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Patterns as the above user said. If this person has a history of posting the same kinda of comments or starting the same kinda of threads, particular if they have to do with certain issues, it lets me know what their preoccupation is and I get an insight into their psychological state as well. Some posts are simply attention seeking ones. Knowing the users history prevents me from feeding into it.
There seem to be too many hostile posters who try to make snap judgements of one's psychological state around here. If they're not actual experts in the field of mental health, they need to keep those judgements to themselves since they hold all the weight of a helium balloon. And if they are mental health professionals, they need to save it for work. And if they are mental health professionals AND they're at work, then they suck because they don't have any clients if they have time to be on here during the workday.
There are a lot of judgmental, clueless, and overall ignorant posters around here. That's what the ignore list is for. The only time I know a poster's past history is when I remember their past posts and it is glaringly obvious that they have some kind of problem but I don't bring it up unless it truly is relevant, not to attack them with it. There are a lot of posters that like to do that sort of thing but for me it's a waste of time.
OP, you can make your profile "friends only" so outsiders can't see your past posts/threads except moderators.
Okay, let me correct myself by saying that simply reading over someone's posting history is one thing (I admit I've done this a few times, usually when it's someone whose viewpoints I agree with so much that they're practically taking the words outta my mouth, so I might go look to see if they have some other interesting stuff to say elsewhere - if and only if I have the time).
What I am against are those who not only look up someone's old posts, but who then put up that info, or their interpretatinon/misinterpretation of it, in a later post to discredit them and to distract from the topic at hand.
I could swear that I made my profile viewable to friends only as well, but somehow an earlier thread's post was used to try to discredit me. Maybe it was because that earlier thread was fairly recent?
Yes. In case you haven't noticed, a lot of people here sit on City-data reading and posting ALL DAY LONG. It says more about them than you. THEY HAVE NO LIFE. Feel sorry for them.
I bounce around forums all over the net on any subject you could possibly think of when I have a minute. There are a few things common to every forum and I was just thinking about this one behavior. There are always users who seem to look for another user's previous threads/replies before addressing the current one, often even referencing the other ones to make a point or shape their (or another's) opinion of the current one.
For those of you who do that, why?
When I'm on a forum and reading a thread, I don't really pay attention to the users, just what they're saying in that thread and also to make sure if I'm replying to them that it's the right person. Beyond that, the thread is like Vegas. What happens there stays there. I don't even remember the people in it when I jump to another one because their identity doesn't seem as important to me as what they're saying.
I've never felt compelled to go look through a users posting history with the exception of twice. Once was because I had a stalker who kept following me from thread to thread and I went to their history to snapshot it to prove it. Another was when someone specifically said to refer to their other posts about the subject so I went to go look for them and then stopped because I lose interest quickly lol.
Beyond that, I don't feel like I need to know what you've said in the past (or even to know anything about you) to discuss the topic at hand presently. An idea is an idea. Even if the subject is you, I still don't feel like I need to go hunting for a back story outside of the thread we're in now. You'll give it to me if you want.
So it always strikes me as odd when someone say starts a thread titled, "Is it amoral to kill insects?" and another user hops in and says something like, "Judging from some of your other posts, I'd say you don't care about morality *links to other posts*" or "I don't get why you're asking about this when your other posts say that you live somewhere there aren't any insects!"
Even if someone is lying about something or contradicted something they said before, why does it really matter if the topic isn't about them anyway but about a concept? It's like starting a thread about interesting things in the Bible and someone pointing out that you mentioned being agnostic in another thread. And?
Do you do it to discredit the person's thread or thoughts, to force their thread to be considered only in a particular context, just to be thorough, or maybe you just happen to remember the user saying something related and felt it would be useful to bring it up? I don't feel any which way about it, I just think it's an interesting habit that kind of relates to people generally not separating thoughts from the people who have them so I was curious about the motivation behind it.
I used to do that when I had no life and spent 10 + hours a day online. I guess I thought it made me seem intelligent or savy. Now it just seems creepy and like I had no life and took online bs too seriously... which I did.
OP, you can make your profile "friends only" so outsiders can't see your past posts/threads except moderators.
Not quite accurate. We can set our personal profile to be viewed by friends only, and we can elect to receive direct messages from friends only, but all other posters can always click on "find all posts by..." and read all our previous posts.
This makes sense if you think about it. This is a public internet forum. When we post something, others can read it. So it is contradictory to want to hide what we have posted on the open forum from scrutiny by others - that's what direct messages are for.
Not quite accurate. We can set our personal profile to be viewed by friends only, and we can elect to receive direct messages from friends only, but all other posters can always click on "find all posts by..." and read all our previous posts.
This makes sense if you think about it. This is a public internet forum. When we post something, others can read it. So it is contradictory to want to hide what we have posted on the open forum from scrutiny by others - that's what direct messages are for.
Yes. In case you haven't noticed, a lot of people here sit on City-data reading and posting ALL DAY LONG. It says more about them than you. THEY HAVE NO LIFE. Feel sorry for them.
maybe not- I do this at work- for entertainment on slow days. besides I can multitask
I tend to look at another's past posting history if their number of postings and reputation counts are way out of balance.
My interests are so diverse, I can hop on just about any forum and find an interesting thread. There may lie the dangers of reading my posting history.
If they see I've been posting repeatedly on Astrology threads (been studying it for 30 years) that may quickly write me off as a kook, and read no further!
I bounce around forums all over the net on any subject you could possibly think of when I have a minute. There are a few things common to every forum and I was just thinking about this one behavior. There are always users who seem to look for another user's previous threads/replies before addressing the current one, often even referencing the other ones to make a point or shape their (or another's) opinion of the current one.
For those of you who do that, why?
When I'm on a forum and reading a thread, I don't really pay attention to the users, just what they're saying in that thread and also to make sure if I'm replying to them that it's the right person. Beyond that, the thread is like Vegas. What happens there stays there. I don't even remember the people in it when I jump to another one because their identity doesn't seem as important to me as what they're saying.
I've never felt compelled to go look through a users posting history with the exception of twice. Once was because I had a stalker who kept following me from thread to thread and I went to their history to snapshot it to prove it. Another was when someone specifically said to refer to their other posts about the subject so I went to go look for them and then stopped because I lose interest quickly lol.
Beyond that, I don't feel like I need to know what you've said in the past (or even to know anything about you) to discuss the topic at hand presently. An idea is an idea. Even if the subject is you, I still don't feel like I need to go hunting for a back story outside of the thread we're in now. You'll give it to me if you want.
So it always strikes me as odd when someone say starts a thread titled, "Is it amoral to kill insects?" and another user hops in and says something like, "Judging from some of your other posts, I'd say you don't care about morality *links to other posts*" or "I don't get why you're asking about this when your other posts say that you live somewhere there aren't any insects!"
Even if someone is lying about something or contradicted something they said before, why does it really matter if the topic isn't about them anyway but about a concept? It's like starting a thread about interesting things in the Bible and someone pointing out that you mentioned being agnostic in another thread. And?
Do you do it to discredit the person's thread or thoughts, to force their thread to be considered only in a particular context, just to be thorough, or maybe you just happen to remember the user saying something related and felt it would be useful to bring it up? I don't feel any which way about it, I just think it's an interesting habit that kind of relates to people generally not separating thoughts from the people who have them so I was curious about the motivation behind it.
I agree with you. I never check out previous posts and I find that the people who do tend to have controlling and ridged personalities. They are also a little bit sadistic and like the element of surprise.
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