# How often do you decide that what you're posting isn't really worth it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 16, 2006, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-decide-that-what-youre-posting-isnt-really-worth-it/356942 "2006-05-16T06:19:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sevastopol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Sevastopol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevastopol)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2006, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-decide-that-what-youre-posting-isnt-really-worth-it/356942/41 "2006-05-16T18:54:41Z")
3 times today, nearly 4. In the threads I thought I could not match the: brevity; care; or accuracy already shown. If I can do it for one of those 3 qualities I’m good to go, otherwise nevermind. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2006, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-decide-that-what-youre-posting-isnt-really-worth-it/356942/42 "2006-05-16T19:05:17Z")
> [@](#): > > And he put a chicken in every pot. (Hoover, (or a Republican ad man during Hoover’s campaign), not T.R.) ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2006, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-decide-that-what-youre-posting-isnt-really-worth-it/356942/43 "2006-05-16T19:17:54Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > (Hoover, (or a Republican ad man during Hoover’s campaign), not T.R.) You correct that, but not the Bi-focal glasses or the Yucatan? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_the_turtle/32/2926_2.png) [@Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_the_Turtle)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2006, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-decide-that-what-youre-posting-isnt-really-worth-it/356942/44 "2006-05-16T19:25:52Z")
Luckily(?) for me, being the laziest man on the planet, I usually kill a reply in my head before I start typing. If I take the time to type something up, it’s getting posted dammit. Usually I think of something I may want to contribute, but by the time I’ve read thru all the replies (I won’t post w/out reading the entire thread) - I’m exhausted and don’t feel like typing 🙂 (you can see from my post count this happens quite often). Or whatever I’m thinking has already been said (and usually more eloquently) or no longer needs to be said. I am trying to force myself to be more active, tho. Only once or twice have I typed something up then thought “this doesn’t really anser the OP’s question” or “that’s not what the OP was asking”. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2006, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-decide-that-what-youre-posting-isnt-really-worth-it/356942/45 "2006-05-16T19:56:39Z")
> [@vetbridge](#): > > 😃 Thank you for that. You’re welcome. 🙂 It’s not original. If it was, I’d be posting more often. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2006, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-decide-that-what-youre-posting-isnt-really-worth-it/356942/46 "2006-05-16T20:35:46Z")
… ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2006, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-decide-that-what-youre-posting-isnt-really-worth-it/356942/47 "2006-05-16T21:06:03Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > (Hoover, (or a Republican ad man during Hoover’s campaign), not T.R.) Hoover you say? Well at least he stopped the buck. ---
**Author:** ![What\_s\_That\_Smell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3bc359/32.png) [@What\_s\_That\_Smell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_s_That_Smell)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2006, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-decide-that-what-youre-posting-isnt-really-worth-it/356942/48 "2006-05-16T21:20:25Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > More often than not – probably half. [NITPICK] If it’s “more often than not”, wouldn’t that be **more** than half? [/NITPICK] ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2006, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-decide-that-what-youre-posting-isnt-really-worth-it/356942/49 "2006-05-16T22:03:47Z")
> [@What Exit?](#): > > You correct that, but not the Bi-focal glasses or the Yucatan? 😉 Someone might have thought that was the one true statement in your set. (I’m pretty sure that most people know that Benjamin Franklin was the president who conquered the Yucatan.) ---
**Author:** ![Amaranta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Amaranta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amaranta)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2006, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-decide-that-what-youre-posting-isnt-really-worth-it/356942/50 "2006-05-16T22:11:43Z")
I kill probably 75% of posts I start. I get so annoyed by people who post simply to “LOL!” or “You owe me a new keyboard” or “You meant this, not this, and this posts adds nothing to the thread” or “Here’s an anecdote that makes me look good, though it’s barely even appropriate to the thread”. So, I’d never want to be one of those people that annoys people like me. So yah, about 3/4 of the posts or threads I write never get posted. At another board I read, people often end a post with [/npan], or “New post, adds nothing”. What the hell? I assumed that the “nose-coffee!! band name!!” type posters didn’t realise they were adding nothing. I find it so odd that people would admit, right there, at the bottom of their post, how useless it is. Why post it? ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2006, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-decide-that-what-youre-posting-isnt-really-worth-it/356942/51 "2006-05-16T22:18:01Z")
Just think of all the bad jokes people are about to write for this thread, only to give up. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2006, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-decide-that-what-youre-posting-isnt-really-worth-it/356942/52 "2006-05-16T22:18:54Z")
