# it is necessary to thank people for their contributions? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [April 8, 2005, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-necessary-to-thank-people-for-their-contributions/298373 "2005-04-08T09:59:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-necessary-to-thank-people-for-their-contributions/298373/1 "2005-04-08T09:59:37Z")
whenever I ask a question it is quite gratifying to see the answers roll in. Do people get upset if you dont post a thanks somewhere in the thread, or is it considered an unnecessary bump? (or in another way, does the board expect a thanks, or take it as read) ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-necessary-to-thank-people-for-their-contributions/298373/2 "2005-04-08T12:51:18Z")
Your mother was right: It never hurts to be polite. It’s one of those little niceties that grease the wheels of social interaction. Why not? You wouldn’t thank someone who did you a little favor? your humble TubaDiva PS Thank you for writing. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-necessary-to-thank-people-for-their-contributions/298373/3 "2005-04-08T13:42:51Z")
I always say “thanks.” Otherwise, how would people know I made it back to the thread and read their responses? ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-necessary-to-thank-people-for-their-contributions/298373/4 "2005-04-08T13:58:24Z")
> [@scm1001](#): > > whenever I ask a question it is quite gratifying to see the answers roll in. Do people get upset if you dont post a thanks somewhere in the thread, or is it considered an unnecessary bump? > > (or in another way, does the board expect a thanks, or take it as read) No, the board does not take it as read, because the board has no way of knowing whether you even came back to your thread and read the answers. Some people don’t, ya know. Some people wake up at 2 a.m. with a burning desire to know all about the Treaty of Westphalia, but come the next day, they’ve forgotten all about it. Which is annoying to the person who spent time Googling for it, and who keeps going back to the thread the next couple of days to see only his lonely little thread-killer post at the end. Recognition, dammit! We want _recognition!_😃 So your “thank you” is not only common courtesy, but it also lets us know that your question was important enough to you that you came back to see if anybody had an answer. And it also has the added benefit of making us predisposed to answer your question **next** time. Some folks get a reputation for drive-bys which they never come back to, and those folks eventually tend to not get a lot of responses. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-necessary-to-thank-people-for-their-contributions/298373/5 "2005-04-08T14:19:53Z")
So, **scm1001** , does that answer your question? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-necessary-to-thank-people-for-their-contributions/298373/6 "2005-04-08T17:55:25Z")
Did he ever return, No he never returned And his fate is still unlearn’d … He’s the man who never returned. All together now! ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2005, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-necessary-to-thank-people-for-their-contributions/298373/7 "2005-04-09T12:38:49Z")
It’s common courtesy. If you ask a question I can answer, I may be able to do it off the top of my head, but more often it’s something half-remembered that needs recourse to my groaning shelves, with a bit of judicious googling to back it up. I’m not expecting a medal, but if I can take the time to research and reply, the OP can surely manage a quick “thanks for the info”. ---
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2005, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-necessary-to-thank-people-for-their-contributions/298373/8 "2005-04-09T17:15:14Z")
many thanks everyone for enlightening me. I shall religiously give thanks from now on! ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2005, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-necessary-to-thank-people-for-their-contributions/298373/9 "2005-04-09T20:20:24Z")
> [@scm1001](#): > > many thanks everyone for enlightening me. I shall religiously give thanks from now on! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2005, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-necessary-to-thank-people-for-their-contributions/298373/10 "2005-04-10T04:40:15Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > Did he ever return, > No he never returned > And his fate is still unlearn’d > … > He’s the man who never returned. > > All together now! Poor Charlie!