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Do you skip over or skim through long posts?

Do you fully read, skim or skip lengthy posts?

  • Skip

    Votes: 5 9.1%
  • skim

    Votes: 8 14.5%
  • fully read

    Votes: 3 5.5%
  • Maybe, depending on the subject / poster

    Votes: 38 69.1%
  • Other / I want to be a privateer and not put in an opinion

    Votes: 1 1.8%

  • Total voters
    55

Aunt Spiker

Cheese
DP Veteran
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Messages
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Location
Sasnakra
Gender
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Political Leaning
Moderate
Curious if people are more or less likely to read a lengthy post in full, or partially by skimming.
 
Totally depends on who writes them.
 
Depends on how much time I have. Usually I just skim over long posts and sometimes am unable to respond since it takes so long to do so.

If someone makes more then 2-3 points in one post that I disagree with I usually don't have the time to dedicate to giving the response it deserves if I am working. Unless of course the response doesn't require sources. When I am at home I have no problem dedicating the time to a enlightening debate.

If someone says "neocon", "libbo", etc more then twice in the first two sentences I usually skip over the post.
 
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The biggest factor in skipping posts for me are bad/weird formatting. For example, I rarely read Prof's posts, usually don't read posts where people put the post they are quoting in one color and their response in another instead of
tags, wall of text posts (this is distinct from long posts), and obvious copypasta (posts formatted like a website rather than a forum post).

There are also a few posters who have a tendancy to put out long, uninteresting posts who I usually skip over.
 
It's all about time and interest factor. I haven't had time to be on DP in a while ( a few days ) and Im posting in a class right now when i should be paying attention.:rofl
 
It totally depends on who writes the post, for instance:

donsutherland1 writes about as much as Truth_Detector in terms of length. Don, however, usually provides informative perspectives on the topic that he discusses. TD? Not nearly enough to be considered informative.

Also, horrible grammar is usually something that stops me from reading the post. Now when I say horrible grammar, I don't mean like a misplaced comma or misspelled words. Horrible grammar can be writing the way you speak. I hate to name names....but just for example's sake: mikhail. I think he's an okay guy, but I usually skip most of his posts because reading his posts require too much effort to decipher. Another example would be Mikeey.
 
I skip over idiots who:


1. Don't quote properly (I aint fixing thier laziness)

2. People with different fonts or colors

3. posts with no formatting.

4. posts from certain posters. Just not interested in what they have to say.
 
With me it has more to do with the subject.

But I do have favorites I look out for.
 
I agree with what many others have already said. I look first at who wrote it, there are some people who, through experience, I don't care what they have to say. Then I look at the subject matter and decide if I'm interested. Then I'll read a sentence or two to see what, exactly, they're saying. If it's filled with bad spelling, grammar and 'leet speak, I skip it.

I will be honest though, there are lots of long posters who just ramble on about nothing, I give up about half-way through because I've already gotten their points, I don't want to read them over and over again.
 
As others have said, it depends on who is writing it and how it is written. Some people write very well, but I have always found their substance lacking, despite their grammatical skills. There are an elite few that can really grasp and emulate great substance, with few words.
 
Some people are an always read. Most people are just skimmed or skipped completely. 1069, jallman, Hatuey, NCFY, Crippler, Rev and a few others are worth reading most of the time. Maximus Zeebra is worth reading because he's insane. Most others just get a glance from me.
 
I usually skip them, or briefly skim. There are occasional ones worth reading.

I come here for light entertainment on my days off work, at home, in between doing household tasks. I've never enjoyed reading long pontifications by online pundits.
 
1. Yes

2. At times

3. Certain long posts

4. Almost without question

5. Must be skipped

6. For fear of a great headache

7. That will assult your head

8. As you try to read

9. Through the entire thing

10. Only

11. to

12. want

13. to

14. slam

15. your head

16. against a ****ing wall

17. because it takes 3 hours

18. to make a point

19. that is absolutely

20. retarded

However if its a long post by someone whose routinely proven to make substantive and interesting points and are willing to have an actual conversation rather than just a one sided attempt to speak talking points, insults, and rants then I'll tend to read it.

Those inbetween the ones that make me want to put my head through a wall and those I love to read I generally will skim, see if it appears interesting, and if it does read the whole thing.
 
1. Yes

2. At times

3. Certain long posts

4. Almost without question

5. Must be skipped

6. For fear of a great headache

7. That will assult your head

8. As you try to read

9. Through the entire thing

10. Only

11. to

12. want

13. to

14. slam

15. your head

16. against a ****ing wall

17. because it takes 3 hours

18. to make a point

19. that is absolutely

20. retarded

However if its a long post by someone whose routinely proven to make substantive and interesting points and are willing to have an actual conversation rather than just a one sided attempt to speak talking points, insults, and rants then I'll tend to read it.

Those inbetween the ones that make me want to put my head through a wall and those I love to read I generally will skim, see if it appears interesting, and if it does read the whole thing.

LOL - poetry, baby.
 
1. I have learned

2. to get past the numbered list

3. because there's some good stuff

4. in there!

In the end, I find the numbered list

much easier to read than

unnecessarily chopped up multi-quote posts.

At least the numbered list flows uninterrupted

by another poster's words.

Some interesting posters use this method,

but I skip them more often than I read them,

because of the disjointed flow.
 
Curious if people are more or less likely to read a lengthy post in full, or partially by skimming.

For me it depends on who writes them and if they know how to format a paragraph.

If their response is in the quote box of my post, at best I'll ask them to fix it. IMO doing that is rude because it makes quoting their response more time consuming.
 
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There is often an inverse relationship between the quality of a person's insights and the generosity with which they share them.

Heck, with one particular poster, just the self-agrandizement, alone, usually takes at least two paragraphs.
 
Depends, if it is someone like Elena, then I don't even bother reading them.
 
Depends, if it is someone like Elena, then I don't even bother reading them.

Or when someone's handle honors an evil person.

***
Also, if I'm skimming a thread I'll stop and read a post I may have otherwise passed over if certain people have 'thanked' it. The oposit is also true, in that I may skip a post if certain other people have thanked it, unless I'm looking for a fight.
 
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It looks like this thread was made for Agnapostate.
 
If it's a subject I am interested in, and I perceive the person to be of intelligence or particular insight, I read it in its entirety. I may not even respond, but read it and think on it.
 
Or when someone's handle honors an evil person.

***
Also, if I'm skimming a thread I'll stop and read a post I may have otherwise passed over if certain people have 'thanked' it. The oposit is also true, in that I may skip a post if certain other people have thanked it, unless I'm looking for a fight.
Or when someone's lean is conservative. I know I can just skip that because there will never be an ounce of intelligence in his or hers post.:rofl
 
Or when someone's lean is conservative. I know I can just skip that because there will never be an ounce of intelligence in his or hers post.:rofl

Posts like this make it likely that the poster will find their way to the top of my "skim over or skip" list.
 
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