Because you see that someone quoted you, but you don't want to respond too quickly, otherwise you feel as though they'll judge you.
Sometimes I don't know what to say to keep a conversation going. In those cases I'll 'like' the post so I can at least acknowledge the person. Or I feel like I've forced a conversation already and the other person wasn't interested. I already live here so the amount of time between responses doesn't bother me too much. If I leave anyone hanging, it's not you, it's me. I promise.
Dating is easier. Most of the time, you know where you stand enough to respond. The variables of forum life are different.
The like/not like dynamic is stressful as well. I.e.: someone likes everyone's post in a conversation but yours
or when you keep quoting the same people over and over again and you worry you're quoting them too much
I feel that way about liking the same people's posts over and over. I don't want people, particularly women, to feel as though I'm stalking them online.
I def respond to people too quickly. I like all of you so I like your posts. I think I feel weirdest when I relate to what someone posts but it's not necessarily a positive post. a "like" sometimes feels inappropriate lol and I don't want to offend them by thinking I like their misfortune.
My problem is when I post something in topic 'A' and I'm really interested in said topic, but then another 'topic 'X'' gets frequent posts. So that each time I check to see if anyone responded to me, or added something to said topic 'A' I'm often found disappointed when I get 10 notifications telling me that "so and so posted in topic 'X'" which is somewhat frustrating. That being said, I don't want to unfollow the overactive topic 'X' because I might want to keep up to date with it =/
I respond to people who quote me asap because I'm always like "Yes!!! Friend!!! Let's continue this lovely discussion!!!"
I just liked every post in this thread. Enjoy your notifications. Okay but really yes I get anxious about them too.
When I see a notification I assume either it's someone who enjoys my quality posts and wants to make it known or someone eager to have the privilege to start a conversation with me.