# Lurker poll:Why don't you post? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 25, 2007, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lurker-poll-why-dont-you-post/431241 "2007-12-25T23:46:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2007, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lurker-poll-why-dont-you-post/431241/21 "2007-12-26T03:36:22Z")
[QUOTE=Autolycus] Cite! (half serious) [/QUOTE] **Chronos** and **Stranger On A Train**. Usually, the things I can answer are physics related, and I don’t think I’ve ever come across a situation where my way of explaining something would be better than theirs. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2007, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lurker-poll-why-dont-you-post/431241/22 "2007-12-26T03:41:43Z")
[QUOTE=Qwisp] It seems like most of the times I am beaten by others with comments I would have made. In the few threads I have participated in(not ones I start), I am ignored. Or maybe I’m just lazy 🙂 [/QUOTE] Take refuge in the fact that if you were ignored then you at least never said anything egregiously wrong. This fact comforts me when I reflect on my nonpopularity. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2007, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lurker-poll-why-dont-you-post/431241/23 "2007-12-26T03:45:48Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] Hell, I get no response to some of my best material, and I’m fuckin’ hysterical. I comfort myself with the thought that this just isn’t a real “LOL” crowd. That’s it, right? (And, **Turki-lurki** – excellent username!) [/QUOTE] In my old (now locked) thread on the “Unofficial Rules of the SDMB”, one of my observations was that “LOL!” type responses were frowned upon here (and at the time I had only been here, off and on, for 4 months). Don’t assume that nobody is chuckling behind their keyboards just because you don’t get any ROTFLMAO’s to your gag. ---
**Author:** ![Cattitude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@Cattitude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cattitude)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2007, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lurker-poll-why-dont-you-post/431241/24 "2007-12-26T03:47:28Z")
I read way more than I post. A lot, lot more. If one were to look at my post count, they’d think that I rarely log on to the Dope when I usually log on at least once a day and sometimes twice. I think I have to give up a couple of other forums I post on to post more here. Than I wouldn’t just read. With me, it’s more of a time factor. If I have 30-40 minutes, I can get more of the Dope read than reading a bit and writing posts too. And the fact that someone has usually already said what I wanted to say! ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2007, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lurker-poll-why-dont-you-post/431241/25 "2007-12-26T03:49:56Z")
[QUOTE=Strinka] **Chronos** and **Stranger On A Train**. Usually, the things I can answer are physics related, and I don’t think I’ve ever come across a situation where my way of explaining something would be better than theirs. [/QUOTE] Oh, I thought you meant other websites! Oops. But yes, those are two awesomely intelligent dudes. ---
**Author:** ![Soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2007, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lurker-poll-why-dont-you-post/431241/26 "2007-12-26T04:00:31Z")
Eh, I suppose I post a reasonable amount now, but I lurked here for years and years before I ever joined up. I guess I thought since I enjoyed reading this place so much that I’d run the risk of spoiling something by inserting myself into it. Imagine I’m mayonnaise and the SDMB is a tasty pie. Apart we are wonderful – together, we may be horrific. ---
**Author:** ![foxymoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d26b3c/32.png) [@foxymoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foxymoron)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2007, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lurker-poll-why-dont-you-post/431241/27 "2007-12-26T04:01:10Z")
I’m terrified of being both criticized and ignored. If I don’t post, I will be neither. I do love these boards, regardless of whether or not I participate. This site is the fifth stop in my morning internet routine, and the place where I spend the most time online. And hey, **dead0man** , I noticed your location and checked out your profile. We live in the same city, have the same post rate here (.29 posts/day), and we’re the same age. Kinda neat. :-] ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2007, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lurker-poll-why-dont-you-post/431241/28 "2007-12-26T04:13:28Z")
I didn’t want to wear out my keyboard. ---
**Author:** ![Fatwater\_Fewl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4491bb/32.png) [@Fatwater\_Fewl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fatwater_Fewl)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2007, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lurker-poll-why-dont-you-post/431241/29 "2007-12-26T04:22:19Z")
I’ve no real rationale for how I ration out my posts (perhaps a case could be made that I post most when I’m least rational). My quietness here is in character, though. I’m not loquacious in any area of my life. ---
**Author:** ![Turki-lurki](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turki-lurki/32/7168_2.png) [@Turki-lurki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turki-lurki)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2007, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lurker-poll-why-dont-you-post/431241/30 "2007-12-26T04:33:38Z")
\*Quote from Soul- … Imagine I’m mayonnaise and the SDMB is a tasty pie. Apart we are wonderful – together, we may be horrific. \* [INDENT] What’s wrong with mayonnaise on pie? (I’m southern. I like mayo on everything!) 😛 TL ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2007, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lurker-poll-why-dont-you-post/431241/31 "2007-12-26T04:39:25Z")
> [@Turki-lurki](#): > > For my part, it seems like others often express what I think, maybe better than I would. That hasn’t stopped me. > [@Least Original User Name Ever](#): > > So, what’s the other half? Halfway up his digestive tract. 😉 > [@foxymoron](#): > > I’m terrified of being both criticized and ignored. If I don’t post, I will be neither. That doesn’t make sense. You’ll get ignored a lot less if you post, right? I mean, if you never say anything, we literally won’t know you’re here, whereas if you pop up in a lot of threads you’ll be a lot harder to ignore. Criticized? Maybe. But that’s the fun part. ---
