"I didn't post this to start a debate about..."
You posted on a public forum, the other users are going to engage with it how they will within the rules of the forum. You don't have to engage them back but you don't really get to dictate how they engage initially.
If you just want a public digital space to post your thoughts without any feedback you can just start a Twitter and mute replies, or a blog.
It's pretty funny how common it is for one side to view posting as a performance and another to view it (more correctly) as a conversation. It happens on twitter all the time, where someone will write a comedic post, and someone replies with what in the real world would be a completely normal riff, only to get a reply like "do not tell my joke back at me".
Not exactly related but I also find it funny when someone posts an anecdote to make a point, then someone posts their own anecdote to make a counterpoint, and the first person is lie "well that's just an anecdote!"
Twitter is absolutely performative posting, that's why it has always fuckin sucked
i am actually the dictator general on all posts i participate in, not simply when i am OP.
this post is now dedicated to the brave mujahideen of afghanistan
I think it depends on the post, surely. Sometimes people are not posting for the sake of discussion, but to ask a community for advice about something that effects them. In that case to derail their post in a way they believe distracts from that would be unpleasant. But I do get what you mean when the post is about something less personal, and the lines do get blurred.
I have no idea, half the fun of posting is reading the comments. Being exposed to novel views and other opinions is both humbling and sometimes a learning experience. If someone wants to steer a conversation in a certain direction, it sounds like they're looking for affirmation, rather than discussion.
