# Hijacking **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [February 4, 2018, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hijacking/808147 "2018-02-04T03:09:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2018, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hijacking/808147/21 "2018-02-04T18:21:32Z")
Tangential conversations are allowed. I don’t see any way it can be stopped without completely stifling all conversation. Hijacking a thread with another related or unrelated topic is not allowed. The line between tangential conversation and hijacking is not bright and can not be completely defined. It will be moderated differently in each forum and it will be driven by context. GQ will probably be more strict. MPSIMS not so much. I have not see an increase in either complaints of hijacks or complaints of junior modding. The OP does not own the thread. They can not moderate a thread just because they started it. They can make attempts to keep a thread on track with suggestions or clarifications of their intent. If they see a rule being broken they should report it. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2018, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hijacking/808147/22 "2018-02-04T19:52:56Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > How was that a “hijack”, though? He made a claim, but was either unwilling or unable to back it up. > > Providing a legitimate citation to the contrary is not a hijack, in my opinion. About half a dozen posters, including me, took that thread about the Amazon health care consortium into a more general discussion about UHC and the failures of the current private-insurance model. Whether that could be considered a “hijack” or a natural and legitimate evolution of the discussion is a matter of opinion. The OP seemed to be fine with it until you came along. Your contribution was to ridicule the idea that there was anything wrong with the current system, and then somehow get caught up in a digression about whether or not insurance plans paid for flu shots, as if that proved your point. That was when the OP gently called you out for the hijack. > [@D\_Anconia](#): > > There seems to be a growing problem with people confusing anecdotes and opinions with facts. > > That may be fine in the Mundane forum, but it my opinion, it shouldn’t be allowed in GQ/GD/Elections. If your claim is that insurance plans always cover a certain service, and a poster has personal experience with many instances where they don’t, that isn’t an “anecdote”, it’s proof that you’re wrong. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2018, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hijacking/808147/23 "2018-02-04T21:38:11Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > Sometimes it can be a bit difficult to tell if someone is asking or commanding. The latter can get you in trouble for junior modding, so in general the best thing to do is report the post and let us mods sort out whether we think it’s a hijack or not and if we think any action is necessary in the thread to keep it on track. I agree with everything you’ve said. The problem is, as I see it, that a poster’s cries of “stop hijacking this thread” _comes across_ as junior modding, and it’s often not moderated as such. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2018, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hijacking/808147/24 "2018-02-04T21:39:53Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Why do you assume that your opinions are facts? Where have I done that? ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2018, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hijacking/808147/25 "2018-02-04T21:46:04Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > If your claim is that insurance plans always cover a certain service, and a poster has personal experience with many instances where they don’t, that isn’t an “anecdote”, it’s proof that you’re wrong. No, that wasn’t my claim. The poster in question claimed that his family’s ACA insurance didn’t cover flu immunizations. I posted a cite to [healthcare.gov](http://healthcare.gov) that showed said immunizations are covered 100%, without a copay. I did not accuse him of lying. Maybe he was uninformed, maybe he misunderstood something, or heck, maybe he was ripped off by the provider. Which is more authoritative, the government website, or one random person’s anecdote on the internet? ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2018, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hijacking/808147/26 "2018-02-04T21:47:15Z")
> [@colibri](#): > > no. iswydt. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2018, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hijacking/808147/27 "2018-02-04T22:09:18Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > No, that wasn’t my claim. The poster in question claimed that his family’s ACA insurance didn’t cover flu immunizations. I posted a cite to [healthcare.gov](http://healthcare.gov) that showed said immunizations are covered 100%, without a copay. > > I did not accuse him of lying. Maybe he was uninformed, maybe he misunderstood something, or heck, maybe he was ripped off by the provider. > > Which is more authoritative, the government website, or one random person’s anecdote on the internet? [Grandfathered plans don’t.](https://www.healthedeals.com/articles/does-my-health-insurance-cover-flu-shots) > [@](#): > > Check with your health insurance plan to verify it will pay for flu vaccines. While major medical health insurance plans sold on and away from the Health Insurance Marketplace are required to include certain free preventive services, such as flu shots, other health plans may not. For instance, grandfathered health plans are not required to do so.6 When in doubt, call your carrier’s member services department to confirm your health benefits. [CDC](https://www.cdc.gov/flu/toolkit/long-term-care/aca.htm#insurance-plans) > [@](#): > > Employer-sponsored health plans that were in operation before passage of the Affordable Care Act (March 23, 2010) and that have not changed much since passage of the law are “grandfathered.” These plans are exempt from many of the new standards of the Affordable Care Act. > > Some of these grandfathered plans cover immunizations, but some do not. Check with your health insurance carrier to see if your plan covers immunizations. > > Health insurers and non-grandfathered group plans must cover preventive services, including immunizations recommended by the ACIP, without cost-sharing (such as copays and deductibles). > > In 2013, 36% of persons with health coverage through their jobs were enrolled in a grandfathered health plan, down from 48% in 2012, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s most recent Employer Health Benefits Survey. More plans are expected to lose grandfathered status over time. So was it a fact or just your opinion? ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2018, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hijacking/808147/28 "2018-02-04T23:22:56Z")
