I really try to give posters the benefit of the doubt. I think all too quickly longtime members are apt to dub newcomers shills, trolls, or sock puppets. They're often right, of course, but not always. And I'd rather err on the side of welcoming newbies, hearing them out, and seeing if they possibly have something to contribute.
And I also think there's a difference between an out-and-out troll and a genuine contributing member of the boards who just has a particular bee in his or her bonnet. I don't have to agree with you to believe you're making points you actually believe.
But at some point, you just have to say "I don't know who you are, I don't know what your motive is, but you're just making noise and life is too f*cking short to read one more word you have to say."
So I'd say: Everyone, do what you need to do. If you think you'll sleep better by responding or, alternately, by cutting off a poster's oxygen by not replying and letting the thread die--do it. Do what you think is best for your blood pressure and best for the odd little community we participate in.
I for one am done reading and responding to one particular self-entitled, indifferently educated, intellectually incurious child whose ossified brain holds only her parents' three most recent ideas. If, of course, this sad creature actually exists.
Updated On: 11/12/12 at 08:39 PM