The "Oh *f* this" moments.

I bet plenty of you have them, maybe even without knowing.

Say you go into a thread, read it, see several inaccurat statements made and start writing, both setting the record straight and adding your own view on the subject.

By the end of you typing your post, you've had the chance to think about this and recollect that the same inaccuracies have been corrected a gazillion times or how the threads topic is either so out there or so stupid you shouldn't even bother.

The longer a reply I type is, the stronger the "oh *f* this" feeling is likely to be for me.

Anyone else have this and do you go ahead and post anyway or do you listen to your subcontious and just leave it be?

Also, do you think its wrong to decide not to post when you get a moment like this?

[edit on 30/12/06 by thematrix]

It can be frustrating sometimes when we see the same repetitive threads over and over. But I look at the topic itself first of all. If it is something that is extremely popular and discussed on a daily basis, I would simply ignore the thread. The member has several current threads to where they can find the information, and I would save myself the trouble of posting the same reply to countless threads.

However, if the topic at hand is something we may go a few weeks without seeing, then I have no problem talking about it again. We would all love to see members use the search function or browse some archives before creating a thread, but that's not always going to happen.

One thing that irks me is when members enter a thread and say:

Been there, Done that!

I see three options to these situations. Situations that are inevitable with a board of this size.

1. Post a valid and respectable reply that provides some information to the authors question.
2. Don't Reply.
3. Post a link to a previous thread that does contain the information the author requests.

Originally posted by thematrix
By the end of you typing your post, you've had the chance to think about this and recollect that the same inaccuracies have been corrected a gazillion times or how the threads topic is either so out there or so stupid you shouldn't even bother.

This is a good point you bring up. Something, I think, we see way too much. Members who are ignorantly, denying ignorance. Most times this is witnessed in threads that discuss a topic that has been mentioned several times on the board. I wish members would begin to select option two if they insist on ignorantly denying ignorance.

Originally posted by thematrix
Also, do you think its wrong to decide not to post when you get a moment like this?

Wrong? I would say it is right. This site is filled with astute members who can answer any question. I know I would much rather see a member ignore a thread, rather than enter it and attack the author. Not to say this is what you are implying, but it is something we see on a regular basis.

Good Post.

Originally posted by thematrix
[i]et al
The longer a reply I type is, the stronger the "oh *f* this" feeling is likely to be for me.

Anyone else have this and do you go ahead and post anyway or do you listen to your subcontious and just leave it be?

Also, do you think its wrong to decide not to post when you get a moment like this?

[edit on 30/12/06 by thematrix]

BT-DT, Thematrix

--and quite more often than not.

To answer your questions, no, I don't just go ahead and post anyway as it becomes difficult to think clearly when frustrated or pi**ed off' and, no, I don't think it's wrong to do that. To the contrary, I think it is the wisest move. That brings me to another point.

I wonder a lot why some of the threads on ATS even exist, and why they are answered at all. I see stuff up here every day that is so far in left field that it isn't even in the ball park regards what I thought ATS is about; ummm--lets include P@ATS in that, as well. The bottom line with this is that one can find intelligent exchanges on well postulated subject matter up here, but, it is time consuming to do so and, anymore, at a premium.

BTW-- Good Thread!

P.S. > Sorry for the "BT-DT", Chizzler, but it's honest--I have!

[edit on 30-12-2006 by Ed Littlefox]

Originally posted by Ed Littlefox
P.S. > Sorry for the "BT-DT", Chizzler, but it's honest--I have!

I was like, what the hell is BT-DT? Thanks for clearing that up.

Well there are polite ways to dish out a BT-DT, and ignorant ways. It is obviously the latter where I have a problem.

Just as an extra polling towards you guys, how often do you get it.

The reason I asked initialy is to see if my own posting behaviour is outside of the norm in this respect.

I can say that only 5% of all threads I type out, actualy get submitted, for the rest I get the "Oh *f* this" moments.

If I hit submit on every post I wrote I would have several posts a day on ATS, now I guess I average around 4 or 5 a week.

And don't get me wrong, the content of the posts I write and don't go ahead and post are generaly factual summations or pritty extensive essays on certain subjects, I barely ever insult or ridicule people, not online or in real life.

The "Oh *f* this" feeling with me is usualy triggered by overly ignorant behaviour from people, when in reply to a post you could post 5 pages of facts and common history to show how their entire idea about a situation is based on pure ignorance.

But by the end of writing a reply to that, you come to realize that they are either rusted in their own mindset or political affiliation so badly that there is no way to persuade them to see things from a realistic perspective, or when it becomes clear by the end of typing that your most likely dealing with a troll then with a sencere posting.

I have those moments alot too.

It's either...

I know what I want to say, but can't put it into the right words.

I don't feel like correcting people then have them argue about how they are right.

Or

I know something in my post might tick people off and I don't feel like fighting with someone.

I usually try to find another way to post my point, or I just don't post at all.

I have 'Nah!' moments, I start to write, then bail.
I think that is my 'post quality control mechanism' kicking in.
That's why the posts that you see, coming from me are of such high qaulity

I have those too.

