Okay, here's a question
I've not really been involved with QOTW or B3ta that much, for various reasons, but I always check out the newsletter on Friday. While browsing through it, I noticed that the answer that came top of the 'Things I've found' QOTW was an urban legend, not an amusing, witty anecdote as I'd first thought, but something repeated virtually ad verbatim from somewhere else on the web.

My question is, do you think it matters? Does it irritate you that a story with little thought and no originality came top, ahead of other, more truthful stories, or do you only care if it's amusing? Does the truth matter on QOTW, or is it all about the laughs? I'd be interested to see what everyone thinks - lately, QOTW has veered away from anecdotes, featuring poems, puns, old jokes and random nonsense, but fewer and fewer honest life stories. Is everyone happy with this? Seeing as I'm asking the question, I'll refrain from stating my opinion, but I'd love to hear everyone else's.
(Pavlov's Frog figures no-one really reads sigs anyway, Fri 21 Nov 2008, 15:15, 24 replies, latest was 16 years ago)

Truth doesn't matter
it's all about entertainment value.

If lots of people haven't heard that particular urban legend before, or they liked it and clicked, then that's fair enough.
( Bert Monkeysex is waiting for the mods to delete him, Fri 21 Nov 2008, 15:17, Reply)

Bert is right
that's why none of us give a shit that the /talk morons think we are all liars.

as long as it is entertaining that's what counts.

which is why I laugh at off-colour jokes, as long as they are funny.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Fri 21 Nov 2008, 15:18, Reply)

For me...
I appreciate a well written story, be it fact or not.

For my answers I've entered Jokes, Sad Stories,
Work Stories, and Stupid Internet Humour.

As long as people laugh, I don’t mind writing any kind of story.
( Agnostic Antichrist Baltimora, Fri 21 Nov 2008, 15:30, Reply)

I don't mind the puns and made-up crap
but I prefer the honest stories. It's what makes B3ta different.
( thealternativefact, Fri 21 Nov 2008, 15:34, Reply)

It bugs me a tiny bit
if people are trying to pretend they are their own stories.

That said, I'd never heard the troll one before, and it's entirely possible that whoever wrote it had it relayed to him by a friend and believed it to be true, so what can you do really?
( scarpe We Stole Bikes, Fri 21 Nov 2008, 15:35, Reply)

I'll agree, entertainment is important
But surely there's something to be said for originality?

After all, if you can reach top of the 'best of' page by simply recycling old jokes, stories and urban legends that people may not have heard before, why bother typing an honest, heartfelt and amusing reply? Why not just copy a stand-up comics routine, because not everyone who reads QOTW will have seen him live?

Is B3ta not about creativity, at the end of the day? What's so creative about retelling a story that some people may have heard before? After all, the question was 'What's the best thing you've found?', not 'What's the best story you've read online about someone else finding something?'

I realise I said I wouldn't post my opinion, but it really pisses me off the way QOTW has changed. Every one of the stories on my profile page are true, with perhaps a slight artistic embellishment here or there, and some of them took me around half an hour to type up, whereas I doubt it took 'drshipman' more than 5 minutes to copy and paste a story from another website. Does no-one else agree with me?

EDIT: I wrote this after reading Bert's and Vipros' replies, and didn't notice the others, including Clendrix's. I guess someone does agree with me then. Still pisses me off, though
(Pavlov's Frog figures no-one really reads sigs anyway, Fri 21 Nov 2008, 15:36, Reply)

all my stories are true
dunno what that says about me...
I prefer stories which have truth in them more than anything else, for example the best ever story on here was that one about how that computer crahsed at the trading house. Failing that, ones which are realistic. Failing that, by a long way, ones which are funny. The worst of the worst are ones like this:

'I had this mental experience once. Long story short, I got pissed and threw up and my brother said "ha". Really it was great, you should have been there. Length? Well your ma never compains'

If I can't think of something which happened in my life which relates to teh story, I don't post anything....
(sirolimus, Fri 21 Nov 2008, 15:38, Reply)

I tend to take a true story
and then embellish it to the point of absurdity, which seems to go down well as my most popular entries show.

But as long as they make me laugh or go awwwww then it's all good!
( Boss Keloid Got your mother's maiden name tattooed on my arm, Fri 21 Nov 2008, 15:40, Reply)

If we just post 'funny stories'
why not rename qotw to 'funny stories' and just be done with it. It should be true.
Saying that, I enjoy the guy (or bitch, could be a woman (c) alan partridge) who starts these long tales and it takes me 4 minutes to realise they are shaggy dog stories.
(sirolimus, Fri 21 Nov 2008, 15:43, Reply)

The point of b3ta to me is not to get on the best of page
it's to tell my story when I have one, or to enjoy the writing and experiences of others.

There have been quite a few shitty questions recently, such as the procrastination one, and the humour and made up stuff gets us through those.

There were some touching stories in those too, and that is what makes it worthwhile.

edit: having had a rethink, I don't agree with the posting of urban legends and claiming them as your own. Also, as my learned colleague Mr Calthrop says, the worst of the answers tend to be the shitty one or two liners

"Nuff said!" - if you are going to write this you may as well not write anything you fucking tool!

Embellishments, or completely made up stories don't bother me, but I will concede that merely pinching something from somewhere else is to the detriment of the qotw.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Fri 21 Nov 2008, 15:45, Reply)

shurely if they are coming up top (i.e. best of)
it means that lots of people are clicking that they like them, so you kinda have your answer.
if nonsense & recycled stuff, they don't get clicked and get lost somewhere in the abundance of other posts.

although i appreciate that the lack of \all (or my not knowing how to do it if it is still possible) means that, during the week, we get all the crap...
( kitsune-tsuki tankeløst hode får lettest sove, Fri 21 Nov 2008, 15:52, Reply)

Vipros, your decisiveness and matter-of-factness gets me hot
in my pants!
(bazmorningstar efil4nat3b, Fri 21 Nov 2008, 15:53, Reply)

baz
I find myself unable to figure out if you are being sarcastic, and if not, to which particular bit of my reply you are talking about....

admitting this is embarassing, but I'm all for baring my soul on the internet.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Fri 21 Nov 2008, 15:57, Reply)

Well...
I like the entertaining stories, and am not particularly worried about their truth... though I do recall the referenced story about the troll appearing in the QOTW sometime before.

