[alcimedes]

So today as I was browsing the forums, and typing up some replies I noticed that I often times I'll start to post and then change my mind, abandoning the post to the ether of the internet.

So my question is, how many of your posts do you post?

If you change your mind about posting, why don't you post the message?

[MCQ]

I was going to post something, but decided not to.

[LudwigVan]

Damn near all. A few I gave up on when I thought I had a good idea or snappy response, but spelled out on screen, they turned out to be pretty crappy.

There were a couple more that were nothing but retorts. However, those I just wrote out, then cancelled--it just wasn't worth that hassle. I've got enough worries in my real life.

[HOM]

Most of the time I start a post and then realize that I either can't get what I want to say across in the post or that what I'm going to say doesn't add much to the discussion. I figure it's best not to waste everyone's time with a stupid post.

[Chinney]

Pretty much all. I feel a need to give everyone the benefit of my ignorance.

[SpecMode]

I used to be a lurker, posting maybe once every couple weeks or so (and not at all during my recent deployment...not enough bandwidth). Nowadays, I'll post about stuff I find particularly interesting or useful. Usually once I start typing, I'll end up posting, though the actual post won't always be what I had originally started with.

[T-Man]

Sometimes once I type it it makes no sense, isnt needed, or (very rarely) should not be posted. Other times things just 'arent ready' for that thread yet. But usually I post what I type.

[psmith2.0]

I post most things I write. Sometimes I'll read something that strikes me as stupid or that makes me mad...where someone's just begging to be verbally throttled a bit.



I might get started on a response, but either I "come down" in the time it takes to write a bit, or I will even catch myself a few sentences or so in and say "eh, it's not worth it...everyone's entitled to their opinion. No biggie...".

That or I'm simply too tired - or not in the mood - to get into it.



Granted, it doesn't happen much here. Only every once in a while. And even then, I'm usually trying to do it with humor or playful jabs (even if I'm genuinely irked, which isn't often). It's not a very flame-y, combative place to begin with, so it's a rare thing.

So 97% of the time, if I start to type...it gets posted.

I feel like I'm in pretty good standing, so I'd have to do/say something really horrendous to truly anger people or get banned. That's usually not my approach anyway, and anger/riled emotions can be fleeting. I try to remember that, and act accordingly.

Put it this way: I'm glad I've cancelled a few things in the past. I probably would've gotten hammered with the Ban Stick on more than a few occasions.



That New Orleans/Katrina thread was *this close* to being the death of me.

[torifile]

scates, you'd have another 250 posts if you posted everything you wrote. That's scary.

[alcimedes]

Ha ha, I had a really long post to explain why I don't usually post, then scrapped it. Didn't like how it read.

[Brad]

That's generally what happens with me. I'm a freaky obsessive-compulsive perfectionist type and I'll often toss "draft" posts into TextEdit to proofread before hitting reply. If I find myself wasting too much time on it, I'll try to quickly trim it down or just chuck it out.

Can you imagine having to put up with twice as many of my posts?

[psmith2.0]

Originally Posted by torifile scates, you'd have another 250 posts if you posted everything you wrote. That's scary.

Tell me about it!

Hey, Brad unbanned himself!

Welcome back...what's on tap for MWSF 07? Can I start a few overlapping threads about it?

[SledgeHammer]

I post almost everything I start writing. Occasionally I'll scrap something that sounded good in my head, but just sounds stupid or isn't worth the trouble once I start writing it out.
It's funny, though: that habit doesn't fit with what my wife and I have determined is our family motto: "I was gonna, but then I didn't." In real life, I find myself using that phrase (usually adding in what it was I was "gonna" do) all the time without even thinking about it. Today for instance, I was gonna make the bed, but then I didn't. In here, that doesn't seem to apply, probably because my natural inclination is not to reply to threads. I usually only comment when, as I read the thread, I find myself with something particular to say on the subject.

Oh, and pscates, I love the link in your profile. Did you do that?

Also, I love resizable text boxes.

[Banana]

Whenever I type posts, I usually find myself thinking "someone already has done it better so why clutter the board with more yeas or nays?" and let about half of my posts go.

I would prefer that my posts be meaningful in one way or other for others than make AN my private blog.

[InactionMan]

I almost didn't post in this thread, kept deleting what I had written. But it seems like the wrong thread to do it in.

I post most of the time. It's generally the weightier posts that I tend to abandon. 

[DMBand0026]

My problem is that I can't read. Like how I just totally picked the wrong option. I picked "Few" But I meant to pick "Most."

If I don't post it's usually because I'm angry. I'm good at following the "Don't post when angry" guideline. I don't like to pick fights if I don't have to. Unless I'm really passionate about something, usually a fight isn't worth it for me.

I probably post about 98% of the stuff I start to type.

