What percentage of threads do you read?

March 4, 2002 4:10 PM

In this posting, user dhartung mentions that there are dozens of threads that he doesn't even read, after user RobertLoch asks if it's necessary to keep posting on the same old topics. Myself, I probably read around 25% of the total threads, and click on maybe 35% of the links offered-- even if a topic has been done to death it doesn't really affect me, as I just skip it. How about you? What percentage of threads do you read?

posted by cell divide to MetaFilter-Related at 4:10 PM (26 comments total)

I read everything that interests me; which is about 50%. Though I'll dip in to apparently uninteresting threads if I like the poster or suspect controversy.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 4:16 PM on March 4, 2002

40%? and if the FPP is poorly written i usually don't read it (i.e. if i can't tell in 2 lines what the hell it's about) which is another reason i almost never catch double-posts... i just read the one that looks interesting. this is probably also a cause of double-posts..
posted by rhyax at 4:51 PM on March 4, 2002

I click through on about 30% of the links, and read the comments on about 50%.
posted by Hildago at 5:21 PM on March 4, 2002

I read the entire front page, unless there is an FPP surrounded by a really long paragraph that bores me at the first sentence. I only click on maybe 50% of the links. Sometimes when I'm not sure whether I want to look at the link, I skim the comments first to get an idea of how interesting others think it is. Although I too have clicked on some links that sounded boring because I liked the poster.
posted by bingo at 5:42 PM on March 4, 2002

Less than 10%. I read the newspaper.
posted by gleuschk at 5:46 PM on March 4, 2002

FPP's: possibly 95-99%; ditto following threads; links: c. 80-90%. Though some which are US-centric ( so-called 'World' Series/ superbowl, etc.) are not of interest to half the netting public, are they?
posted by dash_slot- at 6:17 PM on March 4, 2002

cell divide I don't actually have a problem with people posting anything here, including stuff that has been discussed a 1,000 times before. To be honest my problem is just with one subject. I was venting frustration at the world, as much as anything else.

I probably click on about 5-10% of the stories. As for thread I limit myself to a very few as I know that I have the potential to get too involved if not disciplined. My behaviour is perhaps similar to a cheating slimmer who each day blocks out candy but every now and then surrenders to the desire for a massive cake. Actually MetaTalk has been sucking me in recently, I'll have to improve my defences.
posted by RobertLoch at 6:25 PM on March 4, 2002

I read the front page, well actually I usually skip reading a topic if the subject doesn't interest me. I read about 30% of the threads on a given day. Usually there are only two or three threads that I actually revisit. During the same time period I read about 80% of MetaTalk threads.
posted by riffola at 6:30 PM on March 4, 2002

I had largely stopped reading any more than maybe 20% of the front page posts because I couldn't stand the pointless arguing. It's been slow around the office lately, so I started reading more like 60-70% and found myself getting sucked into the same arguments I had been keeping out of for months. I'm gonna go back to skipping most front page threads, I think.
posted by briank at 7:38 PM on March 4, 2002

I want to know the ratio of threads people post comments in to threads they actually read. I am sure for at least some people it is greater than 1. In any case, I find it often difficult to read threads because so many comments go right past each other.
posted by mattpfeff at 8:14 PM on March 4, 2002

Varies wildly by day, depending on what else is going on and how much time I have to waste...er, spend.
posted by rushmc at 8:43 PM on March 4, 2002

It depends on the day. I often look into net/technology/science centric posts, but mostly avoid politics (particularly American politics) and other pop-culture stuff. I might occasionally read the occasional stupid thread (the one that you know will have about 50 jokes and one serious comment) if I'm in the mood; and I'd browse through controversial posts here and there. But whenever I see a "What X are you... " post, I pretend it doesn't exist.
posted by mkn at 9:07 PM on March 4, 2002

generally avoid geek-o-philic programming posts & latest Flash animation/Git Yer War On, etc. All sports, most media related too.
by the way...Pro wrasslin' is rigged, owillis.
ooh, did I mention religion?
posted by y2karl at 9:51 PM on March 4, 2002

I've got a weird habit. Most of the time I don't bother clicking on the actual link unless it looks interesting. What I do for most posts, is click on the comments. If the comments are interesting, and makes it seem like the link is worth it, I'll actually click on the link itself.
posted by stoneegg21 at 10:25 PM on March 4, 2002

"by the way...Pro wrasslin' is rigged, owillis"

Source?
posted by keithl at 10:27 PM on March 4, 2002

I only read the things that I've written, plus sometimes the things others write about me.

Sometimes I'll just make shit up to bother aaron.
posted by dong_resin at 10:29 PM on March 4, 2002

Meanie.
posted by aaron at 10:34 PM on March 4, 2002

I've got a weird habit. Most of the time I don't bother clicking on the actual link unless it looks interesting. What I do for most posts, is click on the comments. If the comments are interesting, and makes it seem like the link is worth it, I'll actually click on the link itself.

Yo tambien, stoneegg
posted by Ufez Jones at 10:42 PM on March 4, 2002

Yup, moi aussi. It's a convenient way to further filter the 'Filter's links and get the biggest yield for limited surfing time.
posted by youhas at 11:12 PM on March 4, 2002

I'm Bono!

Oh, sorry - wrong poll.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 2:37 AM on March 5, 2002

I do the same thing as stoneegg, although I'll often go out of my way to check into orphan posts with no comments to see if there's anything worthwhile I can say even if the topic doesn't interest me. (I don't want anybody to feel bad because no one commented on their post. That's the only shred of touchy-feely in me.)
posted by headspace at 4:47 AM on March 5, 2002

about a quarter I'd say..
posted by Mossy at 4:49 AM on March 5, 2002

i've been 'outed' regarding my reading habits previously, but that timeline is a bit off. i no longer read every comment in every thread, having been gradually pushed away by 'the election', 'the tragedy', 'the war', and (more than anything else) the bunnyfire.

current habits: read or at least skim 70-85% of all metafilter threads (depending on how many are about 'the war') and 98% of all metatalk threads; clickthrough links a pretty consistent 50-60% all across the site; clickthrough mefi profiles to personal sites of posters i love/hate 98% of the time.
posted by mlang at 9:05 AM on March 5, 2002

mlang: please remember the phrase "speak of the devil and he shall appear". Thank you.
posted by ColdChef at 9:30 AM on March 5, 2002

Source?

Click on View--it's the ninth one down.
posted by y2karl at 7:48 AM on March 7, 2002

My reading habits are very similar to mlang's. I also read the posts without any comments, in an effort to try and understand why these posts didn't attract any interest.
posted by Tarrama at 4:10 PM on March 7, 2002