How do people feel about posting off-topic? I ask because Bob said he would address the issue in the FAQs. Personally, I like it when a thread goes off at a tangent, although I appreciate that it can be inappropriate in a serious thread.
BTW, this isn't something the moderators have discussed or got any particular views on... I'm simply opening the field for debate.
I'll run a 7 day poll on this.
Off topic posting
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Guest
I voted for 'sometimes'. I think we do need a little discipline (no sniggering please) otherwise the whole thing descends into anarchy, and while I'm not averse to a bit of that it can make the forum rather difficult to follow.
Some of the best threads have been of a word association football nature, to the extent that I often have to check the subject line to remind myself what we are supposed to be discussing.
For a newbie, established forums can be a bit daunting at times. Everyone already seems to know each other and the postings are often self-referential and full of impenetrable in-jokes.
Ultimately, I think forums have a life of their own and I personally don't see this as being an issue that we are going to be heavy-handed about. We don't want to stifle people's imagination or creativity and I'm pretty sure that any attempt to enforce on-topicality would be doomed to failure. A bit of gentle encouragement on the other hand...
Some of the best threads have been of a word association football nature, to the extent that I often have to check the subject line to remind myself what we are supposed to be discussing.
For a newbie, established forums can be a bit daunting at times. Everyone already seems to know each other and the postings are often self-referential and full of impenetrable in-jokes.
Ultimately, I think forums have a life of their own and I personally don't see this as being an issue that we are going to be heavy-handed about. We don't want to stifle people's imagination or creativity and I'm pretty sure that any attempt to enforce on-topicality would be doomed to failure. A bit of gentle encouragement on the other hand...
I agree with Bob. Threads do have a life of their own. I guess every forum must be different and ours is slightly more anarchic because the only mild straitjacket is locality. Even then, it's a general discussion forum.
If this were a motorbikes website and this forum were only for carburetors then, especially if there was an off-topic or general forum, you'd be silly if you started posting about Big Brother. So if you think about it - our general discussion thread is a bit like an uber-forum with each thread its own localised forum, so the rules if any are implicit in the thread topic. Thus, the Superstore thread would probably not welcome overt flippancy, but a thread about Big Brother pretty much has "anything goes" as its subtext.
I don't think you can avoid in-jokes and people knowing each other - these things are spontaneous and are a part of the overall personality of the forum - it's exactly the same as how fads in the playground emerged one day and fizzled out the next.
The thing which I'd like to see less of (and I'm guilty of doing it myself) is topic bleed between threads - as you can end up either saying the same thing twice or, worse, missing something from one thread because you haven't read another. So my suggestion is that a newbie should be able to get the gist of a thread from reading that thread only.
If this were a motorbikes website and this forum were only for carburetors then, especially if there was an off-topic or general forum, you'd be silly if you started posting about Big Brother. So if you think about it - our general discussion thread is a bit like an uber-forum with each thread its own localised forum, so the rules if any are implicit in the thread topic. Thus, the Superstore thread would probably not welcome overt flippancy, but a thread about Big Brother pretty much has "anything goes" as its subtext.
I don't think you can avoid in-jokes and people knowing each other - these things are spontaneous and are a part of the overall personality of the forum - it's exactly the same as how fads in the playground emerged one day and fizzled out the next.
The thing which I'd like to see less of (and I'm guilty of doing it myself) is topic bleed between threads - as you can end up either saying the same thing twice or, worse, missing something from one thread because you haven't read another. So my suggestion is that a newbie should be able to get the gist of a thread from reading that thread only.
Im ambivalent and a little bit intrigued by the on-line grocery shopping debate. One worrying aspect of the trend for OLGS is lost opportunities for spotting celebrities. I wonder of the occupants of the penthhouse flats in the new building at the foot of Bath Street will opt to have their groceries delivered by one of the Supermarkets? I guess we will have to wait and see.
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Guest
Re: OFF TOPIC POSTING
Do you think her real intention was to create the Oligopoly that is now the UK milk distribution industry? The local dairies used to deliver to the schools, stopping milk for kids put more pressure on the independents to either sell up or close down. Maggie was twisted.Marya wrote: Mind you, the glorious Maggie Thatcher may have to take some of the blame. When she banned free milk in our schools she helped raise a generation without any backbone. That'll be ....em, us then?
Re: OFF TOPIC POSTING
Is that what you get when the packet's been squashed? (groan...I know, i know...It's because I'm stuck in Porty when i expected to be away up North, and have had to wait all day to find out we can't go...)Marya wrote:semi-quaver.
All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt!
-Lucy Van Pelt (in Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz)
-Lucy Van Pelt (in Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz)
and yes you are right I don't have any kids yet, though don't go galavanting as much as I'd like these days...-
Guest
There seems to be a consensus here - we're all pretty much agreed that topics have a life of their own. On the other hand... sometimes it's necessary to impose a little discipline. Or something.
I have now locked this thread as the 7 day poll has expired (and I think the debate has run its natural course).
I have now locked this thread as the 7 day poll has expired (and I think the debate has run its natural course).