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How often do you type a reply that you never post?

crienne

crienne

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,174
I'm sure most of us have done this at least once in our time on the internet. You have some great reply in your head and you're all ready to post it for the world to see. Then maybe you start to think about the reaction to your post.

Is your post some hot take that'll just lead to people dunking on you for an hour or two?
Does it actually bring as much to the topic as you originally thought it might?
Did you realize maybe you're out of your depth on this one?

Or is this just me and my anxiety talking?
 
sangreal

sangreal

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
10,890
I do this all the time. Then if I come back to the thread later and still see my message, I am always glad I didn't post it and ask myself wtf was I thinking
 
Sirhc

Sirhc

Hasn't made a thread yet. Shame me.
Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,051
All the fucking time, I type out some snarky shit or call some dumb shit out, and by the time I finish typing it realize I don't want to deal with quote notifications for days or argue with people posting in bad faith.
 
ScoobsJoestar

ScoobsJoestar

Member
May 30, 2019
4,071
Pretty often. I think people here often go out of their way to not only not give someone the benefit of the doubt but find the least charitable way to interpret a post. So if the topic is at all serious I often just don't talk because it's not worth it.
 
Small Red Boy

Small Red Boy

▲ Legend ▲
Member
May 9, 2019
2,678
Like 90% of the times. Most of the time I feel like I am not adding anything to the discussion and that my coments are unintelligible.
 
Volimar

Volimar

volunteer forum janitor
Member
Oct 25, 2017
38,463
Lots. Sometimes it's a reply to something early in the thread and I don't realize that the conversation has moved past it until I start typing a reply. Sometimes it just doesn't seem as important as I thought, or I realize I don't want to engage with certain individuals who just want to argue.
 
Astro Cat

Astro Cat

Member
Mar 29, 2019
7,745
I'll occasionally delete my post just so I don't have to get into an argument and then just put the thread on ignore. Mostly for Star Wars threads because those never end well.
 

Deleted member 9241

Oct 26, 2017
10,416
a few times a week

I have a dark & highly inappropriate sense of humor
 
CloseTalker

CloseTalker

Member
Oct 25, 2017
30,637
A lot. Sometimes I'll write a really long reply then halfway through, or even after it's done, i'll look at it and just think "you know, I don't even care about this conversation"
 
RenorMirshann

RenorMirshann

Avenger
Nov 6, 2017
705
Poland
Most of the time. I'm suprised I've even posted this one.

If I'm typying something longer I'm usually already arguing with myself while doing it. So most of my posts are simple questions & reactions or something short and positive.
 
Enduin

Enduin

You look 40
Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,485
New York
I used to do that a lot, probably the vast majority of the time, but have gotten better about just not bothering to write up anything at all, or if I do to actually post it.

That said I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing that people do this. Writing up a post can be very good for getting your thoughts and opinions in order and reexamining them in ways you wouldn't be able to just thinking on it in your head alone.

An environment of fear of posting can be an issue. But it largely depends on why you think your post will get dog pilled or called out in some way. Being afraid people will react badly to your post because of a general lack of confidence in articulating your point clearly, or because you think people are overall hostile and not open to hearing valid alternative viewpoints is tough and not the best situation and hard to get over without just posting and getting more comfortable with it, but also it can be good that some people realize "hey, what I'm about to post might agitate people, maybe I should rethink my position," or simply just "am I actually adding anything of value to the conversation."
 
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jroc74

jroc74

Member
Oct 27, 2017
28,995
I do it from time to time.

At the end of the day, I just decide what I feel like engaging with. Hell, there are times I'll post...and never return to the thread, lol. I have 328 thread reply alerts I never checked that probably go back to 2020....
 
Avantgarde

Avantgarde

Member
Oct 27, 2017
486
A lot, which is why I'm mostly reading here, not contributing. English is not my language and sometimes it takes too long to articulate an opinion and try to spot grammar errors, and it always sounds better in my head than when it's written. And luckily there's always someone who says what I wanted to say, but much better.
 
ConfusedOwl

ConfusedOwl

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,125
Canada
Very often. I'm terrible at organizing my thoughts and many times my posts end up feeling disjointed so I don't bother. I also have confidence and anxiety issues which doesn't help. I even thought about deleting this post.
 
eXistor

eXistor

Member
Oct 27, 2017
12,294
Like 50% of the time. Usually I just figure people aren't gonna like what I have to say and I'm not willing to engage in discussions about it so I just leave it.
 

