# Discussing the original topic in ATMB **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [November 10, 2010, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussing-the-original-topic-in-atmb/560124 "2010-11-10T01:06:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussing-the-original-topic-in-atmb/560124/1 "2010-11-10T01:06:32Z")
Can we get a ruling about this? It seems to me that quite often ATMB threads about moderation in one thread turn into a continuation of that thread. It seems to me that this should not be–especially since, if the thread was moderated, tempers are already high, and people are likely to break more rules. And the original purpose of the thread may be so obfuscated as to make the thread pointless. At the very least, I would think the mods need to encourage a new thread be started about the subject in the appropriate forum. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussing-the-original-topic-in-atmb/560124/2 "2010-11-10T01:24:04Z")
And, yes, the most recent example is the thread started by Dio. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussing-the-original-topic-in-atmb/560124/3 "2010-11-10T01:55:48Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > At the very least, I would think the mods need to encourage a new thread be started about the subject in the appropriate forum. I’ve just done so, and closed the original thread. It had become hopelessly tangled between the legal debate, **Dio’s** complaint about moderation (originally started in the Pit), and other posters’ complaints about **Dio.** I think it better to try to start over. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussing-the-original-topic-in-atmb/560124/4 "2010-11-10T05:50:56Z")
I’m glad you did so to that thread, but my purpose was to hope for a more general announcement, even if it’s only a reminder of a policy already in use. It seems to take a while for those threads to get closed. If that’s because the mods aren’t around (and obviously **twickster** doesn’t count, since the thread involved her), that’s fine, but, if not, I’d like to suggest that it happen more quickly. It’s just a friendly suggestion. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussing-the-original-topic-in-atmb/560124/5 "2010-11-10T07:26:35Z")
In my experience there is such a rule, albeit unwritten. Moderators seems to regularly remind ATMB posters not to rehash the original thread. I guess putting the rule in writing wouldn’t hurt but I don’t know that it would change anything. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussing-the-original-topic-in-atmb/560124/6 "2010-11-10T07:40:12Z")
That thread lasted less than 6 hours from first post to last. OP at 2:22 PM, last post at 8:21 PM. It got a lot of traffic in a short time. That happens sometimes. I don’t see the length of time elapsed as unreasonable. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussing-the-original-topic-in-atmb/560124/7 "2010-11-10T07:48:26Z")
When my moderating is discussed in ATMB, it’s often about GD threads - sometimes ones I had to take a heavy hand in or even close because things were getting crazy. So I try to discourage people from coming to ATMB to have an argument I just asked them _not_ to have in Great Debates. I agree that the **twickster** / **Diogenes the Cynic** thread didn’t last very long, it just accumulated a lot of posts in a short amount of time. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussing-the-original-topic-in-atmb/560124/8 "2010-11-10T11:44:08Z")
Ah. I got to it late, and didn’t notice. Yeah, six hours isn’t unreasonable. But there was also another thread that did this that I remember recently. I’m too tired to search for it now. Maybe I’m naive, but I think maybe having an official pronouncement might make people hold off a little bit better. If not, what’s it hurt? ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussing-the-original-topic-in-atmb/560124/9 "2010-11-10T12:54:50Z")
We do try to keep threads on topic, whether in ATMB or elsewhere. Some asides and secondary topics are usually OK, but when things get TOO tangential, we try to pull them back. Some threads go too fast for any moderator(s) to manage; and it’s not always easy to know when something is an acceptable side-track vs completely off the rails. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussing-the-original-topic-in-atmb/560124/10 "2010-11-10T14:50:23Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > That thread lasted less than 6 hours from first post to last. OP at 2:22 PM, last post at 8:21 PM. It got a lot of traffic in a short time. That happens sometimes. I don’t see the length of time elapsed as unreasonable. I moved it, then was off the boards for a while. When I came back, it was a mess so I ended up closing it. This one was somewhat problematic in that the factual nature of **Dio’s** posts was the question at issue, so that some discussion of that might have been appropriate. However, it quickly became a full-fledged debate on the original issue, plus criticism of **Dio** that was more appropriate for the Pit. Possibly if I had gotten to it earlier it might have been possible to redirect the other discussions to other threads before it got out of hand. (But considering some of the individuals involved, probably not. ;))