# Finish reading the dang thread before you post in it **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 31, 2024, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-reading-the-dang-thread-before-you-post-in-it/1006521 "2024-08-31T18:05:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2024, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-reading-the-dang-thread-before-you-post-in-it/1006521/1 "2024-08-31T18:05:00Z")
Time and time again, someone pops into a thread to respond to either the OP or some other post. But most of the time when they haven’t read to the end of the thread, the thing they’re responding to has already been answered, usually many times over. The trouble is (besides making it tedious for everyone having to read _yet another_ repeat of the same answer) often the OP had a contentious question which was pretty much resolved, and everyone is satisfied. Then someone pops in and starts to rehash the entire thing in all their raging glory, and people start arguing for another few hundred posts. And then sometimes the person, who then realizes their issue was already dealt with days earlier, will say “Oops, ninja-ed!” No, ninja-ed is when someone slips something in while you’re busy composing your posting, not 4 days earlier, which would get any ninja fired. Posters must say to themselves, “I know it may have already been stated, but I have my own take on it which is so much better than the posts I haven’t bothered to read and I should be able to post whatever I want since I have a busy life and haven’t gotten back here for a few days and now I’m catching up”. Yeah, but realize that you’re not posting for other people then, you’re posting for yourself. Even near the end of a thread, finish reading all of it before jumping in. This just happened at the end of a contentious thread where the OP had just posted that he finally got it, and then someone jumped in quoting an earlier post before he “got” it, and rehashed it all. I know, sometimes it’s virtually impossible to avoid doing. “I haven’t had a chance to read all 9,990 posts, but I wanted to add…”. ← This is the way to do it. It happens to all of us, and you’re acknowledging that you may be repeating something. The same posters are always doing this. It’s almost a joke that when I see them enter late in a thread I know exactly what they’re going to do. Example: a poster posted about her very very sick mother who it appeared was going to die. Then she had an surprise recovery. A week or so later someone comes in to tell her how sorry she is over the death of her mother. She was responding to the very first post. And she didn’t even follow it up with “Oh, I just saw that she’s okay” so probably didn’t get any further than that. Am I the only one this bugs? ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2024, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-reading-the-dang-thread-before-you-post-in-it/1006521/2 "2024-08-31T18:27:48Z")
I confess to not always reading the whole thread before I post. And now I am going to attempt to justify it: some threads get very long, so if I have read 20 posts in a 100-post thread and feel I have something to say, I will scroll down and read the last 10 or so posts (these numbers are completely made up illustrative examples) to see where the discussion has gotten to. Then I decide if my post might be relevant and useful. I think this technique satisfies most of your complaints expressed here. This does not apply to list threads, _a la_ “Name three movies you hate,” as repetitiveness is endemic in those threads and don’t really hurt anything. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2024, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-reading-the-dang-thread-before-you-post-in-it/1006521/3 "2024-08-31T18:35:58Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > …I will scroll down and read the last 10 or so posts (these numbers are completely made up illustrative examples) to see where the discussion has gotten to. I think this is the key. If a thread is thousands of posts long it is unreasonable to expect someone to have read them all. But, at least, read the last dozen or so to get a sense of where it is at that moment (I admit I have been lazy sometimes with even that but I usually do it). ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2024, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-reading-the-dang-thread-before-you-post-in-it/1006521/4 "2024-08-31T18:37:22Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > if I have read 20 posts in a 100-post thread and feel I have something to say, I will scroll down and read the last 10 or so posts (these numbers are completely made up illustrative examples) to see where the discussion has gotten to. Then I decide if my post might be relevant and useful. That seems like a very reasonable approach. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2024, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-reading-the-dang-thread-before-you-post-in-it/1006521/5 "2024-08-31T18:41:05Z")
Lets not leave out the ones that read the thread, but believe the answer doesn’t count unless _they_ say it. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2024, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-reading-the-dang-thread-before-you-post-in-it/1006521/6 "2024-08-31T18:42:53Z")
Lots of posters don’t even read past the thread title, giving answers explicitly excluded in the body of the post. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2024, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-reading-the-dang-thread-before-you-post-in-it/1006521/7 "2024-08-31T18:43:26Z")
I usually post at the beginning of my reply: _“Disclaimer: I did not read the whole thread.”_ Also, I hit the “reply” button on the Original Post, so at least the notification will go to the Original Poster. It’s a bit aggravating, but when threads get really long, it’s impossible to avoid completely. > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Lots of posters don’t even read past the thread title, giving answers explicitly excluded in the body of the post. Yeah, that IS really annoying. In my “Moved to The Home” thread, I ask people _in the subject line_ to at least read the first few posts if they’re arriving late to the party. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2024, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-reading-the-dang-thread-before-you-post-in-it/1006521/8 "2024-08-31T18:44:01Z")
