Yesterday I put up a WTB post on the UIE forum. In roughly 24hrs there have been 80+ views, but no PM’s regarding what I’m looking for. Now this doesn’t surprise me as Delrin John Gallagher flutes aren’t super numerous in the wild, and I imagine most owners tend to hang onto them. But it did get me thinking, because I’ve seen this a bunch of times before: Why do people who don’t even own the particular flute being requested, go ahead and read the WTB posts?

If it sounds like I’m bothered, that’s not the case, just curious. Feel free to share your reasons if you care to. I’m less interested in hearing people speculate on why they believe others read the WTB’s, I can speculate just fine on my own, thanks

I just read most, but not all, things I see here. Probably because I'm interested/curious, follow through 'active topics' rather than specific forums and rarely find too much to keep up with if I want to. Perhaps I also learn more about the participants through doing so, which then helps inform my contributions to discussions with them about other things.

Might add that I understand my own posts in turn are likely to get views from people only peripherally interested in them!

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And we in dreams behold the Hebrides.

Why I teach... and where
Master of nine?

For me, Chiff and Fipple is my social media. I check the forums excessively, and when I read everything new in one subforum, I start reading other subforums. I have a problem.

Peter, well I’m glad you did read my post, because you helped me learn something about our PM system

Aaron, I can relate: In the early days of C&F it was my social media as well, and I had the same problem, lol.

We already determined that.

But seriously, C&F is pretty much the extent of my social media, too, unless you count email and texting. I decline to ponder it.

I don't normally read WTB topics myself, so I find Loren's question interesting.

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"Time is the wisest counselor of all." - Pericles

"I remain not entirely convinced of it." - Nano

I have been interested in getting one myself and wanted to see who the other weirdo was

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What we do in life, echoes in eternity.

You could see that without reading it!

Perhaps we just feel we might be missing something when we don't? But, seriously, I think curiosity can bring a better feel for what's out there, how people rate things, why they might want them (in Loren's case I have a good idea why Delrin) and what makes them tick...

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And we in dreams behold the Hebrides.

Why I teach... and where
Master of nine?

In my case, it's merely a matter of getting a post to show up as read. Which raises a question: if I instead mark forums as read, does that count as viewing the posts anyway?

Do you mean, does that numerically raise the count? It never occurred to me to check, but off the top of my head, I'm pretty sure it doesn't.

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"Time is the wisest counselor of all." - Pericles

"I remain not entirely convinced of it." - Nano

Yes. For instance, if a post has 100 views, and I use the "mark forums read" link without actually reading the post, does it then show as having 101 views?

God, I hope not. That would mean every topic's read count goes up. No, I'm pretty sure it doesn't, because with the potential for numerous members doing the same thing, that would make a wildly inaccurate statistic. I'm confident that clicking on a thread is the only way the read count rises. After some initial confusion myself, I've always interpreted "Mark forums/topics read" to mean, "Mark forums/topics as read"; IOW, "unmark the unread topics". It is clumsy English, isn't it.

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"Time is the wisest counselor of all." - Pericles

"I remain not entirely convinced of it." - Nano

That's what I would think, also. Otherwise, as you said, the statistics would be inaccurate that they were simultaneously meaningless and useless.

I just ran out of internet.. And now I am reading a "why do you read WTB posts" post.

Ketil

I probably deserve that