Discussions going off topic?

[WillowIX]

It seems to me our discussions are going off topic more often nowadays. Perhaps I am the only one to think so. I am also guilty in going off topic in discussions. What do you think? Should we perhaps try and refrain from going off topic in discussions? I believe we all approve of a witty comment in a thread, but when you see 10 posts that has noting to do with the actual topic being discussed I say we have a slight problem. So what do you think?

I also started a poll about this here. So far it seems we are averaging out at about 30-40 %, which IMO is way too high.

Note: Do not under any circumstances go off topic in my off topic debate! [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[ 05-08-2003, 05:18 PM: Message edited by: WillowIX ]

[Attalus]

But, why do you think that the Swiss bankers let the Nazis deposit funds in thier banks? Oh, sorry, were you saying something? [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[Barry the Sprout]

I think that most of the time its quite natural - if you see something coming up in a thread that you're interested in then you'll want to reply to it. People will in turn reply to that, and so on and so forth. Gradually the thread becomes a discussion on what was originally a tangential issue. I'm really not sure what the problem is, if people want to continue talking about the area of the thread thats important to them then no one is stopping them.

I understand though that quite a lot of threads go off topic because of spamming, thats a different issue as far as I'm concerned.

[Vaskez]

Personally I don't care really - unless it's a serious topic where off-topic posts disrupt the flow of the discussion.

[Stormymystic]

I agree with yu, and I tend to say something when someone goes off topic, about what they are nowtalkingabout sorry bad habit of mine, i like to talk about anything
and ATT when did they let the duck out of they egg?

[Arvon]

This rail is why the threaded form is so good. That is bcause one can see the main thread and the other topic brought up (if the titles are correct). But it doesn't bother me.

[Reeka]

I agree, Willow, I have noticed that lately myself (I am also guilty of that sometimes myself). I really do think that the "off-topic" stuff goes hand-in-glove with spamming (that I have seen alot of lately). I am guilty of that too sometimes. I mean a certain amount of "spam-like" posting is allowed in Cloudy's conversation zone, but I have lately seen entire threads that have not been posted to really say anything. I guess I am not expressing myself very well. In my opinion, getting off-topic a bit is natural and may be the out-growth of where the conversation leads, but some of it is blatantly off-topic. Just seeking information and clarification, but what do you consider "off-topic" comments in a thread? I think carrying on a personal conversation in a thread is "off-topic" and better done in pms or chat. But, I agree, Willow, it has been happening ALOT more lately.

[Aelia Jusa]

Originally posted by Barry the Sprout: I think that most of the time its quite natural - if you see something coming up in a thread that you're interested in then you'll want to reply to it. People will in turn reply to that, and so on and so forth. Gradually the thread becomes a discussion on what was originally a tangential issue. I'm really not sure what the problem is, if people want to continue talking about the area of the thread thats important to them then no one is stopping them. I understand though that quite a lot of threads go off topic because of spamming, thats a different issue as far as I'm concerned.

Yes, there's a difference between serious conversation off-topic, like in that smoking thread where communism was brought up so naturally a little aside was made about communism. Often the stuff that is tangential isn't really worth making a separate thread over either so I think it belongs in the thread it started in. And serious conversation off-topic that is just spam where someone might make a little joke and it is carried on for lots of posts after with nothing to do with the topic or even tangential. I reckon it's worse even when people who weren't participating in the original discussion add to the off-topic bits then - it's like, I couldn't add anything serious to this discussion, but I can certainly add some spam! And then non-serious conversations that go off topic - not so bad. And it depends whether the originator of the thread is participating, or comes back after starting a serious thread and finds it all spammed up, or whether the off-topic stuff is coming in when the discussion was pretty much wound up anyway.

I DON'T like the threaded system though! Ugh! [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[Reeka]

Well said, Aelia Jusa. I mean, I think people can tell when it really has gotten off-topic. And like I said, some threads are just spam machines from the get go. We are all guilty of it sometimes, but I think we should watch in, particularly in serious discussion threads. That is just inconsiderate except for an occasional joke aside but it gets right back on topic. I understand that this was a huge problem in the war forum.

[Kakero]

I personally see nothing wrong with the topic goes off topic. in fact, I love reading at them ( because this also improve my english )and would be glad to join in that thing. However, if the original thread starter specificly says no off topic discussion allowed. then there shouldn't be any off topic discussion then.

[ 05-08-2003, 08:58 PM: Message edited by: Kakero ]