# People don't read OPs, or the majority of posts in a thread- or even skim them **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 12, 2005, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-dont-read-ops-or-the-majority-of-posts-in-a-thread-or-even-skim-them/330675 "2005-11-12T03:36:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![andrewdt85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/71e660/32.png) [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-dont-read-ops-or-the-majority-of-posts-in-a-thread-or-even-skim-them/330675/1 "2005-11-12T03:36:36Z")
It’s a fact. Go read this thread in it’s entirety- [What good do political signs do?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=344328) It’s hilarious! Look at how many times posters repeat these ideas: - Political signs in a neighborhood can show people that they should vote for candidate X b/c they share the views, needs, values etc. of their neighbors - Signs help uninformed people learn about candidates, or at least inspire them to go learn about them - Signs help people remember names, so that when it comes time to vote for those _other_ races on the ballot, you go w/ the name you recognize most likely It’s not that I disagree w/ these arguments- although I do disagree with #2 until I see cites or hear proof- but the rest I absolutely agreed with, and did agree with _several times_ in the course of the thread when people mentioned them. 😃 It’s not like they had to repeat these facts b/c I was being stubborn against them, it’s that later posters either responded to my OP w/o checking to see if others had already said the same thing; also, certain posters responded w/o bothering to understand what I had said in my OP in the first place. Folks, try not to be a drive-by-expert-who-disagrees-with-OPs-w/o-even-reading-them-or-most-of-the-thread-first. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-dont-read-ops-or-the-majority-of-posts-in-a-thread-or-even-skim-them/330675/2 "2005-11-12T04:06:01Z")
Argh! This is also one of my (hopefully few) pet peeves. It bugs me to no end. However, I don’t ever say anything about it because I assume there must be _some_ reason why they’ve done the unthinkable. 😉 But I definitely appreciate you pitting these sort of actions so I can tag along and, for once, say “me too!” 😃 So, thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-dont-read-ops-or-the-majority-of-posts-in-a-thread-or-even-skim-them/330675/3 "2005-11-12T04:09:02Z")
So, can we just skip the bit where ten posters post the same thing, just to spite the OP? Because it’s really not funny. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-dont-read-ops-or-the-majority-of-posts-in-a-thread-or-even-skim-them/330675/4 "2005-11-12T04:13:36Z")
I think we shoudl skip past the part where people post the same thing in an attempt to spite the OP. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-dont-read-ops-or-the-majority-of-posts-in-a-thread-or-even-skim-them/330675/5 "2005-11-12T04:18:00Z")
I’m certainly often guilty of this. I generally post first and then only read the whole thread. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-dont-read-ops-or-the-majority-of-posts-in-a-thread-or-even-skim-them/330675/6 "2005-11-12T04:23:48Z")
> [@Rysto](#): > > So, can we just skip the bit where ten posters post the same thing, just to spite the OP? Because it’s really not funny. See, if I had just skipped past the later posts, I could have happily posted a snarky reply and been on my way. By reading your post you have ruined this for me. For shame. 😉 I generally pass on a thread over 30 posts as in most cases I won’t have anything new to say and I don’t want to wade through that many posts unless it is an area of knowledge for me. **andrewdt85** you are absolutely correct, a lot of us do this. I see it in threads all the time and quite often find out I have done it myself. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-dont-read-ops-or-the-majority-of-posts-in-a-thread-or-even-skim-them/330675/7 "2005-11-12T04:31:05Z")
I dunno. Sometimes it’s usefull to get a sense of how widespread a feeling or a thought is. Sometimes the tenth poster has an interesting perspective. I don’t mind it. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-dont-read-ops-or-the-majority-of-posts-in-a-thread-or-even-skim-them/330675/8 "2005-11-12T04:34:08Z")
By their very nature, threads placed in IMHO solicit opinions. Why should I refrain from posting my opinion just because someone has shared it already? Folks who are clearly posting in response to the thread title and not the OP irk me, but that’s a bit more specific than what you seem to be railing against. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-dont-read-ops-or-the-majority-of-posts-in-a-thread-or-even-skim-them/330675/9 "2005-11-12T04:44:21Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#): > > I dunno. Sometimes it’s usefull to get a sense of how widespread a feeling or a thought is. Sometimes the tenth poster has an interesting perspective. I don’t mind it. I not only don’t mind a different viewpoint, but I welcome it. What seems to make my eyes roll around sideways is when someone offers a repeated opinion/idea like they were the _first_ poster on the scene. That seems to negate the other 42 who’ve already observed whatever and, typically, I only feel this way when it hasn’t happened to me. I only feel invisible. 😛 Also, I don’t mind the people who write out a reply that includes they haven’t gotten all the way through the thread yet, but will catch up (natch – just had to get something in before it was forgotten) later. And the ones who apologize for it or that much more wonderful. Angels even. ---
