Do you have any particular habits when you post on here or elsewhere?
There are several for me. One, I always follow a strict way that I read the boards. The Pit is first, then GD (because it doesn’t take as long), the Cafe, MPSIMS, IMHO and finally, GQ. Two, if I feel like I’m posting too much, I’ll back off and simply read, so as not to bore everyone to death with my opinions. The same thing applies with starting threads, which is I usually don’t, but if the urge strikes I typically limit it to just a couple. And third, if I come across an OP without any replies, I’ll do so because I don’t want them to think they are left out/unloved/bad/unpopular/whatever. This really is true if the person is newer or a guest. I want them to feel accepted and wanted among our merry group.
I was here before Cafe Society existed and my brain still doesn’t really acknowledge its presence. I can surf here for hours cycling through all of the forums back and forth , figuring I have read everything and then realizing that I haven’t looked at Cafe Society in 18 days. I am nor really a written or movie fiction buff but I do enjoy it when I go there and I have even started a few threads there when the mood struck but it still doesn’t have full forum status in my mind.
Otherwise my preference is GQ, IMHO, GD, the Pit, and MPSIMS in that order. I am more of facts kind of person rather than the interpersonal stuff.
I automatically go to Cafe Society first, then here, the Pit, and MPSIMS. I might hit GQ the second or third time around. I almost never go into GD for some odd reason.
I have no idea the last time I started a thread.
I mostly lurk. Once in a while there’ll be a thread or threads where I’ll add my $.02, but that’s it. I don’t read every single thread, only the ones where the subject matter interests and/or intrigues me.
The more free time I have, the more I’m apt to post. Being on short-term disability from work facilitates that
I don’t often post (as you can see by my join date and post number). Usually I visit the Pit and MPSIMS, not necessarily in that order, then IMHO, GQ and CS, and rarely, GD. Today I actually visited every single forum.
I first do a “Find all posts by WhyNot” to see if there’s any unread messages to a thread I posted in, and then click New Posts in another tab. I’ll use tabs to pull up whatever appeals on the first page, then click the little number for the second page, and while that loads, I start reading the threads that I’ve tabbed. So I look at threads from all over, and I often don’t even know what forum a thread is in, unless I remember to look at the top of the page.
Rarely do I go into each forum. Only when the New Post search yields only stuff I’m bored with. Then I may go into a forum and see what’s fallen off the new post search.
And I seem to mostly start threads late at night, when I’m too tired to second guess myself and inhibitions are low. Then I go to bed and lie awake for a few minutes, kicking myself thinking, “it’s friggin 11:30 at night! No one’s going to find that new thread! Now you’re going to look like an ass for bumping your own OP in the morning!” only some Aussie or insomniac doper unfailingly does find it and keeps it alive overnight.
Oddly enough I seem to post significantly more when I am employed full time. Taking a quick look at my history I see that 94(95 including this one) of my 168 posts have been made since I started my current job 2 months ago. The other 73 were from the previous 10 months when I was either unemployed or employed only part-time.
I read GQ, then skip to IMHO, MMPIMS, and the Pit. If I am bored, I’ll read GD and the Cafe. I usually don’t click on a thread that I have no interest in, and I never post in a thread just to be negative or hurt someone’s feelings.
I first check out About This Message Board, because I can get through it quickly.
Then I’ll pick either MPSIMS or IMHO and look through the first page or the 50 most recent posts. I’ll usually open all the threads that seem interesting in tabs and then read through them one by one.
I’ll go to Café Society only if I’m interested in getting more information on a certain Café Society subject. I usually read through the weekly Sopranos and 24 threads.
When I’m really bored I’ll head to GQ and change the view of the page so that I can see the threads with the fewest replies. Then I’ll try to answer those questions before anyone else does.
I always look on the front page to see if any threads look interesting and go from there. I rarely go to Great Debates (rarely meaning probably three or four times a week as opposed to the three or four times a day I look at other sections) or the Pit unless I see an interesting topic on the front page. The others are just randomly picked.
I thought of another one… I’m so anal that if I think there weren’t be any replies (or any more), I’ll go ahead and delete the subscription from my user CP simply because my OCD says it looks too jumbled up and without purpose if useless threads are listed.
Yes, I realize that’s dumb, but there you are.
I always start with my User CP, to catch up on threads that I’ve posted in (and have subsequently subscribed to). I’m usually pretty good about unsubscribing from “dead” threads, but lately I’ve just been letting them pile up. I’ll probably do a cleanup in the next week or so.
From there it’s IMHO, followed by MPSIMS. Those two forums (fora?) are where I spend most of my time.
Every now and then I’ll poke my head into Cafe Society, and about as often I’ll look into the Pit. If I’m going to those two forums I’m probably checking out ATMB, too.
Once in a blue moon I’ll check out GQ.
I never go to GD or either of the Comments forums.
