How many posts do you read before posting on a new thread?

[deltic]

I've lost count of the number of threads that start off along the lines of "I was travelling from A to B when something happened". The next post is then along the lines of can you tell us what time, what route, what rolling stock, what TOC or what ticket etc was involved. The OP responds with the answer. You can then be almost guaranteed that within 5-10 further posts someone asks the same "what time, what route, what rolling stock, what TOC or what ticket etc was involved" question.

So how many people actually read all the preceeding posts before posting themselves for the first time or just read the OP and then post regardless?

 

[Harpers Tate]

Every post in a thread has its own "quick reply" button, and I suspect (based on experience as one of the "team" on another board - on an entirely different subject) that some members simply read a post and then "quick reply" to that one post. They do so unaware that the thread is one chronological string, rather than each reply forming part of a different "branch".

 

[Cowley]

I try to read all the posts in a thread before commenting, sometimes though there's so many posts in a thread you can understand why people start asking questions again that had been asked a couple of hundred posts before.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I also try to read everything before responding.

However if a thread is moving fast enough that there are hundreds of replies a day or if it's degenerated into an argument and general mud-slinging then I tend to simply abandon the thread for good - even if I have responded to it earlier on. Bear in mind I'm PC based so I'll be seeing anything up to a whole day's worth of postings in one go.

That also means I tend to be very selective about which threads I read, full stop, rather than try to read the whole forum daily.

 

[PeterY]

Unless a thread is gripping, I tend to get bored after 3 pages.

By the time I've a valid point to add, usually someone else has done it, so it's not worth stating the same opinion twice.

I do read everything before I post though.

 

[me123]

I'll generally read the opening posts, and the last full page on any bigger threads (I've changed my user settings to display 50 posts on a page). If I've missed something, it's usually quite obvious then.

It's simply not practical to read some of the threads that have reached well over a hundred pages.

 

[SpacePhoenix]

Sometimes there are threads where it would be handy if there were some sort of "reply as linked topic" option (probably available somewhere as a mod for vBulletin), where a new topic would be created but the new topic would be linked to the original topic.

Even with the 50 posts per page option set it takes too long read all the way through the topic, a good example is probably the class 700 thread which as of this time has got about 6,918 replies. I can't see (and can understand why people wouldn't) anyone reading through all them replies.

 

[43021HST]

One of my biggest frustrations is when people reply "I've already answered this question, previously" when a thread stretches into 100s of pages.

This is a public forum, where we are allowed to ask questions, sometimes repeated questions are inevitable within a large scale discussion, deal with it.

 

[D365]

Sometimes there are threads where it would be handy if there were some sort of "reply as linked topic" option (probably available somewhere as a mod for vBulletin), where a new topic would be created but the new topic would be linked to the original topic.

I don't think that would be a good thing, as some contributors would end up splitting discussions needlessly.

 

[D365]

One of my biggest frustrations is when people reply "I've already answered this question, previously" when a thread stretches into 100s of pages.

This is a public forum, where we are allowed to ask questions, sometimes repeated questions are inevitable within a large scale discussion, deal with it.

It's just a tad irritating when we have five different topics started within the space of a week asking about ideas for Class 373 reuse, for example.

 

[43021HST]

What's wrong with simply quoting comment you were replying to if the thread takes a different context, to how you were going to reply.

 

[najaB]

One of my biggest frustrations is when people reply "I've already answered this question, previously" when a thread stretches into 100s of pages.

I try to link to the previous answer rather than writing the whole thing again or leaving the questioner none the wiser. Don't always remember though.

What's embarrassing is replying to a post, and then realising there was another page of the thread and two other people have already replied.

 

[TheEdge]

I don't read anything, I just blindly post my malformed opinion.

 

[Busaholic]

I don't read anything, I just blindly post my malformed opinion.

You are really Donald Trump

 

[Cowley]

I don't read anything, I just blindly post my malformed opinion.

Readings very overrated.

 

[DarloRich]

I don't read anything, I just blindly post my malformed opinion.

that is the new informed debate isnt it?

 

[Baxenden Bank]

Readings very overrated.

Not as bad as Swindon though.