How often do you write a post and not submit it?

[nonny too]

I seem to be doing it a lot lately. Most recently it was a thread on another messageboard where someone was planning to take a very unwise course of action to get out of paying a debt. I composed a long reply outlining why what they proposed was a really bad idea and how the creditor (who'd already been granted a garnishee order) would likely respond by tearing them to pieces in court.

Then I decided that if they wanted to waste time and money trying to sell utter bullshit to a court which has already found against them, then a Darwinian reality check might not be a bad idea after all. So I didn't submit the post. I'm waiting for the "poor me, the court system is EVIL" follow up thread which should appear soon.

[Darmund]

I probably delete more posts than I submit.

[NAF1138]

On other message boards, about 9 times out of 10 I don't end up hitting submit. Usually it's only a few sentences into a response when I realize I am either not able to contribute as much as I thought I would, wasn't being as clever as I thought I was, or didn't care as much as I initially did when I hit the reply button.

Actually writing out a full long reply and then chucking it? Maybe one out of the above 9 times.

Here I only end up deciding not to post about 40% of the time.

[Detroit Hoser]

I do, often. Sometimes writing what is on my mind and in my heart is cathartic just to get it out and stop it from bouncing around my skull. Those posts, I delete, and feel better.

Other times, I'm stupid enough to post without first turning on my brain filter, and sometimes I regret it, even if I feel I was right. Other times I realize I was wrong, either in my opinion or the way I expressed it. I've been known to apologize both publicly and privately after those posts. In fact, I did at at the Dope a few days ago.

I can be an asshole sometimes. I wish I wasn't, but I'm also human and prone to emotionalism.

Yeah, it's something I'm working on improving.

[Lazlo]

Originally Posted by NAF1138

On other message boards, about 9 times out of 10 I don't end up hitting submit. Usually it's only a few sentences into a response when I realize I am either not able to contribute as much as I thought I would, wasn't being as clever as I thought I was, or didn't care as much as I initially did when I hit the reply button.

Actually writing out a full long reply and then chucking it? Maybe one out of the above 9 times.

Here I only end up deciding not to post about 40% of the time.

This is pretty much me, except that I still only have about a 50% submission rate for long posts.

Note: I almost didn't hit submit.

[Uthrecht]

I'm not sure how often I do, but I will now and again get partway into a post, then decide that it could be perceived the wrong way, or isn't as funny as I thought it would be, or is too much of a digression and/or doesn't really have anything to do with the topic.

[Lazlo]

Hrm. I kind of had the impression you hit submit on any random thought that entered your head.

*ducks and runs*

[Darmund]

:deletes post:

[Jeff]

I'd say its a 1:1 ratio for me here. Its particularly bad for the debates forum. Usually I post from work and in the event that I actually have something constructive or reasonably intelligent to post I've either been a) interrupted 4 times by various things and can't really recall the point I was trying to make or b) someone else has come along and stated a similar point already, often better than I would have done.

I find myself being tempted to post at the Dope sometimes, about 19 times out of 20 I talk myself out of it.

[Zombies!]

At the Dope, even before I "Left"? Probably a good 70% of the time, if not more.

Here? Maybe one post a week.

[Taur]

More often than not. If get into a third paragraph of a post, the odds are very high that I'll be posting it.

[Zeener Diode]

You mean people actually delete before posting a reply?


Ya could'a fooled me.

[iampunha]

Maybe one in 100.

Either it's a research-based post, in which case I'm pretty happy with it (after spending an hour or more writing it depending on its depth), or it's a one-off, in which case who gives a shit?

Once I hit reply, you're probably going to see a response from me.

[nonny too]

Originally Posted by Detroit Hoser

I do, often. Sometimes writing what is on my mind and in my heart is cathartic just to get it out and stop it from bouncing around my skull. Those posts, I delete, and feel better.

Other times, I'm stupid enough to post without first turning on my brain filter, and sometimes I regret it, even if I feel I was right. Other times I realize I was wrong, either in my opinion or the way I expressed it. I've been known to apologize both publicly and privately after those posts. In fact, I did at at the Dope a few days ago.

I can be an asshole sometimes. I wish I wasn't, but I'm also human and prone to emotionalism.

Yeah, it's something I'm working on improving.

I find that my "being an asshole" quotient depends on the environment in which I'm posting. On the legal messageboards where I post - where about 80% of threads are started by people either wanting to get out of a legal obligation or by people who want compensation because life sucks - it's pretty high, if only because the majority of responses are written from the viewpoint of the opposing side to the OP.

[nonny too]

Originally Posted by Jeff

I'd say its a 1:1 ratio for me here. Its particularly bad for the debates forum. Usually I post from work and in the event that I actually have something constructive or reasonably intelligent to post I've either been a) interrupted 4 times by various things and can't really recall the point I was trying to make or b) someone else has come along and stated a similar point already, often better than I would have done.

I find myself being tempted to post at the Dope sometimes, about 19 times out of 20 I talk myself out of it.

