CarrieMpls said:

Please ... I too have read this thread and am not quite sure what yur point is

this thread is very off topic

Mach said:

Yeah

luv4u said:

Did you see how I spelled "your"

Mach said:

ohhhh wait..... you want me to "correct" it

luv4u said:

Due to the controversey in Music and More regarding stickies,a forum topic here in site discussion was started, to feel out orgers and vote yes or no on the subject.
With one responder, continued potshots were made toward the moderator along with expounding on site improvements. (repy #31)
My point is: Start another forum topic on changes perceived to be made.
If you have a problem with a mod, take it up with Ben.Not go from one forum to another pursuing personal conflicts.
From the posts I viewed in both Forums, the behavior was inappropriate, malicious and had bad intent.

People always tend to go off topic and it's not a problem. IN THIS case there was more to it if you followed the whole thing.

I make fun of myself, and my age,(52) often, and others have in a good natured way. During a debate with opposing views, such as on this forum, I recognize mean spiritedness.
[Edited 7/25/07 9:33am]

Doesn't anyone else have an experience, where someone has veered off in a bad way?

I did go on and on about the hubby's ex once , who belonged to a religious cult, and would come over to use the pool, so I posted myself naked on the diving board tanning whiteparts to get her out of my hair.....It got edited by a mod (and the ploy worked with the ex )
I can see why it got edited.
[Edited 7/25/07 17:58pm]

huh?

anyhoo...please keep in mind that ian did create a thread to discuss his opinion and that thread was locked and replaced by the poll thread...at that time the poll thread was ian's only option to communicate his concerns.

also, im going to repeat what i previously said: Just because someone is polling folks within a thread it doesn't mean that discussion is not allowed. ian had every right to expand on his thoughts within that thread...were his comments rude? probably...was he unfairly going after june7? perhaps...but due to the nature of the job we mods expect getting heat from time to time...

you know, i'd say it's healthy for the community when we mods allow folks to vent...sure, constant bashing isn't tolerated but ian's comments weren't that extreme and he isn't rehashing the issue to death...and from the looks of it everybody has kinda moved on already...well, most everyone.

fromnowtonotedit...
[Edited 7/25/07 16:40pm]

Does anyone else have any other experiences with a forum going off topic....New incidences.....

xplnyrslf said:

Almost every single thread goes off topic at some point. Is that really a big deal? It certainly isn't to me.

I'm talking about "unusual circumstances". Atypical. For example, MY case, on the ex got edited, and I was long winded and off topic. I was OK about it.

In the history of the org, when has a poster gone to the point of needing to be edited? Surely, someone here can come up with funny stories, serious stories. I just did, and I agree with being edited.

Mach said:

Misspellings are insignificant to the message...not that it stops me.
[Edited 7/26/07 5:14am]

xplnyrslf said:

having read this whole thread...
imho, a thread goes off topic when a) the subject of discussion is not related to the thread title, or gist of the thread
that being said, sometimes a thread has a flow..like a dinner conversation. You start out by talking about how good the wine is, and that leads to a discussion on a trip to the wine country, which evolves into a discussion about airfares..
In the case of a poll type thread, I feel that it becomes off topic when the post in not related to said poll question.
Personal attacks in ANY thread is off topic. That however has to take into account a margin of gentle ribbing, or teases.

sosgemini said:

I agree

Mach said:

This is at an impasse. Feel free to lock this thread anytime.
[Edited 8/1/07 9:17am]

sosgemini said:

No, it wasn't.... and the orger doesn't seem to be timid about much.
NOW we can move on.....

xplnyrslf said:

are you still going on about this? my lord...

When does a forum go "off topic"?

I just must be misunderstanding the meaning behind the question (s)

Mach said:

The subject of a thread. I knew what I meant.

The topic posted in a forum (gd, m&m, assoc artists etc), by a poster, for discussion.
When one clicks on a forum,all those little phrases one can click on, and read input from others regarding that topic.
Are sometimes made into stickies.....
Those things. What's a better way to word it, that would help?
(At my age, I'm lucky to have gotten this far with a computer.)

"Off Topic" in general, where intervention is needed:
Not related to the subject at hand and sometimes a behavioral problem.
[Edited 8/2/07 20:09pm]

sosgemini said:

I missed this the 1st time around....
Chances are, if you ignore me, I'd shut it. No one to debate with.

Then again, I could re-read it another time, and find some new annoyance, and with your posts, it's not hard.....

xplnyrslf said:

Oh

well threads go off topic - 99% of the time
and within forums there can also be threads off the forums main topic as well

just the nature of the beast that is open human conversation

most threads would bomb and die quick without the offbeat comments to spread out the topic and keep people interested

even thread polls are going to do this as most see reason to debate the whys and what nots of every aspect possible and when you are questioning someone about what they think or feel on a subject they are going to talk about it not just answer the question unless it's a controlled poll

There is really little one can do about it - lock a thread on the 1st post that strays off topic - well 90 % or more of the threads would be locked 1/2 way through the 1st page every day then

Mach said:

I'm OK with a thread going off topic, until the behavior is problematic.
I'm an observer. It's up to the mods on this site to objectively see the difference.
The diplomacy of the mod involved in the circumstances I described, should be applauded.
[Edited 8/3/07 20:05pm]