Question for newbies

[ellajam]

I've noticed this too. I know for me it was more difficult to post my first crit than my first poem. And I think that's pretty common. I probably browsed the site a long time before sticking my oar in. A new member may not realize that the recent threads are more "relevant" and might browse into the distant past looking for something they feel they have an opinion on. Poets are paranoid. (Ya, I mean you!) I think this is sometimes a matter of process for the newbie, not necessarily avoidance.
Paul

I think this is true and then once the thread is bumped we really can't expect the newb to check the OP date or all the other posts. They read a poem and were moved to comment. If they've tried to be helpful that's pretty much all we can ask.

I think the only way to avoid it is to inactivate threads after a fixed period of time but I don't think it happens often enough to be worth the effort. We could red pen the OP once it's bumped to let readers know the OP seems to have lost interest.