Do you read Every Mudcat Thread?

Subject: Do you read Every Mudcat Thread?
From: RTim
Date: 26 May 21 - 11:14 AM

As I was browsing through Mudcat again today - and I idly wondered why I don't read all the threads on Mudcat (I seldom read "below the line").....and at the same time I wondered what other users do, and if you don't read all of them, how do you choose?

I only dip into things that I "think" I might be interested in, and then take it from there. There are some threads I know I am not interested in.....but I may be wrong!

All in Fun - What do you think....?

Tim Radford

Subject: RE: Do you read Every Mudcat Thread?
From: leeneia
Date: 26 May 21 - 11:49 AM

I'll click on a thread if I think:

    it might give me a fine new song or tune to learn.
    if I think I can help somebody out
    if I might learn something interesting about a song's origins

I don't click on:
    parodies
    obits for people I've never heard of
    festivals hundreds of miles away
    threads we have seen over and over and over
    threads coyly labelled "bawdy"

Subject: RE: Do you read Every Mudcat Thread?
From: Gordon Jackson
Date: 26 May 21 - 11:59 AM

I'm pretty much with leeneia on this but with a significant addition: unless I'm really, REALLY interested in the topic (usually a song)(usually traditional)I won't usually read it if it has more than about 50 - and certainly more than 100 - posts. As I never contribute to a topic I haven't read in it's entirety, I don't post anything to a long thread, even if I think I have something moderately interesting to say.

Subject: RE: Do you read Every Mudcat Thread?
From: The Man from UNCOOL
Date: 26 May 21 - 12:20 PM

Longer ones generally have the most barney between just a few individuals, which are usually repetitive as well as navel-gazing. I wish there were a private channel for slagging off individuals — tho' ideally it wouldn't happen at all, you little toe-rag ;-)   That way, those interested in info about the subject would be able to get to it, without distraction.
And, surely, there are just TOO many threads, even discounting the Bulletin Board!

Subject: RE: Do you read Every Mudcat Thread?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 26 May 21 - 12:22 PM

Sometimes I scan through the thread titles quite regularly but, these days, lose interest when a poem, closely linked to a thread (such as the current one on trains) is deleted - in days gone by/with previous moderators, that definitely did NOT happen.

And I make plenty of posts without any link to my poetry site, so it is certainly NOT an excessive practice on my part.

Subject: RE: Do you read Every Mudcat Thread?
From: Black belt caterpillar wrestler
Date: 26 May 21 - 12:28 PM

No, but I read this one obviously.

It depends on the subject, whether it is of transient interest and sometimes the number of replies. If I open a thread for a quick look my continued interest may depend on who is contributing, whether it has already become a slanging match or novelty.

Robin

Subject: RE: Do you read Every Mudcat Thread?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 26 May 21 - 12:36 PM

I will often look at random threads. Some are interesting. Some I stop when I see who started it! :-)

D.

Subject: RE: Do you read Every Mudcat Thread?
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 May 21 - 05:32 PM

I don't read most of the threads. If its a lyrics thread of a song I have no interest in singing, or don't have anything to offer, I don't open it. We all come on here looking for different things. That's as it should be. One thing that makes opening a thread a pig in a poke is not knowing who posted it. It's not so necessary for song lyrics, but like everyone else, there are friends on hear I would almost always open their thread... and some I wouldn't, most of the time.:-)

Mudcat is not formatted to encourage conversations, like Facebook. You can't comment directly on someone else's post, and it takes more work to respond with constant new posts (which require a new post to respond to.) Having conversarions with other members is not a primary purpose for Mudcat. I'm fine with that. I just respond to two or three people in one comment. There's also something artifical and limiting with the format here on Mudcat. If I want to include a song or two as part of a conversation, Mudcat isn't set up for that. If it has a song, and a conversation I'm not sure whether it goes above the line or below. There are "lines" in a real conversaion. :-) All of this is fine with me. I wouldn't change anything. Mudcat has worked well for a long time, and does what it does quite well. :-)

Subject: RE: Do you read Every Mudcat Thread?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 26 May 21 - 06:23 PM

I try not to read threads that are going to make me feel crummy. I do try to read most of the threads that are about songs, but I stay away from the lengthy, argumentative threads. That's why I try to make sure that thread titles are accurate in describing the contents.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Do you read Every Mudcat Thread?
From: Bill D
Date: 26 May 21 - 06:53 PM

Many years ago, Susan of DT said that she and Dick Greenhaus tried to read every thread. That was before the treads were split and only a rare one was more than 50 posts.

Subject: RE: Do you read Every Mudcat Thread?
From: Joe_F
Date: 26 May 21 - 07:01 PM

Are there really enough hours in the day for anybody to read every thread? I can't imagine it.

