Do you read the whole thread to make sure you answer the OP?

B

Blessed

Well-known Member
I just wanted to check, do you read the whole thread? The topic and all the responses to make sure of what you need to give a helpful, empathetic, thought out answer. I am sure I have gone off topic on more than one occasion. I try my best to keep up with all of you, to understand what each of you are discussing but it is hard to keep up sometimes. Is it okay if we see something, someone may be sick and we may have missed it. Is it okay to ask for clarification?

I have found it very helpful to read all of your replies and be able to give input. I just wonder if anyone does this before posting? How do you all keep up with everyone?
 

if its a new Thread , with only a few answers , I will read all , but if its pages , the answer is no I dont read all , so just maybe Im giving the same reply as someone else .
I pick out Threads that might interest me , not nessasary the poster , Im not a avid reader , so Im sure I must miss lots of interesting post .
 
Blessed said:
I just wanted to check, do you read the whole thread? The topic and all the responses to make sure of what you need to give a helpful, empathetic, thought out answer. I am sure I have gone off topic on more than one occasion. I try my best to keep up with all of you, to understand what each of you are discussing but it is hard to keep up sometimes. Is it okay if we see something, someone may be sick and we may have missed it. Is it okay to ask for clarification?

I have found it very helpful to read all of your replies and be able to give input. I just wonder if anyone does this before posting? How do you all keep up with everyone?
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I ought to but very likely often fail.
 

Lady said:
if its a new Thread , with only a few answers , I will read all , but if its pages , the answer is no I dont read all , so just maybe Im giving the same reply as someone else .
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It's the same for me, @Lady ... if there are a lot of responses, who has the time to read them all just so we don't give the same answer someone else did? There's no harm in doing that... and there's no gold star for being the first and only to say something. If I'm told something I say has been posted before, I just roll my :rolleyes: eyes and ignore it because I can't see that it matters and I certainly don't have to be first.
 
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Don't take this the wrong way. I am tend to try to read all the posts because it teaches me about so much out there I had never heard of or considered. I am grateful to those that share their thoughts and information. I guess that is why I try to read all the posts, we are all different.
 
CallMeKate said:
It's the same for me, @Lady ... if there are a lot of responses, who has the time to read them all just so we don't give the same answer someone else did? There's no harm in doing that... and there's no gold star for being the first and only to say something. If I'm told something I say has been posted before, I just roll my :rolleyes: eyes and ignore it.
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I'm the same, particularly where someone points out that the same or similar has been said before, and even more so when that person is only referring to their own previous post as opposed to some one else’s. It comes across as though the person is saying they can’t say the same or similar.

I don’t get it. In a discussion forum everyone can say whatever they want, regardless if it’s already been said by another. For me, someone repeating something similar might just show they have the same opinion – that type of ‘repeating’ seems fine by me.

I usual ready most of a thread before I post, but at times it becomes apparent that in reality nothing much is actually being said other than speculation and hearsay. Things do get ‘interesting’ though when facts given by later posters start to be challenged by other people’s earlier hearsay.
 
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Magna-Carta said:
I'm the same, particularly where someone points out that the same or similar has been said before, and even more so when that person is only referring to their own previous post as opposed to some one else’s. It comes across as though the person is saying they can’t say the same or similar.

I don’t get it. In a discussion forum everyone can say whatever they want, regardless if it’s already been said by another. For me repeating something similar might just show they have the same opinion – that type of ‘repeating’ seems fine by me.

I usual ready most of a thread before I post, but at times it becomes apparent that in reality nothing much is actually being said other than speculation and hearsay. Things do get ‘interesting’ though when facts start to be challenged by other people’s hearsay.
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I agree, that's what happens in many friendly conversations face to face with people. I am guilty also, usually unintentionally. It is a good idea to look back at as much of the previous conversation as possible, but to hold people to it would be a conversation killer. And often things are said a bit differently each time.

Hell I am even guilty of repeating what I said earlier. My wife points that out all the time - though she more often points out when I say something she said earlier...
 
