Itâs a valid argument of course, but short responses are more suited imho to live chatrooms, Twitter, things of that nature where you would never keep pace with any part of any conversation if everybody was tweeting a 300-word article. A forum isnât âliveâ, itâs like a game of postal chess. Users have time to digest whatâs been said and proffer a response or relevant missive which contributes positively and constructively to the discussion at hand or, at least, to the thread subject. These threads are going to be out there for a while, serving as reference tools not only for those of us here now but for the guy who joins up tomorrow,or in August, or in three yearsâ time.
If someone wants to answer with a âJeezâ,why not? Why not indeed. Conversely, if all one has to add is âJeezâ, do they really need to get that out there that badly? Some of the threads on here are fascinating. The Giallo thread for instance is pretty much a bible of the genre for newcomers, intermediate enthusiasts and hardcore fucking giallo-sciples. Not sure how tolerable it would be if every post worth reading was sprinkled here and there amongst a sea of âWhatevsâ, âLooooooool!â, âWin!â, et cetera. Nothing wrong with a singular grunt of approval/disapproval of course, but those are throwaway responses of no further value past their utterance. Great for live conversation and social networks, but largely unnecessary on a forum and outright redundant whenone looks back at an archived thread topic.
Some people on other forums,thatâs all they do. A word or two to declare their endorsement/rejection of this or that,without necessarily adding to the discussion. 3000 posts in 18 months yet despite more-or-less flooding the boards, you canât recall them actually having said a thing. You know?
Now Iâm not suggesting Sir Stanton wants to abandon his usual brand of curmudgeonly-yet-encyclopaedic insight and respond henceforth exclusively in the style of a Magic Eight Ball. Indeed, Stantonâs cache here is such that a word from him will likely be as well-received as it is impeccably timed. Same goes for any of the forty or so most frequent contributors, letâs be honest. But that shit spreads, like rising damp, ,ebola, or Simon Cowell.
If we want a quick off-the-cuff chinwag, canât we do that on Twitter or Facebook, or Grindr?
Merely IMO, of course.