Sometimes I come on here and I think, "Ooh! Nor'alf! That looks like a good thread, I should wager that thread will get many replies!" And then I come back to it a bit later and it's stalled at 2 or 3 posts. However, we look at other threads - my "Why do people hate Man Utd & Leeds?" thing - and it got quite a few. Yet the artistic merit of such a thread is minimal.

This isn't a simple case of populism vs artistic integrity, either, nor the quality of the poster him or herself. Something more is at work here. But what, I ask you? What, indeed?