I probably abort about 1 post for every 3 I submit. I’m kind of encouraged to see a lot of other folks do this too: an internal filter saves everyone else’s external filter a little bit of time. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2006, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-decide-that-what-youre-posting-isnt-really-worth-it/356942/53 "2006-05-16T22:25:14Z")
> [@What's That Smell?](#): > > [NITPICK] If it’s “more often than not”, wouldn’t that be **more** than half? [/NITPICK] Uh, yeah. I knew I should have put more thought in that post. See? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2006, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-decide-that-what-youre-posting-isnt-really-worth-it/356942/54 "2006-05-16T23:57:11Z")
Hmm! By the time I want to put in my 2 cents other dopers have already said what I wanted to say and said it \* better \*. What could I add that would improve it? Usually nothing. Hey, that’s why I’m a charter member, March 1999, Number 39 fercryingoutloud and my post count is so pathetic. ---
**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-decide-that-what-youre-posting-isnt-really-worth-it/356942/55 "2006-05-17T00:34:41Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > More and more. I read something and it pisses me off or I know it’s flat out wrong, but then I say to myself–do you really want to go there? Do you want to enter the fray and have to defend your remarks and :rolleyes: cite every syllable :rolleyes: ? Sometimes I think the SDMB defines picayune obsessiveness. > > Most times it’s no, I don’t. I have slowed my posting down considerably, but I still enjoy the light banter and fun stuff here. > > Nothing drives me battier than when an OP states something about blue and someone else comes in and says “you didn’t/shouldn’t include royal blue”. And then a few other posters comment that “blue” means all blues or that OP meant only sky blue and we’re off on the Tangential, Irrelevant Express (again!). > > Oops-now I’m OT. Damn. > but yes, often now, I don’t contribute. I’ll second this. Back in my newbie days on this board, I’d get sucked into some heated argument over absolutely nothing with some Lithium case or other who was even more obsessive than me. The arguments went on for pages and we got absolutely nowhere. All they did was raise my blood pressure over some stupid thing I didn’t even really care about to begin with. I’ve learned not to join an argument unless I know and like the person I’m arguing with, or if I really care about the debate. It’s not just about the aggravation. I’ve seen more than one poster here flip out over something stupid like movie remakes or World of Warcraft and get suspended or banned while I just read the posts and say to myself “Let it _go_, already!!” I like my posting privileges too much to lose them over something stupid like this. So before I post in a debate, I take a deep breath, count to ten, and ask myself if this is worth the time and effort I could be spending posting with friends, chilling with **Mrs. Fresh** or just noodling on the computer in general. I kill about a quarter of my threads after asking myself that question. ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-decide-that-what-youre-posting-isnt-really-worth-it/356942/56 "2006-05-17T01:59:44Z")
Most of the threads I end up really getting into are really long anyway so I have nothing new to offer. I kind of hold off posting a lot because I find 80% of the time my reply is just skipped over and the rest of the conversation diverts around it, so I take that as a hint. :o ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-decide-that-what-youre-posting-isnt-really-worth-it/356942/57 "2006-05-17T03:42:54Z")
Every single time. Except this one. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-decide-that-what-youre-posting-isnt-really-worth-it/356942/58 "2006-05-17T05:05:08Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > … We cannot say too little on this subject. :wally I’d estimate that out of every four times I click to reply, the tab gets closed once without anything being posted. Usually, it’s because I decide that the stuff I’m typing (or about to type) won’t contribute anything useful to the thread. Obviously, this is less common for poll-type threads, since (almost) every data point adds at least some information to a poll. I almost never start a new thread, but it’s not because I reconsider the posting. I just don’t have the impulse to start one very often. I think I may have started about six threads, total, on these boards, over the course of more than 6 years. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-decide-that-what-youre-posting-isnt-really-worth-it/356942/59 "2006-05-17T20:51:20Z")
[QUOTE=garygnu] Just think of all the bad jokes people are about to write for this thread, only to give up. [/QUOTE] I briefly considered not creating this thread and simply basking in the philosophical irony. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-decide-that-what-youre-posting-isnt-really-worth-it/356942/60 "2006-05-17T21:20:36Z")
[QUOTE=Amaranta] I get so annoyed by people who post simply to “LOL!” or “You owe me a new keyboard” [/QUOTE] Years ago, before broadband, on The Well they called this “me too.” [QUOTE=tomndebb] Someone might have thought that was the one true statement in your set. (I’m pretty sure that most people know that Benjamin Franklin was the president who conquered the Yucatan.) [/QUOTE] Actually, he was VICE-President when we conquered the Yucatan. After that he invented the stapler, so they put him on the fifty-dollar bill. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-decide-that-what-youre-posting-isnt-really-worth-it/356942.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-decide-that-what-youre-posting-isnt-really-worth-it/356942.md?page=4)