In another thread (which is pretty damn easy to find but shall remain linkless), you said:
Now, I believe I understand what you’re trying to say, but I’m not 100% sure. Since the way you’ve said it leaves it open to misinterpretation, I thought a clarification would be in order out here for everyone to see. It’s why I didn’t go through e-mail.
I’m sure that since you “despise” hijacking of threads, there will be some sort of repremand to those that do the hijacking. In the meantime, people can decide, as a group, which threads they don’t like and, if they hijack it enough, can get it closed by the administration. Score a point for the good guys, right?
Basically, by closing the threads, you’re not punishing the vigilante groups, you’re punishing the people that dared to start a thread that a certain group of posters decided wasn’t “SDMB worthy.” That, IMO, isn’t right.
Hmm…I said there’d be a question in here. So what is the official policy on this?
And this “common sense” thing appears to be in short supply around here sometimes. (And I was NOT directing this at Ender, or at anyone in particular for that matter. Just a general statement which I believe to be true.)
I never read the thread to which you didn’t link (and can’t do so now since I don’t know which one it is) but I’ll take a stab at reading Lynn’s mind…
Often there are threads started that seem to be trolling. An example might be if somebody new to the boards started a pit thread “SDMB users are stupid” or something like that. It is quickly recognized by most for what it is and often people will reply with things like “butter” or “canteloupe” to show that they hold no regard for the OP. Somebody else might post a reply of “Did anybody watch Family Guy last night?” to which others might reply. This might be the “hijack” to which LB referred. All of the posts serve to remove attention from the OP, when in fact, they keep bumping the thread and cause more people to read it (Which is what the OP wanted). This becomes not only useless, but counter productive.
My good friend (actually, I’ve never met him) Triskadecamus (where the heck is he, anyway) once made a neat little post in such a thread stating that ignoring someone is quite different from changing subjects or other such sidetracking i.e.; to tell someone that you are ignoring them is to pay some bit of attention to them. This holds true for DNFTT replies.
In cases such as my above example, the best thing would be for people who read the OP to move on and not reply. Within short order the tread will die on page 2. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to communicate this to other readers without posting this, which would be paying attention, etc.
Perhaps this is what is behind Lynn’s post (or perhaps not).
Spritle, you’re right in what you thought the thread was about. That’s the reason I left it linkless. That I agree with the viewpoint of the hijackers does not mean I condone their methods. Which, I believe, Lynn was getting at. But I can’t be certain.
And it’s not hard to imagine a few “slippery slope” scenarios here:
Newer people to the boards see older posters hijacking threads to talk about bananas. They think it’s funny and/or acceptable, and they start doing it in threads too. Suddenly everyone’s hijacking and no one even knows why! Need an example of this? Hi Opal!
The posters who currently are hijacking threads start to feel this is acceptable practice and start branching off into other subjects they feel are also acceptable for them to hijack. And I can’t say with 100% certainty that this isn’t happening right now. I’m not about to go searching through every thread, but I’ll bet some legitimate threads have already been hijacked this way.
Oh, you hijacked my thread? Wait until you see what I do to yours! Clique warfare ensues.
If this double posts, I’m sorry in advance. It’s been in limbo now for half an hour. A new world record!
Spritle has it just about nailed. I’ll probably be handing out warnings if people are doing hijacks for the sake of getting threads closed. Up til now, I’ve been pretty easygoing about keeping threads open, no matter HOW they run. I’ve only closed a few threads. But now we’ve got people who are feeding the trolls almost immediately.
Hibbins, I despise sports. Just so you know.
Sublight, the official policy of this message board is “Don’t piss Lynn off!” Ed actually posted something to that effect once. Ed, TubaDiva, and C K Dexter Haven are all sweet, forgiving people. I’m not.
Right now, there’s no official policy on how to handle hijacked threads. I haven’t even discussed it with the other moderating staff. If it needs to be discussed, I’ll discuss it, but I think that it’s mainly a Pit problem.
This is a policy that I don’t agree with and would take issue with. I think it could be argued both ways.
HOWEVER, since I don’t own the board and since I fully support those who run it, I shall bite my tongue. I made my case in the thread in question and if Lynn is not satisfied by the argument, then that is her perogative. The judge’s decision is final.
You will not see me engaging in this kind of comment on the OP again.
The OP in troll threads is not just looking for replies to his thread, but specifically for replies to his post. Some very interesting discussions have evolved from these threads.
However, I will accept the opinion of our beloved Vera Lynn. Word is bond.
Seeing as I argued about this very same issue only a few weeks ago, I have just one thing to say, “Alright Lynn!”
Now, admittedly, I argued for different reasons than are listed here, but still, it’s nice to see it irritates others as much as it does me… and by an administrator no less.
I’m kinda offended. I don’t have to witness an older poster pulling a hijack to decide I want to do one, too! I can think of it myself, thankyouverymuch. Just because I’m not an old poster doesn’t mean I can’t think of my own stupid things to do! Sheesh!
I’ve always wanted to ask where “Hi, Opal!” came from, but I’m afraid that if I do, someone old will do the whole “You stupid new person, that’s what the Search function is for” routine and I’ll be left cringing with my tail in between my legs. So I’ll go hit :search: and tie up the server for a bit.
I find it amusing Lynn hates sports so. And I think she should probably discuss it with other Mods, just to get that whole collective thought process going on so that an actual policy gets made, though a case-by-case policy would probably be best.
Ed actually posted something to that effect once. Ed, TubaDiva, and C K Dexter Haven are all sweet, forgiving people. I’m not.