Several times a day
Sometimes I can’t be arsed with the replies it might generate, others I realise I’m not actually adding anything to the conversation
I’d add to this: if I cannot phrase it succinctly and with the right words, it’s better off unsaid.
Also, if I realize that I’m just repeating what everyone else is saying, then I’ll scrap it completely.
I swear that’s half of my comments.
Just n…
Bravo
Came here to day something like this but, as usual, I
10 mins ago, and I frequently decide against it because I am either unsure of whether I read something right or because I don’t feel like actually engaging in a conversation about the topic.
Literally just now. I was going to agree and add detail about my own thought process, but… meh.
Nearly every day. Sometimes it’s helpful to write out my thoughts, even if they’re too rude or just too banal to actually post.
About three minutes ago.
I had actually written a few paragraphs in response to another thread, but it wasn’t coming together right and would’ve had to have been rewritten almost entirely to get it to my standards, and I just didnt care that much, so I closed it instead, then went to the main page and saw this.
Overall, I would guess that I post less than half of what I write, either because I’m struggling to get it to my standards and don’t care enough to keep going, or because I stop and realize that if I go ahead and post it, it’s likely that if it gets a response at all it’s just going to be some tunnel-visioned ideologue hurling disinformation, fallacies and/or tired emotive rhetoric.
Don’t be so harsh on yourself. This is all informal conversations. You don’t have to hold yourself to such high standards. Your ideas aren’t any less valid because you have trouble articulating them. If someone disagrees or has a problem with what you say then they can just say so and you can clarify.
I choose to hold myself to high standards. Writing is one of the great joys of my life, and there are few things I enjoy more than the satisfaction I feel when I do it well.
Additionally:
If someone disagrees or has a problem with what you say then they can just say so and you can clarify.
Would that that were so, but the reality of the internet in this benighted age is that many (most?) who misrepresent another’s position do so not because they sincerely try but fail to understand it, but because it serves their purposes to do so, and no amount of clarification is going to overcome that. It’s a waste of effort at best, and is actually often detrimental, since saying more just provides them with more fodder for even more fallacies and diversions.
Which is another reason that I write for my own satisfaction.
Thanks for the response though.
I sympathize with that. I’ve been that kind of person for most of my life. It sucks that the internet can be the kind of place where it discourages people to speak comfortably.
For what it’s worth, I think you write very well. Based on these two comments only :).
Every
I usually finish writing it and only then do I realise I don’t care enough to send it.
About half of my responses are deleted. I realize that sometimes I’m just not adding any substance to the conversation.
Would be funny if there were no comments here
Haha that’s silly why wo
Usually when I back out of a comment, it’s for one of two reasons. Either I start second-guessing my level of knowledge about a subject, or (being an over-sharer IRL) I decide I was giving too much personal information.
Often when I start a reply on some political nonsense and then realize that arguing won’t make anyone’s day better.
This is what most often gets me.
I’m here to have fun, so I try to limit my political opinions.
If it seems like someone may be missing some important info to make an informed decision and I feel I can phrase it in an educational way and not preachy or confrontational, then I’ll hit publish.
Actually I think it was right n
Lately I’d say I end up not posting the majority of my comments.
I delete the vast majority of what I type out. Mostly stuff that’s personal experience based that, while adding to the conversation, doesn’t really matter to anyone and isn’t that interesting.
I start writing it because I care enough, and stop when I realize nobody else will.
Sometimes I let myself finish fleshing out the thought, then delete it, but often I just get the bulk of my thoughts out and give up when editing it. I’m pretty verbose, and don’t really have much of an outlet in real life, and I’m an anxious mess about interactions, so… it’s just a way to relieve some of the pressure without it impacting anything.
