" I mosttly just read discussions without commenting. blah blah: says a mylotter

I enter all the discussions I do regardless if they are a new comer and or veteran. If it interests me and or I can certainly apply some quality content I will enter it regardless of who it is and or if they will comment or not. I too learned early on that by responding to others discussions is/was a way to be remembered. Therefore, when I do start my few and far in between discussions I do get loads of responses. Anyways yes I do enjoy entering new comers discussions as I feel I have learned a great deal here and very much enjoy helping show the way to as many as I can.

Madam: It depends on the mood of all of us. somedays we feel like commenting on all discussions and on a few days only on a few discussions. It depends on some issues in the house or in the office. But I am concerned about one thing. viz. people do not decide on the discussions even after a lapse of weeks. Instead if we decide that it should be decided after 7 days or so then things may be more interesting. It is because I would have answered nearly 1100+ discussions and can u believe I have had only 15 best responses. It means people have not decided on quite a good number of issues.

I think newcomers deserve responses, even if they haven't read the guidelines and still ask questions. No one should be ridiculed for asking questions, nor should they be insulted/put down just because they don't read the rules. It's not fair to anyone.

Well, if all they do is read, then they really won't get paid, will they??? Then they'll probably go and tell everyone what a scam this site is..Well duh, they are not going to pay anyone for reading, that's stupid..

I don't think this is a reason to get upset with anyone, since the reality is that more than enough people participate on this website in order to generate discussion. Of course if everyone did do this then MyLot wouldn't be able to survive because there would be no discussions to even come and read. I think if the person has something to say then they can respond. It's better to have someone not respond to something if they don't have anything much to contribute, rather than contribute just for the sake of saying something. If someone isn't really dedicated and interested in a topic then forcing their self to respond probably won't generate much interesting responses. If someone really is interested in a topic then I think that is more of a motivator to contribute and it will more likely push them to respond. I understand what you're saying about this sending the wrong message to newbies, but at the same time I'm sure they can use their judgement and see how many other people actually do respond to discussions. I guess some people just aren't into responding, and I personally can respect that because no one should feel compelled to participate.

I just answered this, but I lost it, so I will respond again. I think I saw this discussion you are talking about.. I remember something about reading but not responding. What good is it to the poster if people read but don't respond? The OP can't earn anything if he/she cannot respond to a comment? This site could not survive if no one responded to discussions and only read them. We all want others to value what is on our minds. We are sharing parts of our lives with each other, and the least people could do is to give us all the time to read the discussions and then comment back... at least then we know who read what we had to say. I think all of us want to be valued, do we not?

I don't see that, but I have been deleting a few people who never respond to one of MY discussions because I've been so far behind... I even did a mass delete and am getting behind again already!

hi hatley. i feel a bit guilty reading this discussion. it's because i do this reading discussions from email and not commenting on them. and most of the time, i really do not read some. it's kinda opposite of what i was months ago and years back. i was so concentrated or should we say "serious enough" starting and responding and commenting. i am not so sure what caused me to change. but i am not saying goodbye or something. i am still here and will try to get back to that old track.

Right now I have just over 300 unanswered mylot discussions.....I pick and choose which ones I answer. If it is a topic I know about or am interested in I reply. otherwise, I don't. I have 299 or so other discussion to read and maybe reply to anyway.

Hi Hatley! Long time no see...I have just recently got back on MyLot. As far as discussions go, if I can add content, and it is something I know about I will respond. Of course, if I don't know anything about the subject, then I don't respond. When I do respond, I don't care if the person is a veteran or a newbie...a discussion is a discussion in my eyes. I know if people look at my number after my name they probably think I am fairly new here but in reality I have been on MyLot for a few years now. I do know when I am really busy with kid stuff or when I am working seasonally I don't manage to get on here at all, of if I do then I might be very selective and only respond to my MyLot "friends" but it is because of time issues not just to read discussion without commenting. I wonder why someone would just read the discussions. A discussion is not a discussion without feedback...right?

