Pay attention to the date of a post

[FredVB]

I had preferred to not start a thread with any communication now or in the future as topics I wish to discuss can basically by found in threads in the forums, and I just would need to find those. But I am aware of a general issue I see often enough that seems not to get other attention, and I want to post on it with hope that many will see it and become more aware of this.


There are original posts sometimes in the forums that get a lot of responses, with a number addressed to the original poster, sometimes a long time after, when the original poster was newly posting in the forums, and with being checked can be seen to have posted no more than just a few times with the last post having been a long time ago, within a short time from when the first post was submitted. So posts addressed to the OP are never seen by that poster. There are likely cases of such posts, bringing up something in some way controversial, being trolling posts.


I have had more than one experience of posting in response to another in theads though not much later, with the thread later being deleted by moderation because the OP was considered a troll submitting on a topic inappropriate according to their rules, and I have lost my posts, that has happened in Fundamentalist Christian forum.


I have seen this as an issue in this forum, but it can apply to others in CF. Posters should see this as an issue, I would want it to be known and be aware that who they respond to might not be there to read it, that can be checked with seeing dates of their posting. If this should be put in another place, that may be done, as long as it is seen by enough to make what difference in posting there should be.

 

[candle glow]

I feel it may be worth considering how relevant the subject of the OP is. For example, I recently posted on a thread about forsaking all, according to Jesus' teachings, which was apparently 5 years old before it was revived.

Personally, I felt it was helpful to use the posts already listed in that thread, because all the various responses from the people posting at the time of it's original start were still there for others too see and offered a fair bit of context to what was being discussed.

For example, I was able to use excerpts from some of those old posts to help make a point.

However, I see your point about people responding specifically to a person who may not be around anymore, as opposed to dealing with general lessons which could be discussed from the post itself regardless of whether the original poster is still around to respond to it.

 

[FredVB]

I feel it may be worth considering how relevant the subject of the OP is. For example, I recently posted on a thread about forsaking all, according to Jesus' teachings, which was apparently 5 years old before it was revived.

Personally, I felt it was helpful to use the posts already listed in that thread, because all the various responses from the people posting at the time of it's original start were still there for others too see and offered a fair bit of context to what was being discussed.

For example, I was able to use excerpts from some of those old posts to help make a point.

However, I see your point about people responding specifically to a person who may not be around anymore, as opposed to dealing with general lessons which could be discussed from the post itself regardless of whether the original poster is still around to respond to it.

Yes, that is it exactly. Points in a thread can be addressed at any time. But I posted this issue after having several times seen an OP being addressed who was evidently long gone after stirring up issues for others to argue about. It seems others posting can be addressed but it only being sensible if those posters were in the discussion relatively recently or, being subscribed to the thread, at least active in the forums relatively recently.

 

[candle glow]

A combination of post dates and post counts are the biggest indicator to me, since the overall post count increases despite the date of the post. If someone has a post count of 3 or 5 posts, and the OP is several months old it's almost certain that person is not around anymore.

If the topic is one that I feel is worth discussing, I may post on that thread anyway, but I probably would not address my thoughts to the original poster specifically, but rather as an attempt to discuss the issue in general.

 

[FredVB]

Any thread found that is of interest it makes some sense to respond to posts in it. It is not necessarily addressing a poster when responding to a post, it is points in a post that get a response, open to others in discussion. Actually speaking on an issue of an individual who posted speaking to that person is addressing the poster. This I think should be done with care, attending to the age of the post and activity of the poster, among other things to communicate truth with sensitivity according to what was posted.