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Quite often I'll just hop to the topic Header and not remember who started the thread. If many replies have been given, I just kinda skim read them...then I may post something that has already been covered...but no big deal, I figure.
 
Alligatorob said:
I agree, that's what happens in many friendly conversations face to face with people. I am guilty also, usually unintentionally. It is a good idea to look back at as much of the previous conversation as possible, but to hold people to it would be a conversation killer. And often things are said a bit differently each time.

Hell I am even guilty of repeating what I said earlier. My wife points that out all the time - though she more often points out when I say something she said earlier...
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We all do that, if it is something we feel strong about.
 
I read the OP's thread and I will check responses. I skip people I don't read (my own reasons) and may respond to the OP if I have something to say. I 'reply' to OP or others if I wish to say something directly to them or ask for clarification; whether they answer you is up to them and/or if they see the post. My memory is not good and I can't keep up with everyone.
 
Yes if the topic is of interest to me I will read every post so as not to repeat a post...

It is annoying when you can see there's been several replies... and then someone posts an opinion when they've clearly not read the OP..or the link.. because then they're making an opinion based on nothing but the title of the thread..
 
If it’s my thread I will read every single response and respond appropriately.

If it’s not, I always read the title, the poster’s first post, and the first few posts after that. If it’s a very long thread I will always scan it to read other posts on that thread by the OP for further insight, and scan the rest, and then respond.

It annoys me, whether it’s my own or others’ threads, when a responder has obviously read nothing more than the thread title before responding, and so their response clearly doesn’t speak to the actual content. Some titles are a bit obscure, or aren’t descriptive of what the thread is going to be about, or in some other way give a vague impression of the OP’s question or direction. It’s discourteous IMHO.
 
Jamala said:
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I usually try to answer the OP’s question first. I rarely read an entire thread because more often than not poltergeists infiltrate the thread and the OP’s original question is forgotten.

However if the post of a later contributor catches my eye, then I’ll read it and even reply. Some I skip altogether!
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Not everyone has the opportunity or time to read every post in a thread – we are not all retired; we have other things to do too. I would say we should all give allowances to people who want to contribute who just happen to say the same or similar to an eailier post. It seems easy to accommodate that, if there is no ego involved that is.
 
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Magna-Carta said:
Not everyone has the opportunity or time to read every post in a thread – we are not all retired; we have other things to do too. I would say we should all give allowances to people who want to contribute who just happen to say the same or similar to an emailer post. It seems easy to accommodate that, if there is no ego involved that is.
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Exactly… I have a business to run and simply do not have time to go searching in the thread for content to enlighten me as to what the OP means.

It is the OP’s job to write a descriptive title and first post, so that anyone can answer the question without reading reams of sometimes meaningless posts.
 
How I respond depends on the subject. Some threads, I read every single post. ( loss of a pet or loved one and often acknowledge every post since I think it’s sensitive subject matter ) Other threads I merely scan the thread and answer accordingly and at times I’ve been guilty of just reading the title and answering , perhaps needing to adjust my answer, but not often. And often I’ll read every answer and while posting , someone else posts at the same time and our posts are similar.
I’m certainly not a model poster. I’m human and make mistakes often
 
"If you hate facebook, but need social interaction via keyboard, ask your doctor if SF is right for you." I'm still deciding if it's right for me. I was on Reddit a lot, but their new API policy starting in July makes me like them a lot less, so I'm keyboard-social shopping. Threads here seem to wander a lot though, loose focus. It seems like 90% of the activity is a dozen users.
 
JeeperDon said:
"If you hate facebook, but need social interaction via keyboard, ask your doctor if SF is right for you." I'm still deciding if it's right for me. I was on Reddit a lot, but their new API policy starting in July makes me like them a lot less, so I'm keyboard-social shopping. Threads here seem to wander a lot though, loose focus. It seems like 90% of the activity is a dozen users.
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that's almost always the way on forums... I think closer to about 20 regular daily posters here...this is a forum where 90% of people are friendly and feel part of a forum family..
 
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