View Full Version : Just answer the question...
Something that I’ve noticed on every message-board I’ve ever posted on is that everybody has a different idea of what constitutes taking a thread ‘off topic’.
I’ve been to some boards where threads have to be started with a direct question and you are only allowed to answer that question once. These are very boring places indeed.
I’ve been to others where there is no moderation and a single thread can go on for months, switching between completely unrelated topics constantly. These are also very boring places.
Personally, I think that a middle-ground is good.
I don’t have a problem with discussions being just that – discussions. Conversations have a natural flow to them with certain ideas being highlighted and brought to the fore whilst others are quickly discussed and discarded. A good example of that is the euthanasia (http://forum.caithness.org/showthread.php?t=5364) thread. It started with a simple question; what are everybody’s views on euthanasia? Porshiepoo mentioned the way that her spiritual beliefs influence her views on euthanasia. Not only was this quite valid given the question asked, but it also gave the opportunity for a deeper discussion… after all, there are only so many times (as in once) that you can say “I disagree with euthanasia” or “I agree with euthanasia” before the topic dies.
The opposite, an entirely open thread where even un-related topics come up, is also (in my opinion) not a great way to run a board – it quickly becomes difficult to work out whether a thread is of interest to you or not and you can easily find yourself answering a post about cheese when everybody else is talking about the Tory party (okay, so cheese and the Tories probably aren't the best examples of unrelated subjects ;)).
I think that if there is no flow between one discussion and the next then the thread has gone ‘off topic’, but if there is a flow then relax and go with it.
Let’s say that we really were talking about our favourite cheeses. I could tell you (although I’d be lying if I did) an amusing anecdote about eating a lot of cheese just before doing a bungee jump. You could tell me about the time you ate a lot huge hotdog just before you did a bungee jump. We’re having a conversation, no harm done. But if you jumped in and suddenly asked everybody what they thought David Cameron’s chances of leading the Tories to victory in the next general election were then I think you’d have to agree that there isn’t any real flow going on.
Ultimately, I think that the final decision as to whether a thread has gone ‘off topic’ should be the moderator’s and if he thinks that it has then fair enough.
Anyway, where do you all draw the line?
[edit: I should say that the title of this thread was supposed to be a sarcastic reference to the subject - it was not a demand that you only answer the question without passing comment. JJC]
Has anyone been watching Lost on Ch4? I think it's fantastic.
cullbucket
15-Dec-05, 16:29
Did anyones grandparents fight in the war?
My grandad did, some of his stories were fantastic, like the time he.......
Yes is fantastic I have been watching it, the firts time it reminded me a movie an old movie about a group of people lost in an island after an aircraft , but well I dont think the man who wrote this one thought about that, but well I found some details similar, buy this series is really nice, I like the cast especially the Jack and hugo.
Lost is good so is space caddets!
The weather this weekend is supposed to be quite bad - anyone heard.....
Tugmistress
15-Dec-05, 16:30
Threads, like real live chat will often wander off and on topic, there is no harm in that, but what i do object to is when things start getting slanderous and out of hand.
stevie080
15-Dec-05, 16:33
Topics are all right but i prefer Mars bars
scrapydoo
15-Dec-05, 16:35
Lost who is lost i aint, i like scrapy snacks lol
The Pepsi Challenge
15-Dec-05, 16:41
That's the beauty of conversation: talking about one subject invariably leads to talking about something else. However, so long as you DO respond to the thread's subject in your post, I don't think it matters so much if you veer off-thread on a different paragraph.
My thrupnaebit.
Has anyone been watching Lost on Ch4? I think it's fantastic.
I should have seen that coming...
I like the way threads meander around the subject but i hate this nitpicking that goes on its sooooooooooooooooooooooo boring
I have been dipping in and out of lost though - i want to know what it is about really
That's the beauty of conversation: talking about one subject invariably leads to talking about something else. However, so long as you DO respond to the thread's subject in your post, I don't think it matters so much if you veer off-thread on a different paragraph.
My thrupnaebit.
Agreed, it's good til see someone that has the same point of view about this subject as me!
