Hell, I’ve taken up to a half-hour to post a reply… and then decide to never post it.
Feeling bad about not replying to a thread? Am I expected to get mad, then, at all the people who don’t respond to my OP’s?
of Views - # of Posts = # of people who do not feel bad doing it.
Can’t for the life of me think why anyone would feel bad. Unless you totally knew the exact answer the OP needed an just left with an evil laugh. . .
I will also validate your existence by acknowledging that you have entered text into a box on a message board.
What wonderful responses!
I’d like to particularly thank those that noted that they would not normally respond to such a thread but did so just so that I could see.
I guess the bad feeling I am talking about is feeling bad for the person that is seeking answers but only 4 people have responded. I don’t feel as bad when it is a tricky subject, perhaps about something quite specific, because obviously it is only targeting a small number of people.
By writing a response, both of our existences are, again, validated and complete.
However, I may not be the one typing this. How would you, or anyone, know?
yes i do. i’ll stoop to cracking a joke, even a pun, just to avoid that agony.
I only respond to threads that I would normally never think of responding to, and do it out of spite to the OP.
Yes. I lose sleep over it. The stress of every unanswered thread causes me great discomfort; usually in the form of terrible rashes from all the fretting I do. Please forgive me, dopers.
Oh c’mon, it’s a better response than just agreeing with everyone.
No,FAL01, I never feel bad. If I started feeling bad logging on to SD, I would stop doing so. I come here to laugh and learn, and I am rarely disappointed. And, although I would like to contribute more often, I simply don’t have the time, or it has all been said already. I mean, how often can one type - “This.” (?)
A lot of times when a thread only gets three or four responses it’s because someone has answered quite succinctly and no further work is left to be done. 
Post less, read more, is my philosophy. You want to keep the signal to noise ratio at a reasonable level. OP, there is absolutely no expectation whatsoever that you respond to all the threads that you read. In fact, the opposite is closer to the ideal. Basically, post if you actually have something to say.
Heck, I suppose this post wasn’t actually necessary, either, come to think of it. Feel free to skip past it.
It frankly never occurred to me to feel bad. I’m still not sure why I “should.”
I hesitate to put words in the OP’s mouth (or on the screen) but a glance at his (or her) profile indicates Join Date 07-03-2013 and Total Posts 31. I get the impression that the OP is trying to learn how not to be a pest, while still contributing in a meaningful way to the welfare of the board. It’s commendable for a newcomer to ask first before shitting on every thread with whatever pops into the mind.
I wish you good luck and good times, FAL01! 
That would be like reading someones mind, before they spoke. So yes.
I guess it’s somewhat poor form on a forum, but sometimes the person will ask a question that one could easily find on internet. If the first four people have nailed it and a quick search can cover the rest, then it doesn’t always make sense to respond.
That said, it also depends on the nature of the question or topic. Sometimes it has a good bit of depth to it and a person will absolutely nail a response. In those times, and in the absence of a voting system, I’m fine with posting to say I agree, because I want to emphasize the persons contribution.
For this very reason, some boards have a separate “+” or “thumbs up” button so you can agree without having to take up space with a reply window that just says “yup.”
Of course, in theory it’s also also possible to simply agree in silence, without having to announce it.
I usually don’t feel bad because I don’t have anything intelligent to add to the discussion. I started a thread last week with what I considered to be a legitimate question about a contestant’s expected value in Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? that was viewed by hundreds of dopers and no one responded although I’m sure at least one of them were enough of a math wiz to provide a helpful answer.
The only time I’d feel bad would be responding because I thought I had to, yet having nothing to say.
This might be classified as a digression, but it is peripherally related:
IRL sometimes people feel compelled to offer an opinion or suggestion when they possibly even KNOW in their heart of hearts that they have nothing worthwhile to say but think the OP might feel neglected if they don’t say something “helpful.”
Case in point: I do a lot of design work for a small non-profit: newsletters, brochures, promotional pieces, flyers, event invitations, ads for the local papers, bookmarks/prayer cards (it’s a Catholic organization), and the like. My direct supervisor/contact with the organization shows these things to the appropriate parties for corrections (date, place, time, etc.), and OFTEN there are no corrections, so the viewing parties say stuff like, “I think it should be a different color,” or “Add some photos,” or something else when the piece is on a deadline and it’s truly perfectly fine as it is. The Exec or someone has already approved the design itself in the early stages. But it’s like people feel that if you ASK them something, then they have to come up with something. That somehow they’re shirking if they don’t make some dumb-ass suggestion. If they say, “It’s great-- no changes needed!” it seems to feel to them like they’re being lazy. God help me if it’s a nun who says that, as no one seems to be able to say *no *to nuns.
[/digression but related to the point, “Do you say something/post even when you don’t have anything significant to add?”]
Carry on.
ETA. Actually, this kind of speaks to my point:
The people who offer dumb suggestions just to hear the sound of their own voices should feel bad. Especially if they know they’re doing it.
I have started several threads that I thought would kick off interesting discussions and they got zero replies. Interesting how one can’t predict what will light a fire on the SDMB. Actually, one can predict what WILL light a fire. Interesting how one can’t predict what WON’T light a fire.
I can relate to that! I’m relatively proud of how few of the threads I have started have gotten zero replies, but it’s still disheartening when I just knew this idea was the thing of the day. If I get more than 2 replies, I’m usually content that it wasn’t a total bust.
But, to be Devil’s Advocate for a moment, I have always had the hope that I could start a thread with a topic so appealing and post-worthy that it could climb to the heights of something like Favorite “Far Side” Memories (MAD, too) which has had the added value of being a zombie that’s still getting fresh posts.
But it’s purely a matter of something like zeitgeist or at least a mini-zeitgeist of this board at this time.