Do you actually read people's posts?

[F. King Daniel]

Do you read them properly, or skim them? Do you ignore some altogether until you get to responses from your friends?

A few times now, there's been a thread where I've made a suggestion and been ignored. A few posts or maybe a page down, someone else says the exact same thing and everyone is awed at this guy's awesomeness, with "great idea!", "good call!", "You're a genius!", "I wish I'd thought of that!" and whatnot. It's silly, it doesn't upset me, but it annoys me. I'm tempted to post, "Yeah, well fuck you too!"

 

[Holdfast]

I skim read. If something catches my eye, I read further.

I doubt anyone's deliberately snubbing you; it's just that someone happened to skip over what you wrote but someone else happened to write it in a way that caught the eye. Happens to us all at times. Deep breaths...

 

[CaptainStoner]

Do you read them properly, or skim them? Do you ignore some altogether until you get to responses from your friends?

A few times now, there's been a thread where I've made a suggestion and been ignored. A few posts or maybe a page down, someone else says the exact same thing and everyone is awed at this guy's awesomeness, with "great idea!", "good call!", "You're a genius!", "I wish I'd thought of that!" and whatnot. It's silly, it doesn't upset me, but it annoys me. I'm tempted to post, "Yeah, well fuck you too!"

That's happened to me from time to time also. Personally, I usually read the last couple pages, and skim the previous pages. Some people get more "locked in" to conversing with only a few posters than others. I try not to do that, but there is a natural tendency, especially if they're wound into a debate war.
I have found it helps to quote people in your posts.
With the vastly disproportionate viewing/posting ratio, though, there's a good chance that someone is reading everything you write....

 

[star]

Depends on the topic. I either skim or read. It's no big deal if I get skipped. My post count goes up whether or not someone replies.

 

[Holdfast]

I try not to do that, but there is a natural tendency, especially if they're wound into a debate war.

So true.

As soon as two or three people get involved in a heated (and usually inane) argument, I instantly start skipping past everything they write in that thread. If they take over the thread, I stop reading the thread entirely. Internet arguments are really, really boring to everyone who isn't an active participant. In fact, getting bored reading the nonsense is why I stopped being a Misc mod last year or whenever it was.

 

[PlainSimpleJoel]

Basically for me it depends on the topic. Sometimes I skim and other times I read.

 

[RoJoHen]

It depends on the topic, the length of a post, and the person doing the posting. Some posters I pretty much ignore altogether, and unless I'm really interested in the topic, I usually skim anything longer than a couple paragraphs.

 

[Goliath]

I do read people's posts most of the time. But I'm finding that my patience with internet argument is wearing increasingly thin as the years go by.

 

[Kestra]

I'll skim and then decide if I want to read it all or not. Sometimes I deliberately avoid reading posts or specifically read the post based on who posted it.

 

[Amaris]

Yeah, sure, pie is good, if you bake it right.

 

[RoJoHen]

Yeah, sure, pie is good, if you bake it right.

Mmmm...I'm eating pumpkin pie right now. It's delicious.

 

[Holdfast]

Yeah, sure, pie is good, if you bake it right.

I was wondering when someone would be along to make a gag along these lines, but also wondered how they'd make it fresh rather than a hackneyed "did someone say something" type of line. I think the secret was using the word "pie", which is somehow always funny.

Well done for eliciting a genuine laugh out loud chuckle.

 

[Canadave]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned how annoying it is to post something, get ignored, and then have someone later in the thread come up with the same idea and get responses like "Good idea!" and "I wish I'd thought of that!"

 

[RoJoHen]

Yeah, I do find that incredibly annoying.

 

[RandyS]

Depends on the subject. If I want to follow the thread, and actually contribute to it, then I read the whole thing, if not, then I skim, and maybe make a light comment.

As for anything I post, I'm ignored roughly 95% of the time, but I don't let it bother me. hell, I could quit coming here altogether, and I doubt any of you would notice.

 

[Captain_Nick]

No

 

[Amaris]

Yeah, sure, pie is good, if you bake it right.

Mmmm...I'm eating pumpkin pie right now. It's delicious.

Pie is delicious.

Yeah, sure, pie is good, if you bake it right.

I was wondering when someone would be along to make a gag along these lines, but also wondered how they'd make it fresh rather than a hackneyed "did someone say something" type of line. I think the secret was using the word "pie", which is somehow always funny.

Well done for eliciting a genuine laugh out loud chuckle.

You're welcome, sir. It's all in the delivery.

 

[Kestra]

I think a lot of people think their posts go unread simply because they're not commented on.

 

[Captain_Nick]

No

I agree

 

[Lord Garth]

Depends.

When I was a mod, I used to skim the threads because I had to read them whether I wanted to or not, and skimmed for what looked out of line, then would actually read said post more closely.

In other situations, if the thread is filled with responses that are unique and interesting, I love reading all the replies. If the thread is a tired topic filled with combative posters who are rehashing what they've already said a million times, I know who's going to post in the threads, exactly what they'll say, and come to within a dime's accuracy of my guess, then I'm far more likely to skim.