Do you use meta description on posts/pages?

Selected answers from the Dumb SEO Questions Facebook & G+ community.

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  Ian Dixon: Yes I do use meta description +Nathaniell Brenes along with the page title because the search engines look at them. Now Google may decide to put something totally different up when it comes to SERPs but it is important to give them that opening. That means defining your description and your title
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  Jim Munro: Amazon uses description and keywords metas, plus title and rel="canonical".
  Since they meet regularly with Googlers, I think it`s reasonably safe to follow their lead. :)
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  Justin Y: I add meta descriptions every time. I write mine for the reader, start them off using call to action and describe what`s on the page. 
  
  I don`t use meta keywords, I have heard in the past that older search engines may use them but the top dogs do not. 
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  Sławomir Zdunek: I do use meta descriptions. I agree with the author of the question that they can increase CTR. Meta descriptions are not taken by Google as a ranking factor. From this perspective they don`t have any value whatsoever. One thing to remember is that the meta description should match the content of the page. If it doesn`t match Google is going to come up with own meta description. Recently I have seen on one of my websites a meta description taken from DMOZ. This can be pretty annoying if you don`t block it. I don`t think that using meta descriptions limits the page. As for meta keywords, I don`t use them at all. It`s absolutely waste of time and space. There are more important things to focus on
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  Dani Ivanov: I think that putting your own description allows you to focus on the keyword you want to rank for. Also, if you do not write a description to rank with a specific keyword how would you track your efforts? You would have to wait and see which keyword Google decides to use hoping that it will choose the keyword that you want to rank for.
  
  I agree with the what +Nathaniell Brenes said about CTR. Providing a description allows you to make it attractive which in turn will increase the CTR.
  
  If you dont, Google will just take the first sentence of the first paragraph which is almost always an introduction paragraph that does not otpimally reflect the content of the page.
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  Jon Dunn: I always write meta descriptions that entice ctr`s. Meta descriptions dont have a direct impact on rankings, but ctr from serp`s- thats up for debate so its always advisable to try and improve that. To the original poster- the person arguing for no meta descriptions should take a look at the google snipetts when no description is used- often it is made up of half sentences and does not encourage clicks... you are 100% right ;)
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  Kate Toon: I write meta descriptions as a two line sales pitch for the page/brand. I include brand name, a relevant keyword phrase (Google may not use meta descriptions for ranking, but it does bold the relevant phrase so this acts as affirmation for the user) all in a fluid, HUMAN sentence. I also sometimes use a phone number, so that people can contact a business directly from the SERPS.
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  Chris M Cloutier: I write mine and I think its important for anyone that read the original discussion to know how to write one as well.  I agree with Rich on only that descriptions aren`t a ranking factor BUT CTR is a factor, a big factor.
  
  The whole discussion has me re-evaluating the way I do things.  But,  not descriptions.  I`ll always write mine.  I noticed Google changing mine a long time ago and I felt like I could do better so I never leave it for them to change.
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  Nathaniell Brenes: One thing I`m beginning to understand, that I didn`t before, is that apparently the All in One SEO pack and other SEO plugins create a meta description automatically. I do not know if they do this based on content you write or search terms. I was under the impression that SEO plugins required you to manually put in your own meta data. I`m still unclear how a plugin could write a better meta description than me, but perhaps there is some kind of algorithm that calculates keyword density.
  
  I think the point being made was that the automatic meta description from the plugin would be better than a manual one, but at first I understood it that NO meta description was better than having one. Either way, I`m going to start doing my own testing!