Warnock's dilemma

problem of interpreting a lack of response to a posting in a virtual community

The problem with no response is that there are five possible interpretations:

1. The post is correct, well-written information that needs no follow-up commentary. There's nothing more to say except "Yeah, what he said."

2. The post is complete and utter nonsense, and no one wants to waste the energy or bandwidth to even point this out.

3. No one read the post, for whatever reason.

4. No one understood the post, but won't ask for clarification, for whatever reason.

5. No one cares about the post, for whatever reason.

Bryan C. Warnock,