To experienced MN-ers, what do you do when

[ImissGrannyW]

there's a thread which for one reason or another you don't click on?

EG you're busy/doing skiving looking at MN at work (so looking but not posting) etc

And then 3, 4 or 5 days later, that thread is still there on the front page and has maybe 500+ posts. So EVENTUALLY you click on it. And you read the OP, and you just think' this is bollocks'. You spot two or even 3 things that don't ring true. You know that some kids have broken up for half term, and wonder if it's kids trolling. But there's 10+ pages.

Does anyone just report from the OP without RTFT?

Do you just close and walk away?

Or do you spend 2 hours+++ trawling through it to see if anyone else has reported?

What is the acceptable thing to do?

Thanks for the advice.

Depends how much time you have / if you can be bothered, surely? Report if you think there's something off with it

I read the OP's first post and if it doesn't interest me, I move on. The reference to half term doesn't make a difference, because school holidays do not revolve around the English system and some MNers forget that.

We're not meant to troll hunt so I usually check if MNHQ have commented on the thread (it usually indicates if others think the op is a troll) and read those posts and maybe the op's responses. Then I would report if still doubtful.

I think that if so many people have posted either they are all enjoying the story that has been spun or it has gone down a different track. If there are 500 posts and it is fishy then someone else has probably reported already. Different if I am reading it from the start. At 500 words it needs to look fairly interesting to bother investing time in a thread.

Usually I try and make my way through it just to be nosey at the comments back, only for it to go pooft and be deleted before I get to the end.

I basically ignore all threads about a personal situation now. I think 99% are bollocks now.

People with a genuine life crisis do not come on a public forum and give a minute by minute commentary of events and then attempt to put it under the guise of 'support'.
It's just bollocks. It's almost all trolling and I do feel a little sad for those who reply and do not seem to have the know-how to spot them.

I never trawl through a thread to see if it has been reported because
a) only a small proportion of people reporting a thread bother to post back on the thread saying they've reported it. So "I've reported this" posts aren't an accurate indicator of whether a thread has been reported.
b) if MNHQ have already commented, it will say so at the top of the thread.
c) The MN reporting system seems to work most quickly when MNHQ get lots of reports of a dodgy thread - so one more report isn't going to be an issue.

I usually read the thread if it is funny or moving, otherwise I move along...by the time a thread has that many posts, it is unlikely I will have anything new or helpful to add.

For a thread that long I'd read through just the OP's posts.

Whether I report it not depends on the nature of the thread.

I tend to repeat if I think the OP if offensive or perhaps