**Author:** ![andrewdt85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/71e660/32.png) [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-dont-read-ops-or-the-majority-of-posts-in-a-thread-or-even-skim-them/330675/10 "2005-11-12T04:54:46Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > By their very nature, threads placed in IMHO solicit opinions. Why should I refrain from posting my opinion just because someone has shared it already? Those are exceptions. Also, in a Cafe thread, if you are talking about something like sharing what your favorite movie is or what movie you’ve seen the most, and you post w/o reading the whole thing and a bunch of others happened to have Star Wars too, so be it, no problem. > [@](#): > > Folks who are clearly posting in response to the thread title and not the OP irk me, but that’s a bit more specific than what you seem to be railing against. Nope, that’s right on the mark. Unless of course they’re requoting the title and making a joke about it, that’s okay. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-dont-read-ops-or-the-majority-of-posts-in-a-thread-or-even-skim-them/330675/11 "2005-11-12T04:59:20Z")
Minoan Linear B ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-dont-read-ops-or-the-majority-of-posts-in-a-thread-or-even-skim-them/330675/12 "2005-11-12T05:01:35Z")
> [@Case Sensitive](#): > > Minoan Linear B Did you mean to post this in a thread about Crete, Atlantis, Dead Languages or something else? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-dont-read-ops-or-the-majority-of-posts-in-a-thread-or-even-skim-them/330675/13 "2005-11-12T05:07:16Z")
Exactly. ---
**Author:** ![andrewdt85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/71e660/32.png) [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-dont-read-ops-or-the-majority-of-posts-in-a-thread-or-even-skim-them/330675/14 "2005-11-12T06:14:33Z")
Oh my god… go to the thread I link to in my OP; someone new just posted to it (post #22), and he FLESHES OUT AN IDEA THAT WAS SAID SUCCINTLY IN POST NUMBER EIGHT AS IF HE WAS THE FIRST! 😃 Can we name this tendency after me, in honor of the thread I started that is serving as a petri dish for it? ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-dont-read-ops-or-the-majority-of-posts-in-a-thread-or-even-skim-them/330675/15 "2005-11-12T06:18:12Z")
> [@andrewdt85](#): > > Oh my god… go to the thread I link to in my OP; someone new just posted to it (post #22), and he FLESHES OUT AN IDEA THAT WAS SAID SUCCINTLY IN POST NUMBER EIGHT AS IF HE WAS THE FIRST! 😃 > > Can we name this tendency after me, in honor of the thread I started that is serving as a petri dish for it? No. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-dont-read-ops-or-the-majority-of-posts-in-a-thread-or-even-skim-them/330675/16 "2005-11-12T06:45:36Z")
I’m guilty as Hell. I have no excuse, I guess. I’ve always been a skimmer. If I promise to flog myself in an unpleasurable way, will that help toward making recompense? ---
**Author:** ![andrewdt85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/71e660/32.png) [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-dont-read-ops-or-the-majority-of-posts-in-a-thread-or-even-skim-them/330675/17 "2005-11-12T07:05:27Z")
> [@Loopydude](#): > > I’m guilty as Hell. I have no excuse, I guess. I’ve always been a skimmer. Hey, at least you skim. That counts, especially for threads that go to page two or more. ---
**Author:** ![butter\_pie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aca169/32.png) [@butter\_pie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butter_pie)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-dont-read-ops-or-the-majority-of-posts-in-a-thread-or-even-skim-them/330675/18 "2005-11-12T09:10:10Z")
This happened in a thread where someone was bitching about Starbucks recently to me. Someone mentioned the Starbucks across the street from a Starbucks and twice I posted the exact location (even a map) of the damn things, and there was at least one more poster who said something like “I think it’s in Texas.” Argh. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-dont-read-ops-or-the-majority-of-posts-in-a-thread-or-even-skim-them/330675/19 "2005-11-12T12:25:15Z")
> [@andrewdt85](#): > > Oh my god… go to the thread I link to in my OP; someone new just posted to it (post #22), and he FLESHES OUT AN IDEA THAT WAS SAID SUCCINTLY IN POST NUMBER EIGHT AS IF HE WAS THE FIRST! 😃 > > Can we name this tendency after me, in honor of the thread I started that is serving as a petri dish for it? I fail to see the problem with post #22. ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-dont-read-ops-or-the-majority-of-posts-in-a-thread-or-even-skim-them/330675/20 "2005-11-12T12:33:19Z")
> [@andrewdt85](#): > > Can we name this tendency after me, in honor of the thread I started that is serving as a petri dish for it? Okay. From now on we’ll call it **The andrewdt85 Lame OP Tendency**. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-dont-read-ops-or-the-majority-of-posts-in-a-thread-or-even-skim-them/330675.md?page=2)