# Why am I getting blue and grey circles for threads I've never read\> **URL:** \ **Category:** Site Feedback\ **Created:** [June 20, 2021, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-getting-blue-and-grey-circles-for-threads-ive-never-read/944699 "2021-06-20T19:35:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-getting-blue-and-grey-circles-for-threads-ive-never-read/944699/1 "2021-06-20T19:35:49Z")
The blue and grey circles with a number are to show that someone has posted to a thread I’ve posted in, correct? The past few days I’ve been getting them for threads I’ve never even opened, let alone posted in. Anyone else noticing this? ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-getting-blue-and-grey-circles-for-threads-ive-never-read/944699/2 "2021-06-20T19:42:16Z")
It happens to me, from time to time. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-getting-blue-and-grey-circles-for-threads-ive-never-read/944699/3 "2021-06-20T19:48:50Z")
And now on the money-laundering thread, it’s showing a blue circle with 219 posts, even though the thread is apparently only 55 posts long. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-getting-blue-and-grey-circles-for-threads-ive-never-read/944699/4 "2021-06-20T19:50:07Z")
And when I went back to check, it was showing the money-laundering thread with 329 posts in the blue circle. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-getting-blue-and-grey-circles-for-threads-ive-never-read/944699/5 "2021-06-20T19:50:46Z")
439 in the blue circle.! ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-getting-blue-and-grey-circles-for-threads-ive-never-read/944699/6 "2021-06-20T19:52:18Z")
549 new money-laundering posts! Each time I go away and come back to the main page, it adds 110 to the blue circle for new posts. But according the stats column, it’s only got 55 posts. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-getting-blue-and-grey-circles-for-threads-ive-never-read/944699/7 "2021-06-20T19:53:51Z")
From what I gather that if you open a post and don’t read through the thread and close it you will get a gray circle with a number telling you how many post are left in the thread. If someone post after you close it those will show up in a blue circle. But I have not seen where it just starts informing of post in threads I didn’t open. Maybe it has something to do with tags. Weren’t you experimenting with tags the other day? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-getting-blue-and-grey-circles-for-threads-ive-never-read/944699/8 "2021-06-20T19:55:19Z")
Tags? what are tags? Nope. The blue circle for the money-laundering thread is going up by 110 posts every time I go away from the main page and then come back to it. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-getting-blue-and-grey-circles-for-threads-ive-never-read/944699/9 "2021-06-20T19:55:27Z")
What the F? And why can’t I just type WTF? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-getting-blue-and-grey-circles-for-threads-ive-never-read/944699/10 "2021-06-20T19:56:03Z")
It’s at 879 now. Anyone else seeing that for that particular thread? ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-getting-blue-and-grey-circles-for-threads-ive-never-read/944699/11 "2021-06-20T19:56:40Z")
It’s giving me normal numbers for the money-laundering thread. So it would appear that the glitch is happening with one’s individual account, rather than something system-wide. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-getting-blue-and-grey-circles-for-threads-ive-never-read/944699/12 "2021-06-20T19:57:45Z")
Nope, and I am posting there. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-getting-blue-and-grey-circles-for-threads-ive-never-read/944699/13 "2021-06-20T20:00:16Z")
Showing 989 now. It’s like a telethon: “Where are we going? Higher!” ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-getting-blue-and-grey-circles-for-threads-ive-never-read/944699/14 "2021-06-20T20:03:05Z")
989 going once . . . 989 going twice . . . Sold! ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-getting-blue-and-grey-circles-for-threads-ive-never-read/944699/15 "2021-06-20T20:05:31Z")
Have you tried logging out, then logging back in? Maybe that would knock loose whatever is stuck. Or not. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-getting-blue-and-grey-circles-for-threads-ive-never-read/944699/16 "2021-06-20T20:08:37Z")
I took a screenshot of it, but I have no idea how to post it. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-getting-blue-and-grey-circles-for-threads-ive-never-read/944699/17 "2021-06-20T20:11:47Z")
I logged out and it’s gone now. Good idea, **mbh**! ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-getting-blue-and-grey-circles-for-threads-ive-never-read/944699/18 "2021-06-20T22:51:51Z")
When in doubt, re-boot. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-getting-blue-and-grey-circles-for-threads-ive-never-read/944699/19 "2021-06-20T23:08:09Z")
I’m running into a similar issue in a thread I posted in Site Issues. Though, in my case the numbers go away if I refresh the forum (which Discourse calls a category) page. I’ve reported it as a bug. They appear to be the same numbers you get when you actually follow a thread. But I have the “automatic follow” feature turned off. > [@BUG: Tracking sometimes temporarily set on topics](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bug-tracking-sometimes-temporarily-set-on-topics/944286): > > Although I have tracking for threads turned off in my preferences, I have lately been sometimes seeing those gray and blue circles with numbers in them for one topic (thread) in a particular category (forum, e.g. ATMB). When I refresh the page, these numbers go away, even though I do not visit the topic. This seems an odd course of events. I would expect that, since I have that option turned off, I would never be set to following a thread in the first place. But it seems it is being set, and t… ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2021, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-getting-blue-and-grey-circles-for-threads-ive-never-read/944699/20 "2021-06-21T01:42:32Z")
Maybe someone’s laundering dots. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-getting-blue-and-grey-circles-for-threads-ive-never-read/944699.md?page=2)