I don’t know if anyone’s made this point yet, but I’ve done this before, sometimes certain points will be discussed for 5-10+ pages without bringing up really obvious points, so sotimes it’s easier to skip 10-20 extra posts and make you’re point.
I’ve also seen the thread in IMHO where someone asked for opinions on their sitcom scripts, I don’t think ANYONE responded having read all 3 written episodes… is that allowed?
It’s kinda like when you see a point in a post which is discredited in a 5 page city posted early on. Sure they could have read it, but it was easier to just make their point.
I don’t think this is a big problem and I agree with you calling this a minor/lame pitting.
In addition, If you really feel that the thread’s too long to read, but you must make your point, it would be polite to at least search the pages for keywords you’re planning to bring up. It takes less time than scanning the text and can prevent some needless repetition.
This is going to be a pretty weak pitting unless someone comes out strongly in favor of rudeness and ignorance. The only time when this might be acceptable is when admins/mods feel a need to respond to the “root” of an issue, but they should do so knowing that people are going to complain.
This sums up my feelings pretty well, and I think the pitting is worthwhile. I, too, have seen people (particularly in the Pit) rehash an argument that was already resolved earlier in the thread. It really is annoying, and I think it just shows a general lack of consideration for the discussion.
Also, for those of you complaining about being five or six pages deep into a thread, just change your preferences to show 200 posts per page, like me. You’ll find you have far fewer pages to read.
I recently chewed out a bunch of posters in the “skiers getting air” thread for doing this. We had worked hard on the trig and calculus to prove X wrong, and on page 5, someone pops in with “I haven’t read the thread, but I think it’s mostly due to X.” I was…less than polite.
While it is annoying, as long as they preface their remarks with “I haven’t read the whole thread…”, it’s only mildly so.
Of course, the flipside of that is when you preface your remarks with, “I haven’t read the whole thread yet…” I insert the words, “I can’t be bothered to read anyone else’s remarks, but…”, and I’m going to pretty much ignore your remarks. The chance of them being on topic and pertinent to where the discussion is now, are incredibly slim, in my opinion. I’m not going to respond to show that your point was already raised and addressed. I’ll let you figure that out on your own or not.
It is kind of like just jumping into a conversation, having only heard the original opening remark, and completely ignoring the contributions of any other participants. Especially galling in the case of lengthy discussions, where it most often occurs. If you did this in real live conversations you’d be considered an ignorant boor.
It is annoying and it is poor form, but not something I’d get terribly hot about. If you can’t see that starting your remarks with, “I haven’t read the whole thread yet…”, makes you look like a bit of a ADD addled boob, then have at it.
It’s easy to avoid. I just keep all of you on ignore and post random shit at apparently blank threads so I *never *have to read anything. Whatever I post must be incredibly insightful because I’ve never seen another post after mine either.
Except this time, once. And then you’re all going back on!
You know, that is the entire point of the poster saying that. It is a courtesy to you. Most posters that don’t read the thread aren’t kind enough to give you a head’s up.
Yup - that’s my biggest message board pet peeve. One time I called someone out on it, and offered that doing a quick search via CTRL+F would have easily popped up a couple posts stating what they wanted to.
They responded with “how the hell was I supposed to know about CTRL+F”. I know, I know - we can’t expect everyone to know quickkeys. But…c’mon.
A problem with the keyboard search thing is that the appropriate words can be so common and show up so often that the result is largely a waste of time.
I have always wondered why posting something someone else has already said is such a big deal in some people’s mind. To me it is far more rude to expect someone to waste twenty minutes to two hours of their time poring over a thread in order to save you the few seconds it takes to read their somewhat redundant post.
In the case of the post that is the subject of the OP, I was responding to Ed’s OP asking for everyone’s thoughts on a marketplace forum so I gave him my thoughts on the subject. I also made a sidebar apology in case somebody else had already voiced some of the same concerns, but I did that mainly as a matter of board convention and not because I felt I was actually doing something wrong.
Additionally, it can be the case that the more a certain issue is brought up, the more closely it will be examined. I felt that in the event someone had brought up the same things before, my post would also serve to add some measure of additional weight to those concerns and/or to encourage the creation of a marketplace forum.
All in all I think this issue is a tempest in a teapot and that my biggest mistake was in trying to be polite.
Like I said in the OP, I’m not pitting you. Your post in that thread referenced the Craigslist discussion, so you at least read some of the thread.
Bwa…? If they’re “so common” and come up “so often”, then they’re not the appropriate words to search on. Doing three searches for your three topics would easily target in on any posts relating to what you had to say: “sticky”, “Craigslist” and “modera” (to encompass “moderate”, “moderation” and “moderator”). Yeah - “modera” would bring up any moderators in the thread, but hitting “next” isn’t a chore.
One the one hand, I appreciate people telling us they haven’t read the thread so I can ignore them, too, but on the other hand, who’s forcing you to go into threads you’re not interested enough to read? It’s not like we’re all on the clock here, just killing time until 5. ETA: Well, a lot of us are, but we’re not getting paid to read The Dope, is what I’m trying to say.
I am tempted, so sorely tempted, to be extremely pissy with people who obviously haven’t paid any attention to what’s gone on in the thread already and just jump in without reading first. It’s just such arrogant rudeness - it’s like they’re declaring, “My opinion is important, but no one else’s is.”
I don’t look at it that way at all. To me it’s more like a question has been asked by an OP, or a discussion is going on that you don’t really want to devote a lot of time to, and you’re saying “Here’s my two cents. Make of it what you will.”
I think this is why people take it so personally. They read it as someone is declaring their opinion to be the most important. But that is not the case at all! Most times, they are very excited by certain posts or the OP and are eager to jump right into the fray!
Those that admit right up front when they haven’t read an OP do so to alert those that are going to “ignore” their post…it is actually meant as a courtesy. But as for me, if someone says they haven’t read the the thread, it would never occur to me to ignore their post. I think that is crazy. What of all the people that skim long threads but don’t admit it? I’m reading their posts, aren’t I? And what of posters that I find funny, fun or interesting? Posters that I know have an opinion that I agree with on the topic of the OP? I’m going to ignore their posts, too? To make a point, or something? What of all the posters that just do control find and never ever admit that they haven’t read the thread? Come on.
Now that I can get the dope at work, I spend a lot of HOURS reading this messageboard. I appreciate the posters here so much. Some of them have taught me ideas that have changed my outlook on things that no one else was able to bring me around about. But if I have to read every post of every thread I post to, I’m out of the game. No way is that going to happen, especially in the fun multipage threads. Not if my comment is in no way dependent upon other posters’ comments.
Of course different threads ask for different things. If the thread is asking for individual opinions then there is no real reason to have to read the full thread to post your own opinion (“What’s your favorite Steven Seagal movie”). If the OP is asking for advice, I would advise reading the whole thing because often the OPers has some follow-up. If the OP is asking for more fact based responses then you should read the thread to see if someone else has already answered it.