TL, DR: Everything is already said, but not yet by everyone. Sounds like many a conference I had to attend. > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Also, I hit the “reply” button on the Original Post, so at least the notification will go to the Original Poster. Is this really necessary? When I start a thread I get a notification every time someone posts, whether it is a direct answer to me or to someone else. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2024, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-reading-the-dang-thread-before-you-post-in-it/1006521/9 "2024-08-31T18:59:21Z")
It probably isn’t necessary, but I like the tidiness of it. My sense of symmetry drives me to do a bunch of things that probably aren’t _really_ necessary. Such things brighten up my drab life. And yes, you’ll get a notification anytime someone replies directly to a post of yours or posts your username inside of a message with the “@,” thusly: @Pardel-Lux. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2024, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-reading-the-dang-thread-before-you-post-in-it/1006521/10 "2024-08-31T19:00:49Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Lets not leave out the ones that read the thread, but believe the answer doesn’t count unless _they_ say it.  Right! ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2024, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-reading-the-dang-thread-before-you-post-in-it/1006521/11 "2024-08-31T19:03:22Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I usually post at the beginning of my reply: _“Disclaimer: I did not read the whole thread.”_ That would be the 6th paragraph of the OP. 😀 (Just fooling with you) ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2024, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-reading-the-dang-thread-before-you-post-in-it/1006521/12 "2024-08-31T19:03:42Z")
Maybe people need to post in order to verify to themselves that they exist? If a thread exists and I don’t post in it, do I really exist? Or, if I post and no one replies, do I exist? “I post therefore I am.” This is too heavy for right now. I’m going to go take a nap. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2024, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-reading-the-dang-thread-before-you-post-in-it/1006521/13 "2024-08-31T19:03:45Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > The same posters are always doing this. It’s almost a joke that when I see them enter late in a thread I know exactly what they’re going to do. Am I on that list? Because I know I do this. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2024, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-reading-the-dang-thread-before-you-post-in-it/1006521/14 "2024-08-31T19:04:43Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Am I on that list? Not on my list. Haven’t noticed it with you. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2024, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-reading-the-dang-thread-before-you-post-in-it/1006521/15 "2024-08-31T19:04:51Z")
Just a tiny bit irksome, but someone in the Worst Actor thread complained about Nicholas Cage–without quoting my prior post nominating him. _My de riguer_ procedure in such Proper Noun threads is to do a search first, then piggyback on anyone who had already mentioned the moniker in question so. Nowhere near the level of annoyance in a long involved GD certainly, but I thought I deserved at least a tiny acknowledgement. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2024, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-reading-the-dang-thread-before-you-post-in-it/1006521/16 "2024-08-31T19:07:36Z")
Anyone prolific enough has done this once or twice. We all have lapses. There are a few who are constant offenders and should be moderated. Nothing anyone can say is so fucking important that they can’t take twenty seconds to read the OP or scan the rest of the replies. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2024, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-reading-the-dang-thread-before-you-post-in-it/1006521/17 "2024-08-31T19:10:02Z")
Now I’m paranoid that I’m a culprit. Gulp. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2024, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-reading-the-dang-thread-before-you-post-in-it/1006521/18 "2024-08-31T19:12:35Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > Now I’m paranoid that I’m a culprit. Gulp.   ::crickets:: Just kidding! ---
**Author:** ![colinfred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colinfred/32/21338_2.png) [@colinfred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colinfred)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2024, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-reading-the-dang-thread-before-you-post-in-it/1006521/19 "2024-08-31T19:17:28Z")
Whilst I definitely agree with the OP I’d also point out the annoying people in the other direction. Poster A posts something in post 26, but wasn’t very prominent or enticingly displayed. Poster B posts the same thing in post 43, but much more interesting and clear. Poster A or some other busybody then says “uh-um post 26”. If what post 26 wrote was so dull that people missed it, keep your big nose out if somebody presents it better. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2024, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-reading-the-dang-thread-before-you-post-in-it/1006521/20 "2024-08-31T19:20:07Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Nothing anyone can say is so fucking important that they can’t take twenty seconds to read the OP or scan the rest of the replies. Reading the OP? Yes. Reading the whole thread? Twenty seconds is unrealistic. The current top thread on the board is _“What is the point of abolishing abortion?”_ It was started yesterday. There are one hundred and nineteen responses already in the thread. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-reading-the-dang-thread-before-you-post-in-it/1006521.md?page=2)