I get the point about the debates stuff. It can take me so long to compose a response I'm happy with that it's become irrelevant by the time I've finished. Sometimes happens with factual stuff too - someone else has posted the same or better links than I was going to post.

[nonny too]

Originally Posted by Lazlo

Hrm. I kind of had the impression you hit submit on any random thought that entered your head.

*ducks and runs*

It's the non-random ones I delete.

[timbicile]

As hard as it may be to believe, I sometimes also think this is too stupid even for you and delete it.
Not this time.

[Seeker of Truth & Beauty]

For every post that you guys actually see from me, I type up (and discard) probably four or five.

You're welcome.

[threnody]

I delete probably 2-3 posts to everyone I submit.

Unless I've had wine. Then brain doesn't have the "common sense" switch.

[Veb]

Not too often, maybe 1 out of 10. Usually it's more debate stuff where I realize the highly cogent, insightful point I'm making was already made several posts up. Or it dawns on me that what I just wrote isn't all that interesting.

This is fairly rare but once in a while I just tear into someone or something, real take-no-prisoners overkill ridiculousness. Then I read it and think, "okay, that was fun but c'mon, Veb" then delete it.

[timbicile]

Originally Posted by TVeblen

Not too often, maybe 1 out of 10. Usually it's more debate stuff where I realize the highly cogent, insightful point I'm making was already made several posts up. Or it dawns on me that what I just wrote isn't all that interesting.

This is fairly rare but once in a while I just tear into someone or something, real take-no-prisoners overkill ridiculousness. Then I read it and think, "okay, that was fun but c'mon, Veb" then delete it.

Is this irony?

[DoubleJ]

About 1 of 3 don't make it -- by the time I'm done I'm TLDRing my own post, so I just give up and move to the next thread.

Of course, that doesn't count all the replies I come up with and decide are stupid before I even click the button.

[srzss05]

Back in the olden days (c.1998-2002), I'd reply to idiots and assholes just for the minor entertainment value. Later, I learned to simply hit "back" or "cancel" because I was bored halfway through. Nowadays, I often don't even bother to start to reply.

[Veb]

Originally Posted by timbicile

Is this irony?

Unfortunately...no.

[timbicile]

dammit I made Veb all science fail
and now I can't delete.

[Detroit Hoser]

I'M NAKED, HORNY, AND TOTALLY SOBER. MY S.O IS SHITFACED DRUNK, PASSED OUT, AND ALL I HAVE IS THIS "SPEAK & SAY DILDO."

[mlerose]

Remember to take photos for the internets!

[Salambo]

You can resurrect pandas with that thing.

[Random Precision]

I don't post a whole hell of a lot in the first place, but when I see a thread where I could offer up an opinion or insight or dirty joke, generally someone else already has, only better than I could have. So I don't even start.

But occasionally, I'll think that I could make a cogent point and I'll start a reply, only to get halfway through it and realize that my train of thought doesn't quite make it into the station, so I back out quietly.

And sometimes, I'll start a reply and not finish it because it seems like too much work to type it all out. Chalk that one up to laziness.

And once in a while, I'll go blazing into a post that gets deleted because I was just being a dick, and not in a good way.

But I still post a great deal more here than I did at the Dope, because there are quite a few posters there who seem to live to tear other posters to shreds, and who needs that.

[Random Precision]

Originally Posted by Salambo

You can resurrect pandas with that thing.

Just what the world needs - Zombie Pandas with Dildoes.

[Detroit Hoser]

Originally Posted by Random Precision

But I still post a great deal more here than I did at the Dope, because there are quite a few posters there who seem to live to tear other posters to shreds, and who needs that.

I do! I do!






Oh wait. I thought you said, "Who wants pudding?"

[Borborygmi]

Wow, I'm surprised to see such high percentages offered by some of you.

I'd guesstimate only about 1 in 30 for me. Most of those are would-be comments on or acknowledgements of replies to earlier posts of mine. For example, if someone comments that they like one of my posts, my immediate instinct is to say "thank you" or some such, as I would be obligated to do in a real-life conversation. But then I remember that this isn't real life, and nobody wants a thread that reads like a Goofy Gophers transcript ("Thank you!" "Oh, no, no, no, no... thank you!").

Fortunately nobody likes most of my posts so this isn't a big issue.

It works the other way, too. I don't do many "This" or "+1" type of posts, so occasionally I'll start a post to offer a basic compliment, decide I can't craft an interesting message out of it, and never submit.

On rare occasions where I get more than a sentence or two into a post and give up, I'll usually let whatever I wanted to say percolate in my head awhile and try to recycle it in a later post somewhere.

[Solfy]

About once a month. If I get into the middle of a post and can't squeeze a coherent point out of it, or if I feel it's crossing my threshold of too personal (which is way out there, but does exist) I delete it.

[Dudley]

Probably 1 in 5 for me. Sometimes I want to throw my opinion into the fray, but there are times when I'll draft a lengthy post and think, "Why bother getting into the middle of this? I don't have the time, energy, or interest to sustain a lengthy discussion."

