# Heavy-handed hijack moderation **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [June 29, 2023, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-handed-hijack-moderation/986303 "2023-06-29T18:10:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2023, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-handed-hijack-moderation/986303/61 "2023-06-30T14:54:15Z")
I like those types of threads. Ignoring, for a moment, rules that would disallow this, I think hijacks should be allowed in that type of thread. Due to the nature of it being about a court case, information is going to come in waves. We’ll see a flurry of (related) activity for a few days, then nothing for a while, and the cycle keeps repeating. Letting people have side discussions during the down time, IMO, helps to keep the momentum up. I find those threads more enjoyable than some of the other long running threads that can go a week or two between posts. I understand it would be difficult to moderate the hijacks. The issue I see with someone starting the thread in when of the other forums that might take a more lenient approach when it comes to hijacks is that there’s a good chance it’ll just get moved back to P&E and P&E rules will apply. We’ve seen that happen in the past when people ask for their thread to remain in one forum, but it gets moved and becomes harder for them to get an answer. I’ve seen this happen with questions that, while strictly factual in nature, happen to be about sports so it’s off to the game room. It also happens when someone attempts to start a civil discussion about a controversial topic and it gets moved to the pit. Could we come up with a way where someone can start a thread in the ‘wrong’ forum based on subject matter, but correct forum based on the type of thread and allow it to stay there and be modded as such? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2023, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-handed-hijack-moderation/986303/62 "2023-06-30T16:46:57Z")
A parallel hijackable thread could run. It was have to be clear from the start what it was. Probably in IMHO or the Pit. It would have say “parallel hijackable thread”\* right in the Title or I could add a new tag if this got popular. The OP should linkback to the main thread. We really don’t want omnibus threads in P&E or GD also. Apparently these caused problems in the past and I recall at least one in recent years we allowed for a while and it got ugly. Overall we usually moderate or close these. \* Or something else very obvious. I’m no wordsmith. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2023, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-handed-hijack-moderation/986303/63 "2023-06-30T17:01:39Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I like those types of threads. Ignoring, for a moment, rules that would disallow this, I think hijacks should be allowed in that type of thread. Due to the nature of it being about a court case, information is going to come in waves. We’ll see a flurry of (related) activity for a few days, then nothing for a while, and the cycle keeps repeating. Letting people have side discussions during the down time, IMO, helps to keep the momentum up. I find those threads more enjoyable than some of the other long running threads that can go a week or two between posts. Even though I’ve been noted and even once warned for hijacking P&E, I don’t like the hijacks. (I’ve never done it intentionally either, it can be hard sometimes to tell what’s a hijack and what’s a humorous take on a relevant topic, I think both posters and mods get that wrong on occasion.) I don’t think it’s essential to keep momentum going. If a topic is quiet, let it fall a bit. It will show back up when something new happens. I agree with those who get annoyed if an important topic suddenly has a lot of posts in a short time, and you get excited to see what the new development is, and it’s nothing. It’s just people babbling about something irrelevant. I agree with moderation to curb that too. I just disagree on the details at times, especially this last time. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2023, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-handed-hijack-moderation/986303/64 "2023-06-30T19:05:34Z")
FTR – I was also one of the naughty kids & I applaud the mods for their tireless efforts in keeping us on track. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2023, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-handed-hijack-moderation/986303/65 "2023-06-30T19:21:20Z")
Thank you for the summation. I would argue that every set of rules would benefit from its own forum, regardless of the absolute numbers. (that would mean the end of P&E and QZ, and a new “retweeting the news” forum) Now the rules of P&E are a little weird, an ongoing “Trumps Trials and Tribulations” thread with a myriad of hijacks (which wouldn’t be funny elsewhere) is moderated as a breaking news thread, even when there hasn’t been all that much news – any news reported there is (almost by definition) a hijack, the jokes about the tangental news are almost more on topic than the news reports posted. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2023, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-handed-hijack-moderation/986303/66 "2023-06-30T19:24:44Z")
> [@The\_Librarian](#): > > “retweeting the news” Alas, those of us who killed our Twitter accounts have found we can no longer follow a link to read a tweet. Instead, we get sign-up links. Links to tweets are going to need summaries. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2023, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-handed-hijack-moderation/986303/67 "2023-06-30T21:04:52Z")
It was ment as a glib description of “breaking news” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2023, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-handed-hijack-moderation/986303/68 "2023-06-30T22:49:27Z")
> [@susan](#): > > Instead, we get sign-up links. Just a quick note, as this is off-topic: You can X right out if those sign-up links. You might need to press Register to get to the close-able window, but you can definitely read and navigate Twitter without an account. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-handed-hijack-moderation/986303/69 "2023-07-01T20:18:51Z")