Speaking of hijacks - let’s not relitigate the underlying issues that spawned this thread. This one is about hijacks. Ironic I know. Hijacks are not a bright line assessment. We generally like to keep discussion at least semi related to a thread topic. Of course threads can develop organically and that’s okay too. What my preference is for avoiding hijacks is for folks to focus on substantive responses and disagreements, and leaving aside trial matters of little import. Like Smokey said - only you can prevent hijacks. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2018, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hijacking/808147/29 "2018-02-05T01:18:38Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > Like Smokey said - only you can prevent hijacks. Fair enough. But my question is why are accusations of hijacking not considered junior modding? ISTM, it would be with any other rule. “Stop posting personal insults outside of the Pit”. “Stop violating the standards of Fair Use”. “Stop advocating illegal actions.” All of the above would be junior modding. Somehow, though, “Stop hijacking the thread” is OK? I’m not trying to argue with you, I just don’t get the distinction. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2018, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hijacking/808147/30 "2018-02-05T01:34:02Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Fair enough. > > But my question is why are accusations of hijacking not considered junior modding? > > ISTM, it would be with any other rule. > > “Stop posting personal insults outside of the Pit”. > > “Stop violating the standards of Fair Use”. > > “Stop advocating illegal actions.” All of the above would be junior modding. > > Somehow, though, “Stop hijacking the thread” is OK? I’m not trying to argue with you, I just don’t get the distinction. I looked through the rules for GD, and I don’t see any rule against hijacking. How can someone be junior modding if they are asking another poster to stop doing something that isn’t actually against the rules? To use a similar example, some people in GD just ask a thousand questions and never actually debate anything. Others have pointed this out, do you think it is junior modding? What rule are these junior mods “enforcing?” ---
**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:** [February 5, 2018, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hijacking/808147/31 "2018-02-05T01:54:13Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Fair enough. > > But my question is why are accusations of hijacking not considered junior modding? > > ISTM, it would be with any other rule. > > “Stop posting personal insults outside of the Pit”. > > “Stop violating the standards of Fair Use”. > > “Stop advocating illegal actions.” All of the above would be junior modding. > > Somehow, though, **“Stop hijacking the thread” is OK?** I’m not trying to argue with you, I just don’t get the distinction. In the Memo thread, I think it’s important to point out that I did not tell you to stop hijacking the thread. I told you I wouldn’t continue to respond to your choice to hijack. Since you were not responding in any way to the OP, I felt this was a fair characterization of what you were doing. I also encouraged others to not respond. But I never told you or anyone else what to do, only said what I was going to do and what I hoped others would do. If that had fallen under the heading of ‘junior modding,’ I am sure an actual moderator would have let me know. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2018, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hijacking/808147/32 "2018-02-05T01:55:26Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > I looked through the rules for GD, and I don’t see any rule against hijacking. At least one GD moderator has said hijacking is a possible rules violation. > [@Jonathon Chance](#): > > And I say that, while posters may say ‘don’t hijack the thread’ it has no enforcement mechanism. **On the other hand, if I or my colleagues say it, I encourage you to listen.** ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2018, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hijacking/808147/33 "2018-02-05T02:17:01Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > At least one GD moderator has said hijacking is a possible rules violation. If a mod says it is. Got that? ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2018, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hijacking/808147/34 "2018-02-05T02:24:16Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > If a mod says it is. Got that? Yes of course. May I go around accusing other posters of personal insults, or even hate speech? The suggestion has always been to report such incidents, not respond in the thread itself. How are accusations of hijacking different? ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2018, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hijacking/808147/35 "2018-02-05T02:35:08Z")
As a matter of best practice, I generally try to avoid posting tangential replies within the first 10 responses or so. Sometimes I refrain until page 2 or 4. I ask myself, “How does my comment relate to the central question of the OP?” I also try to avoid attack via implication: if I believe that the premise of the OP falls short, I say so, rather than simply disagreeing with a sub-sub-claim. To avoid mod attention, I follow moderator instructions. But that’s just a matter of not being a jerk. ETA: Pst, D’Anconia. Hijacking isn’t a rules violation. Insults are a rules violation. Hate speech is a rules violation. Those are different things. Heck, saying something is a hijack isn’t an accusation IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2018, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hijacking/808147/36 "2018-02-05T03:12:47Z")
Yeah, that’s clear enough. Sort of. Hijacking can sometimes serve a thread and sometimes not. Whether it does is entirely in the eyes of the moderator reviewing it. A habit of hijacking threads - whether with a tangential issue or a monomaniacal focus on one particular issue - is more likely to be sanctioned because it makes clear that the hijacker is not actually interested in the topic of the thread but instead wants to derail it to serve some personal agenda. But that’s a judgement call on our parts. Insults and such? Well, no one wants to see those, do they? ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2018, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hijacking/808147/37 "2018-02-05T03:23:20Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > But that’s a judgement call on our parts. Based on what, your own politics, right? :rolleyes: There was a blatant example of a poster ignoring moderator instructions in this very thread. No action was taken. Why is that? ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2018, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hijacking/808147/38 "2018-02-05T03:31:43Z")
Jesus, more questions? ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2018, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hijacking/808147/39 "2018-02-05T03:33:31Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Jesus, more questions? Stop hijacking my thread. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2018, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hijacking/808147/40 "2018-02-05T03:37:10Z")
In my several years of experience being a moderator, posters bring out the ‘biased by politics’ thing when they know they’re in the wrong. I speak as a man who’s been accused of having socialist AND fascist politics over the course of my moderating career. So good luck with that. As for your accusation that someone’s disobeying a moderator instruction in this thread, I admit to being confused. The only instruction I see is Bone saying that this thread is not for rehashing the health care debate from the other thread. I see no one breaking that. Feel free to be more specific. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hijacking/808147.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hijacking/808147.md?page=3)