I *browse* (with no commitment to read all the way thru) threads whose subject interests me. Of course, I look at all threads to which I have already posted, in case someone has replied.

Subject: RE: Do you read Every Mudcat Thread?
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 26 May 21 - 07:25 PM

I like mudcat's old-fashioned forum format...

I don't like any of the popular social media sites.

The only one I'm a a member of is the local Nextdoor group.
The actual Nextdoor site, both on PC and mobile app,
is terrible.

So bad, some locals put up with it for a few days or weeks and then go back to local Facebook groups..

What have modern social media sites got against organised easily researchable archiving...!!!???

As for how many mudcat threads I keep up with..

From day to day it depends on the state of my bowels, and how long before my buttocks start going numb...

Subject: RE: Do you read Every Mudcat Thread?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 26 May 21 - 08:52 PM

When it comes to music, I always read threads that touch on Irish traditional. I do read threads on other truly traditional topics, and things that pique my interest that often surprise me... I decide, in an extremely prejudicial manner, to not read music threads that, on the surface of it, appear to be trivial or which have little to do with British/Irish folk. I enjoy many a thread that I don't feel qualified to participate in. When it comes to below the line, I don't read threads, if I can help it, that are mainly populated, or usurped, by approximately two or three obscurantist pains-in-the-arse. One is, however, only human.

Subject: RE: Do you read Every Mudcat Thread?
From: Rapparee
Date: 26 May 21 - 09:31 PM

Mainly MOAB, both the original and the Annex. I'll kick in something if there's something I can contribute to an interesing thread above or below the line.

Subject: RE: Do you read Every Mudcat Thread?
From: BobL
Date: 27 May 21 - 03:24 AM

Life's too short to read every thread.
Guess they were shorter in the days when access was via a dial-up 9600 bit/s modem.

Subject: A folk song Mudcat Thread?
From: Donuel
Date: 27 May 21 - 04:27 AM

My genre being the unusual, here is a sweet folk music anthem of the far right insurretionists. warrior

Subject: RE: Do you read Every Mudcat Thread?
From: DaveRo
Date: 27 May 21 - 07:03 AM

Jerry Rasmussen wrote: One thing that makes opening a thread a pig in a poke is not knowing who posted it.

Some of the most interesting threads are ones by posters I don't recognise which surface from the last century and answer long-forgotten questions. I've been grateful to Russian spammers for unearthing some of these gems. Sometimes the artist discussed retires, learns how to use Google, and appears in person!

punkfolkrocker wrote: What have modern social media sites got against organised easily researchable archiving...!!!???

Social media doesn't need archiving - it's transient stuff. The best medium for such discussion is still usenet IMO. I used to frequent uk.music.folk, which often cited Mudcat - I thought of it as an American site. I only started lurking here when u.m.f died in about 2010. When Jacey Bedford posted this:
u.m.f rollcall

I wondered if the US equivalent - rec.music.folk - was also used by Mudcatfolk for chat? Was it ever as useful as u.m.f? I see it died a few years earlier:
What_happened_to rec.music.folk?

These groups still exist, BTW. They just need people to use them. Some groups have got themselves delisted from Google which stops most spam.

Subject: RE: Do you read Every Mudcat Thread?
From: MudGuard
Date: 27 May 21 - 07:30 AM

I select threads/messages to read (from the Messages since last visit page) as follows:

a) threads that I have started reading already (and have not yet decided to abort reading that thread)
b) German words in the posting title (as one of the few Germans here ...)
c) the user posting the message is known to me
d) the posting title sounds interesting to me.

Subject: RE: Do you read Every Mudcat Thread?
From: cnd
Date: 28 May 21 - 01:05 AM

I used to try and read every thread back when I joined in 2015, but now I've started only clicking on threads which I think I will find interesting.

I'll sometimes browse the unanswered requests thread and try to find things in there; along with GUEST,# , though, I think we've got that as close to complete as we'll ever be.

My only other qualifier not listed previously is that I'll almost always read a thread with very few posts that's a few days old. I'll usually try and post something positive about it, or at least bump it back up.

I almost never come below the line -- the only reason I'm posting here is cause I saw it before it came to BS and was curious about how things were coming along.

Subject: RE: Do you read Every Mudcat Thread?
From: JHW
Date: 28 May 21 - 05:57 AM

Of late I've mostly looked below the line as above has become enormous.
Usually I post an answer if I have one, or my idea of wit to keep a thread afloat until someone has the answer.
I spend as little time on the net overall as possible.

Subject: RE: Do you read Every Mudcat Thread?
From: keberoxu
Date: 28 May 21 - 11:09 PM

short answer:
heck, no.

Subject: RE: Do you read Every Mudcat Thread?
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 29 May 21 - 05:20 AM

Same here, keberoxu. Not enough hours in the day!

