How often do you read other people's posts on WP?

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It depends on who posted it, where they posted it, and upon what subject they chose to post.

Referring to the poll in this thread: I almost always read other people's post - More often than not, my posts dovetail into an existing topic. I only periodically begin a new discussion thread.

Discussion threads of one to two dozen posts seem to be of optimum lengths.

When adding my posts to a discussion thread, I often consider whether or not to apply the 'REPLY' option, or the 'QUOTE' option - the 'QUOTE' option is good at maintaining continuity (and reducing confusion) in discussion threads.

I usually will skim the first 1-2 pages and then the last 1-2 pages of threads.

I voted as "about half the time." That was the nearest approximation to what I do, i.e. I nearly always read some of the material, but if there's a lot then my focus often goes south and I find myself abandoning posts without reading them very thoroughly, and I don't think my brain is very good at "skimming" (getting the gist of a piece of writing without reading it all), though I've never tested that, I just don't feel very confident that I've really taken a post in if I haven't read and understood every word.

I persevere more if it's a subject that is especially interesting to me, or if I happen to be able to relate to what they're saying (which is much the same thing I suppose). I probably do better with those long posts if they're broken up into shorter paragraphs. Certainly long paragraphs encourage me to ignore them. I tend not to click on links unless I'm particularly interested in the topic, because that threatens to open up a can of worms, and I don't always have the time for it. Similarly, I'm somewhat wary of playing videos. If there's a lot of pages, I hardly ever read them all, I tend to stick to the first and last pages, though as with a lot of these skimping antics of mine, my sense of perfectionism and completism can get the better of me and I might find myself reading the whole thing. I'm more likely to read everything in detail on technical support forums, where missing something might be more likely to lead to problems.

I don't often check whether it's a necro thread or not, though I'm more likely to if the first post is somebody asking for advice. Otherwise I don't usually mind that an old thread has been resurrected. A lot of old subjects are no less interesting than they were when they were first discussed.

Slightly tangential to the question, I don't like it when the subject line asks a simple question and then when I look at the first post it deviates from that too much, because then I have the dilemma of whether to simply answer the question in the subject line or whether to address the first post, or both, and it annoys me when I've already started to think of my reply and then I see a long complicated post that makes me think that what I was going to say isn't really wanted, and it feels rather like a "bait and switch" job.

I'm becoming mindful that sitting at this laptop for hours every day might not be good for my physical health. I've been getting signs of RSI in my hands and wrists for a few years, and a bit of double vision, neck strain, a slightly dazed feeling, and twinges of back pain, which might be nature's way of telling me not to overdo my computer time. And of course I'm not getting any exercise while I'm using a computer. So I'm often wondering while I'm using the laptop whether I ought to get off it, fascinating though it can be. All of this probably causes a feeling of impatience to move on when I'm here, which probably helps to explain why I don't always read everything.

How come so many people are "Stealing" my green-faced emoji, now?

When humour is in desperate need, in a thread, I usually add life with my sublime jokes.

BTW,
I don't get paid for it.
It is a humanitarian gesture.

I read posts, try to think of an intelligent response, fail, and then go on to read another thread.

He fell for it! Ha Ha Ha!

MODERATE LENGTH RESPONSE:

Thank-you for starting this discussion topic. It's sometimes important to reassess our experiences through using WP!

As mentioned in my previous post in this thread, I feel that discussion threads of around two-dozen posts are most ripe for reading & responding.

Disc. threads with around two-dozen posts seems to be in that "Goldilocks zone of sorts" -that is not too many posts which can naturally become too confusing, and too cumbersome to read - let alone 'REPLY' or 'QUOTE' responses. Too few posts in a disc. thread can sometimes indicate well.....too little interest.

Not to fall into the trap of a two-dozen posts guideline - there are exceptions here on WP:

* I've read/posted to the 'Random Discussion' Forum threads containing around three-dozen posts.

* The 'Social Skills and Making Friends' threads of around only one-dozen posts seems favorable - by the very nature of the topic, the fewer the posts, the better.

* 'The Computers, Math, Science, and Technology' Forum also appears to work best with disc. threads of around one-dozen posts.

* Most Forums in the 'Topical Discussion Section' e.g., "Art, Writing, and Music Forum' work best with between one to two-dozen posts.

Again, the two-dozen posts guideline is a rough measure only - that is, I feel it's important to be proactive here on WP - even if my contributions here on WP are partially driven by rough statistical measures.