Why I deleted a comment thread this morning
By Boingboing
@boiboing (13153)
Northampton, England
May 28, 2016 8:23am CST
It's highly unlikely that anybody - except possibly the 4 or 5 people involved - would ever notice that a comment thread went missing this morning but I would like to take a moment to explain why I deleted my original comment and thereby wiped out a ridiculously long thread of responses.
I had left a comment on somebody else's post yesterday. I didn't write anything intended to provoke discussion but when I woke up this morning there were LOADS of alerts that people had responded to my comment. Interesting, you might think - but it wasn't.
Aside from the first response, the score or more that followed had absolutely nothing to do with what I'd said. There seemed to be quite a debate going on apparently about something that had been said somewhere else, perhaps on a different post entirely, and I have no idea what it was about.
Trouble is that every time somebody responded, I got an alert and I got no wiser about what was going on. Maybe I earned a tiny fraction of a cent for all this nonsense but I was truly irritated that people had chosen to have their own private discussion under my comment.
So I deleted my comment and took all the responses into oblivion with it. I was fed up with being sent alerts to look at these responses that had nothing to do with what I'd written so I got rid of them. If you did this at a dinner party - crashed a conversation and then ignored the first person to talk about something completely different - you'd not be surprised if people thought you were being rude. Same applies on line. Even if it's accidental.
If you don't like that, my response is easy - START YOUR OWN COMMENT THREAD and stop bouncing off all over the place on a comment that has nothing to do with what you're discussing.
15 people like this
14 responses
@ElizabethWallace (12074)
• United States
28 May 16
This wouldn't bother me at all. If a discussion goes off on a tangent, I think this is just a normal part of life. It happens all the time, and I don't think it is rude, but that's just my opinion.
3 people like this
@DaddyEvil (137460)
• United States
27 Jun 16
@ElizabethWallace Yes, it can happen and does happen a lot on this site.
As long as nothing is wrong (the participants aren't fighting in a real way), I either ignore the people doing that or occasionally, I jump in with a comment of my own to spur their conversation on.
@BoiBoing I could show you three instances where there are ongoing conversations that have persisted for the last six months in my box on different discussions. I think it is funny! (I didn't actually look to make sure of the six month figure, but I do believe it has been close to that amount of time.)
Edit for a typo.
2 people like this
@Letranknight2015 (52072)
• Philippines
28 May 16
Well, it's gone now. I'm sure most of these people who commented don't even remember it since they comment on other post as well.
2 people like this
@DaddyEvil (137460)
• United States
27 Jun 16
But some of us do remember where and to whom we've made comments, too. I like to check back on comments I've made, especially when I was trying to help a newbie. Such as on the thread being discussed here.
@infatuatedbby (94914)
• United States
29 May 16
I like adding to people's discussions or comments. And I have no problem if people add to mine. I think of it as you're comment is interesting and builds to people, so they want to build on to your discussion. I'd try to fit in if I don't I just let them be but that's just me.
1 person likes this
@Drosophila (16571)
• Ireland
28 May 16
oppsed I think I might be guilty of that.. will endeavour not to yada on in someone else's box.
1 person likes this
@Drosophila (16571)
• Ireland
28 May 16
@boiboing result! ya I tend to go on in some1 else's box.
and I have had other people going off on 1 in mine.
If fight broke out then ya I'd be nuking that comment for sure
1 person likes this
@pgntwo (22408)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
29 May 16
I think you've told me to go forth and multiply on occasion, not recently though.
A bit like herding cats, trying to prevent the myLot family squabbles from spilling into your notifications, at times.
I just sit back, if it's on my post or response, and watch the counter rumble inexorably upwards...
1 person likes this
@pgntwo (22408)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
29 May 16
@boiboing Meh! It was a ding-dong well down a response chain on one of your articles, I think you issued a "knock it off" ultimatum to all involved, not just to me ;)
Sometimes, a little knocking back into line is necessary, needed, appropriate.
1 person likes this
@allknowing (137553)
• India
27 Jun 16
There are a few here who revel in doing that. I just do not like it and I too have deleted my comment when that happened.
@boiboing (13153)
• Northampton, England
27 Jun 16
Thanks @allknowing - I really don't have the time to be following meandering threads.
1 person likes this
@hereandthere (45645)
• Philippines
28 May 16
i've done that, inserted myself in a response box, usually to ask a question.
i've also joined in other comment threads, but only if i know the people involved.
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (137460)
• United States
27 Jun 16
Yes, I noticed that section of the thread disappear. I had given the person advice she desperately needed. Since she had read my advice before you deleted the comment, it was not a problem.
You may not have realized it, but I had taken my pain meds right before I landed on that discussion. I don't realize when I accidentally switch from one response to another after taking my meds.
Yes, I do try to get off myLot when I notice I have lost control due to my meds.... Usually "loss of control" means I can't maneuver on myLot and I start saying I am lost. (I do ask, if you see me saying I am lost, please simply tell me to go home and go to bed. That normally fixes the problems I am experiencing. Thank you. I do appreciate any help you are willing to give me.)
@Bluedoll (16773)
• Canada
27 Jun 16
@DaddyEvil I'm commenting here to try to be helpful to you. You have nothing to be sorry about. Threads can and do go random on myLot. I won't worry about at all. How it all happens is not that important as long as it happens! This member is being over controlling in my opinion. Enjoy you time here.
1 person likes this
@Bluedoll (16773)
• Canada
27 Jun 16
@DaddyEvil Perhaps the solution is to be aware. Members can delete so if a thread gets to feel important or involved maybe it's better to take it somewhere else by starting a new topic. Our own pages give us more control.
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (137460)
• United States
27 Jun 16
@Bluedoll 
Thank you, Blue!
I had gone back the next day to check on that person I was trying to help and couldn't find my comment. I ask others on the thread if I had only dreamed making the comment... I was assured they had read it, as well.
The author came in and explained the comment was not in my box, but someone else's. None of us could remember whose response was missing.
I almost always do enjoy every minute I am on myLot! Especially when it means I run into an old friend!
@BoiBoing does have the right to her own opinions. Sometimes her opinion is a bit harsh, in my opinion, but what can you do? SMH! (shrug!)
Thank you, Blue!
I had gone back the next day to check on that person I was trying to help and couldn't find my comment. I ask others on the thread if I had only dreamed making the comment... I was assured they had read it, as well.
The author came in and explained the comment was not in my box, but someone else's. None of us could remember whose response was missing.
I almost always do enjoy every minute I am on myLot! Especially when it means I run into an old friend!
@BoiBoing does have the right to her own opinions. Sometimes her opinion is a bit harsh, in my opinion, but what can you do? SMH! (shrug!)
@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
29 May 16
lol that sort of thing doesnt bother me, but I tend to not do it myself. however I DO see it happen now and then, like a wildfire it expands past recogntion
1 person likes this
@Macarrosel (7498)
• Philippines
28 May 16
I have noticed that too in some of my posts but I just ignored them. You're right, maybe they have to make their own comment and in there they can do what they want to comment.
1 person likes this
@acelawrites (19272)
• Philippines
28 May 16
I am not too aware of that, but somehow I can be guilty of doing that(but rarely) if I find the response so interesting. Yes, there should be a separate discussion post for that so they can talk freely about what they want to discuss.
1 person likes this
@teamfreak16 (43418)
• Denver, Colorado
28 May 16
The problem is that it's never going to stop.
1 person likes this