Oh I but I do at times Hatley...when the system or network is giving too much problem. Then I end up on dad's laptop, and I am not comfortable typing on that. Even my tasks, I manually write and make papa type them out.. but reading discussions at such time is fun. The laptop is terrible. I press one thing, and it types something else. I cant be that soft touch..lol

I as a Mylotter know the more I post the more others will post. (Well I thought that's how it was supposed to work until I read this discussion.) I do understand some people do not have the time to respond to all discussions as they are very busy but I say at least respond to a few every day if you can. I know I try to respond as much as I can, but sometimes I do not get to all of the discussions made every day. I sure try though. Maybe more and more people are busy, but I would still never post out right I just want to read but do not want to respond. That makes no sense and is in no way how Mylot is intended to work in my opinion.

Few people are having enthusiasm to make the discussion very interesting. They can give very quick reply. They also want a nice comment from us. That time we can give our level best. But, it is so rare. Dedication is must to do this.

Hi Hatley:In all fairness to the person who posted the discussion you mention here,i don't think he/she merely reads the discussions and NEVER responds to any.I can't see why anyone would come here just for that purpose. There have been times when i may be interested in a topic but don't feel i can contribute much,or someone has already given a similar comment to one i might have given and so,i will just read the responses without leaving a comment,but, i certainly don't do this on a regular basis. Also, i really don't care if it's a newbie or veteran, if i'm interested in their topic and feel i can contribute to the discussion i will certainly leave my comment and think most of us do this as well.

Hi Hatley dear...I saw a discussion yesterday in the digest and I thought I could have a shot at answering and when I went to the discussion it was over 6 pages long and every single response was of the same opinion. Everyone used their own words to give the same response to the question the poster asked. How could I respond as well, when I had the same opinion as every one else and could not add anything further to the discussion? Isn't that why we are supposed to read what the other responders have said so we are not adding the same thing? That's what it says in the Guidelines and I understood that guideline to mean that we are not to repeat what others have replied. Other than that, I respond to discussions that are relevant to me and most discussions are not. I do not respond and make stuff up or to patronise the OP. I agree that the site would fall down if no-one responded to anything but that will never happen. Because we are all different, we come from different countries and cultures and age groups and so on, we cannot respond to all discussions from all the people (or even all our friends) all the time. That's how I see things anyway.

Of course, mylot would be worse and no one would get any answers to their questions. Even if the subject is a little difficult , it would best to just say that it is a bit hard or difficult to answer rather then making the one who responded, feel as if the other person did not care. True it is supposed to be fun here, but I never knew anyone who just stood like a clam when someone told them something - telemarketers being the exception.

A discussion is a give and take, a conversation. If someone is not willing to have a conversation with me, however brief, I quit responding to their "discussions". There are a couple of exceptions--one who can't access a computer often, another who is very busy but still engaged here, one who has mobility problems, etc...those I will respond to because I know they read and enjoy the responses and they also respond to my discussions at times. But those who just start a discussion then never reply to any of the comments I cross off my list. I still keep them as friends to see if they'll become more engaged but sadly, most of them do not. I really need to go through and cull those from my "friends" list.

It was that way when I first came here. People read the discussions they wanted and often did not leave a reply, just went on to the next one. There always will be people that read and say little or nothing at all. The only ones they truly hurt are themselves as they are missing a lot of fun by having an actual discussion

I totally agree with you; why waste your time if you are not going to respond to what you have chosen to read? I choose very carefully the discussion I read because I do want to be able to answer each one. You are also right about the fact,if everyone just read a discussion and never responded to them, myLot would probably not be around or would become very boring. I think newcomers should feel comfortable knowing that people will read what they have to say and send back a comment.

I do know that responding is important to this site, because our activity helps to keep the site running. However, I also read a lot and do not necessarily comment on everything that I read. I do think that I am active enough and comment enough that the time that I take to read, even when I do not respond, does not hurt anybody including myself nor do I feel that it is a waste of time. The only time that I do feel that it is a waste is when I find a ton of repeat topics that I don't want to respond to, and they are pushing the other topics to the "bottom of the pile" so to speak.