# Threads you don't start, posts you don't make **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 27, 2015, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threads-you-dont-start-posts-you-dont-make/729115 "2015-08-27T22:58:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threads-you-dont-start-posts-you-dont-make/729115/21 "2015-08-28T15:24:03Z")
I did not start this thread. I did not make this po … D’oh! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threads-you-dont-start-posts-you-dont-make/729115/22 "2015-08-28T15:36:11Z")
> [@Fubaya](#): > > … I mean sometimes I’ll see two adults arguing about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or something and want to say ‘Why does this thread exist? You should be ashamed of yourselves!’ but I’m not prepared to face that kind of backlash. > … I do that a lot with threads about zombies … and werewolves … and vampires. I wonder if it will ever be quantifiable – howm many thousands of hours, or maybe years, or productivity is lost talking about zombie apocalypses, or whether hordes of zombies can take on … well, anything. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threads-you-dont-start-posts-you-dont-make/729115/23 "2015-08-28T15:38:37Z")
I’ve always wanted to start a thead ‘Axe tha pimp!’ But there’s an outside chance someone might actually post to it, and I doubt that I could come up with any witty responses. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threads-you-dont-start-posts-you-dont-make/729115/24 "2015-08-28T16:00:46Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threads-you-dont-start-posts-you-dont-make/729115/25 "2015-08-28T16:00:58Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Well good. I’m glad I’m not the only one who spends minutes replying to a post and then thinks, “Ah, fuck it. No one cares what I have to say,” and then hit the back button. This. > [@GuanoLad](#): > > I used to start threads with an agenda, where I hoped people would agree with me. Rather too often nobody agreed with me at all, in fact it was sometimes a pile-on. And this. For even slightly controversial topics, I feel like I will have to spend the next 10 posts defending my assumptions and providing cites that the sky is blue, water is wet, and what definition I was using for the word “is.” I assume that posters will bog down the thread in pedantic arguments about a small side item and completely ignore the discussion I was interested in participating in. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threads-you-dont-start-posts-you-dont-make/729115/26 "2015-08-28T18:32:39Z")
I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve typed out a detailed, insightful and fact filled post only to think “Is this too much wisdom for the masses to handle? Yes, it most certainly is. Better delete.” I really do try to bring the world along slowly, so as not to cause too much upset. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threads-you-dont-start-posts-you-dont-make/729115/27 "2015-08-28T20:09:14Z")
Top reasons I don’t post: [ol] [li]I’m an idiot.[/li][li]Nobody cares what the hell I think.[/li][li]Deep down, I am a very mean, angry person, who has very little tolerance for bullshit, fucknuttery, and just plain stupid, so frankly, me opening up my personal brand of pissed off at trolls/idiots/etc. would make their nightmares look like their happy place.[/li][li]I’d get a bazillion warnings and get banned for number 3 and since I’m nice and avoid confrontation and hide the pissed off quite well, it’s best if I just shut my damn mouth.[/li][/ol] ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threads-you-dont-start-posts-you-dont-make/729115/28 "2015-08-28T20:32:31Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve typed out a detailed, insightful and fact filled post only to think “Is this too much wisdom for the masses to handle? Yes, it most certainly is. Better delete.” I really do try to bring the world along slowly, so as not to cause too much upset. My internal conversation is, “Is this too much stupid for the masses to handle? No, it most certainly is not. Better post.” ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threads-you-dont-start-posts-you-dont-make/729115/29 "2015-08-28T20:44:33Z")
The only reason I’m posting in this thread is to make it perfectly clear that I did not start this thread. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threads-you-dont-start-posts-you-dont-make/729115/30 "2015-08-28T21:08:57Z")
… ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threads-you-dont-start-posts-you-dont-make/729115/31 "2015-08-28T21:46:49Z")
No one asked me, specifically. If I have nothing of value to add, there’s no reason to respond. No one will care or notice if I don’t. Unlike a girlfriend, this board won’t get cranky and think that I’m giving it the silent treatment. If I can’t be bothered to read a thread, I won’t allow myself to post in it. Clearly, I’m not actually that interested. A lot of the time, I’m just too lazy. Sure, maybe I could research an in-depth answer to this factual inquiry, or chip in with an insightful and eloquent argument in that debate. But half way through writing the post, I’ll get bored, realize that no one is paying me, the post will turn out much stupider than I had planned anyway, and, oh, look over there, flash games and pornography! On the other hand, sometimes I’ll post too much in a thread, and realize that it’s just time to shut up and walk away. If my name is on more than half the replies in a thread, I’m clearly mostly just talking to myself. And that’s the kind of thing that gets you put in a padded room if you do it too much. So I’ll stop talking, even if I have more to add. Along the same lines, if I post a few replies in a thread and notice that no one is quoting or responding to me, I’ll figure that I’m not actually part of the conversation, I’m just the weirdo butting in. So I’ll slink away. I did enough of that in high school, so now I try to stop myself. However: All rules and guidelines go out the window if I see a chance for a cheap joke or a bad pun. But that, obviously, goes without saying. 😉 As for starting threads, I should really just stop doing it. They very rarely take off. Of course, going by my posting history, I should really remember to follow my own advice a lot more often than I actually do. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threads-you-dont-start-posts-you-dont-make/729115/32 "2015-08-28T21:49:23Z")
> [@Sahirrnee](#): > > Sometimes there’s nothing to say because somebody else already said it. That happens to me all the time. Weird thing is, it always seems to be the _same poster._ :eek: I don’t want to out the freak. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threads-you-dont-start-posts-you-dont-make/729115/33 "2015-08-28T21:51:22Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > … oh, look over there, flash games and pornography! … Where? WHERE? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threads-you-dont-start-posts-you-dont-make/729115.md?page=1)