A simple question, why do so many posters who post threads, duck out [of] the discussions they start? Occassionally, or often, I find one posting or two and no more after that Do they lose interest?
You're not really expecting a
single all-encompassing answer, right? But maybe I can provide some useful examples.
Matthew starts a lot of threads and leaves them orphans, but I think he does that to keep the forum interesting.
· For starters, are you--Cassini--consciously exempting all those
original postings that consist of a
single article whose, ummm,
most original version appeared on some other Web-site? It's possible--if not likely--that in such cases, they're more-or-less passively notifying the CathInfo readership of news or other information that several readers might consider worth reading. That's what I recall seeing Matthew do that others might describe as "
orphans".
· If I were to put Matthew's & Mater D.'s finances at risk by copying & posting
in full a
copyrighted article & photo[†], e.g., on discovery of an interesting Catholic or Christian structure or archæological site
overseas, it's highly unlikely that I'd have anything
substantive to add in a follow-up posting. I'd love to indulge in the travel that'd be necessary to report to C.I. from such an overseas site, but my budget wouldn't allow it. I disagree that my absence from the topic after my
o.p. should be considered "
duck[ing] out".
· There are times when it might be desirable to provide an unambiguous, i.e.,
well-focused, hook for gathering information over an unlimited stretch of time. For example, while composing a "health & nutrition" posting, I wanted to link to the best CathInfo discussion about a notorious-but-widespread carbohydrate. A CathInfo-wide search did find 1 topic, except that its
o.p. contained obvious
fundamental errors (i.e., neither obscure nor subtle). So I might yet create a new
o.p. for it, and see what useful information can be added by other C.I. members. There's no rush. If that be "
duck[ing] out", then let us make the
most of it.
But more often their question or statement opens up into an interesting discussion or 'argument'. In other words posters should engage in their own thread if the question or interest in the subject they posted was genuine. Just as I am doing here.
· "
posters should engage in
their own thread"?
Really now:
"should engage!?" What's your moral or philosophical basis for asserting such an
obligation? I'm sure as
Hades not getting
paid for submitting any postings to C.I.--nor anywhere else [‡].
-------
Note †: I infer that Matthew & Mater D. are
far less concerned about the various financial & legal
risks than I am.
Note ‡: For that matter, it's well worth keeping in mind that Matthew & Mater D. are
not getting paid for operating
CathInfo.