# How often do you start a thread? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 23, 2002, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-start-a-thread/105233 "2002-04-23T22:59:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-start-a-thread/105233/1 "2002-04-23T22:59:53Z")
I’m just bored… so this is just a question that popped into my head while I was tossing small dog treats to my basset hound. I start a thread or two a week, sometimes more, but that’s my average. It’s usually something mundane or just mildly interesting, nothing too controvercial or intriguing (ok, usually a little more interesting than this thread). So my average for starting threads is 2 to 3 a week. Is my average higher or lower than the general group? Back to trying to teach my dog to roll over. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-start-a-thread/105233/2 "2002-04-23T23:01:33Z")
I started one once! Um, and I’ve been here since August of 2000. I’d have to say “not often.” ---
**Author:** ![Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/soul_brother_number_two/32/3515_2.png) [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul_Brother_Number_Two)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-start-a-thread/105233/3 "2002-04-23T23:41:57Z")
not very often. i think ive started three. ---
**Author:** ![flyboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4da419/32.png) [@flyboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flyboy)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-start-a-thread/105233/4 "2002-04-24T00:06:23Z")
One or two for me. I don’t like drive-by OP’s, where the OP-er is never heard from again. But staying actively involved in a thread seems to take way too much time. Plus, I don’t seem to be able to write witty things, like most other dopers. So I think any threads I start would be boring. ---
**Author:** ![Flamsterette\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/41988e/32.png) [@Flamsterette\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flamsterette_X)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-start-a-thread/105233/5 "2002-04-24T00:33:26Z")
I’ve started a few threads in my five weeks here, but I wouldn’t say I start one every day or anything like that! :eek: Maybe about three or four a week at most, depending. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-start-a-thread/105233/6 "2002-04-24T00:36:47Z")
This seems like a polling type a thread, so I’ll move it to IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Lodrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@Lodrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lodrain)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-start-a-thread/105233/7 "2002-04-24T01:30:05Z")
Almost never nowadays, but I reply a lot to others’ threads. I was a rapid-fire thread-machine in my early days, but now, I’m a bit more laconic. ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-start-a-thread/105233/8 "2002-04-24T01:35:46Z")
Thank’s Arnold. ---
**Author:** ![dreamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@dreamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dreamer)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-start-a-thread/105233/9 "2002-04-24T01:48:49Z")
I’ve started a few, but when I started one and _not one person_ replied it kind of made me rethink starting any others. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-start-a-thread/105233/10 "2002-04-24T03:31:46Z")
Not many. Occasionally, the “I’d like to ask the dopers about this” thoughts reach critical mass and I start a bunch of threads at once, but that’s only happened a couple of times. ---
**Author:** ![Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Violet)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-start-a-thread/105233/11 "2002-04-24T03:34:33Z")
Rarely. Not as often as the original poster. I always feel like the topic I may post has already been posted. ---
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-start-a-thread/105233/12 "2002-04-24T09:56:48Z")
Less than five threads in my entire time here. Two of them got zero replies. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-start-a-thread/105233/13 "2002-04-24T11:07:46Z")
Not very often, maybe once every few weeks. With slight up and downs. Usually I’ll sit on an idea for a few days or a week before I post it and sometimes I’m saved the trouble. And it’s almost never in GQ, which is actually where I made my first post as an OP. Probably 95% of all most posts are replies. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by flyboy88 \* > **One or two for me. I don’t like drive-by OP’s, where the OP-er is never heard from again. But staying actively involved in a thread seems to take way too much time.** I usually have the opposite worry. That posting a personal reply to every person in the thread might make it seem like I’m trying to hard. And if everytime they open the forum and see my name as the last post they might think no one else has responded. Silly worrys I know but I’m a worrywart sadly.