And another bit of fun crushed beneath the jackbooted heel of @Aspenglow. > [@FBI Search and Seizure at Trump's Mar-A-Lago Residence (August 8, 2022)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022/969329/6637): > > At the end of the tape, trump calls for a round of Cokes. I’m gonna guess they all drank their Cokes dutifully, regardless of what they would rather be drinking. If trump wants a Coke, the whole world wants Cokes. > [@FBI Search and Seizure at Trump's Mar-A-Lago Residence (August 8, 2022)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022/969329/6638): > > And he made them pay for them. > [@FBI Search and Seizure at Trump's Mar-A-Lago Residence (August 8, 2022)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022/969329/6639): > > How else would they get them from the vending machine? > [@FBI Search and Seizure at Trump's Mar-A-Lago Residence (August 8, 2022)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022/969329/6640): > > Hijacking. @Johnny_L.A and @Son_of_a_Rich, you engage in this regularly. Warnings next time. Just for clarification, are we to conclude that all jokes at Trump’s expense are forbidden in the thread? ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-handed-hijack-moderation/986303/70 "2023-07-01T20:32:03Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Just for clarification, are we to conclude that all jokes at Trump’s expense are forbidden in the thread? You must have missed this when I posted it yesterday: > [@Aspenglow](#): > > Lesson learned: I have over the past couple of months moderated hijacks more lightly in the hope that posters would self-police and get back on track without intervention. The hijacking got worse. _I’ll be moderating hijacks in GD/P&E more strictly going forward._ I’m not speaking for what co-mods will do. These are the rules. Please make off-topic jokes in forums that permit them. Jokes that are on topic are permitted, but those are few and far between in the thread about which you’re complaining. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-handed-hijack-moderation/986303/71 "2023-07-01T20:45:47Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > > [@MulderMuffin](#): > > > > > [@Akaj](#): > > > > > > When I see there are suddenly 25 new posts in the FBI search thread, my first thought is there must be breaking news about Trump’s upcoming trial and I eagerly jump in. It’s a little disappointing to see that all the new posts are just people goofing on something stupid he said. > > > > This is my position on the matter exactly. > > Same. A couple jokes are fine. A repetitive riff that adds dozens of posts in short order to a thread that’s supposed to be devoted to a major evolving news story is annoying. I broadly agree with the moderator action here. Exactly. I opened the Trump thread right away because I saw that there had been a dozen posts within a few minutes, and I thought something major had happened with respect to the court case. Instead, jokes. Fully agree with @Aspenglow 's approach. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-handed-hijack-moderation/986303/72 "2023-07-01T20:54:27Z")
Yet another vote of appreciation. A joke or two is fine. Lightens the day. Allowing the thread to be a series of Trump insults that add nothing other than the insult is where it gets eye rolling. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-handed-hijack-moderation/986303/73 "2023-07-01T20:55:02Z")
I’m okay with the Coke moderation, it was definitely a hijack. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-handed-hijack-moderation/986303/74 "2023-07-01T20:55:12Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Fully agree with @Aspenglow 's approach Seconded. I get tired of “yuk yuk yuk” in threads that may have interesting information about important stuff. That thread is an example. ---
**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:** [July 1, 2023, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-handed-hijack-moderation/986303/75 "2023-07-01T21:14:46Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > These are the rules. Please make off-topic jokes in forums that permit them. Jokes that are on topic are permitted, but those are few and far between in the thread about which you’re complaining. ⁢ I do not see how there is a clear difference. The Coke joke was about something Trump said that was linked in the thread. That seems on-topic to me. I can see modding the hijack, because the subsequent posts went afield. But you said you were going to start Warning people, rather than the usual way you deal with hijacks (which is just to note them and recommend they be taken elsewhere). So it seems like the only way to avoid punishment is to avoid jokes altogether. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-handed-hijack-moderation/986303/76 "2023-07-01T21:18:48Z")
But every comment by Trump is not germane to the subject of the thread. Trump says inane stuff all the time. Him ordering cokes is not part of the process of his prosecution and/or defense to the charges mounted in the Mar-A-Lago documents case. Posters who engage in serial hijacks and who have been regularly mod-noted for them will receive warnings because at that point, the poster is deliberately ignoring moderator instructions. We warn for that all the time. ETA: I’m going to also point out that I moderate very few threads for hijacking except threads that have a narrow focus. If you review threads in P&E and/or GD, you’ll find that probably fewer than half a dozen are moderated regularly for hijacking. I moderate within the intended scope of a thread. If the subject is broad (but not an omnibus, which we don’t allow), I’m fine with that. But where the scope is narrow, it’s different. The rules require that we stop hijacking, and I’m going to continue to do that until or unless the rules change. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-handed-hijack-moderation/986303/77 "2023-07-01T23:01:29Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > Him ordering cokes is not part of the process of his prosecution and/or defense to the charges mounted in the Mar-A-Lago documents case. This is exactly the reason I thought it was a hijack. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-handed-hijack-moderation/986303/78 "2023-07-01T23:16:52Z")
Every time the subject of moderation comes up, I say this, so I guess I’ll say it again: one of the things (maybe the most important thing next to the high level of intelligence of the community at large) that makes this board such a great place to hang out is the diligent and sensible moderation. I’ve been on boards where moderation was scant and/or haphazard and the whole thing just deteriorated into a shitshow. On one there was virtually no moderation at all-- when I asked about this, people replied that the mods “didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.” 🙄 Well, as we’ve seen, sometimes you have to draw a line. And yeah, people get pissed. And there can be a civil discussion. And participants on either side can change their minds. Or not. All good. The mods don’t get paid-- at least I think they don’t. _(Maybe a frozen turkey at Thanksgiving? That’s what our annual “bonus” used to be at one place I worked.)_ That’s not a reason to refrain from challenging a mod, but it is something to keep in mind before handing out a boatload of grief or taking some ruling personally. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-handed-hijack-moderation/986303/79 "2023-07-01T23:25:07Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > The mods don’t get paid-- at least I think they don’t. I haz a mug!! ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-handed-hijack-moderation/986303/80 "2023-07-01T23:29:53Z")
A turkey at Thanksgiving, with one of Slug’s drawings of Cecil as a turkey with a mortarboard on the wrapping, would be an appropriate recognition for the mods. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-handed-hijack-moderation/986303.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-handed-hijack-moderation/986303.md?page=5)