Think with me here: Ever post an intelligent or fact based response to a thread only to have the ...

[hang a left]

thread die an untimely death???

Not that I am the sharpest tool and all...but I have followed, perhaps too closely, events that have transpired over the past 6 years.

So if someone starts a thread regarding a subject that have SOME knowledge about, and I kick in my buck fifty. The thread will die. No one else chimes in.

For a while I thought it was just me, and people didn't want to talk to me .

Tonight I have come to the realization that a lot of DUers are not well read. And sometimes just jump on a bandwagon, or make silly comments regarding things that they don't know about.

Not that I know everything, or have never been guilty of knee-jerk reactions; trust me I have made many, but sometimes when you interject some facts into a fact-less thread it will die and no one has anything else to add.

Anyone else ever notice this??

[Justitia]

1. Maybe they just accept your authority on the topic & have nothing to add?

At least that is what I tell myself when I kill threads :P

[hang a left]

3. Thanks for the kool-aid

I feel better now ;-)

[Hoof Hearted]

28. I don't trust you.

[Bobbieo]

4. I'm a basic 'thread killer'. Not sure why!

[Ghost in the Machine]

7. Join the club. Should we start a 'Thread Killers" support group?

:hi:

[hisownpetard]

31. Where do I sign up? (I thought maybe it was my breath...) nt

[Ghost in the Machine]

40. I guess we need to petition the mods! LOL! Thread Killers Anonymous

:hi:

[Pierogi_Pincher]

43. DON'T!! I just knocked my cola all over......

Now watch *this* thread go fizzle--please accept my apology in advance. When can I join the group for help? :hi:
P_P

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. In a group of 100,000 people, a fair number are inevitably going to be dingbats.

Just because somebody characterizes him/herself as "liberal" doesn't necessarily mean he/she is actually smart. Yes, there is some ignorance here, and some people even seem to enjoy showing it off... But don't assume it's just your posts that are dying on the vine. It's just the fact that there are a lot of threads and sometimes nobody gets around to commenting.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

48. thanks for the intro. But it is MISTER DINGBAT to you, Sir Ocelot

fair is foul and foul's fair, if I may, as it were, from my secure, undisclosed location

[Liberal Dose]

51. "Some people even seem to enjoy showing it off"

You struck my funny bone

:rofl:

[TahitiNut]

72. Indeed. Of 108,080 "DUers," 21,012 are in Boot Hill, too.

That's 19.4%. Reminder: there are actually 87,068 'members' and less than half of those have ever posted.

[orleans]

85. how do you know all this? (are you psychic?)

[EFerrari]

5. Sometimes the nothing you see is what thinking looks like.

:hi:

/metaphor salad

[hang a left]

11. !

:hi:

[Ghost in the Machine]

6. I notice that myself. Sometimes I feel like apologizing to the OP for killing

their thread.. just to bump it back up for them.

I've dealt with a few of those "sound blasters", as I call them, in the last couple of days. You know the ones. Loudly and vehemently proclaiming their opinion as fact, but never utter a word when you show them proof otherwise.

Hell, if someone shows me the error of some of my thoughts, I would have the courtesy to thank them for showing me the truth and how I was wrong. I've always been a firm believer that the day I stop learning is the day I die though, so I like learning new things every day. That's why I come here...

:hi:

on edit: fixed spelling from 'opimion' .... D'OH!

[hang a left]

10. Hey backatcha!

I have learned a bunch here. I have had my mind changed more that twice. I am an opinionated person. But, I will always take a look at facts. I guess that is the left side of my brain working...he he.

Thread Killers Unite!

[Zodiak]

12. And that's why you kill threads.

I've done a fair bit of it, myself.

But I also have an ego and can be accused of thinking the world revolves around me. I'm sure that at least half the time I thought I killed a thread, no one even bothered to read my Johnny-come-lately post.

But I know I've killed a few. And I am a DU nobody, as well.

[Ghost in the Machine]

13. Those damned facts... and their Liberal bias!

:rofl:

[hang a left]

15. Me too.

A thread-killer AND a DU nobody.

[hisownpetard]

32. I'll meet you and raise you one: I'm a thread-killer, a DU nobody AND....

I'm admitting here, for the first time, that... I have NO CLUE how to do a K&R!!!!!!!!!

However, I am a good person and try to keep myself clean.

[hang a left]

33. You funny!

k= kick: You kick a thread by posting to it. You can just say "kick", "knr" "K&R", "What he said", or any other variety of responses. Any time you respond to a thread you are in essence "kicking it".

r= recommend": Meaning that you are recommending the thread. When a thread receives 5 votes or recommendations; it moves to the greatest page. You recommend a thread by clicking on the "recommend" thingy on the bottom of the original post.

Good Luck and Welcome to DU :hi:

[hisownpetard]

37. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Now that I know how to K&R, I feel so growed up!!

and intend to put this knowledge to use immediately.

Also, thanks for the welcome! I often become jealous of other newbies when they get a grander, more excited
welcome than I did. I sort of wanted wrapping paper and a bow but only got brown paper, it seems. So, as
far as I'm concerned, you can welcome me whenever you see my name! It would make me very happy. You
can never welcome me too much!!

So, thanks again. And - shouldn't you be going to bed now?

[hang a left]

39. Well Dad,

I have insomnia, and so sometimes I hang here when I can't sleep.

Welcome, welcome, welcome.....

[hisownpetard]

59. Dad? Nah. Mom, maybe. I have it, too - and just pulled a DU all nighter, although not intended.

[hisownpetard]

62. Dear K&R guru - OK, here's a toughie: how can the very first reply to an OP

say "Fifth rec."??? (Saw that on another thread just now).

[suffragette]

71. You can recommend a thread without responding to it

At the bottom of the original post, you can see how many times a thread has been recommended, so someone probably noticed it had been recommended 4 times, recommended it themselves to make the 5th, then posted a reply saying they had done so.

[hisownpetard]

74. AHA!! Thanks so much - I never would've figured that one out myself.

[Pierogi_Pincher]

44. I'm a bigger nobody, but

I do make delicious pierogies.
P_P

[hisownpetard]

60. Home-made pierogies! I haven't had them since we moved out of NY when I

was 7 (a hundred years ago, seems like) and away from our neighbor who used to bring us some
whenever she made them for her family. YUM! No pierogie pincher can be a nobody
in my book, no how!

[Pierogi_Pincher]

89. You are too kind.

There are certainly 'devotees'. These pillows of delicious fillings are not calorie-free, but I've not known many ethnic pierogi eaters that checked out because of them. Rather the damnable STRESS today that'll inflame your innards.

Na Z'drovje!
P_P

[Felinity]

65. Ok, that leaves you wide open

When I first noticed your comment above, I was tempted to ask, but now I'm asking, since you brought it up.

Can I have your recipe? My mom was a horrible teacher, so our family recipe went bye-bye years before she did.

Also, your specific ethnicity would be useful. My mom's parents emigrated from Czechoslovakia around 1900. I am embarrassed to say I had to look up the spelling.

[Pierogi_Pincher]

90. Hi, I've been a mess.

Got a bum left knee, no breaks or fractures, but need an MRI to see what.
I'm slower than molasses on a cold winter's day.
Wasn't able to say hey till now.

>>>My mom's parents emigrated from Czechoslovakia around 1900. I am embarrassed to say I had to look up the spelling.<<<

Both maternal & paternal grandparents are from the Carpathian mountain region of what is now Slovakia. Not to worry re: spelling--sometimes I re-spell it several times till it 'looks' right, then call on spell-checker anyway.

I've got several recipes I work off of. Let me get my act together & I see what I can give you. I don't always stick to same fillings--I keep finding more varieties & tweaking what I got. (Pierogi or *pirohi* recipes are as numerous as the stars in the sky.)

For starters, ya know Martha Stewart is Polish descent, and I reviewed her recipe and it's pretty good. The dough is important, but so is the filling. It was hard getting this recipe down to some semblance of the ones the church 'babas' roll out by the thousands. It was mind boggling to me seeing the tonnage (almost kidding!) of potatoes, flour, cabbage, onions, butter, etc. they used every production.

Do you know what 'paska' is? That sweet bread the slavs make for Pascha (easter)? I got my baba's recipe that my mom devised while watching her carefully one day. You know how these seasoned cooks "measure"!

(I may post in the Cookin'-Bakin' Forum, so people dunn get PO-ed at me for inane babbling.)

My apology to the OP--may your thread LIVE! And may we rid Our White House of the infestation.

P_P

edit for an omission

[lonestarnot]

8. It's late, maybe everyone is tired.

[Skittles]

9. kick it

make them notice - yes INDEED

[sandnsea]

14. Oh I am the queen thread killer

I specifically don't respond to threads that I don't want to die. People take me waaaaay too seriously.

[Tsiyu]

52. No! No! I am the Queen!

Yes, I have killed many a valient thread.

So i shall take that crown from you!

:hi:

[EST]

16. DU is a busy place, with threads sinking fast due to contributions

from the diligent news hounds.
If a lot of threads are being started and there's not a lot of commenters signed on at the time, it stands to reason that any particular poster could well be the final word on that thread.
I think maybe you are assuming too much power, as everybody knows that the great spaghetti monster has all patterns of the universe in her mind and makes all the real decisions as to which threads live or die and which ones will live forever in a celebrated, idealized afterlife---streets of gold and all that.

Perhaps it would be well to repent of your doubt and power hunger and swear fealty to the Flying Spaghetti Monster before one of those killer posts turns and attacks you.

[hang a left]

17. Would I ever, EVER, dis the Spaghetti Monster???

I think NOT!

Thank you for reminding me of my place. :bow:

[JeffR]

18. I'd respond to this post in detail

but if I did, it would kill the thread immediately.

So I won't.:hi:

[Gregorian]

19. Every point of view is important.

I think we all can identify with your post. But after a number of years on the internet, I'm discovering that there are phenomenon other than individual posts that cause thread death. That's a subject for psychiatrists and sociologists.

But one thing I'm discovering is how our ideas are almost magnetic. I say something, and a few days later it shows up on another thread coming out of someone else's mouth. Hmm, interesting. Was that because they read my post? And suddenly I had this discovery that perhaps my idea sparked someone else's ideas. At first I felt like a total idiot in these forums. I'm surrounded by people who have read every piece of literature. And I haven't read a damn thing but required college literature. But I'm very well read in turbine engine maintenance. Machine tool and manufacturing. Mathematics. Stuff that very few here have read. And it doesn't matter, in this respect. Yes it's important in order for a particular cohesiveness within a specific thread, to have a likeminded literature pool. People pull out metaphors, and quotes. But we comprise the real world. Maybe my idea is valid whether I read Dante's Inferno or not. Maybe my ignorant idea sparks the mind of a brilliant and literate person on the forum. Maybe there is a synergy among us. And without the ideas of the less literate, the more literate may not be as effective. And vice versa.

I've gone from being afraid to post my thoughts, to perhaps posting too much. But the thing is, by opening my mouth I've learned what not to say. And as a result, that has made for a better forum.

As for thread death, if you think something is important then post it again. Start a new thread. It might be that the forum isn't ready for what might be a good idea. That is something that bothers me. And perhaps in that respect, it's how something is said that might be just as important as what is said.

Speaking of which, my time's up. This day is over. Another day is done. Good night DU.

[hang a left]

22. I love what you said.

It has given me pause.

Thanks, and sleep tight.

[Justitia]

41. Aw, don't be fooled, not all of us are so well-read - we're just very resourceful! LOL

Multiple window tabs of Internet Explorer are a godsend, hee, hee

[Pierogi_Pincher]

92. Enjoyed your thoughtful post! n/t

[LittleClarkie]

20. Despite being a political board, this is also an internet messageboard

As a friend once said, posting at such a place is alot like driving in traffic. Sometimes you make your move without giving it much thought.

[snot]

21. I agree --

E.g., rants too often seem to garner more attention than opportunities to take useful action.

E.g., apparently DU no longer has a functional media blaster; at any rate, not one person responded to my query about it at http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=106&topic_id=31249&mesg_id=31249 . (Do most DU'er's now even know what a media blaster is?)

I think of Hamlet's
"Why, what an ass am I! This is most brave,
That I, the son of a dear father murder'd,
Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell,
Must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words,
And fall a-cursing, like a very drab,
A scullion!"

We all need to vent, but as a supplement to, not in replacement of, action.

[Gregorian]

66. Evidently not.

I remember when it came out. I'm overwhelmed just reading the posts here. And I don't even work. Some of us are still trying to get to the point where we can even become active. I was intimidated by everything social when I arrived here.

Thanks for the prod. I'll start doing more.

[hfojvt]

23. not well-read how?

In current events, in great literature, in popular literature, in popular science, in esoteric academic subjects?

And how many is "a lot"? 10%? 30%? 86.3%? By 'a lot' do you mean 'a lot of DUers' or 'a lot of the approximately 6,000 posts per day'?

[hang a left]

24. In current and political events.

Since this is a site that is dedicated to the politics of democrats, I thought that you would understand.

Looking for an argument are we?

[hfojvt]

35. some things simply were not clear

The politics of Democrats, but why should current events be such a priority? I often find that the latest 'news' ends up being rumor, or predictions. Sturgeon's Law states that 90% of everything is crap. So, I think it is best to wait a while for the crap to be sifted out.

[hang a left]

36. Not sure where you get your news.

Why don't you just let me know where you receive your rumor and predictions and perhaps I can lead you to some better sources.

Just trying to be helpful. In the DU spirit and all...

[Quixote1818]

25. The threads that stick around are usually more controversial

not necessarily the most brilliant. If you get two or three people arguing then the thread quickly takes on a life of its own.

[hisownpetard]

34. Oh, yeah? Who says? You got a link to back dat up wit?? nt

[slipslidingaway]

26. Yes and a k&r so the thread does not die :) n/t

[BlueIris]

27. Hey. I was just coming here to ask how you're doing.

How are you doing? Feel free to PM me if you don't want to post on the thread.

[hang a left]

29. So sweet BlueIris

I will pm you.

[libodem]

30. Yes

Have you been reading my mind? :)

[hisownpetard]

38. K&R !!!!!!n (This is my maiden K&R. How'm I doing?) Wooo hoooo! nt

[OneBlueSky]

42. happens to me all the time . . . some of my best posts are responses . . .

to other posts, and they generally seem to get lost in the shuffle . . . especially if it's a long thread . . .

occasionally, when I've written something that I think might be particularly insightful or interesting, I'll copy it and use it to start a new thread . . . (since I'm not all that insightful or interesting, of course, those occasions are few and far between) . . . :shrug:

[Enrique]

45. I 've posted fact-based responses

no intelligent ones, yet. :-)

[hang a left]

46. you funny. nt

[shadowknows69]

47. I'm a chronic thread killer for some reason

probably due to some obscure reference I've used that me and only 5 other geeks on this board get.

[Liberal Dose]

49. It's not you. It's me. Seriously. Been here almost 4 yrs and still don't have 1000 posts, yet I'm

here on a regular basis. I avoid posting for fear of killing the thread. Postaphobic :hi:

[SalmonChantedEvening]

50. "I must've killed more threads than Cecil B. Demille"

:)

[distantearlywarning]

53. All the time.

Facts aren't nearly as interesting as "did so!" "did not!" "well, you're a poopyhead!" kind of flame wars. It's sad.

[Liberal Dose]

54. The thread that lived LOL n/t

:hi:

[shadowknows69]

56. it is the thread that never ends

it goes on and on my friends
someone started posting it not knowing what it was
now it goes on forever just because
it is the thread that never ends......


sing along if you know the words

[Buns_of_Fire]

97. (R.I.P., Shari)

...and now I know what I'll be humming to myself the rest of the day.

[DemReadingDU]

55. morning kick for more exposure

I don't even have to say anything, just kick it up

:)

[Larry Ogg]

57. Wow, thought it was just me….

I am so good at killing threads all I need to do is read it and not post.

With that said, will the last person to post on this thread get a thread killer award?

[Liberal Dose]

58. If an award is to be had, I think I should get it hehehe n/t

:hi:

[Tesha]

61. 'Happens to me all the time. (NT)

[Le Taz Hot]

63. It's the reason I only chime in

with 1-2 liners and rarely start a thread. Nothing like researching and writing on a subject for 3 days just to have it sink like a stone in 15 minutes due to 20 new threads being started because Britany left home without her underwear on.

[clixtox]

64. I have wondered about why this has occasionally happened to me...

It's interesting and calming that others here on DU share this slice of paranoia.

[SoCalDem]

78. Gotta have certain keywords.. Corn flakes.. chicken.. Olive Garden.. Oscar

:hi:

[Pierogi_Pincher]

91. It's ultra busy on here.

Good thang I bookmarked this thread. For the heck of it, I tried to find it on GD, and it was way way buried. Y'all are goin' too fast for my puddin' head!
P_P

[Jed Dilligan]

67. Happens to me all the time

I chalk it up to people saying, "Oh, that was what I was going to post, never mind." Or else, "My god, there are psychopaths in this thread, I'm running like hell."

[IDemo]

68. It looks like post #68 will be the last here...

Thread killer that I am..

