I’m waiting - threads when the OP doesn’t return

[MrsTerryPratchett]

I have a new rule. If the OP doesn’t come back, I don’t bother. I say ‘rule’; more of a guideline. There are so many ploppers right now.

Obviously I plan to post once and never return. Bwahahahahaha.

If you’re on the app, top right is an icon that looks like a funnel, tap on that.

Click on See All and you can see all the posts made by the op On that thread.

Almost as annoying are the ones OPs that ask AIBU, get loads of input and advice but the more people tell them they are BU, the more they dig their heels in, posting incessantly. Theres one running at the moment. I have engaged but am now fairly convinced they’re a troll.

Is this your explanation for why you sometimes start (made up?) threads that you have no intention of posting on more than once?
Or are you just saying you find it amusing when someone else does it?

Thank you, I'm not on the app which is why it wasn't making sense to me!

The manipulators annoy me too. The ones who post with an agenda to correct posters or just bored keyboard warriors and then refer to "you lot" or "your fan club", rather than reflect on the other points being made.
Opinions are free to give but if they step outside of reality or safety then other posters will point this out.

This is where the AI companies get their training data for their therapy and advice bots. Only joking 😁 or not

The goady ones are obvious and I sometimes post if it’s at least vaguely interesting. I am most annoyed by the ones asking for advice, the question needs clarification, they never return. I mean, what’s the point?

Or to save time bookmark the last post of the OP and you can see straight way if there's a see next when you return to the thread

The non returners are getting easy to spot, they ask a random question out of context and you know they aren't coming back

Something like what's your favourite episode of The Bill

I think I read that they are possibly gathering information for the LLMs

Absolutely @MrsTerryPratchett my rule too! First thing I do is hit "OP all posts" and if it's a Zero, I'm outa there. Especially if the OP topic is something that seems deliberately goady or controversial, deliberately posted for the clicks.

i just CBA, and definitely not in this heat.

Attention-seeking I expect.

Agree but as alot of replies especially in AIBU can be quite rude and nasty I’m guessing most people are put off returning

My theory is that there is a group of people somewhere (perhaps on a forum) who run a competition.
The winner is the person who gets the highest number of replies on a thread that they start with one post and never return.

Damn I never thought of that, not only do I work for mum's net for free I also work for large language models for free 🤬🤬🤬

You mean as in 'Goady Bollocks and the Three Teddies'?!

I agree, it's like someone just walked into a room, dropped a stink bomb, then left the room locking everyone in , then watched everyone turn on eachother 🤭.

At first I was shocked at the level of commitment of the posters continuing to respond with long posts for 10/20 pages, then I remembered that lots of people don't bother to read the OP updates anyway, so no one is hurt. Utter madness.

@MrsTerryPratchett I know what you mean and I do agree but I also reserve a degree of rage for posters who just put "any update OP?" particularly when it's about something awful like a suspected affair or seriously unwell child.

The may as well just put next installment for my personal entertainment please.

That reminds me of the old spoof Japanese gameshow Banzai.

One of the regular characters was Lady One Question. She would begin an interview with a celebrity with just one very basic question and then just stand there in silence, nodding her head and staring at them, ever after until the celeb got bored and left.

Hey... are WE the celebs now?!

Oh yes. If a thread is more than about 100 posts I just read the ops posts to get up to speed.

Good point as well. That’s awful.

This is absolutely hilarious and I kind of hope it's true 🤭.

Especially if it's an unrealistic amount of time passed that OP would not reasonably respond in.

Absolute class example pustulating along in AIBU
20 pages of trans froth and the op long gone
Kind of proves MNHQ aren't bothered by this goady bullshit
all about the click innit

Doesn't really bother me, but many of the threads I follow aren't asking for advice. Sometimes when it's asking for suggestions for recipes or holiday sightseeing then OP could periodically say 'thank you'.

There have been a few threads where OP says something fairly innocuous and gets horrible responses. In those cases it's probably better for OP to walk away/ignore/not post replies.

I’ve started a thread in Site Stuff for anyone who’s interested.