[Dazzling White Diamonds]

I'm kinda like Seeker - for every post I actually submit, there are probably 2 or 3 that I've typed up and decided against.

[Lord Blackmore]

Originally Posted by Detroit Hoser

I do, often. Sometimes writing what is on my mind and in my heart is cathartic just to get it out and stop it from bouncing around my skull. Those posts, I delete, and feel better.

Other times, I'm stupid enough to post without first turning on my brain filter, and sometimes I regret it, even if I feel I was right. Other times I realize I was wrong, either in my opinion or the way I expressed it. I've been known to apologize both publicly and privately after those posts. In fact, I did at at the Dope a few days ago.

I can be an asshole sometimes. I wish I wasn't, but I'm also human and prone to emotionalism.

Yeah, it's something I'm working on improving.

I started to type something, but then saw this. This is me.

[Lungfish]

I say 1 in 4 posts I write don't get summited. Either because they don't get written or if they are I change my mind about posting them.

[Agent Foxtrot]

Originally Posted by NAF1138

On other message boards, about 9 times out of 10 I don't end up hitting submit. Usually it's only a few sentences into a response when I realize I am either not able to contribute as much as I thought I would, wasn't being as clever as I thought I was, or didn't care as much as I initially did when I hit the reply button.

Actually writing out a full long reply and then chucking it? Maybe one out of the above 9 times.

Here I only end up deciding not to post about 40% of the time.

Ditto.

[Lo-Slung Denim]

I write out the beginnings of posts and tend to abandon them when I can't articulate what I want to say. Which is quite a lot of the time!

[AuntiePam]

About half the time, for both Replies and OP's.

OP's get deleted more often than Replies, because by the time I write the first line, it hits me that I could just Google and not waste bandwidth. Like yesterday, I was gonna ask for suggestions for gifts for a cancer patient, and for info on dog collars that won't choke my dog.

I almost deleted this one. Sometimes I bore even myself.

[SmartAleq]

Not too often, I usually know before I get started that I don't wanna get involved in a thread or discussion and just pass on by. Once in a while I'll get going on something but just can't make it jell in my head well enough to make it work, sometimes then I'll C&P into a notepad window just in case I figure it out later. Sometimes I'll just figure "Fuckit, this won't help a bit" and dump it but that's pretty rare. The most likely scenario for dumping a post is late at night when I'm trashed and I realize I am simply not making any sense. Then I go to bed.

It takes a major gun to my head to get a post onto the Durp, though. I've made it a rule that for every thread in ATMB I pile on for I have to make some innocuous post elsewhere, just so's I don't become one of them thar troublemakers I hear tell of.

[Chacoguy]

Originally Posted by SmartAleq

It takes a major gun to my head to get a post onto the Durp, though. I've made it a rule that for every thread in ATMB I pile on for I have to make some innocuous post elsewhere, just so's I don't become one of them thar troublemakers I hear tell of.

I do that too.

[Super Kapowzler]

Originally Posted by SmartAleq

... one of them thar troublemakers I hear tell of.

Word all up on that shit.

I'm trying to keep my shit around here pretty clean, until I decide it is time for Varsity Tryouts.

...but there is one about Transporter 2 that problably woulda been cool...

Probably send 1 for every 3 I delete.

[timbicile]

Forlorn tho the pigs were they refused to bow before the blind venetians (not sure if pigs can bow) and proceeded to part take in the festivility.The rest as they say is mystery.
and shit.

[dogbutler]

Quite a bit. In posting, as in real life, I tend to stay quiet unless I have something profound to say. It makes me look wiser than I actually am.

[jali]

I should delete a bit more (based on some of my dumb posts here).

On this board it's maybe 1 in 5.

On the durp it's 9 of 10 that I delete. I don't really care over there anymore.

On the Mellophant boards, I rarely delete.

[Uthrecht]

While I won't tell folks that they should delete less, I'll tell you that I don't think you need to delete more, jali. Don't sweat it.

Same goes for all the folks above.


Although AuntiePam, I'm watching you. Always watching...

[Lord Blackmore]

Pretty much all the time for me. I'd guess that maybe 40% of what I start writing gets posted. Most of the time I start a post and then just drop it entirely because someone has already made the point I wanted to make (and usually better than I would have) or I'm mad about something and just decide that I don't need more negative waves, man in my life.

There's also a fair percentage of posts that I start and then get sidetracked and never come back to or just dump the post when I get back.

[Uthrecht]

Always with the negative waves taco, always with the negative waves. Don't hit me with them negative waves so early in the morning. Think the posts will be there and they will be there. It's a mother, beautiful post, and it's gonna be there. OK?

[Lord Blackmore]

Originally Posted by Uthrecht

Always with the negative waves taco, always with the negative waves. Don't hit me with them negative waves so early in the morning. Think the posts will be there and they will be there. It's a mother, beautiful post, and it's gonna be there. OK?

WIN!