Deleted member 25606

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 29, 2017
8,973
At least as many times as I have posted. And some of the stuff I have and peoples reactions or refusal to stop arguing has led me to post even less honestly.
 
Saiyaman

Saiyaman

Member
Dec 19, 2017
1,864
I'd wager about 5% of what I write in these text boxes actually ever gets posted. As others have said, I often feel like my posts are disjointed, unintelligible, and add nothing of value. Thus, I refrain from posting. It doesn't help that my anxiety leads me to believe that people will attack me for my posts. I essentially have to force myself to hit post reply.
 
Irrotational

Irrotational

Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,151
No-one should have posted their reply to OP...would have been funny to just leave it with 0 replies...the internet has failed me :-(
 

Gyro Zeppeli

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,289
It doesn't bother me because I usually feel too indifferent to respond to people who quote me, especially if they quote me with a smart ass reply. I won't dignify a response to that.
 
RecLib

RecLib

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,365
I definitely hold back from replying to some of the overtly sexist threads sometimes. I'll type something up and then picture the next full day of occasional notifications that another dude has quoted my post to tell me why there definitely isn't really sexism in the blatantly sexist thread and I'll decide its not worth it.
 
Bjomesphat

Bjomesphat

Member
Nov 5, 2017
1,820
Sirhc said:
All the fucking time, I type out some snarky shit or call some dumb shit out, and by the time I finish typing it realize I don't want to deal with quote notifications for days or argue with people posting in bad faith.
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ScoobsJoestar said:
Pretty often. I think people here often go out of their way to not only not give someone the benefit of the doubt but find the least charitable way to interpret a post. So if the topic is at all serious I often just don't talk because it's not worth it.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Basically for both of these reasons.
 
PeskyToaster

PeskyToaster

Member
Oct 27, 2017
15,314
i write up a snarky trolly paragraph, sleep on it, and then my snark has faded and I erase, and say "yeah lol"
 
Saganator

Saganator

Member
Oct 26, 2017
7,056
Often. Either I'm just repeating what has already been said, or I know it's going to be quoted to hell and back and I don't want to deal with it.
 
oni-link

oni-link

tag reference no one gets
Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,024
UK
Rocketz said:
I'd have double the amount of posts I do now.
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Same

Half the time I'll see a shit post and start a reply dunking on the moronic take, and then think 'what is this adding exactly? Is this going to make Era more positive or negative? Does this matter? Is this gonna to bum someone out?' And then I'll just delete my reply and move on
 
Tavernade

Tavernade

Tavernade
Moderator
Sep 18, 2018
8,630
I think about 1/5th of my stuff is never posted. Usually when I feel like I'm writing just to write when I don't have anything to actually add to a topic.
 
nullref

nullref

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,052
All the time. For every few posts I make, there's probably one I wrote and then decided wasn't worth it halfway through.

I'll have some kind of reaction to a post, start writing a reply… and then question whether I'd be contributing anything new, just adding negativity, or am just motivated by a desire to dunk on someone's opinion or perspective. I never ultimately feel good about it if that's all I'm adding, so I try (and sometimes fail) to stop myself before even posting. Sometimes just the act of writing lets me work through my reaction, and no one else needs to actually read it.
 
Red Comet

Red Comet

Member
Jan 6, 2018
1,488
More times than what I've actually posted, honestly. Sometimes it just feels good to type it out without having to deal with the consequences of being quoted.
 

Deleted member 6263

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
9,387
More often than not. I'm constantly in my head about what to type, how to phrase something, and how it will be received by others.
 
Tuppen

Tuppen

Member
Nov 28, 2017
2,053
It happens all the time.

What happens even more is that I add posts to multi-quote but by the time I get to the end of the thread I have lost interest and end up discarding them.
 
L Thammy

L Thammy

Spacenoid
Member
Oct 25, 2017
50,034
Not that often, I'd say. More often I post something and then edit it immediately several times.
 
Kmonk

Kmonk

#TeamThierry
Member
Oct 30, 2017
3,692
US
Best piece of forum advice I ever received came from the rules thread on this site: "You don't have to post".

I delete posts all the time before posting. Even on a forum like this, there are plenty of posts that get my blood boiling, but posting those feelings is almost never productive.
 
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