# Closing a thread **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [November 24, 2003, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closing-a-thread/214952 "2003-11-24T04:46:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MyOld85MG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@MyOld85MG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyOld85MG)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closing-a-thread/214952/1 "2003-11-24T04:46:42Z")
How does a thread get closed? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closing-a-thread/214952/2 "2003-11-24T05:05:00Z")
The moderators and administrators have a set of special buttons that the regular users don’t have acess to. One of these allows them to close threads. Others allow them to move threads, merge threads, delete threads, ban users, etc. ---
**Author:** ![MyOld85MG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@MyOld85MG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyOld85MG)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closing-a-thread/214952/3 "2003-11-24T05:10:08Z")
Okay, now I know how. Thanks. So, who decides when a thread is to be closed? Is it just after a thread lies dormant for a while? Does the OP have any input into this decision? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closing-a-thread/214952/4 "2003-11-24T05:22:39Z")
For the most part, each moderator or administrator has the say on whether a particular thread gets closed or not, as I understand it. An administrator can reverse the decision of a moderator, but I’ve never seen this happen (which is not to say it hasn’t), or a moderator can change his mind and reopen a thread. In some cases, the OP can request a thread closing, but unless such a closing is merited, the mods and admins may choose to allow the thread to continue. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closing-a-thread/214952/5 "2003-11-24T05:24:36Z")
Dormant threads are not usually closed. The OP can request that a thread be closed, but there’s no guarantee that it will be. Other reasons that the mods/admins close threads: • Multiple postings of an OP • Cranky old troll threads • Spam (usually deleted) • The thread is “too stupid to live” ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closing-a-thread/214952/6 "2003-11-24T05:25:52Z")
Oh, and occasionally a Pit thread that becomes a little too vicious gets closed, as well. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closing-a-thread/214952/7 "2003-11-24T23:35:03Z")
In general, a thread will only get closed if there’s a problem of some sort in it. This can mean that the posters in the thread (especially the OP) are misbehaving, or it might mean that it’s distracting from another similar or duplicated thread, or it might mean that posters aren’t misbehaving yet, but it looks likely that they will be soon. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closing-a-thread/214952/8 "2003-11-25T01:29:36Z")
I could close this one by way of demonstration, but that would be really snarky. your humble TubaDiva Administrator Sooo tempted, though, because irony is such a big bitch. ---
**Author:** ![MyOld85MG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@MyOld85MG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyOld85MG)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closing-a-thread/214952/9 "2003-11-25T16:21:02Z")
Looks like this one is begging to be closed soon… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closing-a-thread/214952/10 "2003-11-25T18:49:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Q.E.D. \* > \*\*For the most part, each moderator or administrator has the say on whether a particular thread gets closed or not, as I understand it. An administrator can reverse the decision of a moderator, but I’ve never seen this happen (which is not to say it hasn’t), or a moderator can change his mind and reopen a thread. In some cases, the OP can request a thread closing, but unless such a closing is merited, the mods and admins may choose to allow the thread to continue. \*\* Actually, a moderator could re-open a thread closed by another mod or an admin. Generally, we don’t do such things without discussing it first, as a matter of courtesy. Lynn