a little rant about subject lines

[realFedUp]

I'm a control freak, if any of you hasn't noticed....

so my rant is that every subject line, even in GD
and the Lounge has the topic of the discussion
actually in the subject line...
not
"have you seen this"
"omigod"
"advice"
"eeks"
"I need help"

I won't read your threads. I promise.

thanks.

[GAspnes]

1. agree

don't read this response.

[Liberal Veteran]

2. Eeks! Omigod! Have you seen this??? I need help and advice!

LOL.

[realFedUp]

3. lol

.

[LuLu550]

15. LOL

Sorry, I couldn't resist :evilgrin:

[petersjo]

4. I agree

Quite irritating. The other thing I won't read is when there is ONLY a link provided--no text. If there isn't at least a short paragraph (two or three lines minimum) and a short clip taken directly from the link to SHOW me that it is really of interest, I don't even bother clicking on the link.

[meegbear]

6. THAT really pisses me off ...

I avoid 'em too.

[Booberdawg]

7. That's a pet peeve of mine too

but I'm anal retentive. Just seems like a common courtesy to me.

[goobergunch]

18. That bugs me, especially in LBN.

IMHO the LBN rules should be amended to state:

8. Please post at least two sentences from the news story.

[BurtWorm]

5. You're just DYING to find out what's in "Tell me," aren't you?

[AquariDem]

19. That's the thing

I've used "Check this out!" a few times as a teaser. It never seems to result in any more replies.

[BurtWorm]

21. "Check this out!" is probably a little too close to a porn spam title

RealFedUp does have a point. Tell me works because it's actually a pretty accurate description of what's inside. Maybe Tell Me 10 Things would have been more accurate.

[Darth_Kitten]

8. Gratuitous Kitten threads???

Are those okay? :cry: :hug:

[realFedUp]

13. lol, I usually skip the cat threads

although I am the guardian of a very controlling cat also.

[SoCalDem]

20. You hate my precious babies?? How Dare you ????

I admit that sometimes I do not click the pet threads if it's apparent that something bad has happened:(. I am a softie for my furry pals..

[GoddessOfGuinness]

16. That is toooooooo cute!

What a li'l devil!

[SOteric]

9. I suspect the high post counts of those theads

really annoys you, as well.

The world in general and DU in specific, might be a nicer place if everyone spelt correctly, could articulate their thoughts in a grammatically cohesive fashion and posted genuine topics in their subject lines.

In the great scheme of things, however, one has to pick one's battles. We've much bigger battles to wage on DU. I'd be very happy to read the lame spelling attempts, whimsical grammar and coy subject lines of posters, - if in trade they could learn to post on certain topics respectfully.

Truthfully, I've done it myself. I'll do it again. And I'm not much wound up about it.

[Boudica]

10. I agree with realFedUp about subject lines

Especially about article with just a link. I hate clicking on a link and finding I read the story already. Now I usually ignore threads if the subject line is nondecriptive.

[Liberal Veteran]

11. Seriously....I agree.

Since I am basically running out the clock here at work for 4 more weeks, I don't want to click on anything I am not absolutely sure of as far as links.

[damnraddem]

12. Your advice

could help.

[SiouxJ]

14. I'm always saying this!

I also hate it in replies when the subject asks a direct question, like "what is your favorite . . .?" Put the answer in the subject line, or at least part of it, so we'll know if we're interested in what you have to say. I'm sure I miss a lot of things I'd otherwise be interested in because of this. I don't click on every single reply on a long thread unless I see something in the reply line that interests me. There are a few exceptions, like when someone asks you to list something, but in general I'm skimming down and I'm sure this is true for a lot of people. You'll get a lot more responses if you give us a hint as to what you're talking about in the subject line. Try it! You'll see.

[goobergunch]

17. I concur.

Remember in the GD temp rules about having to have a descriptive subject line? THAT was a good idea IHMO.

Another thing that I hate in replies is subject lines that don't warn you of no text, especially in long threads. It's annoying to click on a reply and see either no text at all or EOM. Please put (n/t) or a variant thereof in your subject line if there is no text.

[Wonk]

22. kick