# Do you feel uncomfortable about contributing to your own thread after the OP? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 6, 2007, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-uncomfortable-about-contributing-to-your-own-thread-after-the-op/410688 "2007-07-06T03:07:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-uncomfortable-about-contributing-to-your-own-thread-after-the-op/410688/21 "2007-07-06T15:02:53Z")
I’m with **Soul** - making an OP is an invitation to start a conversation. I won’t respond to every post, but I will comment on points I think are important, and answer further questions that come up to the best of my ability. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-uncomfortable-about-contributing-to-your-own-thread-after-the-op/410688/22 "2007-07-06T15:07:14Z")
I’m more afraid of killing my own thread that just posting to it. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-uncomfortable-about-contributing-to-your-own-thread-after-the-op/410688/23 "2007-07-06T15:10:29Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] And then my brain goes: “Oh, crap, I left \*\*twickster \*\*out. Is she going to be hurt? …” [/QUOTE] Yes. ☹ 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-uncomfortable-about-contributing-to-your-own-thread-after-the-op/410688/24 "2007-07-06T15:18:06Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] **Dewey Finn** - Every single one? That’s the problem I’m having. When can I stop? What about those GD’s or GQ’s I start that take off way over my head? I try to keep up, but there are a few which I’ve just gotten lost on when the experts weigh in and start arguing. [/QUOTE] I think it’s enough to post something like, “Thanks for all the replies. That was helpful.” In other words, a generic acknowledgment, not a specific one for each reply. I just hate being left hanging. ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-uncomfortable-about-contributing-to-your-own-thread-after-the-op/410688/25 "2007-07-06T15:30:08Z")
Yes, and this is why I don’t start threads anymore. I get nervous after I post to a thread, and most of the ones I start sink like a stone. I worry people think I am aloof or elite and I am neither. I am insecure around most people but I tend to hide it well. Or at least I think I do. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-uncomfortable-about-contributing-to-your-own-thread-after-the-op/410688/26 "2007-07-06T16:47:49Z")
Depends on the forum a bit. In GQ, your OP is usually a thesis that you’re more or less obliged, by the rules of the game, to defend. In MPSIMS, not so much. I do feel like you should participate, in the sense that if the thread was interesting enough to you for you to start it in the first place, then you should have some interest in continuing to contribute. But at some point, there is definitely a line you can cross, where you’re giving artificial respiration to a thread that would die without your intervention. Of course, nobody knows exactly where that line is… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-uncomfortable-about-contributing-to-your-own-thread-after-the-op/410688.md?page=1)