Why Do People Here Skip The Discussion?

Discussion in Suggestions & Feedback started by mythman • May 21, 2014.

  1. mythman

    mythmanActive Member

    Joined:
    Mar 21, 2014
    Threads:
    227
    Messages:
    790
    Likes Received:
    51
    I get the responses (to forum-discussions I've joined here) sent to my inbox; and it makes me sick, people responding to the original post as if it's a 'blog-entry.' So some later posters end up re-repeating what a bunch of the other 'commenting as if the OP were blogging' responders.

    Makes me wanna 'disapprove' of all such responses (giving each of those responders a "-1" in their 'responder-karma' (or whatever we call 'the count-up of all their 'likes' & 'dislikes')).

    Granted, "disapproving" without comment might make me seem like 'someone who just WANTS to cut-down people for no reason'; so that's why I don't just 'use the "disapprove"-button' when I see that, but I use the 'Give Reputation'-link & add a comment (so it's more like "constructive criticism").

    Any other/better ways to make this more like a "forum" and less like a "blog with lots of comments"? (I can think of some things the admin. might do, but I would rather that they did it as a matter of 'making it easier for us members to interact'---the same reason they allow us to 'register our connections' here (through friend-requests & -approvals), telling the program to make friends' posts more easily-accesible by other friends <3 )
     
  2. Jessi

    Jessi<a href="http://www.quirkycookery.com">QuirkyCooke

    Joined:
    Mar 31, 2012
    Threads:
    126
    Messages:
    2,256
    Likes Received:
    78
    Eh. That's kind of what a lot of threads ARE for around here, though. Sure, sometimes you want conversation where it's back and forth, but sometimes, the OP is just asking a question where everyone can chime in. So if person A and person C both have the same opinion, then offering that up is still find, even if it seems like a repeat. It's their own response. I don't necessarily think that's bad.
     
  3. Strykstar

    StrykstarActive Member

    Joined:
    Apr 6, 2014
    Threads:
    140
    Messages:
    721
    Likes Received:
    7
    I don't really agree with that, it's not a matter of people ignoring the comments that have already been made, there are plenty of comments that anre in reply to existing ones or even quoting them; People simply want to add their own opinion to the original question, I don't think there's anything wrong with that, otherwise the first person to comment would monopolize the discussion.
     
  4. Denis Hard

    Denis HardWell-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 22, 2013
    Threads:
    991
    Messages:
    4,335
    Likes Received:
    790
    But what of when someone repeats what another poster wrote verbatim? Yeah I agree that everyone is entitled to express their opinion about something, a discussion and so on but at least let's have a variety of responses. After all if someone says yes and another says I agree, etc, they'd be more posts on the thread, most of which add no value. Not that each post must add value to a discussion but point is, doing a lot of that makes a board look spammy.

    It's not for the admin to enforce changes but those of use who participate in the forums who must change our posting habits because to be honest I don't know of a script that can block anyone from posting a comment . . .
     
  5. mythman

    mythmanActive Member

    Joined:
    Mar 21, 2014
    Threads:
    227
    Messages:
    790
    Likes Received:
    51
    I guess I'm being a little obsessive-compulsive, 'a place for each thing & each thing in its place' there---'IF YOU WANT A BLOG, GO TO A BLOG!! :p

    Oh, so it's OKAY for the OP to "monopolize the discussion"?

    I think my major beef with the verbatim posts is that they make the Original RESPONDER feel like their response was 'not worth reading.'

    I think I may have 'verbatim'd a post or two, usually when discussions take up more than one page. (I usually read & quote from the first page, skipping any pages after that ... I'm gonna see if I can change my settings to allow ALL a discussion's posts onto one page)
     
  6. Strykstar

    StrykstarActive Member

    Joined:
    Apr 6, 2014
    Threads:
    140
    Messages:
    721
    Likes Received:
    7
    Of course it's not OK for the OP to monopolize the discussion, the point is that discussions are meant to be fluid and people's participation in them is subjective, some people prefer to read OP's post and give their opinion, other people prefer to read the last post and answer that, while even other people apparently don't read anything at all :)
    This isn't the sort of thing that can be moderated or guided, it's meant to just "flow" :)
     
  7. JosieP

    JosiePWell-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 31, 2013
    Threads:
    34
    Messages:
    2,487
    Likes Received:
    436
    I much prefer discussions. I stopped coming here for a while because it was so boring to get a really great topic start and nothing but opinions after.. no discussion whatsoever, try as I might to come back to a topic and keep it going. Most people seem to chime in and leave it for good, not paying attention to anything said throughout. There are some REALLY good original posts here that could lead to some really great conversations/debates etc. Too bad really.
     
  8. mythman

    mythmanActive Member

    Joined:
    Mar 21, 2014
    Threads:
    227
    Messages:
    790
    Likes Received:
    51
    I guess the best we can do is 'pretend there's no other desirable option' (kinda like Christians do with the God-option, done by saying that all other options "lead to Hell").

    What I do: everytime I log-on, I go through all the 'new entries' on my "subscribed posts" and respond to those if it feels appropriate ... usually BEFORE I post a new topic or reply to other new topics.

    Sad that sometimes the only thing one can do about 'violators' (bad responders, neighbors with their loud music, etc.) is just 'turn your attention elsewhere & not join in' :cool: