Gransnet forums

AIBU

To wonder why people don’t read the thread

(113 Posts)
Lucca Sat 30-Jan-21 11:37:11

Ok so I probably am BU. I just don’t understand how it happens. Do posters literally read the original post and reply without reading ANY other posts ? I’ve seen some threads where OP has returned several times to say the issue is sorted but posters still keep posting ! I’ve heard the excuse of not having time to read the thread but in that case why are you spending time on GN at all ??

BigBertha1 Sat 30-Jan-21 11:42:11

Oh Ok I consider myself reprimanded. I dont read it all if the thread is pages and pages long. What I am more likely to do if a bit of skim reading is not acceptable (as it seems it may not be) then I dont contribute at all. I didn't realise there was a minimum time one MUST spend on Gransnet.

Nanna58 Sat 30-Jan-21 11:45:19

Even with lockdown there aren’t enough hours in the day to keep track of every post and every thread , so that this sometimes happens is pretty understandable!

Nemesia Sat 30-Jan-21 11:47:35

Perhaps if an issue has been sorted, the OP could ask HQ to delete the thread after a while?
(Although I recognise that one person’s issue can prompt relevant discussion by others. )

Doodledog Sat 30-Jan-21 11:48:08

I agree, Lucca, although I have no idea about specifics this time.

It's maddening when someone comes onto a thread and asks a question that someone has taken the time to answer upthread, and expecting a repeat of the reply. It's basically saying that their time is more important than everyone else's, isn't it? Not only that, but constant repetition drags threads out and makes it even less likely that newcomers will read them.

Oopsadaisy1 Sat 30-Jan-21 11:48:47

If the OP came back and we could see the message in green it would be so much easier.
I dont have time to read through pages and pages of the threads so I try to skim through to see if the OP has come back and replied, sometimes I expect I miss it, because I didn’t see it.

Blossoming Sat 30-Jan-21 11:48:48

I agree Lucca but that’s human nature I guess. I’ve noticed sometimes that people are more interested in recounting their own experience than answering the OP.

Bathsheba Sat 30-Jan-21 11:49:51

This is where an edit facility would be so useful - if only we could edit the OP to add, in bold print, "Thank you for your responses, this has now been resolved."

petra Sat 30-Jan-21 11:54:15

Lucca & Blossoming
Neither of you are wrong.

cornishpatsy Sat 30-Jan-21 11:54:42

We do not all use GN the same. Some pop in for a few minutes here and there some are on all day.

I pop in so do not read 10 pages of a thread. If the poster has received a satisfactory reply and readers have seen that then the answer is not to keep revisiting the thread to see what others have written.

NotSpaghetti Sat 30-Jan-21 11:58:05

I think it would be useful for the OP to be able to have a large RESOLVED button so the word comes up in large print and was hard to miss.

lemongrove Sat 30-Jan-21 11:58:23

Bathsheba

This is where an edit facility would be so useful - if only we could edit the OP to add, in bold print, "Thank you for your responses, this has now been resolved."

Good idea! Ask for this from GNHQ

Chestnut Sat 30-Jan-21 12:08:17

Yes I agree, the OP should be able to close the thread if they've had enough.

baubles Sat 30-Jan-21 12:12:09

Mumsnet has a option to show only the OP’s posts which is very useful. Perhaps Gransnet, which is a poor relation of Mumsnet, could be given the same facility.

BlueBelle Sat 30-Jan-21 12:16:19

I can understand in a long thread people don’t have time to read all the posts BUT you can at least skim down and read the original posters further posts that would give you a good idea of the gist of how it’s going

felice Sat 30-Jan-21 12:16:20

I once posted on a topic that I lived in Belgium in the family home five times in responses, and still kept being told that I could not have my DGS to stay with me.
Even once being told that someone was going to call the Police on me !!!!!!!!
It was the same when I had my second knee op and was accused of wasting NHS resources.
It does not seem to matter how many times people are told things they see what they want to see.

Riverwalk Sat 30-Jan-21 12:19:58

Never mind reading the whole thread, some people don't even read the original post properly!

For example 'my 13 year old granddaughter is blah blah'....

Someone will then ask 'how old is your GD?' grin

Some threads are very long so it's inevitable that things move on, and posters don't have time to read the whole thing.

Jane10 Sat 30-Jan-21 12:20:03

I tend not to read very long threads with pages of responses. Similarly, some thread titles or seeing who has started them make me just move on. Occasionally, in a thread with an off-putting title but pages of responses, I'll take a look at the last page to how far it's drifted from the OP. That can be interesting!

sodapop Sat 30-Jan-21 12:34:25

That is the problem with games threads especially the alphabetical ones. After about five pages it gets wearing wading through to see if you are repeating a previous answer.
I agree about people not reading the original post properly then going off at a tangent in the wrong direction. Sometimes other posters raise points which I may want to respond to as well as the original post.

Elegran Sat 30-Jan-21 12:34:43

It sometimes reminds me of certain committee meetings, where most of those present spend some time discussing various aspects of the problem in question and reached agreement, and so have reached the point where the chairperson says, "Right, so we have decided to blah blah blah "

A person who has been sitting looking reasonably awake all through then perks up and asks, "But what about XXXX ? " XXXX being the main point of the discussion, which has been totally filleted, turned inside out, and the solution decided upon, while they were dreaming of Clint Eastwood.

PamelaJ1 Sat 30-Jan-21 12:35:35

No, you aren’t. BU I mean but I am getting used to it happening. I used to get cross if I had had a totally, brilliant, innovative answer/ solution to an OP’s problem only to find someone further down the thread also had the same idea and got all the praise.?
Now I just go into my corner and cry?

winterwhite Sat 30-Jan-21 12:39:15

Threads seem to get much too long which leads to even more repetition. Might it work if after 2 pages, say, HQ or some automatic trigger asks the OP whether she (or he) wants it to continue or reframe it?

Also if people try not to make their opening posts too broad or vague.

biba70 Sat 30-Jan-21 12:40:57

Elegran remind me of the Vicar of Dibley ;)

I think it also depends how people access text- if on phone, they do not automatically see other answers.

I am on a fauna and flora group on FB and one of fungi foraging, and when there is a request for identification, you can get several pages saying 'martagon lily' or whatever. I have no issue with an identification being confirmed, once, twice - but then it gets just annoying. Or 2 pages or 'martagon lily' and then someone pops in with 'daisy' or similar.

NotAGran55 Sat 30-Jan-21 12:45:12

I will start by saying that I haven’t read the whole thread smile

This is resolved on other forums with the option for the OP to CLOSE a thread when they have got the answer etc they were looking for .

If you think it is a problem on Gransnet you should try looking on Mumsnet smile

Some threads there run and run forever , and no number of ‘READ THE EFFING THREAD’ comments solve the problem.

It’s hilarious ?.

Lucca Sat 30-Jan-21 12:48:52

I am not intending to reprimand etc. But surely everyone at least has time to quickly scan at least the last couple of pages where in a recent case they would say several posts saying the issue had been resolved !

However I think it is high time all posts from OP were highlighted the. All those poor over busy people would be able to see at a glance that it was all sorted.