# How Often Do You Stop Yourself From Posting? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 4, 2004, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-stop-yourself-from-posting/238172 "2004-04-04T08:10:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![wolfstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-stop-yourself-from-posting/238172/21 "2004-04-04T16:57:56Z")
Oh, loads. I used to write up all kinds of posts, some of them long and involved, and then chicken out and not post because I figured what I had to say wasn’t important enough. But nowadays, I usually move on even before typing them up. I seem to go through cycles of activity and lurkerdom, but always a certain fraction of my posts fail to make it through my phone line. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-stop-yourself-from-posting/238172/22 "2004-04-04T17:00:58Z")
I do it pretty often. I usually type out a reply, then look at it and see it’s not adding anything useful. Or I start to open a thread and realize it’s stupid. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-stop-yourself-from-posting/238172/23 "2004-04-04T17:15:20Z")
Sometimes my reply is something I might say around close friends, because they know where I’m coming from, but strangers might interpret it differently. It’s also very difficult to tell “tone of voice” in a posting. So if you are just kidding, you better say so. ---
**Author:** ![spizzum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@spizzum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spizzum)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-stop-yourself-from-posting/238172/24 "2004-04-04T17:16:42Z")
Um, pretty much every time I’ve wanted to post, I’ve changed my mind. So, hundreds of times, in my case. _shrugs_ ---
**Author:** ![spizzum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@spizzum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spizzum)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-stop-yourself-from-posting/238172/25 "2004-04-04T17:21:40Z")
Upon closer reading: Holy crap, SpasmicChaos, are you me?! ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-stop-yourself-from-posting/238172/26 "2004-04-04T17:23:23Z")
I usually self-censor before I even bring up a reply window. If I have nothing to add, I don’t add it. Except in **Rue** ’s MMPs - the whole point of that thread is to add your own personal nothings. There have been a few dozen times when I changed my mind after typing out a response, or when the boards were wonky, if I couldn’t get it to post after a couple of tries, I usually decided what I wanted to saw didn’t merit the frustration. I try to avoid “Me, too” posts, although I’ll post condolences or congratulations rather freely. ---
**Author:** ![Tuco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tuco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuco)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-stop-yourself-from-posting/238172/27 "2004-04-04T17:45:38Z")
The ones I don’t normally submit are the ‘yeah, and me.’ posts\*. For example, I was going to post a reply to the thread in CS about Underworld saying something along the lines of ‘Yeah I liked it, it was a no-brainer film with a pretty lady in leather, etc. etc.’ but I chose not to because it didn’t really add anything to the thread (loads of people had already replied saying what I was going to), and I feel guilty about taking up bandwidth needlessly. \*apart from this one. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-stop-yourself-from-posting/238172/28 "2004-04-04T18:11:09Z")
(looks at post count) Not often enough, apparently. I like to think my contributions increase the signal-to-noise ratio, rather than the reverse. But some days I’m not so sure I’m managing that. ---
**Author:** ![if6was9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@if6was9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/if6was9)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-stop-yourself-from-posting/238172/29 "2004-04-04T18:25:47Z")
As you may well know, **Lola** , I don’t stop myself NEARLY often enough… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-stop-yourself-from-posting/238172/30 "2004-04-04T18:27:05Z")
Probably a third to half of my posts that get written don’t get posted. Not the mention all the times that I’d like to answer, but decide that I should probably keep my mouth shut, and don’t write anything at all. ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-stop-yourself-from-posting/238172/31 "2004-04-04T18:47:02Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > …If I have nothing to add, I don’t add it. Except in **Rue** ’s MMPs - the whole point of that thread is to add your own personal nothings… Yes, but when my personal nothings are far below the quality of other’s personal nothings, I don’t add on. My personal Muse tends to take an extended coffee break when I really could use its advice and inspiration in replying to a post. Some days I feel like I could make Joyce’s Ulysses look like a Reader’s Digest excerpt. When hand goes to keyboard, the cranial-to-brachial-to-digital connection craps out somewhere. And the Muse is brewing decaf. Bummer. ---
**Author:** ![Lobelia\_Overhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@Lobelia\_Overhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobelia_Overhill)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-stop-yourself-from-posting/238172/32 "2004-04-04T18:55:34Z")
Quite often, by the time the reply thing finally appears I’ve forgotten what I was going to post. Then on other ocassions I decide I can’t be bothered to post … ---
**Author:** ![Chastain86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Chastain86](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chastain86)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-stop-yourself-from-posting/238172/33 "2004-04-04T19:01:55Z")
Less than I should. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-stop-yourself-from-posting/238172/34 "2004-04-04T19:32:27Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > Often, I make a post in GD and then realize before I submit it that I don’t feel like getting into a debate. I find it quite tiresome lately. Ditto, at least recently. I deleted quite a few lengthy posts addressing the SF’ers, partly because I didn’t feel like mixing it up with them, partly because I thought it somewhat of a wasted effort ( the possible edification of lurkers aside ), and partly because others were doing a reasonable job and my input wasn’t necessary, strictly speaking. I also deleted a number of ME-related posts, for semi-similar reasons ( arguments are often tiresome and repeititive, plus the partisan rhetoric on both sides annoys me ). - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-stop-yourself-from-posting/238172/35 "2004-04-04T19:47:54Z")
More than I used to, less often than I should. I sometimes find, while typing a reply, that I know less than I thought I did, and I realize that what seems a sharp correction may actually be a bold step off the edge of a cliff. I delete those, when I spot 'em. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-stop-yourself-from-posting/238172/36 "2004-04-04T19:54:34Z")
I stop myself a lot… Half the time, I just lose interest in what I was saying, so I figure if I’m bored with it, no one else wants to read it either. Or it’s a classic case “That sounded so much better in my head”… I see something on the screen and realize… Eh, that’s not really worth posting. ---
**Author:** ![ErinPuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@ErinPuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ErinPuff)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-stop-yourself-from-posting/238172/37 "2004-04-04T21:42:05Z")
I do it a lot. That’s why my post count is so low. ---
**Author:** ![jastu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/43a26b/32.png) [@jastu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jastu)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-stop-yourself-from-posting/238172/38 "2004-04-04T22:28:31Z")
Occasionally, but more often than not I’ll let the post go through only to wish I hadn’t hit that button. Nothing I write is world shattering and I often feel totally out of my depth among such witty and knowledgeable people. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-stop-yourself-from-posting/238172/39 "2004-04-04T22:38:56Z")
If I his “Submit” after every post I’d typed up, I’d probably have a **handy** -sized post count. And similar posting priviledges, to boot. ---
**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-stop-yourself-from-posting/238172/40 "2004-04-04T22:47:01Z")
Absolutely all the time. Interesting how a lot of people have replied to this thread… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-stop-yourself-from-posting/238172.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-stop-yourself-from-posting/238172.md?page=3)