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dxs's avatar

Should there be a rule or at least understanding that something should not be said twice in a thread?

Asked by dxs (15160points) May 9th, 2011
36 responses
“Great Question” (7points)

What I am talking about is when someone answers, then another answers with the same thing. I am referring to general questions, not opinion/social questions. It has happened to me a few times and what has also happened in those situations to augment the situation is that people give credit for the person who posted after me! I think that people should read the previous posts before posting their own, or at least control-f their answer so they get a fastpass to whether or not what they want to say has already been said. Do you think that this is just? Is there a rule already? Has it ever happened to you? I was just wondering…

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Answers

tinyfaery's avatar

Just let it go/get over it. There is no rule and people will continue to do it.

JilltheTooth's avatar

I don’t think so, even though my obvious brilliance has been oft ignored in favor of the mediocrity of a later poster who simply paraphrases my fabulous insights for their own nefarious selfish lurve gratification. <sigh>

HungryGuy's avatar

Just let it go/get over it. There is no rule and people will continue to do it.

dxs's avatar

@HungryGuy waayy to predictable…I won my own bet!

dxs (15160points)“Great Answer” (3points)
Kayak8's avatar

What @JilltheTooth said . . .

Seaofclouds's avatar

Some people respond when they don’t have enough time to read all the other answers, but they want to respond sooner rather than later, so they just add their answer without knowing what else has been said. Some people read all the answers, agree with what’s been said, and have more to add or just want to add their answer/opinion to the collective without always “giving credit” to others that said the same thing. I don’t think there should be a rule against it. To me, multiple answers that say the same thing seem to give that response a little bit more of a standing sometimes. For example, if one persons tells you to go to the doctor when you ask a medical question, you might blow it off, but if 20 people say it, you might just do it.

marinelife's avatar

Don’t worry about it. You can’t control how people answer or a question or whether they read all of the previous posts.

everephebe's avatar

This post was plagiarised:

“Just let it go/get over it. There is no rule and people will continue to do it.

I don’t think so, even though my obvious brilliance has been oft ignored in favor of the mediocrity of a later poster who simply paraphrases my fabulous insights for their own nefarious selfish lurve gratification. <sigh>

Just let it go/get over it. There is no rule and people will continue to do it.

@HungryGuy waayy to predictable…I won my own bet!

What @JilltheTooth said . . .

Some people respond when they don’t have enough time to read all the other answers, but they want to respond sooner rather than later, so they just add their answer without knowing what else has been said. Some people read all the answers, agree with what’s been said, and have more to add or just want to add their answer/opinion to the collective without always “giving credit” to others that said the same thing. I don’t think there should be a rule against it. To me, multiple answers that say the same thing seem to give that response a little bit more of a standing sometimes. For example, if one persons tells you to go to the doctor when you ask a medical question, you might blow it off, but if 20 people say it, you might just do it.

Don’t worry about it. You can’t control how people answer or a question or whether they read all of the previous posts.”

:p

WasCy's avatar

I was going to say what @JilltheTooth said, but she said it better, as usual, and first.

Pied_Pfeffer's avatar

I concur with @everephebe‘s offerings of an explanation as to why it happens. The only thing to add is by answering your question: Has it ever happened to you?

Yes, it has, and there is an example from today, but probably not in the way that you are thinking. A question was asked in the General section, and while I was crafting a response and looking for a supporting link, two other responses were posted before I finished mine, one being almost identical, including the same link. After posting, I edited it to give credit to the one who answered before I did, but still posted it because it included additional supporting details. Otherwise, I would have backed out of the post or worded it differently.

Even if a fellow Jelly has read through all of the previous posts, it is sometimes difficult to keep up with the responses that are being posted at the same time.

creative1's avatar

Sometime you are typing at the sametime as someone else and when you finally hit answer and they hit is they somethimes have a similar thing to say,

chyna's avatar

@JilltheTooth Once again, you have underestimated yourself.
Yes this has happened to me on occasion, but I’ve never thought it was on purpose so it didn’t bother me.

Mariah's avatar

When I ask a straightforward technical question, I feel more confident following the advice if many people have all told me to do the same thing. Then I know it’s probably right and there isn’t just one nutjob telling me to delete files from my registry or something.

You could, though, get the same effect of confidence by just one answer with a bunch of GAs, I suppose.

JilltheTooth's avatar

I’m going to bookmark this thread and refer back to it every time someone rudely usurps my answer. I feel totally vindicated!

yankeetooter's avatar

Sometimes I think of a really witty remark, and as I’m typing it, someone else starts typing. All of a sudden it becomes a race to finish typing first, because I’m convinced that person has come up with the same witty remark. So in this case, I am mirroring what @creative1 has to say, but she should get credit for the answer…

tinyfaery's avatar

Gah!

SABOTEUR's avatar

I agree.

What’s more, there should be a rule that no one posts after me.

Better still, jellies should confer with me prior to posting anything.

Come to think of it, I don’t recall giving you permission to ask a question!

YOUR LURVE HAS BEEN FORFEITED!

creative1's avatar

@yankeetooter no need I don’t look for credit I just enjoy answering and hope I can give some help if at all possible also if you look above my post I was typing at the same time as @Pied_Pfeffer and at the end of her post she says something similar.

