Collective Attention Colapses in Physics Forums

[DaTario]

A question regarding a somewhat complex physical system: us.

The staff of professionals in Physics Forums may be noting interesting behavior concerning the time evolution of the number of visits a certain thread have. The numbers of views in general fall into very distinguishable
classes, namely around 10 , around 100, around 1000 and around 10000.

When a thread surpasses some magical numbers of visits, it may suffer an avalanche of visits until it tends to not attract anymore, then it is only subjected to the influence of its own capacity of calling attention. The processe may lead to another avalanche or to a stagnation.

Sorry if this post is in the wrong place. In certain aspects, I find the subject similar to the ones treated in cathastrophe theory, being thus classical physics.

Best wishes and I hope this post suffers several avalanches... |: )

 

[Bystander]

Ten views per post was an average up to a year or so ago when I stopped paying attention; dead thread at 3-4 pages (40-60) posts was another --- exceptions for phil. and GD where there are plenty of "gapers" and graffiti contests.

10 views? "Why is there air?" questions, non sequiturs, and the odd mental case trolling for Heaven's Gate survivors, space aliens, and Elvis. 100 views? 10 replies, less than a page, covers straightforward questions and answers. 1k? 100 posts, 6-7 pages, people wandering off topic, arguments, flame or two. 10k? Train wreck.

 

[Mk]

Thread killers thread is all of them!