[live2ski66]

First and foremost, please don't take this as a criticism. I am describing a behavior I've seen which, in my humble opinion, is not the best for the greater good.

Recently I've seen a few posts that begin with the statement on the title bar, Often a comparison is made between number of answers and number of views. Of course these are going to be skewed. SunriseSunset (one of the poobahs- correct me if I'm wrong) said that the viewed numbers include views from people not logged into the forum. If you are not logged in, you can't post an answer. Another reason someone might chose not to post is because the can't relate or have nothing to add. There are people who will post to give a hug. That is wonderful, we all need hugs. I make an effort to answer posts from people who have 0 or 1 answer. I don't want them to feel left out, so I try (my warm fuzzies). However there are times when I'm out of my depth and can't provide more than some words of support. I believe in this environment we should be thrilled to get more than three useful, on target answers. I don't see this as a numbers game. I see this as an environment in which we try to support out peers, learn a bit more about our diseases so that we can relate to even more members and, at least for me, get my warm fuzzies because I was able to put even a half a smile on someone's face.
Thanks for letting me express my feelings.

[elevatedsoul]

i completely agree and feel the same way

just because some of our threads go on with 0 replies doesn't mean that they are singled out and ignored, its hard to reply sometimes - we all here are going through difficulties

[ExistingInChanges]

I think that many times people feel left out and ignored in real life and they come here for someone to talk to and if they feel ignored here as well, then they feel lost and alone. Depression itself makes you feel isolation.
I do see your point and appreciate you taking time out of your day to post a helpful post about reasons why people may not respond to a post. That might help people understand other people's motives and to know that people aren't deliberately setting out to hurt them.

[Fuzzybear]

[(JD)]

Yep.

I had hoped when DocJohn gave us the hugs and thanks option that we'd have more responses that what used to be 10% of views were replies on an active thread. (Since the site has grown, IDK what the % might be to cause it to be a good, active thread--but it's always been only about 1 in 10 who view it leave any message.)

But also, with so many newbies each week, they may not have "posting etiquette" down yet???? Maybe they don't know how to use the smilies (and indeed many of them don't work for me any more, since the upgrade).

For me now, if 3 or 4 people say or do something (hug, thanks, post) then I have to be okay with that... because I know what the other has said is true, many people here are hurting also, and many just don't know what to say.

[gayleggg]

I, too, look for posts that don't have many responses and try to find something to say even if it's just ,because I can't relate. Just anything to let them know they have been heard.

[sabby]

It's difficult to know where folks are coming from especially when they first join PC. There is a period for some folks of feeling out of their element and not understanding how the forums work. This is completely normal for folks to go through.

The thread you are talking about is one of those situations where the member is new, unfamiliar with the working of PC and feeling anxious. I think a lot of us can relate to those feelings. Sometimes when we are in that realm of emotions, we may not post in the most proper of ways to get our point across or to ask for support. The team believes that thread was a very good learning experience, not only for the poster but for other members as well. This is why the thread was not removed and I posted on it to try to explain how things work here.

You are right, we probably do no good to ourselves when comparing the number of views to the number of responses. But, until someone understands why those numbers are so skewed, it can "feel" hurtful. It's a misunderstanding is all and once they understand that part, they can work on feeling better about it.

The team and community are thankful for your positve, supportive posting on the forums. That's exactly how PC is supposed to work. We appreciate all the effort ya'll put into supporting others. At this time though, I will close this thread to keep it on a positive note.

Respectfully,
sabby