**Author:** ![Zulema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/db5fbb/32.png) [@Zulema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulema)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2007, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lurker-poll-why-dont-you-post/431241/32 "2007-12-26T05:33:11Z")
I unlurked a little after we had to pay but really no one cares what I say too much. I like to help people who ask factual questions if no one else replies but otherwise other people have usually posted similar thoughts to mine. I wish I had never started posting as to preserve my low post count. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveroptic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiveroptic/32/8257_2.png) [@Fiveroptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveroptic)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2007, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lurker-poll-why-dont-you-post/431241/33 "2007-12-26T06:46:42Z")
Oh, I’m here devouring nearly every word of this board, every single day. But it seems like the threads where I feel halfway qualified to make a comment have already reached their second or third page when I find them, and by that time my sentiments have already been expressed more eloquently by others. And yeah, okay, I’ll admit to being just a little bit intimidated, too. I really should knock that stuff off, though, and I will as soon as someone starts a thread about Karen Carpenter, Madeline Kahn, or Gilda Radner. Other than that, I got nuthin. ---
**Author:** ![Secret\_Volcano\_Lair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Secret\_Volcano\_Lair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Secret_Volcano_Lair)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2007, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lurker-poll-why-dont-you-post/431241/34 "2007-12-26T07:39:04Z")
I come to read the board almost every day, especially during slow nights at work (like tonight). Most of the time I just don’t feel like I have anything to add to the discussions…someone has already said what I was going to say, only 1000 times better. And yeah, I definately agree with the people that have said the board is intimidating. It’s much more intimidating than any other board I’ve been to. Maybe someday I’ll just stop worrying about that, because I really would like to post more. ---
**Author:** ![dead0man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@dead0man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dead0man)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2007, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lurker-poll-why-dont-you-post/431241/35 "2007-12-26T08:35:07Z")
[QUOTE=foxymoron] I’m terrified of being both criticized and ignored. If I don’t post, I will be neither. I do love these boards, regardless of whether or not I participate. This site is the fifth stop in my morning internet routine, and the place where I spend the most time online. And hey, **dead0man** , I noticed your location and checked out your profile. We live in the same city, have the same post rate here (.29 posts/day), and we’re the same age. Kinda neat. :-] [/QUOTE] I’m confused, do I criticize or ignore you? ---
**Author:** ![rinni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f6c823/32.png) [@rinni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rinni)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2007, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lurker-poll-why-dont-you-post/431241/36 "2007-12-26T08:57:04Z")
[QUOTE=Strinka] For factual things, there are other people who know what they’re talking about better, and can explain it better. And I’m just not opinionated enough to get involved in debates and such. [/QUOTE] Exactly. I am really funny, but I’m 12-year-old funny, not Doper funny, so I rarely even try to make jokes. Also, I’m really awkward so if anyone actually wanted to engage in a conversation with me, I’d choke and I don’t know what I’d do! I have no intention of ever leaving though, I love reading the posts. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2007, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lurker-poll-why-dont-you-post/431241/37 "2007-12-26T09:45:21Z")
[QUOTE=dead0man] I’m confused, do I criticize or ignore you? [/QUOTE] Could you ignore (her?) in a critical way? ---
**Author:** ![Skylark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Skylark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skylark)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2007, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lurker-poll-why-dont-you-post/431241/38 "2007-12-26T10:23:25Z")
I’m not a Chatty Cathy because I’m not often at a computer or a place where I can sit down and put an hour into a well thought out postnovel in several drafts and a preface by Arthur C. Clark. Don’t want to have my record be nothing but drive-bys neither so I try to nix that tendency best I can. ---
**Author:** ![bundykala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@bundykala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bundykala)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2007, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lurker-poll-why-dont-you-post/431241/39 "2007-12-26T12:14:33Z")
I post whenever I feel I have something worth contributing that hasn’t already been said better, which apparently isn’t all too often. It’s nice just knowing that I have the option to contribute if I did have anything to say, though. Right now I’m wondering how many unsubscribed lurkers out there are wishing they could post to this thread themselves. ---
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2007, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lurker-poll-why-dont-you-post/431241/40 "2007-12-26T13:41:45Z")
[QUOTE=Kneepants Erasmus, the Humanist] I lurked for awhile before joining up…then I posted for a bit…now I lurk again. I probably won’t renew. After so much trying, I realized that I simply don’t fit in here. Not a bad thing necessarily. I just got tired of posting things that I thought were funny, and getting no responses. I tend to forget that I have a very odd sense of humor I guess. There are other things as well, but I don’t feel like putting forth the effort of typing it all out. This is only a website after all. This board is fine to read when I am bored. I just don’t feel the need to spend money for it any longer. [/QUOTE] Oh, don’t go! You went to a dopefest, I think it’s against the rules to let membership lapse. You’re intelligent and attractive, and seemed like you had a good soul. About the humor, sometimes I think I make extremely witty remarks, but no one else ever thinks this. I now am making an effort to occasionally acknowledge other efforts that leave me in stitches. It’s the least I can do. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lurker-poll-why-dont-you-post/431241.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lurker-poll-why-dont-you-post/431241.md?page=3)