[Bluerthanblue]

69. na- i believe

i've got dibs on that-

Kind of odd- the notion that being the one to end a thread is being fought over- :crazy:

I feel like this all the time. But it's even worse when it happens after posting a logical, reasonable, reply- (rare occasions i'll admit ;) )

:shrug:

[IDemo]

70. I have 17 dead threads in the freezer, and can't decide what to do with them

Microwave them for dinner, or toss them out? :shrug:

What's even worse than killing a perfectly good thread, however, is believing you have created one that only Hemingway (or perhaps Will Pitt) could equal, only to have it plummet like a stone.

[cgrindley]

73. A lot of threads are just cries for emotional validation

and you try to post logically or rationally, and you just get dogpiled by people who basically are not very well educated but who passionately hold a host of misguided opinions. It's best just to give up on those issues and let all the really emotional posters own those topics. It's just not worth the annoyance.

[Liberal Dose]

75. I feel like a failure now. Been trying to kill this thread to no avail.

I feel like a liar now, saying my reply would kill the thread. :blush:

[Liberal Dose]

76. Does this mean it finally died? What did the coroner say? n/t

[EST]

77. No.

[immoderate]

79. I think it's the people who DON"T post that kill the thread.

--IMM

[LeftHander]

80. GOP paid Trolls keep dumb threads alive and ignore posts...

...that speak the truth or unite the Democrats.

Notice any post that pits democrats against each other is furiously posted to by people that take extreme sides.

GOP Paid Trolls also post items that paint Democrats in a bad light or promote some obscure news story about another conservative "plot". Not to point out that it is wrong but just to promote crazy right wing ideas as common place.

The GOP is all about divide and conquer and they use any means of disinformation they can.

[asthmaticeog]

81. Wow, about 30 people have posted to say that they're thread-killers

and yet this thread lives! :D

DU, though it's fora are intended for political discussion, contains very little political discussion. It mostly contains pleas for emotional satisfaction via hypothetical political actions to be taken by others, meme repetition and outright parroting, self-flattery and brute ignorance dressed up with the jargon of punditry. It's still worth wading through, for the gems are REAL gems, but it's disheartening to look at DU and see how much time spent in discussion with hysterics armed only with logical fallacies. (My unofficial survey reveals that DUers especially love strawmen, selection bias, confirmation bias, slippery slopes and of course the all-time champ, ad hominems.)

Thanks for this OP.

[bridgit]

95. Spot on...

B-)

[Crabby Appleton]

98. yep nt

[Kajsa]

Thread killers unite!

( that sounds awful- can we get another name?)

I don't know how many times I've seen my post
be the last one on a thread- for eternity.

I don't know why good threads die with no/few responses.

If I had all the answers, I wouldn't trust myself.

Did any of that make sense?---Train of thought ,here.

:7

[Marr]

82. If it makes you feel any better, the first thing I do when I view a thread is to scan

it for posts like the ones you're describing. The factual, or at least most likely explanation for an event that seems outrageous on it's face. They're often somewhat dry, but always the most informative. I typically don't respond to a thread once it's prompted an actual answer.

[Forrest Greene]

83. Science Fiction Writer Theodore Sturgeon

...was once belligerently informed that "Ninety percent of science fiction is crap!"

"And so, what?" replied Sturgeon. "Ninety percent of everything is crap."

[Forrest Greene]

84. But Seriously

...the levels of childishness, trolling, & personalization here are amazingly high.

[orleans]

86. hi you. been thinking about you & wondering how you are.

last one to post here is the real thread killer.

[clixtox]

87. I will be among the many who will predict that...

This increasingly esoteric thread will last a very, very long time...

Not one of the adroit thread killers has even slowed this threads steady accretion!

The mods may have to slay it.

[hang a left]

88. Thanks orleans

nice of you to think of me.

I am hanging in there.

[orleans]

93. glad to hear it. and i couldn't let you be the last to post here.

:)

[Kaleko]

94. hidden underground threadkillers

...surfacing worldwide. Good thread <pats heads>. Brings people together in soul space.

Come Together We need to rock the world.

[Buns_of_Fire]

96. Oh, a challenge, eh?

I usually figure to myself that, when I'm the last poster on a thread, it's because my post has summed up the essence of the subject so totally and completely that no one can think of anything more to add. The problem has been solved (I say to myself), be it through my towering intellect, my incomparable insight, or my stupendous snarkiness.

That's what I say to myself. Then I have another beer to reinforce that feeling. Works everytime. :beer:

[orleans]

99. wow--that really sums it up for me. cheers! n/t