I've only posted one story that ranked high that wasn't mine, and I denoted it as such. All the rest are actually mine, and happened as described- which is rather worrisome in itself, I suppose...
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Fri 21 Nov 2008, 15:57, Reply)

I'm always
Skiving at work so any reasonably funny story is good enough for me.....
( whenanimalsattackhumans clad in global hypercolour, Fri 21 Nov 2008, 16:13, Reply)

fictionish
I've had two QOTW answers make it into the newsletter <PROUD>

They were both maybe 95% truth, with a bit of embellishment. But I've found that if I don't embellish them, then the story sort of trundles to a halt and isn't very entertaining.

However, there are a few of my QOTW that are frankly bollocks.

The one thing that bothers me, is that hardly anyone replies to my posts and thus I never know how popular they are. My 'Spaz on checkout' entry in 'Political Correctness Gone Mad' somehow made the newsletter, yet is about halfway down that weeks' QOTW page. No one replied to it.

I'll agree that the last few QOTWs have been fairly wank IMO and we need something that'll produce compelling answers.

Me and a couple of others have suggested stuff you've done that makes you cringe, or anything nob-related.
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Fri 21 Nov 2008, 16:26, Reply)

@Vipros
dude, just in general - it's your proper blokeyness. Obviously Im exaggerating as I have no fondness for cock other than my own but if I was a bufty, I'd do ya ;)
(bazmorningstar efil4nat3b, Fri 21 Nov 2008, 16:32, Reply)

baz
I will accept that as your answer and we shall let that be an end to it.

I will however forgive you if my overwhelming machismo and general beardedness become too much for your heterosexuality. Just remember that it can only ever be unrequited!
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Fri 21 Nov 2008, 16:41, Reply)

I shall endeavour to control myself
my hirsute hero!
(bazmorningstar efil4nat3b, Fri 21 Nov 2008, 16:42, Reply)

I don't think
it matters one bit.

If the tales are entertaining, well written and help me pass the time at work then I'll enjoy reading them.

I had no idea the troll thing was an urban myth, but it did make me laugh.

Vipros makes a good point though: "Nuff said" never says enough. Don't do it.
( Moey, Fri 21 Nov 2008, 17:20, Reply)

I don't think people should post stories that aren't their own work and pass them off as their own.
But posts don't have to be truthful as long as their funny, entertaining, well written or all of the above.
( girlinthehole, Fri 21 Nov 2008, 17:21, Reply)

I'm not here to win 'first prize'
by appearing on the front page. My stories are mostly true as well, with a bit of embellishment, but they are rarely as entertaining as the made up stuff. For me, it's about entertainment - that can be making me giggle, or making me shed a tear - either way I'm entertained.
For ther record, I've never heard the troll story before, and I think the most-clicked story for the procrasticnation question was the best answer I've read in a long time. Truly entertaining, and (probably) not 100% fact.
(w4I4q1O1 was hard at work on, Fri 21 Nov 2008, 17:28, Reply)

w4I4q1O1, while you may not be out to 'win' by reaching the 'best of' page
A lot of B3tans are. I'd like to make it clear I'm not one of them, by the way, which is why I haven't posted a story on QOTW for months. But if we let someone post an urban legend, a story which required no original thought or particular writing talent (as it is avaliable in many different forms online) 'win', as you put it, then what's the point in taking the time to post a truly original story?

At no point have I suggested every story should be 100% fact, by the way - this isn't a scientist's forum. As I've already mentioned, many of the posts on my profile have had tweaks here or there to help the story flow or to make it funnier. If someone posts a story that's total bull, but it's original, funny, and (preferably) believable, I have no problem with that. My issue is with someone taking a story from elsewhere and reproducing it as there own. If the original poster had mentioned it ws an urban legend, or a story they had heard from their mates, it would be fine, but they didn't, and that's what pisses me off. QTW should be about originality, even if it's a terrible pun, or a 2 line answer - if it's funny and original then it belongs on QOTW. If it's neither, it doesn't. That is my point.

EDIT: Also, the story that came top of the 'procrastination' QOTW was obviously untrue - that was the joke. It was well-written, clever and original, and it quite clearly took some time and creativity to type up. It was obviously BOATongism's own work, and hadn't just been shamelessly lifted from somewhere else.
(Pavlov's Frog figures no-one really reads sigs anyway, Fri 21 Nov 2008, 18:15, Reply)

When I signed up
I thought "I'll never have an answer for most of the questions".

Turned out I was wrong, although I've been less than inspired by some of the questions in recent weeks. That said, I rarely resort to making something up just to make my mark (although there are certain b3tans whose work I could read despite it being obviously made up - Pooflake, I'm looking at you). And althegeordie's baked bean tale was a masterpiece of comic writing.

But most of my stuff is true, albeit with embellishments, especially in cases where the stories are second hand - I can't remember all of the detail (the coffee arse incident being a case in point, but it did happen).

Anyone that can turn a mundane event and dress it up with comedy gold has my admiration. But that said, some of the really serious stuff also gets my click (like spimf's post earlier).

That's why I like b3ta.
( Davros' Granddad a voice of calm reason in a world of spastics., Fri 21 Nov 2008, 20:38, Reply)