# How often do you ditch a reply to to a thread? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 11, 2008, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-ditch-a-reply-to-to-a-thread/437123 "2008-02-11T05:17:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Weaver\_of\_Nightmares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/73ab20/32.png) [@Weaver\_of\_Nightmares](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weaver_of_Nightmares)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2008, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-ditch-a-reply-to-to-a-thread/437123/41 "2008-02-11T15:34:03Z")
Depends on the post and the thread. I tend to ditch a lot of posts because I’m getting TMI about me and/or my relationship. That’s not something I want to drag around here, especially since my SO is also a Doper. ---
**Author:** ![Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophistry_and_Illusion)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2008, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-ditch-a-reply-to-to-a-thread/437123/42 "2008-02-11T15:35:02Z")
Gosh, I ditch posts pretty rarely–maybe once for every 7 or 8 times I post. I guess this means I’m an arrogant son of a bitch who thinks everything I write is worth reading. Hey, but who’s to say I’m wrong? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2008, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-ditch-a-reply-to-to-a-thread/437123/43 "2008-02-11T15:38:06Z")
I couldn’t guess as to the ratio, but I do it daily. Either I think better of something I was going to post in an ill-temper, or I realize a joke just isn’t that funny, or I realize that I’m not making sense even to me, or I decide it’s not interesting enough to be worth it, or I decide not to hijack a thread. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2008, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-ditch-a-reply-to-to-a-thread/437123/44 "2008-02-11T15:55:30Z")
(Deleted) ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2008, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-ditch-a-reply-to-to-a-thread/437123/45 "2008-02-11T15:58:22Z")
Very often. at least 2:1 on what I actually post. Sometimes it’s because I think “meh, no one wants to read that.” or because I’m repeating a point. Sometimes it’s just a stupid joke I was making and change my mind but often it’s because I can’t get out what I want to express. I’ll have this idea of what I want to say but it just won’t crystalize into words. (or at least into a string of words that make decent sense) As an example, I’ve thought of starting this same OP several times but just didn’t do it. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2008, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-ditch-a-reply-to-to-a-thread/437123/46 "2008-02-11T16:25:52Z")
Do you ever ditch a reply, then forget that you ditched it, and then when you come back to the thread you’re annoyed that nobody is responding to the reply you didn’t actually post? ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2008, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-ditch-a-reply-to-to-a-thread/437123/47 "2008-02-11T16:53:08Z")
I do it pretty often. I write and think, eh, who gives a shit? **Eleanor** , I do that _all the time_. ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2008, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-ditch-a-reply-to-to-a-thread/437123/48 "2008-02-11T16:56:28Z")
Not sure I’ve ever been mad that no one replied to a post I didn’t make, but I’ve certainly been irked because I can’t find my post so I know which posts were made after the post which I made (and then didn’t post). ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2008, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-ditch-a-reply-to-to-a-thread/437123/49 "2008-02-11T17:01:59Z")
I don’t know what my ratio is, but I do ditch a lot of posts. The usual reasons, I guess: it’s adding nothing, it’s adding only a little but is far too long and rambling to justify such a small addition, or somebody else has already said what I was going to (and usually better). ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2008, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-ditch-a-reply-to-to-a-thread/437123/50 "2008-02-11T17:02:50Z")
[QUOTE=Zsofia] I do it pretty often. I write and think, eh, who gives a shit? **Eleanor** , I do that _all the time_. [/QUOTE] I really thought it was only me! ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2008, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-ditch-a-reply-to-to-a-thread/437123/51 "2008-02-11T17:08:15Z")
I ditch about every other one. They have to pass the “Better to have people think you an ass and than to post and remove all doubt” test. I should prolly ditch more. I should prolly ditch this one. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2008, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-ditch-a-reply-to-to-a-thread/437123/52 "2008-02-11T18:49:01Z")
[QUOTE=Eleanor of Aquitaine] Do you ever ditch a reply, then forget that you ditched it, and then when you come back to the thread you’re annoyed that nobody is responding to the reply you didn’t actually post? [/QUOTE] Sometimes, I can’t remember if I posted or backed out. If you click on the number of replies, you get a little box listing all the posters. You’ll be on there, or not. I throw out a lot of stuff, often before I get fingers on keys. Sometimes, I go back to the OP, and I realize I’m answering a question not asked. Sometimes, I see I’m not posting anything useful. I do some joking, and I throw out a lot of that. Sometimes, it’s just lame. Sometimes, the thread is too serious to be joked. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2008, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-ditch-a-reply-to-to-a-thread/437123/53 "2008-02-11T19:19:48Z")
[QUOTE=AskNott] Sometimes, I can’t remember if I posted or backed out. If you click on the number of replies, you get a little box listing all the posters. You’ll be on there, or not. [/QUOTE] Well, that’s neat. I have never noticed that feature before. It makes me wonder what else I’m missing. ---
**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:** [February 11, 2008, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-ditch-a-reply-to-to-a-thread/437123/54 "2008-02-11T19:20:37Z")
It might be hard to believe for those that know me, but I dump about 1 in 5 or 1 in 6 posts. However, I still bookmark the thread and I often figure out later what I was trying to say and failed to in my original attempt. My problem is this self-filtering disappears late at night and many of my worst posts are ones I should not be making after midnight. **Giles** : whether intentional or not, that was funny. Jim ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2008, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-ditch-a-reply-to-to-a-thread/437123/55 "2008-02-11T19:53:03Z")
I do it often, probably 50% of the time. I’d love to see all the posts people start to make but don’t. A lot of the time they’re probably embarassing or insulting. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2008, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-ditch-a-reply-to-to-a-thread/437123/56 "2008-02-11T21:39:54Z")
Just thought of another reason I ditch replies (because I just did it!). I’ll get a reply half typed out and then realize I just don’t care about the topic enough to finish the thought. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2008, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-ditch-a-reply-to-to-a-thread/437123/57 "2008-02-11T21:53:51Z")
I estimate that, for every post I make, I discard twenty. What a wuss I am. ---
**Author:** ![Hogwash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e57/32.png) [@Hogwash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hogwash)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2008, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-ditch-a-reply-to-to-a-thread/437123/58 "2008-02-11T21:54:04Z")
All the time, hence my low post count. I can be very neurotic. After several edits and previews I’ll come to the conclusion that somebody has already made the point I’m trying to put forward, or that my post maybe isn’t that funny after all, or the words and sentences and paragraphs just don’t look or sound right. Christ, I’ve already re-edited this simple reply a couple of times, and I’m still not happy with it. Yeah, yeah, it’s just a few bytes on a messageboard on the intertron. I’m well aware I need to ‘get over it’. ---
**Author:** ![threnodyangelfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@threnodyangelfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threnodyangelfire)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-ditch-a-reply-to-to-a-thread/437123/59 "2008-02-12T00:33:13Z")
I reckon 99% of the time. I’ll get a few paragraphs in and then think “is this really worth it?” and usually delete it. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-ditch-a-reply-to-to-a-thread/437123/60 "2008-02-12T00:39:27Z")
I do it ALL the time. My post count would probably be 10 times what it is if I posted everything I wrote. Sometimes it’s short answers, sometimes it’s looong drawn out replies and I just tell myself that someone else can do a better job then me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-ditch-a-reply-to-to-a-thread/437123.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-ditch-a-reply-to-to-a-thread/437123.md?page=4)