Only when the OP says you can!
I would say that the video rental store lost $100.
Fighting the hypothetical has been more important than fighting ignorance here from time to time.
Or maybe you aren’t going to participate because you know you were acting like a jerk.
Your OP mentions a closed store so congrats on your failure to comply with your own rule.
moderating:
Chill. That’s not appropriate for this forum.
Adding something the OP specifically said they didn’t want to hear about either indicates an inability to read follow instructions or just rudeness and disrespect to the OP.
It’s not rude as long as the main questions was answered.
Also, just because someone is an OP of a thread does not make them supreme ruler of said thread. So fine, the OP doesn’t want to hear mention of Redboxes etc… Perhaps other participants do.
For what it is worth, while we like discussions to stay on topic, especially for a newer thread, on the SDMB the threads often go off-OP. We generally discourage hijacks that overwhelm threads, like the OP of this thread. But that was a good candidate for splitting off the post and all the replies to it.
Also, the OP does not own the thread once it is released into the wilds. (Posted).
Most of what I saw was in line with normal posting.
While I agree with your sentiment, the point of your original thread is confusing.
I was the first reply. I listed a local store, and described it. You didn’t care to respond. I guess you really did just want Yes/No responses.
So, for your original thread,
YES
Oddly, it wasn’t his thread. He was just observing a common phenomenon on message boards.
Oh, I missed that! I have no excuse!
“Is your shirt red?”
“No, it’s blue.”
“I didn’t ask you if it was blue!!”
Perfect. (I refer to post 33 by Wheelz, not the OP.)
I also think the OP saw “outrage” where there was none. The thread has gotten a little pissy now, but I see it as the result of the OP’s goading.
The funny thing is, I agree with the OP in general terms - it is amusing how often people respond to threads (not even polls, necessarily) without clearly reading the OP to be sure they understand the facts presented/the question asked. However, the example the OP has chosen to demonstrate this phenomenon doesn’t really do so.
This board is better than most in that you can get your thread-creation fee refunded when that happens. They even have at 110% guarantee, where you get back 110% of what you paid! That definitely takes helps take the sting away from having to deal with all the responses that don’t exactly follow the guidelines of the OP.
It happens fairly regularly with reports that we do at work. Only today we had someone in a minister’s office look at a report and misinterpret it. They then contacted the media unit to ask why the report was “wrong.” They checked it and couldn’t work it out and contacted the business area responsible. They couldn’t work it out so they contacted us. And we pointed out that, the plain text note that has always been provided above the table of data on this monthly report, explains exactly why the data appears as it does. Obviously not one person had even thought, “I wonder if the notes above this report mean anything?”
I think people are prone to just skim what they read and once they think they have the gist of it they figure they are done.
I’ve found that generally the only way Dopers will follow OP instructions is if they are put directly in the headline itself. Things that are written in the body of the OP post will generally go ignored.
A few years ago, there was a thread asking about “Reactions to Trump’s (future) death?” but it was a thread asking about how presidents and other prominent ex-leaders or heads of state would react to Trump’s death - what would the Obamas say? etc.
Guess what 70% of the replies were about? They were Dopers chiming in with posts like, “When Trump dies, I will do a happy dance!”
Often the title and body of a post are about somewhat different subjects. I like responses to either!
OP: I have a question about shotguns for home defense
hoi polloi: Enjoy these 800 comments about handguns, and another 50 about wild boars from a guy who’s really into bowhunting
Welcome to the internet.
I mean, this happens frequently here. The OP is intrigued by a specifically-defined category of trope, or TV show/movie/song, or whatever, and can’t come up with many examples, and is interested in finding more.
And so a thread is born, and at some point in that thread - sometimes in the first response! - an example that doesn’t fit shows up, and then more follow.
I see some responses above that, well, a message board is about conversations, and so any drift is just part of conversation, but I’d say if the OP was looking for something really specific, those topic-adjacent responses are like a loud side-conversation during a meeting, and the OP and others will have to figure out how annoying (or not) that really is.
Me? I do find it annoying.