Do you cringe at old posts you've made? I do

In My Humble Opinion
1

Was just looking through my old posts since I logged back in for the first time in a while, and…GOD why was I like that?

NOTE: Things in quotations are things that I have said, not a vendetta against anyone else. Only myself.

Some of my examples:

  • “Umm, as someone from Wisconsin…” “I’m from Wisconsin, so…” :nerd_face: :nerd_face:
    Dude, no one cares you’re from Wisconsin!! Just make your damn point!!

  • My general hatred towards Christianity after I fell off of it. “Uhh because Christianity has NO proof but ATHEISM DOES :nerd_face:” IMO, neither have enough for me to fully believe either and honestly, I didn’t look any smarter for saying those things. I’m more agnostic nowadays than anything.

  • Generally trying to pretend to know what I’m talking about. Spoilers: I am not the sharpest pencil on the school supply list, but I’m trying to learn, alright?

Just a few things I could think of from what I remember from looking through my post history. Would love to see some other examples from anyone else here. :wink:

2

In the future, you’ll cringe at THIS post.

3

Very true. Guess it’s just part of growing as a person :man_shrugging:

4

I can think of a couple off the top of my head that I’d find cringy, so I’m sure there are others. A good reason not to go back and read old posts, and I can’t think of any reasons to outweigh it.

5

Plenty of them. But it’s to be expected because I’m insane.

6

No, because I do not read them again. I don’t read anybody else’s posts twice either.

7

Both ways, usually in the context of zombie threads.

Some are cringe but I’ve caught a few thinking “hey, that’s a well written, insightful, thoughful post” only to find I wrote it and then think “you’re getting old, forgetful, and can’t write that well anymore”

8

I think about this a lot…

9

I have read old threads and come across a post that made me think “what a pretentious asshole, who is this?” Then I see my own nom de plume.

10

Oh, sure. Way back when I was new here some 20 years ago, I posted a joke thread about identifying a song. The mods took it as trolling and I got a warning, etc. The thread wasn’t the cringe part, it was my response to the warning which was along the lines of “Oh yeah, I’m really frightened of some anonymous internet person.” :roll_eyes: I’m really glad that someone didn’t say ‘don’t let the door hit you in the ass’ and ban me, as I’ve enjoyed this place a lot over the years.

11

I love it when someone resurrects a zombie thread, if it’s on an interesting topic. A couple of times, reading one from the start, I’ll think “Hahaha, that’s actually a good point, made with some humor. I wonder who… oh… that was me?”

Then I’ll think “Damn, I’m good. But my memory sure isn’t.”

12

Hey, if the point of your post is relevant to you being from Wisconsin, I don’t see what’s cringey about that. I once posted a few years back asking about vacation ideas for my family and me in the great state of Wisconsin. You may have posted in that very thread. In that case knowing “I’m from Wisconsin, so…” is something I would care very much about.

RE: the general question…I often cringe at posts I just made earlier the same day :roll_eyes:

13

My university turned off its internal chat boards almost twenty years ago, but I can still access the archives from over 30 years ago.

I identified as a socially liberal, fiscal conservative in those days, but boy was I an idiot.

14

I haven’t made many posts that I cringe at, even going back to the beginning. My political opinions have changed quite a bit in more than a decade, but whatever. I have made a few posts that got mod notes that I wish I could have back, that’s about it.

15

I think this thread will have a more productive life in IMHO than in the Pit.

16

Well, as a just over two year member, I have a lot less to worry about, but yes. I had a thread that was … ill-conceived, panicky, and just plain dumb. The only excuse I had was that it was in the lead up to the prior election, and my concerns, while excessive (as was the suggested solution) were not, in a post January 6 world, unjustifiable.

Oh, and that dumb time when I was super frustrated and less familiar with the boards as a poster rather than a lurker, when I said in a non-Pit forum I was going to ignore some people (who were not arguing in good faith) and got noted for it.

Which is not a complaint at moderation, I felt lucky to have pulled a note rather than an earned warning for it, but the mods probably took pity on my newbishness.

17

All I have to do is look at the timestamp of when I posted. Anything after 5pm, yep, I was drinkin.

These days, I delete about 75% before hitting Reply. Ain’t nobody wanna hear my shit!

18

Yeah, it’s a bit different for a 2 or 5 year old post vs going back to a 15 or 20 year old post and realizing “hey, that was me” and feeling embarrassed or inordinately proud

19

Yes, definitely. They usually fall into two unrelated categories:

  1. Why did I make that stupid, obvious joke? No one found that funny.
  2. How did I not catch that glaring typo?
20

I looked at my first post and, hmm, looks like something I could have posted today. Even though it was almost 13 years ago.

Interesting to look back at my old posts, I didn’t really become active until 2015. My first post was in 2009, and then I posted again in 2010 (both were responses to Cecil articles, as for years I read the Straight Dope but wasn’t all that interested in the SDMB). Then a random reply in 2014 to Johnny_LA about Spam and sushi in Cafe Society. And that was it until 2015, when I started posting multiple times a day. Mostly I read the articles, then was a board lurker somewhat (General Questions was my first draw, since they were like community-driven Straight Dope articles).

I don’t think I’ve changed much at all, looking at my old posts. I’m pretty boring. :stuck_out_tongue: