Do you Read the Entire Thread First or Do You Just Answer the Question?

One time I was the first person to answer. I could have waited to see what other people were going to say, and then read the entire thread, but I just jumped right in there.

If you don't read the thread first you are an idiot. or lazy.

since most threads often seem bumped from 5 years back i tend to read the latest posts (after the blank space, err) :)

I normally read the thread and think of something I want to say a third of the way down, only to find that by the end of the thread everyone's just swearing at each other and posting dick jokes and pictures of swans and it's a bit late for someone to wander in with some earnest tedium regarding something 80 posts ago.

And then I do so anyway.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/noodle_vague/SamJackson.gif

I didn't always, but now I definitely try to read (or at least skim) the whole thing before replying - too many occasions when somebody's already made the same lame joke as myself, and made it in a less lamely fashion. Also, I can think of at least two occasions where somebody's explicitly said "I can't believe that MVB hasn't posted so-and-so yet" followed by my actually posting so-and-so, 30 posts later, completely oblivious. Awkward...

Depends on length/content of the thread, but passing spacecadet otm basically. Usually though by the end of it what I wanted to say at 1/3 mark winds up being said and expanded upon by someone else, and more effectively so.

And thus I just photoshop Andrei Arshavin into something.

does anyone else ever get the sense that if they are shown to be the last person to post to a thread, then other ilxors tend to be averse to clicking on and/or posting to that same thread?

What do you mean? I'm not sure about that. I know sometimes some threads just sink and that's that.

I always read a thread if I want to post in it. It's disheartening being on the opposite timezone to everyone else though, cause I'll read a ripping great thread and want in on the agrument, but by the time I get to the end, like spacecadet said, it's devolved into lolcats and insults and isnt worth the bother :(

art-ghetto, is that a rhetorical question or are you speaking from experience? Because I've gotten that paranoid feeling many times - LOTSA threads that I appear to be the last one to post to. Making me feel that I either killed the thread all by myself, or just arrived way too late, after everyone's lost interest.

If we continue on the paranoia theme about being the last poster, someone is going to confirm their theory and get their feeling hurt for possible years.

Just answer the question, Claire.

I think there was a thread about that. "do you realize you killed this thread" or something...sorta like that...