How Often Do You Reply vs Spectate?

[JDMS]

I've been a member here for a little under a year, but I've accrued less than 400 postings at the time of posting this.

It's not that I rarely visit this forum; in fact, I average ~7-9 hours here a week according to my phone. Some weeks, when there's a specific topic that interests me, it's closer to 10-12 hours. So, I do spend a decent amount of time browsing threads here. I will passively follow a single debate over the course of several days at times.

However, I rarely actually reply to any threads. There are many times where I'll begin to write a reply, and then simply scrap it and move on. I think part of the deterrent for me is that I feel like nothing I say will have any impact on anyone's opinion, or I have no interest in changing someone's opinion in the first place (such as theists' opinions, I genuinely don't care whether someone believes in God or gods when I don't). It feels very pointless 90% of the time. Occasionally though, I'll reply if I think there's someone in the audience that will make use of what I say, or if there's something that hasn't come up yet. And occasionally, I also reply against my best judgment and waste my time... lol.

I think the most tempting posts to reply to are the ones where someone makes a claim such as, "Then why are atheists always trying to change our minds/disprove God?" .... I always feel tempted to point out that they won't hear from the ones that don't care or don't attempt to disprove the existence of God(s), because we are silent observers. It's confirmation bias. But I've never gone through with it, lol. It just feels like there's no point in changing someone's mind about something so silly.

I guess my posting behavior makes sense, though. When I joined this community, I quickly learned the nature of it and stuck around because I enjoy reading various opinions and debates. I couldn't tell you why, but I do. So, considering that it's the observation that I enjoy, there's really no reason for me to post more often than I do.

What about you guys? This is a post for all the lurkers out there, as well as those who have a lot to say.

For some of you... I know the answer already lighthearted of course.

 

[Revoltingest]

Most of the time I just read posts.
Sometimes I post too.

 

[JustGeorge]

I both lurk and have a lot to say.

In more somber matters, I lurk. I tend to lurk more in the DIRs than participate; I feel I have more to learn than contribute in those cases.

In lighter topics, I am more likely to contribute. Perhaps I feel more 'qualified' to answer.

Either way, I like to frubal stuff.

 

[Stevicus]

I've been a member here for a little under a year, but I've accrued less than 400 postings at the time of posting this.

It's not that I rarely visit this forum; in fact, I average ~7-9 hours here a week according to my phone. Some weeks, when there's a specific topic that interests me, it's closer to 10-12 hours. So, I do spend a decent amount of time browsing threads here. I will passively follow a single debate over the course of several days at times.

However, I rarely actually reply to any threads. There are many times where I'll begin to write a reply, and then simply scrap it and move on. I think part of the deterrent for me is that I feel like nothing I say will have any impact on anyone's opinion, or I have no interest in changing someone's opinion in the first place (such as theists' opinions, I genuinely don't care whether someone believes in God or gods when I don't). It feels very pointless 90% of the time. Occasionally though, I'll reply if I think there's someone in the audience that will make use of what I say, or if there's something that hasn't come up yet. And occasionally, I also reply against my best judgment and waste my time... lol.

I think the most tempting posts to reply to are the ones where someone makes a claim such as, "Then why are atheists always trying to change our minds/disprove God?" .... I always feel tempted to point out that they won't hear from the ones that don't care or don't attempt to disprove the existence of God(s), because we are silent observers. It's confirmation bias. But I've never gone through with it, lol. It just feels like there's no point in changing someone's mind about something so silly.

I guess my posting behavior makes sense, though. When I joined this community, I quickly learned the nature of it and stuck around because I enjoy reading various opinions and debates. I couldn't tell you why, but I do. So, considering that it's the observation that I enjoy, there's really no reason for me to post more often than I do.

What about you guys? This is a post for all the lurkers out there, as well as those who have a lot to say.

For some of you... I know the answer already lighthearted of course.

It depends, although if I come across a thread which has already gotten pages and pages of replies, I'll usually read the replies, but it gets to a point where everything that can be said about the topic has already been said, so there isn't much point in posting anything.

 

[an anarchist]

Sometimes I post without reading the thread lol the opposite

 

[osgart]

I'm a lurker with 5459 posts in six years. When I first began I loaded up on threads about religion, and then I tailed way off. I'm interested in religion mainly. I don't mind the science. Politics makes me nauseous usually. I hear that critical thinkers say that the burden of proof is on theists , and that they need to support their arguments with demonstrable evidence, or come up with falsifiable tests. Lol. People say that often like it's their full time job on RF.

I'm mainly interested in ultimate questions about existence; or deep questions about life and existence. Truth seeking I find interesting.

I find that both religious and non religious alike on RF think they have the official standards on what is true and not true. The non religious are just as evangelical as the religious here.

Still though there are a lot of interesting insights and opinions here. RF is a place where you can learn about cool things, and get a sense of people.