When Should a Forum Thread Be Abandoned?

[Janet H]

There are two things that baffle me that are an offshoot of this subject. One is a thread that starts on a subject, gets a number (you pick the number of replies) and then goes sideways with some goofy side responses back and forth in an attempt to be humorous. They get piled on and I lose interest. Then more closely related to this will be a thread that is active where it’s a year old and one person decides to respond to it. I assume that’s what is meant when maybe a new member likes the subject and wanted to post not realizing there has been no activity in ages. I just ignore the thread in both cases so I guess that I am just doing my own filtering.

I like the idea in anything of continuous improvement however that may look in relation to the OP’s original post.

One of the best things about forums imo is the organic way new topics are started - as there seems to be a need.

Some forum have rules about this; requiring new members to search for the topic they are interested in posting about and resurrecting an existing topic. New forum users are not good at searches (and the search tools rot) and I have seen them penalized for "circumventing" these sort of rules. It's a real disservice to new user imo, but the reason some newbies post to old threads. Other times they can't figure out how to post a new thread but can figure out how to reply.


It seems to me that if a topic has been languishing for a while and it's great to start a new version of the topic. There will be new opinions offered up. Interesting discussion and lots of it is what fuels forums.

 

[audreyh1]

I must be weird because I haven't used any ignore function nor have I subjected myself to reading lots of posts about the same old thing. I cut my reading off pretty quickly.

And I assume that everybody else has pretty much put me on their ignore list anyways, so I am not expecting any responses to this post as well.

LOL!

 

[target2019]

But some threads go on and on with posters asking the same questions, and others posting the same answers over and over and over. Once a thread reaches some length, it’s understandable that a member will not read through all the background, and proceed to ask a question - that’s already been answered, maybe several times. I have most definitely been guilty of repeating myself, thinking I’m helping out a legitimate question. I am conscious of it, don’t enjoy repeating myself, and I don’t always reply - but I still repeat/restate myself way more often than I’d like (yes, I know, just stop). I can’t keep track, or I might refer back to a specific post.

It’s not a Mod or Admin responsibility to discourage posts.

So are there guidelines to appropriately avoid run on threads? Or threads that have just become too unwieldy to read through?

I trimmed your post, for brevity.


There are many ways to extend a thread (make it a run-on), add unnecessary post(s), and make the thread unwieldy.

Individual posters have their traits, and quirks. I've found that the ignore feature, for user or topic, is very helpful in cutting down the length of certain topics.

There are times when I wish topics would be closed sooner, and even deleted, but mods do eventually close threads that are running off the tracks.

 

[Rianne]

The thin line between politics and retirement must be very difficult for the moderators. I always respect when the moderators remove my posts that might be too controversial. (I think 1 or 2 that I've posted). And when emotions get in the way of my opinion, they jump on that. And they're professional in letting me know.
So, good job moderators. You keep us in line to make this a respectful forum.

One other thing, The titles of the new posts can be misleading. I've ignored a title but later read one or two posts and realized, that's an interesting subject. I wrestle with how to title a post and get across the discussion I seek.

 

[GrayHare]

I have participated in many forums like this over the years, and I have to say this is one of the most organized and well-moderated boards I've seen. Actually I can't think of one that's better.

+1

Another board I know has a strictly enforced policy of not posting as a new topic one that had been previously discussed. If you tried, your post would be promptly deleted. But this particular board had no search feature, so before posting one had to look back through years of older posts for a similar topic. Few people wanted to do that, so as you might guess the board died a slow death. Nothing new has been posted for a year.

 

[Amethyst]

Although I may dislike some posts, that alone doesn't make me "ignore" them. I can still learn from posts I don't like.

It only gets frustrating when a poster seems fixated on one set of topics and one point of view, to the point that you can actually predict when they'll jump in and what they'll say. Plus, they are too certain of their rightness to bother debating. So there's no point reading their posts, because there are no surprises, no new learning, no interesting debate, and a sour taste to boot.

Fortunately, this is really rare. In 10 years, I only have implemented two "ignores" and I'm probably on their list, too

I must be weird because I haven't used any ignore function nor have I subjected myself to reading lots of posts about the same old thing. I cut my reading off pretty quickly.

And I assume that everybody else has pretty much put me on their ignore list anyways, so I am not expecting any responses to this post as well.

 

[REWahoo]

When Should a Forum Thread Be Abandoned?

When the most accurate description of the ongoing discussion is:

Example: the "Thoughts on TESLA" thread

 

[kcowan]

When Should a Forum Thread Be Abandoned?

When the most accurate description of the ongoing discussion is:

Example: the "Thoughts on TESLA" thread

Funny I was thinking that the main problem was the vagueness of subject being the problem. The thread in question covers the stock, EVs, owners experiences, math tutorials and several skirmishes.

 

[Lakewood90712]

When Should a Forum Thread Be Abandoned?

When the most accurate description of the ongoing discussion is:

Example: the "Thoughts on TESLA" thread

I love that thread. It's like the Spy vs. Spy comic strip in Mad Magazine.

 

[pb4uski]

It ain't broke, so don't fix it.