Thread Abandonment Stats

[leonard]

Pure curiosity question - are there any site stats that might track threads started by a user - where that user never responds to the thread?

Just noticing a lot of questions in several forums where people ask questions but never return to comments, clarify, etc. Sure they may have their answer and moved on. However, I suspect many are asking a question, people are taking the time to answer it, but the OP isn't actually coming back to get the answer.

My guess is we have some repeat offenders on this point that are getting invested in answers that are never used.

Leonard

[MathWizard]

How would you know if the OP came back saw the answer and never posted thank you
to sign off on the question?

In an internet forum, not everyone observes the niceties we were all taught in grade school.
Some people even view them as a wast of bandwidth, and so have Thanks in advance at the end
of their post.

[leonard]

How would you know if the OP came back saw the answer and never posted thank you
to sign off on the question?

In an internet forum, not everyone observes the niceties we were all taught in grade school.
Some people even view them as a wast of bandwidth, and so have Thanks in advance at the end
of their post.

This may happen some of the time.

However, usually the questions are in depth enough that some back and forth are definitely required and some clarification questions. I would argue most of the questions require at least one back and forth. It is rare that these questions are yes or no clear cut.

[therub]

My guess is we have some repeat offenders on this point that are getting invested in answers that are never used.

To note - even if the original poster disappears, the answer may help hundreds if not thousands of other internet users who land here from search engines looking for answers. That is, if one person asks the question here - they're likely representing thousands.

It helps to keep this in mind when crafting answers so that they are useful generally as well as specifically to any individual user. After all, most of us are here to learn from one another.

[MathWizard]

How would you know if the OP came back saw the answer and never posted thank you
to sign off on the question?

In an internet forum, not everyone observes the niceties we were all taught in grade school.
Some people even view them as a wast of bandwidth, and so have Thanks in advance at the end
of their post.

This may happen some of the time.

However, usually the questions are in depth enough that some back and forth are definitely required and some clarification questions. I would argue most of the questions require at least one back and forth. It is rare that these questions are yes or no clear cut.

I agree and it is frustrating when the OP is asked a question and never responds.
I guess that is what you were asking.

By the way:
Thanks for not abandoning the thread.

[happymob]

Yes, it is good (n)etiquette to acknowledge the good (or bad) advice or information you received. Nothing wrong with stroking the ego of the givers of good advice or information (and it's not just stroking their ego - it helps them tune their message for future, similar posts). And no, I have not always done so myself. Bad happymob!