If I'm understanding it correctly, the Compliment Thread is sort of a "give compliments, get compliments" kind of thing. Oftentimes people will reply to whoever made the most recent comment and say something nice, then somebody else will come along and compliment them, and so on. If you're not planning on complimenting others you shouldn't necessarily expect to be complimented yourself. 

Ask CBers is a little different, but again I think it relies less on the "popularity" of the people asking questions and more on the questions themselves. If someone asks "hey guys what's your favorite kind of tennis ball" it's not going to get a lot of answers because that's super specific and also weird. But a broader and more easily answered question like "what's your favorite song right now" or "do you play any team sports" will probably get more answers because it applies to more people.

The same logic can be applied to other threads, too. If the topic is something a lot of people could be interested in or partake in (if it's a game, how obscure and/or complex is it? how easy will it be for people who've never played before to learn the rules and participate? if it's an RP, how broad is your subject matter? are the rules super strict or are they something a lot of people could easily join and get involved in?) it's more likely you'll get a lot of replies than if your topic is narrow or something only a few people coule answer or become part of. Also, keep in mind that we're not a super huge community. Fifteen replies on a thread isn't all that bad, and as long as you keep it topped there's a good chance more people will see it and join in.

I think the main reason you and a lot of other people see certain CBers as being "popular" is because they make a lot of threads, comments, games, RPs, ski lodges, etc. They get involved in the community and they're rewarded by people recognizing or noticing them more often. On the other hand, if you're more of a "lurker" (sounds derogatory but doesn't have to be, just means someone who is more inclined to just read posts than to comment on them or make posts of their own), it's somewhat less likely that you'll get noticed because people might not know your name quite as well if you don't post very often.

It's pretty safe to say that there will always be some semblance of a hierarchy on online boards. People who post more often are better known, and since the CB has no points or ranks system, that's pretty much the only way you can judge how "popular" someone is. But I think we've done a decent job of being more inclusive than we were in the past, in more ways than one (AEs can be gay now, yay!) 

Oh, and P.S. - it's very easy to think people don't know you well or barely notice you even after two years of activity. But oftentimes this is just your anxious brain playing tricks on you, and I bet there's at least a couple people here right now who look up to you and value your creative input, no matter who you actually are. 

Do something cool or good or original , being popular doesn't matter. That sounded cringe. Although, if you do something cool or good or original you get popular so...bleh. Don't listen to me. Top. 

This is why I want to get to know everyone as well as I can. I have a terrible memory and I don't want to forget any of you. It's not the only reason, but it's one of them. I don't want to leave you out when you're very literally more incredible than I know.

I've only been complimented once on that compliment thread, and honestly I'm not sure I care? It makes sense; I'm not there, and there seems to be a system of in-sight, in-mind going on. It would be nice to get complimented, of course, but it's not like anyone's deliberately leaving me out. 

I've never noticed a heirarchy, but maybe I'm just distracted? Or maybe I'm just bad at seeing stuff like that. Can you explain a little more?

The best way to be noticed is to make yourself conspicuous, and the best way to get approached is to make yourself approachable. That's not to say you should change who you are to get attention; just try to understand yourself and those around you, and if you can't do that, then simply be open to it. It's okay to be upset. Just... just think about it, I guess.  

What would you do if you were noticed as much as you'd like to be? What would it look like, feel like? What kind of circumstances could it have arisen from, and how would you feel?

I don't want to sound self-centered or accusatory or anything, but it occurred to me and I feel like I should ask: Am I one of these CBers? At least in your eyes? Oh gods, it--it sounds just as awful as it did in my head. Maybe even worse. I'm sorry. 

So first off, when I came here before, there were a lot of “CBers as...” threads. I saw some of the things you do, that nobody was doing me. Almost the only time anyone did me was when they were doing everyone in alphabetical order. Only Claaws did me without going through everyone(if you’re reading this, thank you!). That was why I gave up doing anything. I also joined SIs, and wasn’t guessed at all. All of those things were why I stopped posting back then.

But in May, I came back and saw what I had missed. And what I realized is this:

I never posted on any of the “CBers as...”threads, and just hoped they would do me. And the SIs I generally joined were often by that time inactive. And not only that, but I looked at one SI from around the time I left, and I saw that someone had guessed that someone else was me, and I realized that I had been wrong.

I was the one at fault.

If you want to be complemented, or asked a question, give a complement or answer a group question. I think why people don’t ask some people questions, on the questions thread, is that if you haven’t done anything on the thread, that have no way to tell if you read the thread or not. At least, that’s why I don’t. Besides, on the question thread, I think it’s better to ask a group question anyway, so nobody gets left out.

As for the complement thread, it looks to me like it’s a relay complement thread, basically.

