Do You Refer to Someone's History Before Replying?

Not routinely.
If something in the post rings a bell that reminds me of a previous question, I'll look back.
Or, if I think there is not enough info in the post to really get a feel for the situation, I'll look back to see if there is other relevant info.
But most of the time, I do not look.

I have been on this site for a long time and 90% of the time, I do not look back on previous posts.. But if a name seems familiar or a subject seems familiar, or it seems like a troll, then I will go back to see what had been going on.

It does many times help me decide if I am going to bother to answer or what type of answer the person needs.

Maybe I need to start looking at them to save time in the long run. But I tend to be a person that goes with the first impression and first answer that comes to me.

I don't ever refer to history, I don't do anything other than just answer the question. I just don't have a lot of time to play on here usually.

Honestly, I think a lot of people check out the history of the questioner so they can evaluate whether they think it is real or not. People really don't like wasting time to answer a question they think might be made up. And they like to be able to point out to others that this is an "interesting FIRST question" or that they have seen some details in the previous posts that don't match up. Which, as a member who doesn't have time to go searching through old stuff, I do appreciate the heads up about those aspects of a question from the people who do have the time and desire to do that.

But usually I just answer it straight up if it's something I feel I can contribute to. Finding out it is a "first question" or that some details seem wonky doesn't bother me. I respect that some people putting a question out here might be tweaking the details a little for anonymity's sake, or just to skew our answers to what they want to hear. whatever. I view this board as a resource for moms, and I answer accordingly- not just for the mom who is asking her specific question, but for any other mom who stumbles upon here that might glean something from reading through the Q&A.

I try not to overthink it. But I respect those who put more effort into it as well. We need all types of viewpoints and answer styles on here.

Rarely, however if someone refers to a previous post, I will likely take a look.

I do giggle a little at people who call others out because they previously said this or that and now they are saying this. Personally, I don't have time for it in person or on line. I come here for a private personal break and once in a while a neutral perspective.

In my own post, I found that people have dug up my MP past and all I can say is, this here is about a teaspoon of my life. You can't really get a full perspective of who I am. While trying to provide more information to give the reader a better view of all sides involved, I have received some rather colorful comments. Then you have those who read a third of your post and take a jab at you, completely missing the point of the post. Certainly there are time I reread the post and think I could have written something better, but there are times you just couldn't drive it home any better.

With that, I take it all with a grain of salt.

When you asked about having a 5th child as a single mother in debt, about to graduate and hopefully start working in your field of interest; no I did not reference your past. You said enough in that question for me to give you an opinion about that situation.

I just looked at your past and you seem a bit more stable than what I thought (I did have you at Octomom's level).

I'm sure you are a great mom, but you can not be everything to everyone all the time. If you do have extra time on your hands (you may be a true over achiever) then there are plenty of ways you can spend your time improving the lives of those around you. Do you have a niece or cousin who could use your help?

I have looked at past post, but not usually. The reason could be to get a better understanding of the question. Often times if I do look, I figure nothing I say will make a difference and not answer the question.

It depends upon the subject and person. I look to see if the person has asked the question before or if they are asking about kids, husband, etc. It helps.

Don't have that kind of time. Happy to respond if I can answer a question, but don't have time to read someone's backstory.

I do but only rarely. Usually I do if I need to have an idea of the kids ages to respond.

Maybe I'm lazy, but no - I generally do not unless there is some compelling reason to do so (i.e., someone's current question "rings a bell" in my mind - perhaps I feel like I've heard the details before, etc.).

Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. If it's not a name I recognize, I check to see if it's a first question. (And frankly, I don't always remember whose names are whose, and people also change their names, so it's hard to keep track.) We've had so many trolls lately, I like to see if there's any history before I spend a ton of time. Also, if the question is brief or vague, I look back to see if there's anything relevant that will fill in the blanks. A lot of posters actually expect that members will know who they are or will look back, and leave out details on purpose because they feel they've posted them before. (In fact, some posters will say, "I've posted my story before" or "Many of your know my situation" so I do think there's an expectation that a number of answers will take that into account. So it saves everyone time, I think, if the advice is as on target as possible.

If it's a complex question, I will sometimes look to see if there are explanatory details in prior posts. I don't go back years and years, but if there's a title of a prior question that seems relevant, I do read it in order to (hopefully) do a better job of answering. A lot of times, the members responses are full of questions and requests for more information, so instead of doing that from the get-go, I look quickly to see if there's anything there. I think it also saves time for new responders who don't go back but do see a reference in another answer - I know I find it helpful when someone else answers with, "Well, I know that you have X children and that you were previously very candid about being in an abusive relationship…." I always appreciate the time they take to include those details if the questioner did not do so this time.

I do assume, if someone has posted before on the same topic, that it's important to her. So out of respect, I take all of her thoughts into account before I formulate my response.

If it's a question on recipes or products or where to vacation, I don't bother to look back because that info won't be relevant to this question.

Yes and no. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't.
Sometimes I see something and have one of those "hey didn't they post about XYZ before?" or something along those lines. I do have the ability to remember things even on an anonymous parenting site I've been on forever.
Sometimes I see something that's so out there or complicated or insane that I check to make sure they aren't a troll or to see a little history before I answer. I do think that some people's past history does play a part. Even if it's long past. You can see that some people insist on repeating the same mistakes and just don't see the nose in front of their face. You can very often see that this new thing is a strange tangent reaction to things that happened in the past. I also know that some people aren't worth answering because they are never going to help themselves.

I usually don't unless the question is so ridiculous, or a person has been beaten by her drunken drug wheedling husband thirteen times and wants to have another baby and a huge second wedding with him. Then I go, hmmm, what on earth is this person about? A troll perhaps? a little unstable. Or she likes to drink and get beat and a second wedding would be a fun party. On the other hand, most of the time I want to answer right away before I forget what I was going to say and then six months later I read up on this and find out she had twins. Just saying...

almost never. but sometimes my curiosity is piqued, and i do.
khairete
S.

If a person is asking a question that is developmental but they don't mention the child's age. Such as eating food. If they say I'm feeding my baby cereal and they are having stomach issues, what do I do? then I'm going to go and ready previous questions or their information until I figure out how old that baby might be.

Things like that but as a general rule, because I'm nosy, then no I don't go and read up on a person.

Not very often. I am more likely to read histories of people I am not responding to.

Only if the question warrants it.

In other words, "blah blah blah, could I be pregnant?" Um.. no need to look at prior posts. Or, "My 3 year old has molluscum, have you ever had any experience with this?"

But, when a question is complex and deals with relationships (should I stay in the relationship, what do I tell my MIL about her son's behavior, how do I deal with this neighbor who hates me, etc), rather than single events (my dog died, I forgot to, I burnt the roast can I save it, etc) then often the poster leaves out crucial details that can dramatically change the advice I would offer. Or I simply cannot offer anything because there is too much information missing. In those cases, I either move on, or may click back to see if there is information that would shed more light on the problem in prior postings.

In your post, I didn't feel any need to look back.

I only have once or twice. I did because a mom had emailed me separately to ask me some more questions so when I saw her post another question relating to the same topic, I just wanted to make sure it was the same mom before I replied again.