I had no REC from that poster.

Back on topic! Yes it would be more meaningful and achieve the same results. It is something I'd prefer to see, but seeing just a K&R is not an issue with me.

The evil prankster in me wanted badly to post a K&R as a response to you, but ...

If they don't click the "rec" button, their "R" is useless. Thanks for telling me about your impulse rather than doing it. That is funny, and sounds like something I'd be tempted to do. I'd rather people furthered the discussion instead of waving their magic "K&R" talisman.

Guaranteed to promote your post. Only $1 each. My way of saying I agree with your suspicion.

As a very long term poster on Usenet, I felt that a forum that had 1:10 signal to noise ratio (one informative post in ten) was a better forum than most. I spent too much time with my filters but was pleased with the results. Here at DU I don't feel the need for filters as my mental filter seems to work good enough and that ratio is much better. Losing the K&Rs would be a improvement, but only an increment.

I feel better now that I know I'm not the only one who finds it a little puzzling.

I'd wondered the same thing but hadn't thought to ask. Thanks!

I have done this a few times when I want the OP and/or the ensuing commentary to receive greater exposure and I don't have anything to say that hasn't been said already.

1. I'm speechless, but I think it's a great post that people should be aware of
2. Time constraints
3. I'm more of a lurker. Most of the time, I don't feel like elaborating
4. Attention deficit disorder and/or multitasking on too many things, and therefore
5. Unable to be coherent or add anything useful, but still want to go on record as supporting and encouraging such posts