To wonder why people wade in on threads that clearly they can’t contribute to?

[wannagotoaustralia]

Does anyone know what I mean? A thread will say something like ‘Dog owners - I need your help’ and someone will post to say ‘well I’ve never owned a dog but I think …’

Or you get something like ‘AIBU to think Friends is really misogynistic’ and someone replies with ‘don’t know - never seen it.’ Or ‘what would you buy an eight year old boy for Christmas.’ ‘Nothing, I only know one boy and he’s two.’ Sometimes they’ll admit ‘so that doesn’t really help.’ So what’s the point? Are people just that desperate for attention?

It’s not to aid sinking threads either, it happens even on busy threads that a lot of people are enjoying.

So - AIBU to ask if you’ve noticed this and AIBU to think it’s really annoying?

What annoys me even more are threads where the OP doesn’t come back

@QueenFreesia2021

What annoys me even more are threads where the OP doesn’t come back

So basically I’ve just done what you are annoyed about…contributing nothing!!

A weird one yesterday was a thread on favourite meals you can make in the time it takes to cook pasta because baby and both of us work full time. Someone said make your own pasta like I always do. I sometimes wonder if people are as odd in real life.
I suppose that one was deliberately unpleasant, but I can’t be sure.

This is an online site. People can los8t what they want as long as within the guidelines

Post

If your thread is in AIBU or Chat I think it's reasonable to expect anyone might chip in with an opinion - you can ignore posters whose experience isn't relevant.

If you post in a more specialist topic, you are less likely to get random opinions, so my advice would be to try to find a topic matching your query or the issue you want to discuss.

@Marcee

This is an online site. People can los8t what they want as long as within the guidelines

They can. Doesn’t mean we can’t discuss that some replies just miss the point. Like this one!

@SpikeyFloof 😂❤️

Didn't want to read and run OP, I'm sure someone will be along in a minute who can answer your question.

Nothing more annoying than the thread police.

I think they could be chatbots in training.

@sadeyedladyofthelowlandsea

DP had a book published a few years ago and we love reading the 1 star reviews people have left: 'Looks great, but didn't buy it, money's a bit tight this month' (I don't know how they managed to leave review without buying it) 'Haven't had a thank you from the recipient' 'Bought five copies to give as gifts at Christmas' 'Haven't read it yet'

I think some platforms will allow you to leave a review if you bought but then cancelled before delivery. A few years ago, a relative got a one star review for a bnb they run with a "holiday got cancelled by the boss so couldn't come".

Sometimes things get lost in translation

There was a thread recently full of those of us paying tribute to and sharing memories of the work of a much-loved comedian who had just died. In amongst this, there was one person (who made sure to get in there early!) to say "Never heard of him".

Millions of other people (most of them not celebrities) died that same day - I wonder if that poster made the effort to personally show up at every one of their funerals, only to 'comfort' the grieving family and friends with the 'wise words' that she had no idea who it was who had died.

I have absolutely no interest in golf or football - I must make sure to specifically seek out some sites for fans of those sports, take the trouble to sign up and go on their forums to 'inform' them that they're all wasting their time because it's boring. Thus entirely missing the irony that they are not wasting their time, as they get a lot of pleasure from it; whereas I am thoroughly and unequivocally squandering mine

@Cocolapew

They must be the same people who post reviews on Amazon saying they haven't got the item yet or bought it for a present so can't say if it's good or not .

Yes this is so annoying! Obviously I'm reading the reviews as I want to know if the item's any good, so "haven't had it out the box but looks good and postage was fast" is a bit pointless and unhelpful. Wait til you've used it then

I love the reviews where people rave about the best, funniest, most informative book they've ever read in their whole lives, and are amazed at just how incredibly cheap it was for such a bumper-sized serving of literary gold. And then give it one star.

Didn't want to read and run OP

See, I never understand this. How would the OP ever know they’d been there…?

@Annoyedanddissapointed

Little aside tho. It's like Amazon q&as😂 "Does this work well with x?" "Can't say I got it for my neice and I don't know if she used it yet"

Yes!!!!! 😂 Why do they do it?!

On an unrelated but similar note, my DH, who is lovely and v intelligent, cannot deal with

"On a scale of 1 to 10 how likely are you to recommend The Mumsnet Co to a friend?"

Because he says his friends aren't currently buying a house / getting Sky so wouldn't discuss those sort of questions and he's not going to phone them up randomly to talk about banks. He always puts the lowest score even if the service has been amazing.

YANBU

What particularly annoys me is when it's clear that it's not just a lighthearted chitchat type thread, but actually important. I saw one a while ago where the op had written two sentences and wanted to know which was correct. Can't remember exactly, but think it was for a job application or important work presentation. She posted it in pedants' corner too, so clearly targeting people who might know. The first few responses said things like 'Sentence A sounds right to me.' 'Yes, A definitely ' or even 'Not sure, but think it's A'. It wasn't. It was B. Luckily a few others later explained the correct answer but I couldn't believe that people who clearly didn't 'know' the answer decided it would be a good idea to post!

I can only imagine the horrors of the legal and medical sections if you are actually a lawyer or doctor and know what you are talking about!

Didn't want to read and run OP

See, I never understand this. How would the OP ever know they’d been there…?

Virtue? Signalled!

It's a public forum so anyone can thread, sometimes I've had good advice/ideas from someone who is isn't a regular on a board (just saw it on active).

As for style and beauty, people offering their opinion even if it's not to your style is fine, we all have a style!

@Shoxfordian

Don’t know what you mean

This comment wins the internet today

This annoys me too! On about every third Slimming World thread, on the dedicated Slimming World board, a poster will come on, ignore the question and tell the OP that SW is rubbish and they should just count calories. I've never checked if it's the same poster or if there's more than one, but they usually just get totally ignored.

It’s the online equivalent of the person who imagines conversation requires them to find some personal experience or anecdote they think in some way relates to the topic you’re talking about. Unfortunately this may mean you tell them you’re studying physics and they interrupt to tell you their hairdresser’s auntie once had a budgie called Einstein.