I've been thinking - a not so small part of many people's discontent regarding the forums is the excessive and at times greatly inappropriate threadjacking that has been going on. I'll say it again ere somebody will point it out - I've been known to jack many a thread and I love having fun on the threads, but there are different ways of doing it and different reasons for doing it. The kind I'm talking about as excessive and inappropriate above have a few reasons, and I'm going out on a limb by stating them here even though I haven't taken part in jacking them and never would cos it's just bad form.
- Thoughtlessness: You're having fun and forget it's not your MSN or Yahoo messenger window.
- Steamrolling/dislike of threadstarter/topic: You do it simply cos you dislike the threadstarter and/or the topic, by mocking it along with your friends you make sure people don't want to post on it and the thread starter is discouraged. A longer term "goal" here is to push the thread starter down the ladder.
- We do it cos we can: As it states, they do it cos they get away with it.

The inappropriate behaviour is simply jacking a thread that's seriously meant and/or with a serious topic, ie somebody's family member or friend passing away and people go in there and turn it into an internal joke thread. And before you say "who would do THAT???", don't - it's happened.

Now to the philosophising on the topic of thread jacking:

- When is it ok?
- When is it not? (I think I answered that in at least one regard)
- Is it possible to jack your own thread, I mean should your own threads be whatever you want them to be no matter how they evolve?
- Should it be allowed to jack your own threads?
- How much thread jacking should be allowed? Once again, I'm all for having fun in a few posts on most threads but it has to stop there - if you wanna goof then created a goof thread, they don't automatically become nonsense threads just cos they're humourous.
- Have you gotten offended by people jacking one of your threads? Did you report it? If you did, what happened? If you didn't, why not?
- Do you refrain from starting threads because you know from past experience some people will set out to ruin it for you?

So, people... how do you feel about this?

Teacher said:

the better focused the topic and objective of the thread, the less likely it will get jacked

cheers!
s=v=n s+v~n(sq2) 7.

7e7e7 said:

That should be the case but often it's not so - because there are malevolent people who will jack a thread based simply on who started it or the fact that they don't like the topic. They'd jack THIS thread for many reasons but that would illustrate my point all too good and they're not dumb. Sadly enough.

7e7e7 said:

wrong!

Teacher said:

i understand, like this guy who said wrong then placed a picture of a man and his dog. clearly you explained your objectives and still this happened.

cheers!
s=v=n s+v~n(sq2) 7.

fortunately ive seen many threads start excellently, but after a fashion, the conversation denigrates and THEN the thread gets jacked. i feel then that because the thread was discussed properly from the outset, little was able to be added, therefore your answer became decidedly negative. not because the objective of the thread was firmly established to create a dialog... instead the reactive reasoning was established with an errant "wrong" with no other dialog except a picture of a man and his dog. which firmly demonstrated that that when someone is unwilling or unable to discuss anything at a higher level, yet wants to be seen as deeper... they become a conduit for their own intellectual destruction.

thank you for the splendid dog piss on my leg that gave me delightful chill from me standing in a decidedly hot area of thought.

cheers!
s=v=n s+v~n(sq2) 7.
[Edited 1/16/09 3:01am]

I do feel if I start a thread that resonates with nobody, that I can then use it as a private chat with one of my friends who feels pity on me

sometimes the thread's creator will participate in the 'jacking'. in that case i think 'jacking' is okay.

ZombieKitten said:

I agree, absolutely. Do you agree that if it actually has lead to good meaningful convo, then you shouldn't, even if it's your own thread? I think so.

XxAxX said:

..I been at the 'org' 9months..during those months i've learned as i went becuz' i didn't fully UNDERSTAND the computer-lingo....i don't really know 2 what extent my presence here has made anywhere..i respect the direction the 'org' makes...making something good in2 something better is a welcoming feeling becuz'..rejection is the most unfavorable human emotion...in the end we all here r humans and we have different ideas ....mzsexybaby

mzkqueen03 said:

I'm not sure I understand what you're saying, but I think you're saying that it's bad if you feel rejected because you get ignored or your thread gets jacked. In that case, I agree completely. If not, I have no idea what you said.

...every1 has a fear...fear of rejection is not that important 2 me...but it may 4 others...the thread-jacking was a new computer word..that i didn't quite fully understood...i found out it is use-less 2 argue....mzsexybaby

Hey Ariel honey...when you get home call me OK?

Thanks baby...











































Thread inappropriately jacked.





OK, I do it sometimes I'm sure without even meaning to. No one has ever said anything to me about it. Sometimes I catch myself and apologize. Other times I don't. I just simply don't realize it. Doesn't really bother me when people do it to me.

hokie said:

Sorta what Dimples said...

...except the Ariel honey bit

Teacher said:

If it took off, then I do everything to keep it going on topic, keep the momentum of discussion, and in it's last death throes, I don't mind if it become a free for all

ZombieKitten said:

Me either

And as Hokie says, sometimes I don't even realise I'm doing it but since I came back this time around I've found that I'm utterly tired of wading through potentially interesting threads to see the same people talking about what they did that morning, about each other's asses, etc etc and I know for a fact many others feel the same way (it's amazing what orgnotes can say ) That's why I'm talking about it now, but I kid around too - not that it has passed anybody by anyway

Teacher said:

I'm a chronic jacker, mostly unintentional, because things people say remind me sometimes of things I haven't thought about in years, totally unrelated things mostly

I started a completely serious thread about what dogs don't understand about cats but before it could get properly jacked, it got locked.

RodeoSchro said:

Get over it. How could it be serious? You're not a dog, they don't type. Get over it.

ZombieKitten said:

Steadwood said:

ZombieKitten said:

NSFW!

i usually don't even start a thread, because i don't want it to go to hell.

kimrachell said:

See? That's what I'm talking about, people being afraid of starting threads because of this shit.

...what doesn't BREAKS u..MAKES u...

..mzsexybaby

I have refrained from starting threads in the past mainly because I don't want to be ignored or ridiculed rather than have it jacked.

One type of jacking that gets right on last nerve though is when someone turns a topic into a whole load of religious or psycho-babble nonsense (hence the reason i stopped going to PM&M!) it just gets right on my tits!

...when of the main figure of the web'site has a certain life'style...it is easy 2 discuss the facts...

..mzsexybaby

this same thread pops up every few months or so. it's the nature of such a diverse public forum, forcing every topic to NEVER deviate from it's stated purpose in a forum like GD is pretty ridiculous.