# Descriptive thread titles

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/descriptive-thread-titles/1005286>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [August 5, 2024, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/descriptive-thread-titles/1005286 "2024-08-05T19:39:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\
**Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/descriptive-thread-titles/1005286/1 "2024-08-05T19:39:35Z")

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Continuing the discussion from [Shame on you?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shame-on-you/1005278/2):

> [@Shame on you? \[Moderation in "Is Trump confused?" thread\]](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shame-on-you-moderation-in-is-trump-confused-thread/1005278/1):
>
> Seriously, “[shame on you](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1350)” for people not realizing which of the many, many topics about Trump they were in when they responded to the previous poster? I hope it was written as a joke. Clearly, as shown by how many posters didn’t realize it, it’s easy to do when you’re responding to a post.

> [@Shame on you? \[Moderation in "Is Trump confused?" thread\]](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shame-on-you-moderation-in-is-trump-confused-thread/1005278/2):
>
> The title of the thread is in big letters at the top. It’s easy to glance to see if a post is on topic or not.

This only works if the thread title is descriptive.

For example the posts above are from a thread titled only “Shame on you?” which is not descriptive enough. Shame on you for what? After reading the opening post, the thread is about posters being moderated for going off topic. I’d suggest a more descriptive title like “Off-topic moderation: Shame on you?” or “Moderator tone: Shame on you?”.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\
**Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/descriptive-thread-titles/1005286/2 "2024-08-05T20:56:35Z")

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> [@Pleonast](#):
>
> I’d suggest a more descriptive title like “Off-topic moderation: Shame on you?” or “Moderator tone: Shame on you?”.

Good idea. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it at the time! I’ll flag it for a mod (as if they don’t have enough flags).

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\
**Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/descriptive-thread-titles/1005286/3 "2024-08-05T21:02:57Z")

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Heh, I already flagged your thread. The mods encourage flags because they can’t be everywhere.

The intent of this thread is to discuss how important thread titles are to keeping threads on topic. I didn’t want to hijack your thread.

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**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\
**Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/descriptive-thread-titles/1005286/4 "2024-08-05T21:09:47Z")

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Yes, descriptive titles definitely help.

So does actually reading the OP. A lot of people just go off of the thread title without reading the OP or reading earlier posts in a longer thread. This often causes issues when the OP can’t be easily summarized within the limited character length of the thread title.

So, along the same lines, “read before posting” is another good tip.

> [@Pleonast](#):
>
> The mods encourage flags because they can’t be everywhere.

Yes, we do. Sometimes we’re a bit terse when responding to them, but that’s only because we’re probably in a hurry. We very much appreciate flags. We would rather have too many flags than too few.