Do you read/skim articles linked by an OP before replying to a thread?

[Travis B]

Oftentimes on this forum an OP will link an article, but completely misrepresent or even outright lie about what the article says in their thread. It seems that many people don't even bother to at least skim an article to make sure it's actually saying what the OP is saying. They just take the OP's word for it, and end up looking like fools to the people that actually did look at the article.

Why do people do this? Can they not spare 30 seconds to skim through the article and make sure it actually supports what the OP is saying? Or do they so desperately want to believe what the OP is saying is true, they don't want to risk finding out differently by actually clicking the link? Something else?




If an article is very long, I probably won't read the whole thing, but I take the time to at least glance through it and make sure it actually aligns with what the OP is saying before forming my opinion, especially if it is on a controversial topic. Of course this doesn't solve the problem of the article itself being biased/wrong, but that's another issue altogether.

[Independent voter]

Nanook did that one time. He posted an article about how Japanese practically had no sex after marriage, but he changed the title to "US finds they have no sex after marriage".

It got like 36 pages of replies.

[Azadina]

Depends on the subject and who posted it.

[Shadowferal]

I believe when "jon234" posted that sill thread about California, it garnered plenty of equally silly responses since no one used any common sense or reading comprehension to see the OP's interpretation was ridiculous. (Note; "jon234" hasn't responded in that thread beyond the OP. Probably too embarrassed)

[Fencers]

Generally, yes I read the article linked. Though this practice is tied to how I read forums in general.

I have a newsfeed which I check throughout the day. This covers a lot of things like politics, local news, science stuff, sports stuff, etc. A good portion of the articles posted here are already trending somewhere on the web. So a there is a good chance between my Google newfeed, Reddit and Facebook that I have already read something about the story in the OP.

Also I open all forums into tabs via smart folders; which I ten open all topics into tabs and read from left to read. Skimming articles I am familiar with, reading fully those that I have not read anything about.

I like to see what t he word on the street is, generally speaking. Hence the newsfeeds and various forum browsing. I rarely engage in creation or question asking as I am not necessarily convinced anonymous ignorance is useful to problem solving or that in creation there is a possibility anonymous dialogue being advantageous to me. Whereas anonymous expression can inform me to a great degree.

Most users are extremely poor forum users- as in use of the medium. Thread creation is atrocious where moderation is lax in enforcing a style of digital communication. Most threads are not even indexed properly. Thus title/article mismatch and reply to threads/conversations are pretty common. Strict organization reduces these errors; Reddit moderation policies are good example depending on sub.

[Thoughtful Trolli]

I don't look at anything else anyone ever posts at all other than the main topic and the main post. I also don't check links or replies.

I learned nobody is worth shit, I won't pretend I am except for all the cases I pretend I am, and least of all some dumb forum of people.

I don't post to debate, I post for the same reason I put 2 pounds of feces in a porcelain retainer every day.

Be thankful I told you this. Everyone else is a shitty liar

[alzoron]

What should happen when you want to reply is: Read OP carefully, check their facts, check if someone else made a similar reply, check your facts, write reply, read your reply to see if it makes sense, hit send.

What usually happens is: Read OP until it triggers you, mash some keys, hit send before the internet gremlins have a chance to gobble up your post.