I should have seen that coming... I think your problem is that you wander around with one eye closed like this ;) in most of your posts. Maybe you should keep both eyes open like this :eek: and you might see more things coming. Some people never see anything coming because they have their eyes closed like this. :)
I hate nit-picking too. But I think squidge should be more precise. Complaining about nit-picking but not giving a precise definition of what aspects of nit-picking are annoying is the antipathy of nit-picking and is just as boring, so is writing screeds and screeds of unstructured stuff without much punctuation and capital letters and bad grammer and bad spelling is annoying too so stop it everyone please. On other threads that is I don't mean this one.
I voted for the middle option -- talk about a loaded poll. :rolleyes:
talk about a loaded poll. :rolleyes:
Is there another kind? :D
I agree with Pepsi, and like Tugmistress, I object when things get slanderous and out of hand. I also object to nitpicking, especially when the nitpicker dissects a person's post to do so.
I forgot to add that I voted for the middle option before posting.
Is there another kind? :DDunno, but a few people have already given the wrong answer, so perhaps the load was too light after all. :rolleyes:
Dissection is an internet tradition. It's been around since before many of our posters were born!
I'm one of the chiels that chose other so I need to explain masel...
I reckon that a thread goes where it needs to go and where it goes is the only place it could have gone.... at wis deep.
So if you want to influence where it is going, intervene and post something - if your happy where it is, dinna poke aboot wae it...
However - one caveat - when cheils are mean spirited til one anither just for devilment - then e moderators should lowp all ower them.
porshiepoo
15-Dec-05, 17:31
Ummm! Does it really matter? :eek:
It's a natural flow of conversation for one subject to lead to another and I don't think it usually happens where the thread is on say .. cheese but the postee decides to ignore the original topic entirely and talk about say .... the goverment.
The topics usually flow from one answer to another and in that answer other relevant topics, ideas, discussions etc are bought into it.
If someone who posts a thread wants a yes/no answer then they should state that but I bet loads of people stay away from it or it dies a very early death. How boring that would be! Besides, it's human nature to embellish and probe and want to progress a converstaion further, if we were supposed to be a one answer race then we wouldn't have progressed any further than the ape(if in fact we actually did)
Basically, we all have freedom of speech and free will, therefore you either join in or you don't.:rolleyes:
... and all the while the rain it was a ra-aining.
(this should be sung but haven't worked out how to do it in a post)
I dislike an 'off Topic' , I find that it is usually due to a hole in the wrapper causing the chocolate to oxidize.
But I think squidge should be more precise.:
isnt precision your game DrSzin???? Ok to clarify for the Drs sake - I dont mind people dissecting others posts to take their argument apart with facts and figures. if they are dealing specifically with a point they made then thats ok too. However, there was one post Porshipoo made where she referred to a Freudian slip and it was clear what she meant even though she spelt it wrong. This was pointed out by two people who should have known better and not helpfully either but in a sneering sort of way. I dont like that - i think it has no value and isnt even funny to be honest. If they knew what Porshie meant then they were just being pompous and superior - shame on you boys!
Complaining about other people's grammar and spelling is not of huge value - if this is an "inclusive" board then we should be welcoming those with good and bad spellings - those who have no qualifications and those who have doctorates.... as long as you can understand what the person means ie: freudian slip... then whats the problem. Text speak is the same - if you can understand it dont moan about it. At least someone has posted their views and thats ok.
I find the petty bickering....
(definition for the Dr - poster A "i hate your views" Poster B "i hate yours too" Poster A "you are clearly a mindless imbecile" Poster B "how dare you call me a mindless imbecile you must be a racist pig")
...just makes me yawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwn and switch off. Take it to Pm guys!!!!
hows that for precision Doc? Any better sweetie?
cullbucket
15-Dec-05, 20:35
Squidge
I am one one of the people you are accusing of wilfully misunderstanding porshiepoo and I left it last time when you berated me but I will defend myself this time - but if you look at what she actually wrote, it was a hell of a spelling mistake in that she actually almost made an entire new word - fraudient - which I thought might have been an attempt at fraudulent, so I wasnt actually being faecetious.....