For the post thing— I think people care less about the name in the name box and more the type and quality of the thread. For example, the more well-written a ski lodge opening is, the more CBers join. I found this out the hard way with my first ski lodge a long time ago. So a word to new ski lodge writers: make sure the opening post is good! It’s worth the time to edit.

Also, I say “type of thread” because sometimes it’s just something nobody is interested in. If you’re having trouble with nobody posting on your threads, there are a few which I know are often especially liked:

Ski Lodges

SIs

Pie Wars (speaking of which, we haven’t had one of those in a long time!)

I don’t know if this will help, but I wanted to make sure I said these things.

Hello Hmmm... I'm Spring Flower. I try to respond to people's random posts when I can, but a factor I don't have much of is time. So if I have five minutes to check Cricket and I see five new posts, I have to decide which one I'll pay attension to.

POST 1- @PERCY JACKSON RPERS

this kind of post is only for those participating in a certain rp. If I am in this RP, I'll quickly skim over it, but most of these are just reminders to keep a thread active. No response needed. If I'm not, I don't bother to look at it at all. 

POST 2- Chapter 1 A New Be....

Ok, we're still on the five minute time limit, and what I'm seeing here is most likely a long narrative. I don't have time, but I'll try to remember it for later.

POST 3- I love it that...

This seems like it will be short and sweet, wheather the author is talking about tiramisu or complememnting other CBers on their abilities. I might read it and reply with something like, Me too! Or if it pertains to me, Thank you! 

POST 4- HELP!!! MY...

My what? MY cat's being chased by an iguana? My homework used for spitballs? Come on people, I need to know! And that is why I will most likey check this post. And if I can, I would probably offer advice.

POST 5- The Water RP...

Again, I have five minutes. I don't think I can join an RP in that much time. I'll try to remember it for later, but to be honest, I am super inconsistent with my posts so chances are that I just won't reply at all. 

Please please PLEASE don't feel bad if others don't reply to you. There are many reasons someone might not respond. If you want to make yourself more "known" try to respond to others posts. But honestly, I'm kind of happy being a half-known CBer. Not as much responsibility. 

I agree and I can remember feeling somewhat left out at times. The more I think about it, the more I realize that no matter what sort of forum you're on, there will always be a sort of pyramid. It makes no sense the more I think about it. If I look at historical pyramids, I notice there's usually a sort of order to them: Royalty class, warrior class, so on and so on. Certain things ar valued over others, thus giving them their sense of popularity. And even withing families, like my own: Grandma, aunts and uncles, the super popular children, and then those of us who are just oddballs.

I think CB should be a place where the oddballs like me can feel like they are part of a place where everyone has an equal shot, which is why I has come to Chatterbox.

So I will break down what I think makes up the CB pyramid, although I have only really been here for a few months: The more active and wild you are, the more attention you attract. The more you make yourself seen, the more people see you. Which can be hard for some people. I think the way to fix this is through a survey thread, where the questions delve into personal hobbies, traits, and things like that. 

Oops. I just posted on a duplicate of this thread on DtE without seeing this one existed... 

Actually, I'm new, but I think that if you post more often, you will get noticed more. For example, there are probably a few names that will stick in your head, because they post often, and therefore are more memorable. I don't think that there really is a hierachy, especially since lots of threads involve being anonymous.

Sure, a few names are more known than others, but I wouldn't call that a hierachy. At one point, I think everyone's experienced being the newbie who barely posts. Also, for the thread subject, just because a thread gets a ton of posts, doesn't mean it's because of who made the thread. 

For example, the word game thread on CaC didn't get one hundred and forty-nine replies to Lilypad - people were replying to each other. Also, if you don't get guessed in SIs, it's probably because there are more than fifteen people on the chatterbox, and there are a very large range to guess from.

Also, since I've never participated in an SI myself, I think there are some people that are more likely to participate in SIs, and therefore more likely to be guessed. 

well I don’t really think those things have anything to do with popularity really... I mean, what even is popularity? A bunch of people like you? A bunch of people know you? I’ve never really had a problem with it I guess, I just bond with a few people in RPs and then that’s who I compliment I guess, and don’t think twice about other people complimenting me. (oh and your welcome Fireburst! If it means anything I REMEMBER YOOOOU). So ya, maybe you should really think less on everyone complimenting you, it means more if you get a special one from a friend than a forced one from a random person. Oh, and making friends on the CB is easy! You just have to try. I mean, I know basically no one in real life, and I have a few  friends that I even talk to outside of the CB now (Viola, Ashlee, Gared, KG for starters) and a few that I still remember who don’t come on as often (Riddler, Kestrel, if you’re reading this I say HIII) and I bonded with those people through my RPs! Like Spirit Animals, if anyone remembers that. I guess we should try to make our RPs mean more and have more influence on the CB. I mean, come to think of it, popularity is just a joke. I mean, you’re always popular to the people who care about you. <3 (I’m sorry, I’m cheesy, I knooow!)