A meltdown in a MPSIMS has resulted in a thread about whether restaurant servers are morons if they don’t anticipate all the potential actions of small children being moved to the Barbecue Pit.
During the meltdown, the sentiment was expressed that MPSIMS threads are only for people who sympathize with the OP; that disagreement constitutes threadshitting:
Now, Twickster has already set forth the official rule:
But what I’m wondering is whether there is some significant proportion of MPSIMS posters actually do have the expectation that when they post in that forum, that it’s threadshitting to disagree with the OP. Are there a lot of Dopers who think this should be the rule?
Oh, hell no. You want affirmation, go to an AA meeting. Disagreement belongs everywhere except maybe “Appreciation” threads. If you started a thread titled “Let’s talk about how great ‘Community’ is” and I came in and posted that the show sucked, that would be threadshitting. But if the thread is a general one, then everything (within the rules) goes. The hive mind only goes so far.
Doesn’t matter if people think it should be a rule – it’s not going to become one.
Threadshitting is defined as coming into a thread and dismissing the topic itself, for instance by telling people they are morons to be discussing the topic. Thus it’s actually a very specific behavior.
OP: I like kitties.
Threadshitting: Y’all need to get a life. Enough of these freaking kitty threads. People who like kitties are assholes.
Not threadshitting: I hate kitties and prefer ferrets.
As long as you’re responding to the topic, and do so civilly, it’s not threadshitting.
Note the “civilly” – we can zap people for “being a jerk” as necessary. If someone wrote an OP about their mother dying and another person came in and started ranting about the Mom-centrism of U.S. society, or found an old post where the OP had talked about an argument with their mother, or something, I would probably respond as a mod – not for threadshitting, but for being a jerk.
I think some posters have gotten that impression because of the tendency for mods to (correctly, I think) move “support” threads out of the Pit into MPSIMS, with a note that if they want affirmation and support, MPSIMS is the better place for it.
Some posters over-generalize that to mean that ALL MPSIMS threads must be fluffy bunnies, but that’s like saying that all fruit must be red because strawberries are red and strawberries are fruit. Logic 101 fail.
With a community as diverse as the Teeming Millions, there’s bound to be some differences of opinion.
Some just hold a different view on whatever the topic is.
Others like to play “devil’s advocate” and will argue the contrary for most anything.
There’s also some that like to bash people and situations, who enjoy harshing other people’s mellow, who get off on being antagonistic disputational [del]sacks of crap[/del] individuals.
I do believe if you get two Dopers together – any two Dopers, pretty much – you’re going to have at least three opinions.
Anyway- I do think there is sub-forum culture though. One expects a more rigorous debate without worrying about hurting feelings in GD (though of course, insults are still out) while in MPSIMS, its expected that disagreements tend to be of a more gentle nature. Not a rule, and shouldn’t be one, but a culture that has evolved.
I agree. I don’t know why there can’t be multiple points of view as long as they’re made respectfully and without being insulting. I think that Crown Prince of Irony’s expectation that people are only allowed to +1 the OP in MPSIMS is a tad unrealistic and out of line with the expectations of other members. It’s certainly not worth having a Pit-worthy meltdown over.
I think you’re putting words in the guy’s mouth. All I think he’s asking for is for people to stop turning MPSIMS threads into a fight. It does happen a lot, and it is annoying. Despite what twickster says, there doesn’t seem to be any place on this board where you can post and expect people to be civil. There are some rules of civility in that forum, but they are almost never enforced by punishing people. It’s a simple mod note or two, then a closed thread. The OP gets punished, since he can’t talk about what he wants to talk about, but the people who hijacked the thread and turned it into a fight never get anything.
The only exception I’ve seen was the one time when I was okay with someone turning it into a fight because it was clear that the OP was intentionally pushing buttons (even if he wasn’t trolling per se.)
EDIT:I also understand people who think that making sharp jokes that are intended to make the other person feel bad shouldn’t be considered civil, either. But, as I’ve been schooled before, those are a somehow necessary part of this board culture.
That’s not all he was complaining about. He also complained about people offering well-meaning advice and not letting like-minded people commiserate with each other.
Bolded parts mine.
Here he’s clearly saying if you can’t +1 the OP, then keep your irrelevant advice and opinions out of the thread. Despite his wishes, offering unsolicited advice or a different perspective is not threadshitting. Any “threadshitting” was a figment of his imagination. I’m in line with twickster’s sentiment:
And of course, there’s no excuse for directing so many “fuck you’s” to everybody. That’s not even allowed in the Pit.
If you want to know what users think, rather than what the official position is, I’d think you’d be better off opening a thread in IMHO instead. Maybe even with a poll.
(Hope I’m not threadshitting. ;))
General comment: it depends on the topic of the thread (e.g., “my grandmother died today” is a topic where we’d all expect support) and (partly) on the wishes of the OP. Note that the wishes of the OP cannot necessarily dictate the tone of the thread in all cases, but can be taken into consideration in some cases.
And it depends partly on the nature of the disagreement, both substantive and tone.
In short, like with most things here, there’s not a hard-and-fast rule.
