I've noticed on several posts lately that people respond to the person posing a question by writing, 'I see you're new here' or 'you haven't posted much before'.

Am I missing something here? Why is it important? Do you respond differently if someone is new or has been a regular poster? Can you tell it someone is a troll by doing this? I never click on the name (well, I did once just before writing this - just to see what all the fuss was about). What are you looking for when you do this? (I'll save yout he trouble with me - I've posted many, many times before )

AND --- what does the question have to do with Europe?

Hi K,

1. Newbies often post many questions on one topic on different threads.

2. Someone might be advertising.

Of all the replies I could imagine, that was not one of them, but it was nice of you to take the time to answer.

But assuming you might be serious with your question, fmp, I notice a response such as I have posted in my initial post at least a few times a week here on the Europe board. It would be rather silly of me to tune into another forum not knowing if the regulars there do this or not. Does that help?

thanks ira for the positive reply. I never thought to look to see if someone was advertising, although I'm not sure if I would recognize it or not.

I assume you kfigured out that my last reply was not directed at you.

Just now I saw someone add a question to the bottom of an old post. I clicked there screen name and saw this was their 1st time on the forum. So I suggested they might start a new topic so their question would not be lost.

If someone posts a Europe question on the U.S. board by mistake, I might click to see if they have already re-posted on the correct board, before making that suggestion.

Sometimes people start asking their question without saying the location (city or country). Clicking on their name shows other posts giving their destination.

Things like that.

Yes, it helps to check on other posts as sometimes by posting multiple times some information gets left out.

Some posters suggest you do this to find their trip report or photos if posted separately rather than providing a link.

I think there are fewer trolls around now but some could be spotted by reading a succession of their dodgy posts.

Oh, and I click on my OWN name to keep track of various discussions I am participating in, that may have sunk past the first 50 or 100 places.

If someone suggests a hotel/business I click on their name to make sure they post about other things. Many times the poster is just advertising and some are quite good at making it appear that they aren't.

It also gives you the history/type of travel that person does so you can tell if their suggestions will suit your own travel style.

The perfect example has just come up...again.

Click on the thread about where to go before a tour and then click on the OP's name.

Another example of multiple posts about the same thing and the answers have been given on one thread unbeknownst to posters responding to the second one.

I'm mostly on the lookout for advertisements. I noticed the idential glowing review about certain Barcelona apartments on three threads. I clicked on the name of the poster and sure enough, all of his or her posts were advertising those partular apartments.

Thanks for all the examples! This is starting to make sense now. I could have easily looked into hotels that were being "advertised"...but no more.

At least I already click on my own name to follow threads in which I am participating. It took a while to figure that out when I was a newbie - that was good advice, whoever gave it to me!

I click on someone's name for the completely opposite reason. Let's say I'm looking for advice on Florence and I come across a well thought out, intelligent post with good information. I always click on that poster's name to see what else they have said in various threads. This is how I get most of my great information from this message board.

I click on a posters name - OP or responder - if I find them interesting. Lets me see what other discussions they've been in that I might enjoy. Otherwise, no, not tracking anybody down!

Sometimes it helps me figure out how to respond to people. Was it a serious question or a joke? Is this person always so provocative or was this post an aberration?

Sometimes it helps me find interesting posts. Does this person post such thoughtful analyses on other topics? Is this person always as funny and clever as on this occasion?

Hi Everyone - a fairly new poster I didn't think to click on my own screen name to see what I've been doing. Well, I just did and I found that there was only 1 entry. I have commented or asked a question on a couple of things since that first entry but there seems to be no copy of them under my name. What am I doing wrong? Thanks to all.

Kulagal, I don't know what you are doing wrong, but I found many posts when clicking on your name. Try again.

I click on people's names occasionally for all of the reasons other people name. There are lots of good reasons to do it, but I don't do it for every post, of course, no reason to. When people say "I see you are new here" it's usually to soften a suggestion to not make multiple posts, put country in name, etc. I think if you see someone has posted 100 times on here, you might not feel so "nice" if they were doing something like posting the same question 10 times on new threads, etc., but if they haven't been around long, you figure they just don't know or inexperience.

It is helpful for advertising, also. Most often when I see someone start a thread to rave about something, you find out they never posted here before and have nothing else to say. This isn't usually the case when they are contributing to a question someone else has asked, such as recommendations for something), although it happens there, also. But I think it's almost always an ad when they initiate the post to recommend something and it's their first post.

Christina - thank you so much for your quick reply. I feel so stupid. I was putting my screen name in the search box instead of clicking on the name at the top. As soon as I did that up came all the posts. Cheers!

Kulagal - Sometimes you have to click on your name more than once to get it to update.

I have seen it used to say, "My opinion is more important than that person's because I have more posts here than he/she does" - and let me hasten to add that thankfully it's rare but it was done to me.