Does anyone ever feel bad clicking on a thread but not responding?
In what situations do you respond?
Srsly ?
I read a thread for interest, which is not always fulfilled. There is no obligation to write unless it amuses me to do so. If I have nothing to say, it’s better to leave it alone. Sometimes I type a reply and just scrap it for various reasons. I only write if there’s something to write about.
Sometimes I do, but I figure if I don’t have much to contribute, the thread’s better off without me.
Feel bad? Never
When I am not duplicating another poster.
Even though I have nothing to add to this thread, I am responding out of respect to the OP. Please consider my post an acknowledgment of your thread and an indication that I read it.
Most of the time I just want to read the thread. I reply to about 1 in 10 I read and I never feel bad about it.
By the time I click on a thread, everything that needs to be said has already been said.
If I can get in before the first 3 or 4 posts I might have a point to make, otherwise I’m just parroting what’s already been said.
I’m not smart enough to have any original comments once the thread gets past about 8 posts. I’m not kidding. There are far too many sharp and intelligent people here for me to make a difference.
That’s not news: but that too is reality.
OP: Is that something like walking through a gift store looking at all the goodies there, without ever buying anything?
I respond if I feel I have something of value to add to the conversation whether it’s information, an anecdote relevant to the topic, or a hopefully humorous line. I will also sometimes comment if it’s been a while and the thread was started at an inopportune time and I want to buoy it back up where someone who knows something might be more likely to see it.
I’ll open a thread if it interests me. I’ll respond if I have something to contribute, which I’ll determine after reading the posts. If I have nothing to say, I’ll just move on, and not worry about it.
Like zoid, I probably respond to 1 in 10 threads that I open.
Leaffan, I’m with you on this one. To make it worse, I live in europe, and by the time I come across most threads, the North American posters are already 12-18 hours ahead or me.
I’m all about quality, not quantity.
…
I was going to do what Shakes just did, but he beat me to it.
That’s right. I was ninjaed by a three dot post.
I’m always afraid that the OP of a thread I open and don’t respond to will somehow know it’s me and decide to mock me or come to my house.
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Ha, I do the same thing.
And actually, I wasn’t going to post in this thread since I have the same opinion as the others, but then I felt there was a touch of irony behind it all.
This thread would have been so much better if nobody had replied at all.
If I don’t have anything to say, there is no point in just making something up to be heard. I am annoyed by people who do that. Sometimes a thread is an interesting read, but I do not have anything productive to add to the conversation. It would be pointless and a bit egotistical of me to respond just for responding’s sake. And yes, I did just make responding a noun. Whatchoo gonns do bout it ? 
I feel bad (for me) when I have a great answer to the thread title, click on it, and then find that the full OP goes in a dif direction.
I feel even worse when it goes slightly in a dif direction…and then I read the first few posts that take it way into a dif direction.