If you want your thread to be read, or e.g. a lyric request to be answered, best to make it as catchy and specific as possible. Some are way too vague to grab anyone’s interest.

There’s no way of knowing how old a thread is from just looking at the list: it does amaze me how often people resurrect threads 20 years on, but still can’t supply the info required, and just post something useless: and is the person who requested it really still patiently sitting there, hoping for an answer, or is that person still even alive?
And it’s a bit galling if you’ve done your best to find someone an answer, and having posted it, they never come back, so you never know if they got it, let alone have the courtesy to thank you! They are usually Guests so you can’t even pm them.

Subject: RE: Do you read Every Mudcat Thread?
From: FreddyHeadey
Date: 03 Jun 21 - 09:09 PM

No.
Only titles that ring a bell.
Rarely below the line.

I have my mudcat bookmark set to 'age=7' and mainly only look at the bottom few posts.
It's not been so bad for the last few months but previously some potentially interesting threads were a ping-pong of boring bickering. It's easier to wait till threads quiet down then skip those posts.

Subject: RE: Do you read Every Mudcat Thread?
From: Roger the Skiffler
Date: 04 Jun 21 - 04:09 AM

Never. Most days I rarely open one. In the early days there were so few and always of interest. Now too many.
RtS

Subject: RE: Do you read Every Mudcat Thread?
From: DaveRo
Date: 04 Jun 21 - 04:40 AM

FreddyHeadey wrote: I have my mudcat bookmark set to 'age=7' and mainly only look at the bottom few posts.

Interesting strategy. One disadvantage might be that, if it's a subject you're interested in and you decide to reply, the OP may have given up and no longer be checking back.
As TB said 3 posts back, it's annoying to not get an acknowledgement of a helpful post. But they may just not have seen it.

Subject: RE: Do you read Every Mudcat Thread?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 04 Jun 21 - 06:08 AM

There should be a ban on opening more than one thread a fortnight by any one person. And I'd include in that the opening of a thread that hasn't been posted to for over one year and a day (some anniversaries are worth remembering...). Thread-opening diarrhoea is a bit of a scourge.

Subject: RE: Do you read Every Mudcat Thread?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Jun 21 - 11:50 AM

Spammers often find obscure threads in the music section (they can no longer post in BS, where they used to have a field day with some of our subject names) to add a new subject and their gibberish and links or all of the ???? we see when a Cyrillic font is used. Then someone responds to the original topic. After the spam is deleted it looks like the second party reopened the thread for a reason.

There is some shit-stirring to do with opening long-torpid but not closed threads. And sometimes opening past topics is simply to make remarks and want the context already in place from a long-past conversation. Those of us who use the "Trace" feature can look at our personal pages to scroll through those old saved threads for reopening.

Subject: RE: Do you read Every Mudcat Thread?
From: Donuel
Date: 04 Jun 21 - 12:02 PM

Most Smithsonian worthy are the historical topics that are Mudcat produced with pictures and documents.
The 'threads' are really secondary except in rare cases where you find a diamond in a goat's ass.

Subject: RE: Do you read Every Mudcat Thread?
From: Jeri
Date: 04 Jun 21 - 12:20 PM

Spammers are, I believe, almost always bots. If there are actual people involved, they're having the bots do their things on harvested web addresses. I don't think there are actual "spammers".

No, I don't read every thread. I've been around long enough to have read most of the music questions & answers, and I loathe constant debating (which I often complain about, which sets off people who already hate me). I like fresh topics, and when it comes to BS, I enjoy whimsey and kindness. Yeah, I know, "good luck with that".

Subject: RE: Do you read Every Mudcat Thread?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 04 Jun 21 - 12:27 PM

I love you, Jeri...

Subject: RE: Do you read Every Mudcat Thread?
From: JHW
Date: 06 Jun 21 - 05:10 PM

Another deterrent is loads of posts already - ie too much to read

Subject: RE: Do you read Every Mudcat Thread?
From: Hornpipe
Date: 06 Jun 21 - 08:10 PM

I read the lyrics requests, mainly relating to Irish and Scottish songs, to learn and (hopefully) contribute. I am in awe of the vast knowledge base that exists on this site and hope it remains online forever!

Subject: RE: Do you read Every Mudcat Thread?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 07 Jun 21 - 07:10 AM

Funny old business the internet....

Wizz Jpones just put up this American radio programme where they're doing a half hour programme about him. I did wonder - how I could save it on my hard drive - but you can't clasp everything to your bosom.

I open mudacat most days - more in hope than expectation of seeing something that I really love to talk about.

This week I opened a thread about the Black Anne Boleyn telly series in BS.
In Music, I'm chatting about ukuleles - although no one seems much interested and the talk has moved on to folk clubs.

D the G has started one on Working Men's Clubs - which is potentially a very interesting and diverse subject.

So a good week. Some things to chat about - nothing much to disagree about.