Doesn’t have to be SDMB specific, but would you not consider reading a thread if you thought it was too long?
For me, I won’t open or contribute to most threads over two pages if I haven’t already been reading and/or contributing prior. The main exception would be if it’s a simple poll. ‘What’s your favorite episode of Star Trek?’ or What time do you eat dinner?’ Those types of threads don’t require me to read all the responses.
No thread is too long for me.
If a thread is longer than 2 pages, I’ll just skip to the last 10 or 15 posts to get an idea of where the conversation is currently at and jump in from there.
It depends. If I can make it through the first 50 posts then I’ll usually just jump to the last page and maybe back up to the second to last page if there is an interesting conversation that bridges them.
Most of the time if there is a long thread I haven’t read its because I have no interest in the thread title and mouseover. I rarely make it through the first page without getting bored and moving on. Other times I already read it when it was short and never cared enough to check back and I’m curious how people are still talking about the topic.
Depends on the forum. I’ll read page after page about movies (strange, 'cause I never go to them) and music, but Debates and GQ tap out for me pretty quick. Everything I’d want to say has already been beaten to death.
But I also have a lot of time on my hands, so there is that, too.
Depends slightly. If I read the first two pages of say 8 and want to add my two cents without investing more time, I will do so. But I preface the post with the admission “I have not read each and every post but …”.
3 pages for me. Usually at that point it’s devolved to a few who are doggedly arguing a point back and forth and won’t give in. If I post I try to read the entire thread no matter the length though.
Also, really large walls-o-text are usually skipped.
When there’s a really long thread I think ‘wow, a lot of people are interested in that. I wonder what’s going on?’ And I’ll usually try the first page or two and the last page or two. Based on that I’ll decide whether I want to read the middle.
Interesting subject and I read for pages and pages. I even go into old zombie threads and read.
Two paragraphs would be max for a “new thread.” But if it’s one I started or one
I’ve been involved in from the beginning, length is not an issue.
I won’t even read a long first post!
Someone may have said this already (I haven’t read the whole thread) but I typically read the last page or so to get a flavor of what’s happening.
About as long as …nm
Once it’s gone past page 1 I give up, because I can’t be arsed reading them all to see if someone else has already made the same point I was going to. Especially if the contributions are overlong.
If the thread is already 4 pages or longer by the time I arrive, I’ll probably only participate if it’s an extremely interesting thing, or I’ll just reply to those on the last page.
I’m much the same. If it’s an interesting topic, I’ll read the whole thing, even old threads. Mind you, that’s not that often. However, the “know the genitals” thread sure was interesting.
One page. Or 14 replies, whichever comes last.
One thing that makes threads too long is that people just have to post something but they don’t want to bother to even read the whole thread. They usually end up just repeating something that somebody else already said, and the thread becomes repetitive and annoying.
I always read the entire thread before I post. If I have a point to make in response to something, I might skim the remainder of the thread so I can post, but I’ll always look at all of the comments.
Ultimately, though, I read far more than I post. But I’ve never realized that a thread could be too long to participate.
On long threads like - What book are you reading, what is your favorite vegetable, what color is your car, and so on - I wonder if people really pay attention to individual posts after a certain number. Or does it just end up with a list of books, vegetables and colors?