Find myself reiterating something that was already said. Arguing a point nobody cares about. Entering a discussion that I know will not go my way regardless of what info I provide, because even Lemmy has a Hive Mind sometimes and doesn’t like dissent. Realizing half way through writing it that I don’t really know enough about the subject and should just shut up. Or maybe I just think my comment won’t offer anything that contributes to the discussion.
I guess most see it as a bad thing. As waste, or resignation. But here’s the good story!
It can be a fruitful inner dialogue. While writing the comment, you engage with the topic, which changes your mind. That’s a healthy and good thing! If in the end, your result is “I’d rather not post that, because …”, then this reason is the insight you gained by writing that comment.
Sometimes I realize flaws in my reasoning this way. And I’m happy to catch them! Imagine if it was not asynchronous written conversation, but real time face to face.
Of course there are many reasons to delete a draft. If it’s mostly insecurity, I’d encourage people to give it a try. Experiences are what bring you forward, and if it’s only to learn what not to repeat in the future.
Most of the time while I’m writing a reply or comment it I think about how it benefits the user I’m responding to/what reponses I will get and how to minimize any confusion. Once those thoughts have entered my mind, I rarely click the button to post it.
I find it more common to do this for replies to my comments. I’m far more likely to post a first comment in a thread, but if someone has some disagreeing reply, the odds I’ll say “fuck it, I don’t care” is a lot, lot higher.
Very often, and it doesn’t help that my replies tend to be absurdly long
Towards the end, I either realize that what I want to say has already been said by someone, the argument isn’t worth it (like you said), or what’s on my mind really isn’t worth bothering other people over.
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