AIBU to bypass threads where the opening post is really long

[ByeFelicia]

...or is it just a sign of a piss poor attention span?

I can only cope with long posts if I'm in the mood and they contain paragraphs.

Same here although it depends on the subject anyway really.

If there's no paragraphs or too much "Friend A had a problem with friend B, so when friend C got dragged into it, friend B had a go at friend A but then friend D also got involved and upset both A and C but B was ok with it (with me so far?)

Errrr no. Not with you at all to be honest

I love your username btw.

Anything too long or lacking in punctuation or paragraphs, I can't read.
I don't expect perfect grammar, I just want to be able to read it without my head hurting.

I'm more put off by long threads. I can do the OP no problem, but if it's 7 pages, I feel I REALLY commit (but RTFF) before I can comment, so if the thread is long, I often don't bother.

Thanks wreckingball but it had to go because of that "thing" that happened

I can do a good, long thread but will skip over any posts in it that conflict with my concentration criteria.
God, that sounds so prickish that I'll award my very first to myself.

Trouble is, people get lambasted for drip feeding so probably feel they have to cram all the info in the OP.

And doing paragraphs on a mobile phone is a nightmare, all the text shunts up beyond the text box, can't see what you've written so end up with typos, unfinished sentences. More lambasting.

(Sigh)

Yes.

Take a Bimgal, for fine use of "concentration criteria" at this ungodly hour of day

Should have added a so it doesn't sound snark and that isn't a PA smile Btw

Snarky

Why, thank you daisychain01 I tend to reach my mental peak at that time of day and then it's all downhill
(unfortunate news for my employer)

Can't read if it's one long paragraph, no punctuation and text speak.

Trouble is, if someone uses a shorter initial post, and then comes back later to add further clarifying detail, they get accused of "drip-feeding". I suspect this influences the length of opening posts.

?These things make me disinclined to engage
Long 'he said she said' saga
Stream of consciousness brain dump
Lack of editing and failure to be succinct
No paragraphs
Glaringly bad spelling / grammar / sentence construction
Clichés and phases which annoy me

There are others but if it doesn't 'jive' with me I'm probably not on the right wavelength to make a contribution so don't read?

If the OP has just spewed out everything which feels remotely relevant and then expected the reader to make sense of it, well why would I want to do all that work?

YANBU.

I can't cope and will also skip a thread if the OP doesn't use paragraphs, if I can't work out what they mean or if there is a complex 'person A, person B' situation.

a wall of text just looks impenetrable, like trying to go for a stroll in a thicket, why would you hack your way through if you could chose a nice wide path to walk along

Sadly not everyone's lives are so beautifully organised to take a neat clear path.

IME what you read in some posts is someone's confusion hurt and hecticness spilling out. Yes sometimes it makes ugly reading and it's nice to have the option not to hack through it all. But there but for the grace of God go we all. Worrying about paragraphs is the last thing on many people's minds.

Thank goodness there are people who take time where possible to do some of the hacking on their behalf

'Hacking Is Good' shocker...

BOF 'hacking is good'. Would that be holistic hacking? Why the feck are you up at this wretched hour? I have a little kitten asleep on my arm. She will not let me go to bed, the wee shite.

Most really long OP's don't seem to contain paragraphs it seems.

I can cope with long posts, but not long posts without paragraphs.

As soon as I see the words....

"You'll have to bear with me, this is long, sorry"

....... then the thread gets closed.

If a thread appears to be way too long then it's likely I'm either going to get confused or bored

I do this too. Keep it snappy people!!