Ok
Im sorry if i misunderstood your misunderstanding of porshipoos word - it seemed so obvious to me thats all and you are so bright usually
hows that for precision Doc? Any better sweetie? Er, no. You have two punctuation errors in the first quoted word! You knew I was playing at parody. You are slipping. ;)
Seriously, the "drugs" thread was not petty bickering. It was a lot more than that, and a lot worse than that. Keep up!
Cullbucket, regarding porshiepoo's mis-spelling, did you really mean to say you were not being faecetious? I very much hope so :D because your defence of your petty bickering would be pretty faecetious otherwise. :)
Anyway, option 2 on this poll doesn't apply in the majority of cases. Most moans about threads going off-topic are made by people who are stirring, by people who haven't contributed anything constructive, or worse. :rolleyes:
Cullbucket, regarding porshiepoo's mis-spelling, did you really mean to say you were not being faecetious? I very much hope so :D because your defence of your petty bickering would be pretty faecetious otherwise. :)
Ha ha ha, nice one.
porshiepoo
16-Dec-05, 12:45
Well I feel I must defend myself here.
The spelling mistake I made that seems to be being pulled apart here was a genuine spelling mistake.
I have pointed out before that I am actually well qualified in the english language, however when posting on this forum I do tend to rush along and not take as much time as I should with spelling and grammar.
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry.
But really guys, does it matter?
CullBucket - Yeah right!
You knew full well what the word meant, you're intelligent enough to realise the context in which it was said.
Don't assume that a persons spelling on this forum makes them either intelligent or not, people just want to get out what they want to say as quickly as they can and sometimes that means spelling mistakes are made, it's no big deal.
Hey porshiepoo, I was sticking up for you! So was squidge -- I think. And of course it doesn't matter. My initial ramblings about nit-picking and spelling, etc, were little more than facetious self-parody -- is that a proper word? :rolleyes:
is that a proper word?
Yes, it seems to be. (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=that) ;)
porshiepoo
16-Dec-05, 15:02
[q
uote=DrSzin]Hey porshiepoo, I was sticking up for you! So was squidge -- I think. And of course it doesn't matter. My initial ramblings about nit-picking and spelling, etc, were little more than facetious self-parody -- is that a proper word? :rolleyes:[/QUOTE]
So long as you've now seen the error of your ways! lol :D
So long as you've now seen the error of your ways! lol :D
I only wish you could, your handling of square brackets does leave a lot to be desired, you are the worst offender by far.:D
I think you should be aloud to say what you want on the topic within reason of course
I think you should be aloud to say what you want on the topic within reason of courseIts ok Astra if you write long speils and use big words, all with perfect grammar of course. If not im afraid your DOOMED.
Its ok Astra if you write long speils and use big words, all with perfect grammar of course. If not im afraid your DOOMED.
Sorry iam not the oxford english dictionary.
2little2late
09-Feb-06, 22:49
Personally I think it needs to be down a bit higher or up a bit lower.
What did you think of the Muslim who said that there was life after death,didn't think that drugs were dangerous and believed that there was life after death but the HUMAN RACE WAS INSANE BUT IT DIDN'T MATTER AS LONG AS THE SPELLING AND GRAMMAR WAS RIGHT. He got nit-picked to death!!!!!![disgust]
What did you think of the Muslim who said that there was life after death,didn't think that drugs were dangerous and believed that there was life after death but the HUMAN RACE WAS INSANE BUT IT DIDN'T MATTER AS LONG AS THE SPELLING AND GRAMMAR WAS RIGHT. He got nit-picked to death!!!!!![disgust]
LOL by a Bent cowboy too [lol]
I voted "Other" but I refuse to go "off topic" to say why! [lol]
I didn't really. I voted "Oh most wonderful Moderators, I bow to your wisdom and trust in your sense of fair play and justice!"
See, you lot, I do know how to creep when I need to! :lol:
At least doing it that way will stop any squabbling over who was right and we can all have the satisfaction of knowing it was all the fault of the Moderators.
And I never make speling mistoiks. Sometimes my fingers get muddled but more often than not it's the stupid keyboard that doesn't pay attention to what I'm thinking!
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