My First Rant - and Apology

Okay - before I get to my "hit my one nerve" point, let me confess - I was guilty of this exact same annoying habit after first joining ATS not that long ago. With that disclosure, here I go:

I get so frustrated at people who choose to reply to a thread without bothering to read the replies already posted. And I'm not talking about 5, 6 or 7 page threads or longer - I'm talking about maybe a couple of pages! I have frequently read replies which really add to the discussion - only to see reply after reply that clearly didn't look over the additional information. In some cases, this really prevents the thread discussion from developing at all.

I'm not talking about interpretation or opinion replies here - but replies which ask for "more" information - information that is already contained in the thread. But I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir to a lot of members.

I want to sincerely say "my bad" to my fellow ATS'ers for this annoying practice, since I can recall being sometimes guilty of this myself when I first joined. To you I ask, is it rude to post a reply response within another's thread that indicates certain responders could benefit from a more thorough thread read? Or do you find this is behavior which is best ignored?

Whew - glad I dumped that off my mind - Thanks ATS

reply to post by Open2Truth


Two hours and no one has respnded to your apology, I forgive you!

I get frustrated at the same thing, in fact there was a thread about it very recently, and i'm sure a million others. I actually end up not responding to most threads that this happens to just because I feel like it wouldnt be contributing at all and just add to the confusion.

But this thread was very easy to read all the way through.

reply to post by Open2Truth


Guilty as charged...but have changed my ways.

Good for you

reply to post by Open2Truth

Well, fancy that. I just marched in here ready to post my own rant, but I see you've kicked it off already. Thank you! I love the fact that this community is so diverse... different backgrounds, different educations, different opinions. I appreciate the time and effort people take to submit a thoughtful post. But it seems for every one person truly contributing and staying on topic, there are ten others who just do a blind drive by long enough to post an opinion that may not even speak to the discussion at hand.

An intelligent dialog can devolve into an absurd game of "Online Operator" within three posts. Everyone wants to be heard, but no-one wants to listen. It's incredibly frustrating, especially when I see some really valuable input ignored or misconstrued because the respondents can't be bothered to actually take a moment to absorb information first. It never fails. One example: A question will be answered early on in a post, yet a handful of people will still wander in and ask the answered question. And it doesn't seem to matter if someone then reiterates. Might as well be typing to a brick wall.

It's no longer a dialog if people are disregarding any other discussion in the thread. And it's frustrating for those who are genuinely interested and want the discourse to flourish. This short attention span society is a real bummer. I guess that's why the television is overrun with thoughtless programming formatted to constantly hit you over the head with the same rudimentary material over and over to drive the superficial points home.

Sigh. I feel better now. Thanks for providing a place to vent... and no apology necessary. Star for insight

reply to post by HolographicPrincipal

While I'm not surprised, it is strangely comforting to know that this drives others nuts as well. Thanks for your contribution and insight.