Sometimes it's just a matter of time..How much time do I have to construct this post?

Other times, it's like..Why bother, I've seen misguided or incorrect information from this poster before. It's someone elses turn.



I must say, however, that Toadmund's post in this thread, is one of the highest quality posts, I've seen of late.

Say you go into a thread, read it, see several inaccurate statements made and start writing, both setting the record straight and adding your own view on the subject.

By the end of you typing your post, you've had the chance to think about this and recollect that the same inaccuracies have been corrected a gazillion times or how the threads topic is either so out there or so stupid you shouldn't even bother.

Yes it happens all of the time. Although not as much when I was new to the site - these "I shouldn't even bother" moments have increased over the last year. The "far out there" posts/threads have always been around however - they are highly entertaining (I usually just give them a quick peek - usually never post/reply)!

Anyone else have this and do you go ahead and post anyway or do you listen to your subconscious and just leave it be?

I usually just leave it alone - especially if it is some topic that has already been covered on ATS a numerous amount of times before.

Also, do you think its wrong to decide not to post when you get a moment like this?

NO. Not at all.

[edit on 30-12-2006 by Seraphim_Serpente]

I have written long posts and posted them.

After reading it, especially if its someone baiting me, i will just edit it and put
"Just forget it. delete please".

I've had plenty of those moments.

I will steer clear of any thread that is a constant argument. I don’t like to argue; I don’t like it when people have their personal views shot to pieces by some arrogant arsehole. When I’m right and I know I’m right, I don’t need to spend time and effort arguing with someone whose conclusion is still the same no matter what you say. Those kinds of threads are my “Oh *f* this moment”

I have the utmost respect however for people who will openly note that they were wrong. That does not happen often, but there are people here who will concede their notions when corrected.

Most of the stuff we see here on ATS is just a matter of opinion anyway. Some stuff has a ton of real research behind it; some has proof, some mere speculation, but still doubters (either way) no matter what. That's why I hang out at BTS most of the time, it's fun, less fighting there

Edit* to add

[edit on 12/30/2006 by jensouth31]

Originally posted by enjoies05
I have those moments alot too.

It's either...

I know what I want to say, but can't put it into the right words.

I don't feel like correcting people then have them argue about how they are right.

Or

I know something in my post might tick people off and I don't feel like fighting with someone.

I usually try to find another way to post my point, or I just don't post at all.

yep! this is me ,but most of the time I will not post at all,thanks enjoies05,you said it all for me

Mine would be the few times I have composed a rather long post, and for some reason had a brain fart and hit a link at the top, or the back button, and lost the post.

Then all I can say is Oh "F F Forgetaboutit".

I usually don't post at all if I have nothing relevant to add. There are those out there that argue just for the post counts using clearly instigative language and flawed personal views. In ATS, the prove or disprove method gets pretty deep and well thought out. Reading posts that just slam the OP over and over, clearly wastes anybody's time who's trying to glean some information to investigate. I read a heck of a lot more that I post, and, I'll go back to the post again and again to read further thoughts and views regarding it. I'll post a question. I'll post a thank you if the question is answered. I won't post "Why not answer the question, poster?" because it's a waste of time and usually just gets it more ignored.

I never get to the "why do I bother" stage. If I don't think it's relevant because I just don't believe it, I won't bother posting anything. It'd be a waste of your time and mine.

This time, I thought it worth a mention.

Knowing when not to speak can prove smarter in the end.

Cuhail

Originally posted by UM_Gazz
Mine would be the few times I have composed a rather long post, and for some reason had a brain fart and hit a link at the top, or the back button, and lost the post.

I'll have to second this one. Or when the Browser eats up your post and spits out a crumbled up Page Can Not Be Displayed. Or even worse, when you create a new thread that required a certain amount of effort, just to get the message that a thread already exists with that name. I'd be lying if I told you a few explicits were not belted out.

My rule of thumb now is to copy every post I make before hitting the Post Reply button. No matter how small the post is, I can always just come back and hit the paste if I need to.

Much easier and it saves you money on keyboards.

Originally posted by chissler

My rule of thumb now is to copy every post I make before hitting the Post Reply button. No matter how small the post is, I can always just come back and hit the paste if I need to.

That's what I do too. Otherwise you have one big headache in the end, and nothing to show for your time and effort, and also you have an “Oh –F- this” moment! I can’t tell you how many times that same scenario has happened to me, and then I started my copy and paste rule.

That is a huge aid, and helps keep me from getting annoyed.

That luckely has been an automatism for me for quite some time, mostly thanks to my IT background.

The first thing I usualy install on a freshly installed OS is a tool that allows you to use multiple copy/paste entries, so that you can also keep different versions of something you typed ready to copy and paste.

This is a great help when developing scripts and such, allowing you to rehash certain bits of code easely.

I'm glad I'm not the only one having these moments btw.

Another thing I'd like to add to the questioning. Do you guys think that being a member for an long time will amp the occurence of these moments alot?

I'm guessing new members will have this feeling alot less untill they've seen things repeated over and over again like us longtimers have.