If you reply to a message and it takes you back to the thread but doesn't show you the message, it's probably because your browswer has cached the page before you replied, and is just showing you the cached page. AOL is the worst for this, it likes to cache everything to make it seem faster than it really is. Internet Explorer, especially the older versions also seems to do this. Netscape is not bad, except on non-pc platforms which only dorks like me use.

So the secret workaround is to go to page where it should be showing the message you just posted. Hold down the Shift key on the keyboard and click on the reload or refresh button on your browser. This forces a full reload of the page, ignoring anything that is cached locally on your computer.