Personally, I'm intolerant of things that waste my time.
That is strong feeling for me as well. I can get pretty cranky, and it can spill over where it isn't warranted. So yeah, this is pretty important to keep in mind.
I've stopped replying to people's questions. Most people don't want to understand, they just want answers. It's not worth my time to reply to them.
Yeah, there's a lot of that here. But it seems to come in waves, some people seem to care, some play along to a point, stuff like that.
Recently I've stopped replying to the "General" non-chemistry posts too. I don't really get anything from replying, and people generally aren't going to change their opinion based on what I post. No change to anything, anywhere --> Not worth my time.
That's kind of unavoidable. People arrive with a bias, and really look for reaffirmation, or ask a question they don't even understand, and have to follow up, sometimes losing the point. That's sort of typical forum dynamics, the limitations of the media.
Except the last few days, when people started confronting Alpha-Omega about her frequent posting. I admit, I've been annoyed by her posts. It's a waste of my time to filter through the "Unread posts" just to not waste even more of my time by reading one of her posts. I have wasted too much time actually reading some her posts to let it happen again (Back in the day, when I assumed she might contribute something of value). BUT, the same goes for almost all posts on any forum.
I actually brought that up at the very first post. If you can become annoyed at job postings, are you really ready for "gimmie gimmie" posts or, "prove my religion wrong", or "all Amerikans scientists suck, look at Dubya." You'll have to take a step back, chuckle, and then dive in where you feel the urge.
Thus, The only way to prevent wasting any time, in any way, is to stop coming to Chemicalforums.
Thats why, when you read this, I'm a "Guest".
Good luck to Mitch, the other moderators, and everyone else.
I hope you learned something from my post. I could have just stopped coming, but I feel like I can teach people something by explaining why I'm doing it. Don't waste your time on something that doesn't benefit you at all. Think about it and have fun
Well, keep on stopping by, these things do tend to come in waves. Everyone has an internal bias, in everything they say, try and see that, and look for what's happening that will call you back.
FWIW, I do believe I get something out of it, if someone seems to learn something, and says so, then comes back and helps someone else, that's a pretty big rush. Also, I have questions too, but I don't want to be a "gimmie gimmie" person, so I do feel obligated to help. If nothing else, I can improve the board, by gently asking for more info, before someone just flames the noob, and they run off in a huff.