TOTW: what makes a good totw (in your humble opinion)?

I personally don't take explicit participation in totw threads as a sign of either success or failure. There have been too many thoughtful and provocative topics raised over the years--topics that got little to no engagement--and by too many people, to think that explicit, written responses are the best, much less only, measure of success. That's not even talking about other writings, like thread posts here and on other forums like antipolitics.net (long may it linger), etc.

But of course it's nice when a topic gets a conversation started here, where we can learn more about what we (singly and sometimes together) agree on and disagree on and how to talk about it and how not to talk about it (that last has many examples, obviously, but still...), and why some of us do things and/or don't do things.

So, in the interest of having us think about why we do/n't do things, what is your thought of what makes a good topic of the week, and for extra thinking, what makes a good post? Do you like a pithy short question, open to interpretation so you can take it where you want? Do you like a fleshed out question more likely to lead you to a place you might not have gotten to on your own? Do you not care what the comment thread includes, and just want to hear what the podcast conversants have to say about it? Is it more fun to respond to something when you're clear about what you think, or when you're trying to figure something out? What causes you to actually imagine or ponder how something would or has happened in your life, ie to apply it to your own experience?

Tags

• topic of the week
• reflection
• prompts
• passions and desires
• subjectivities
• you don't know me