Our BetterMost Community > The Polling Place
How do you feel about OT posts?
LauraGigs:
OT posts have ruined some good threads lately, which upsets me. (One case in point: http://bettermost.net/forum/index.php/topic,15185.0/all.html
This didn't seem to be a problem until recently. Some Bettermost users may be entirely new to message boards, and thus unfamiliar with the basic etiquette. But when just about every recent substantive thread on the film/book wanders to subjects such as gay-bashing, violent crime statistics in Australia, etc. it kind of grates.
Well-meaning folks who address OT posts/questions wind up adding to the problem; that's how a whole thread gets derailed. In other words, the best way (for non-mods) to handle an OT post is to ignore it.
(An exception to all this may be the Current Event threads, which lend themselves more to diverse discussion. For example, a thread about the elections may naturally involve posts about the media, political history, one's personal philosophies, one's local political environment, etc.)
delalluvia:
--- Quote from: louise van hine on January 06, 2008, 05:24:44 pm ---I am a regular at another forum called 'Rotten Tomatoes' and they have a rule against what they call 'Thread hijacking.' If a discussion lends itself to meandering - like 'Heath Heath Heath' which is all about Heath no matter what it is - then the discussion is going to range widely. However, if the discussion is about a particular political matter in Current Events and someone chimes in with a completely unrelated topic which derails the point that was under discussion, then that is a hijack - an interruption that may very well be intended to stop discussion or debate and make the topic fall apart as a result. It depends a LOT on the topic - and I do think that the current events area should remain more focused than say the fan discussion or the blogs or other places.
--- End quote ---
Agree. On another board I go to, to keep a semblance of continuity, if a thread goes too OT, the mods get a consensus amongst themselves before making a decision on whether to start slapping wrists, that way there can be no accusations of favoritism or lack thereof.
Now they also send PMs to warn those offenders. And some boards I go to will ban someone for a specified number of days after so many warnings if they do not cease and desist.
What does BM plan on doing to enforce such rules if someone simply refuses to believe they're OT and keeps going after it?
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: injest on January 09, 2008, 08:07:59 pm ---99.9% of our bloggers welcome visitors to post on their threads...so feel free to stop by and visit anyone.
--- End quote ---
Well, even I didn't mean to suggest that people shouldn't visit or post at all on blogs. I just meant I thought perhaps they shouldn't go on to a whole different subject than the blogger him/herself was discussing, or make it into a thread that's all about me instead of all about the blogger. But I hereby officially withdraw the suggestion that blogs can't go OT.
--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on January 09, 2008, 07:41:48 pm ---Just to get things rolling:
"You are encouraged to stay on topic, or to confine your comments to topics closely related to the original topic."
Again, I just throw that out as a starting point.
I think we don't want to ask our Moderators to turn themselves into police officers, or to expect them to allow their Moderator duties to take over their lives, but I also think they must be left with some leeway to deal with situations as they arise. I don't think we should try to make this an exact science or something automatic, because it isn't.
--- End quote ---
Ver' good.
--- Quote from: BelAir on January 09, 2008, 08:07:08 pm ----rules can sometimes be a tough word...
--- End quote ---
How about guidelines?
--- Quote ----Maybe the true topic oriented threads (forums?) could have some sort of announcement at the beginning - please try to be focused, if it comes to moderator's attention that thread is wandering, don't be offended if you get asked to get back on track.
--- End quote ---
I like this.
--- Quote from: delalluvia on January 09, 2008, 08:49:06 pm ---
Agree. On another board I go to, to keep a semblance of continuity, if a thread goes too OT, the mods get a consensus amongst themselves before making a decision on whether to start slapping wrists, that way there can be no accusations of favoritism or lack thereof.
Now they also send PMs to warn those offenders. And some boards I go to will ban someone for a specified number of days after so many warnings if they do not cease and desist.
What does BM plan on doing to enforce such rules if someone simply refuses to believe they're OT and keeps going after it?
--- End quote ---
I doubt there's nothin we can do. ( ;D Kidding -- sorry, I just couldn't resist the opportunity to use a Brokieism.) But actually, I doubt there would be any form of punishment, even wrist-slapping. I think it might be something more along the lines of, the moderators post a polite reminder on the board. If it gets really carried away, they might PM the members and/or move the posts to a new thread. Just winging it here, it's not up to me to decide, but this has been the procedure in the past.
injest:
--- Quote from: ineedcrayons on January 09, 2008, 09:53:42 pm ---Well, even I didn't mean to suggest that people shouldn't visit or post at all on blogs. I just meant I thought perhaps they shouldn't go on to a whole different subject than the blogger him/herself was discussing, or make it into a thread that's all about me instead of all about the blogger. But I hereby officially withdraw the suggestion that blogs can't go OT.
--- End quote ---
I was just reassuring Bel Air, Katherine I do understand and agree with YOUR point too...*Jess ducking back out of the way*
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: LauraGigs on January 09, 2008, 08:34:50 pm ---Well-meaning folks who address OT posts/questions wind up adding to the problem; that's how a whole thread gets derailed. In other words, the best way (for non-mods) to handle an OT post is to ignore it.
--- End quote ---
You can say that twice and mean it!
--- Quote from: ineedcrayons on January 09, 2008, 09:53:42 pm ---How about guidelines?
--- End quote ---
"Guidelines" is a good word: "We ask you to please observe these guidelines." :)
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