Edit: Than there's the ones that I think are funny when I'm writing them, but when I read them a second time I realize that it's either stupid or makes no sense at all.

But as you can tell from my post count, I don't really hold back on a lot of things. It's better to get it out there.

"The most important things are the hardest things to say. They are the things that you get ashamed of because words diminish them. Words shrink things that seemed limitless when they were in your head to no more than life size when they're brought out. "But it's more than that, isn't it? The most important things lie too close to wherever it is that your secret heart is buried. Like landmarks to a treasure your enemy would love to steal away, and make revelation that cost you dearly, only to have people look at you in a funny way, not understanding what you said at all or why you thought it was so important that you nearly cried while you were saying it "That's the worst, I think. When the secret stays locked within not for want of a teller, but for want of an understanding ear."

[Banana]

I noted that nobody chose the lurker option. I'll have to cry foul on this one; wouldn't it defeat the purpose of lurking if they voted, even if they are "voting lurker"?

[alcimedes]

you can vote and have 0 posts still.

[Brad]

Yeah, I've seen several polls here before where lurkers have voted. It's not all that unusual.

[DMBand0026]

Some people have posted several thousand times but not bothered to post anything worth reading, doest that count as zero?


I'm going to bed.

[billybobsky]

I often write something that comes off as a different tone than I wanted and ditch it...

[chucker]

I'm like pscates, except I have nowhere near the amount of posts, of course.

[Ebby]

Every now and then (usually when I get really heated on a topic) I re-read my post and find that I either totally misread the origonal post, made an ass of myself, or insulted someone.

Then I edit with "<snip>" and replace in my post with politically correct BS.
Only I know what I said behind your backs. Muhaha!

<snip>

[Wrao]

I used to always post without ever thinking about it. These days I often revise any given post completely 2 or 3 times before posting, and sometimes will just outright scrap it.

[chucker]

Thanks to inline editing, I tend to add more information more often. That also means, however, that I have a tendency to post more quickly.

So far, though, I haven't been banned, so I guess I'm not doing so bad.

[curiousuburb]

Occassionally, I'll catch myself making some snarky comment and reconsider, or look again at a comment that seems too tangential and off topic, or decide that it's late and I'm too tired/distracted to put proper effort into it, and I'll just kill the tab rather than post comments I might regret.

I notice I am a bit more cautious about posting without thinking given we can only edit for 2 days. If we had full retroactive editing ability, knowing we could always go back later and correct things indefinitely, I might not be as sensitive.

I've also had more that a few occassions where I had what I thought was a good post and miskeyed.

CMD-2 instead of Option-2 doesn't give you the spiffy ™, it loads another bookmark, and on returning with the back button, you'll discover your textbox of carefully composed content is kaput. Similarly, I'll sometimes be in another tab factchecking or collecting linkage to paste, and mistakenly hit CMD-Q instead of CMD-W.

Sometimes I recreate the post (usually failing to recapture the best writing or jokes the second time around), sometimes I just skip it.

All totalled, combining the "reconsidered" with the "knackered" and the "D'oh", I probably still post upwards of 90% what I start.

[skid_boy_99]

I usually just read the threads that sound interesting or ones that I feel I could help out on. Rarely post new things unless I have a question or qualm.

With that in mind, my posts are usually trying to help or putting my opinion out - I opt for quality over quantity (obviously not intending to denigrate anyone elses postings - they're all good!).

[709]

Originally Posted by curiousuburb All totalled, combining the "reconsidered" with the "knackered" and the "D'oh", I probably still post upwards of 90% what I start.

Same here. Sometimes I'll get a little overzealous with my use of expletives, post, re-read, and then frantically edit before the dreaded edit timer runs out (I hate that little italicized notice that shows up).

Lately I've been trying not to swear so much (online and offline). I think I've almost gone an entire week without saying or typing fuck.

[awilso]

Fuck, I posted that I post everything then I changed my mind for the first time ever, but I'd already voted - guess thats why I voted the way I did.

Engage keyboard - type - post - then think about what you were going to say when you can't understand your own post

[Windswept]

I post 99.9999% of what I start - especially here at AN.

Only when I'm furious about something, and have written heated words in a response, will I sometimes step back and realize that I'm probably overreacting (because I tend to do that ).

Then I'll delete what I've written and take time away for a cooling-off period. If I'm still furious when I return, then I'm posting my thoughts full-blast at the cause of my outrage.

I hardly ever get angry at AN. I mostly have nothing but fun here. But I used to get ganged-up-on at AI - for the most stupid reasons. It was infuriating.

*seethe*

I vaguely remember getting attacked in an 'ice cream' thread I had started. Oh please! I mean, *who effing cares* enough about anything that could be said in such a thread to attack anyone?