I know when I see an answer I have given, given by someone else later I don’t take offense, I just figure either they didn’t see mine or they had something more to add or a better what to say it that the OP may get which is great in my book. I find this site pretty informative, I learn something new everyday I am here and I love learning new things. Alot of times I read posts I know nothing about in order to see what the answers are…. Lurve or No Lurve I have fun posting here and to me the Lurve is all good fun and nothing serious.

wundayatta's avatar

This happened to me once recently, where the OP acknowledged a post after mine that said the same thing as I did. The OP clearly hadn’t read the answers to her own question. So I pointed this out to her, probably with a “what am I? Chopped liver?” kind of thing. She apologized and presumably was suitably chagrined.

I only got annoyed because the OP hadn’t read my answer. Otherwise, I’m happy when people say what I say afterwards. It shows they recognize my superior wit and wisdom. ;-P

Then there’s the dilemma of when someone already said what I want to say. Can I put enough of a spin on it that it is new and justifiable? Me being me, I could find spin in a cement block. But I still try to give the OP their money’s worth. It does kill me then when I get more lurve than the person in front of me who said it.

Fluther is quirky that way. You never know how people will respond. Sometimes you recycle an old answer and it gets a better response the second time around. You can’t let this shit get to you if you want to be happy here. Repeat after me, “It’s not about the lurve. It’s not about the lurve.”

creative1's avatar

@wundayatta LOL “It’s not about the lurve. It’s not about the lurve.” too too funny!!!

wundayatta's avatar

Oops. Did I repeat myself? I guess I did. Oops.

janbb's avatar

I was going to answer but everything has already been said.

Pied_Pfeffer's avatar

@creative1 Thanks for the nod of recognition. It appears that we created a prime example to support our posts.

When it comes down to it, if I find myself getting worked up over the dynamics of Fluther, then it is a clear sign that I need to log off and either read world news reports or go to bed.

AmWiser's avatar

Sheese! I was gonna answer too but everything has already been said.
@Pied_Pfeffer I feel ya!

chyna's avatar

Psst @AmWiser, @janbb already said that.

AmWiser's avatar

@chyna yeah, but I added a word. XD

jonsblond's avatar

Once my husband answered a question several posts past my answer and his answer was very similar to mine, almost verbatim. Anyone who knows my husband knows he never reads the previous posts. I wish there had been a rule in place at the time. That man needs to learn a lesson.~

I do think it is a bit rude to not read previous posts, but whatcha gonna do?

YARNLADY's avatar

Of course not. Often a second, repeat answer is simply confirmation that the idea has occurred to more than one person. Some people don’t even bother to read the comments first. I did not read the above comments before I wrote this.

Buttonstc's avatar

I think that instituting a policy like that is both completely unnecessary and ridiculous.

How on earth can it be enforced fairly ? Bottom line: it can’t be enforced and shouldn’t be. The mods already have their hands full keeping spam at bay and upholding English standards.

rooeytoo's avatar

I just send the offender a PM that says, READ MY POST, I already said the same thing only better! And it is about the lurve, I need, crave, hunger for lurve.

Brian1946's avatar

Some people who have a desire to informally copyright their posts call “jinx” when they feel that they’ve been plagiarized. ;-)

Perhaps some of them would like a set up where they can flag an answer as a jinx, and then have a mod transfer all the GAs from the infringing quip to theirs. ;-P

This could in turn create a new status for answers receiving those transfers.
This new status could be labeled, “Fantastic Answer Received Transfer”. ;-)

SABOTEUR's avatar

(shaking head) I see a lot of people here would absolutely hate the e-cigarette forum I visit. It’s quite common for people there to duplicate questions and answers in multiple threads…repeatedly.

But I vaguely recall bringing up a similar issue when I migrated here from Answerbag. I think it has to do with asking questions that were identical or similar enough to a previous question that it was virtually the same thing. If I recall correctly, I was mildly chastised for having the audacity to enter this new environment suggesting change. Kept my mouth shut after that and learned to go with the flow.

(When in Rome…)

But that’s just an aside. I, like someone’s husband here, rarely read previous posts upon initially submitting an answer. The primary reason is…and I know this may sound arrogant…but I don’t particularly care what anyone else thinks.

This is my opinion. If my opinion is identical or similar to someone else’s opinion, so what? Besides, going back again to when I first got here, newbies, I recall the vets here explaining to us newbies…in excruciating detail…how LURVE was not a point system for “best answer”. It was a special way of acknowledging quality answers…though no one could quite explain what a “quality answer” was. In fact, Fluther prided itself on the quality of questions here and loathed comparison to that inferior Answerbag site. There was no tolerance for light-heartedness and frivolity. Fluther currently boasts such highbrow questions like

Why are men fascinated with boobs?

It’s funny looking back on the great “Flurher vs. Answerbag” debate back then. Those of us who decided to adapt stayed. Others who couldn’t tolerate the “intolerance and hypocrisy” went back to Answerbag or moved elsewhere.

Hindsight reveals it all a bunch of rancid horse manure.

SABOTEUR's avatar

I apologize for the typos above…I really do have to stop submitting answers via ipod Touch…makes me look more illiterate and incoherent than I actually am…!

janbb's avatar

Isn’t it time for someone to break out the pancakes and guacamole?

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