# The Omnibus Pit Thread Omnibus Pit Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 18, 2015, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-omnibus-pit-thread-omnibus-pit-thread/728135 "2015-08-18T01:56:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-omnibus-pit-thread-omnibus-pit-thread/728135/1 "2015-08-18T01:56:53Z")
> [@Has board traffic gone down significantly?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-board-traffic-gone-down-significantly/727820/19): > > I believe that part of this Board’s decline in traffic, a very small (but non-zero) part, is a result of the rise of so-called ‘omnibus threads’ in the Pit. > > Before such threads became a staple - actually, they’re more like a fixture now - of the Pit, I would occasionally participate in various RO, ‘corrupt cops’, ‘stupid gun’, etc., threads. I even started a few of my own. > > But I’ll be damned if I’m going to wade through hundreds or thousands of posts to see if what I’d like to say or post has already been mentioned. Maybe more importantly, there’s no longer much incentive to add to the thread since anything I say will get lost in the crowd. And, unless I actually go through the effort of opening a new thread, with the specific topic of my derision in the title, no one who’s scanning the Pit page will even know that I’ve tried to add something new. > > Just one example: unless I’m mistaken, there were no Pit threads opened regarding the tragic case of Sandra Bland. OTOH, I will assume (but admit that I can’t be certain) that there’s a ‘Pit-type’ discussion of her traffic stop and death somewhere to be found in the omnibus thread entitled, “[Controversial encounters between law-enforcement and civilians - the omnibus thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=736919)”. Even if not, I’m sure you get my point - in the absence of the omnibus thread, it’s a pretty safe bet that a Pit thread (or three) would have been started about her. > [@Has board traffic gone down significantly?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-board-traffic-gone-down-significantly/727820/21): > > Obviously, omnibus Pit threads need to be pitted. Okay; here it is! Mind you, I think the Omnibus threads serve a good purpose, since I don’t think we need a new thread every fucking time some fucking Republican says something fucking stupid or every time a cop shoots someone who didn’t clearly need shooting, etc. But hey, this isn’t about what I think. This is **Karl** ’s place to shine, to really dig in and bitchslap Omnibus Pit Threads back into Single Topicland… if he can. (Whoooooooo…!) In closing: Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo. Harrumph. ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-omnibus-pit-thread-omnibus-pit-thread/728135/2 "2015-08-18T01:59:47Z")
I never read them. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-omnibus-pit-thread-omnibus-pit-thread/728135/3 "2015-08-18T04:37:39Z")
I don’t get it. What exactly is preventing someone from making a new Pit thread on, say, Sandra Bland? Who’s going to yell at you to take it to the omnibus thread that a normal, everyday user started, probably to point out the scope of the problem by the sheer volume (as with the Stupid Republican Idea of the Day thread)? A mod? I don’t think so. On the other hand, it seems that the arguments on said omnibus thread, especially from the, ah, pro police side, are the same every time, so maybe the omnibus thread has a point after all… ---
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-omnibus-pit-thread-omnibus-pit-thread/728135/4 "2015-08-18T07:53:12Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > /…/ I don’t think we need a new thread every fucking time some fucking Republican says something fucking stupid or every time a cop shoots someone who didn’t clearly need shooting, etc. /…/ I would actually prefer that. I almost never read super long omnibus threads, in any forum. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-omnibus-pit-thread-omnibus-pit-thread/728135/5 "2015-08-18T09:53:03Z")
I don’t care for them either. Who wants to wade through several different topics, over months and months and dozens of pages? ---
**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:** [August 18, 2015, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-omnibus-pit-thread-omnibus-pit-thread/728135/6 "2015-08-18T12:19:06Z")
My name is **Northern Piper** and I approve of this Pitting. Omnibus threads are useless for a proper debate on particular cases. ---
**Author:** ![DadWagonDriver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@DadWagonDriver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DadWagonDriver)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-omnibus-pit-thread-omnibus-pit-thread/728135/7 "2015-08-18T15:44:58Z")
Yeah, I’m on board with this as well. The omnibus threads are just too overwhelming, and I think they’ve contributed to the decline of the board. There’s not even a page 2 in The Pit anymore! ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-omnibus-pit-thread-omnibus-pit-thread/728135/8 "2015-08-18T18:51:21Z")
I like 'em… in the sense that it saves me time wasting here. Ain’t nobody got enough hours in the day (or brain cells left to kill arguing with the same bot over and over again) to squander that way. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-omnibus-pit-thread-omnibus-pit-thread/728135/9 "2015-08-18T19:28:02Z")
Omnibus threads are not worth the bother of reading. And it is not just the self described omnibus threads. Any thread that reaches more than 5 pages is not worth wading into. The original point or question of the OP has long been forgotten and we are left with 4 or 5 posters arguing minutia related to their political or personal opinions. Many times the same 5 people arguing with the same 5 people. Over and over and over again. First page of a new post, I will read. Second page too. By the 4th page I just skip to the last post and see how badly the thread has devolved. You will see that the posters from the first couple of pages have dropped off and you will find the same posters with the same locked-in political views, saying the same fucking things. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-omnibus-pit-thread-omnibus-pit-thread/728135/10 "2015-08-18T19:46:05Z")
> [@DadWagonDriver](#): > > Yeah, I’m on board with this as well. The omnibus threads are just too overwhelming, and I think they’ve contributed to the decline of the board. There’s not even a page 2 in The Pit anymore! There used to be. It got thrown down the quarry. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-omnibus-pit-thread-omnibus-pit-thread/728135/11 "2015-08-18T21:31:14Z")
Like I said, there’s a really simple solution: post the damn threads you want to see. Nobody’s going to stop you. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-omnibus-pit-thread-omnibus-pit-thread/728135/12 "2015-08-18T22:58:27Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > Any thread that reaches more than 5 pages is not worth wading into. 99.9% of threads are not worth even reading at all ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-omnibus-pit-thread-omnibus-pit-thread/728135/13 "2015-08-18T23:31:10Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > Ain’t nobody got enough hours in the day (or brain cells left to kill arguing with the same bot over and over again) to squander that way. Instead, you get pages by the dozen arguing with bots like **FXMastermind** , **Lumpy** , and **adaher**. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-omnibus-pit-thread-omnibus-pit-thread/728135/14 "2015-08-18T23:42:17Z")
That escalated quickly ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-omnibus-pit-thread-omnibus-pit-thread/728135/15 "2015-08-19T00:01:43Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > Omnibus threads are not worth the bother of reading. > > And it is not just the self described omnibus threads. Any thread that reaches more than 5 pages is not worth wading into. The original point or question of the OP has long been forgotten and we are left with 4 or 5 posters arguing minutia related to their political or personal opinions. Many times the same 5 people arguing with the same 5 people. Over and over and over again. > > First page of a new post, I will read. Second page too. By the 4th page I just skip to the last post and see how badly the thread has devolved. You will see that the posters from the first couple of pages have dropped off and you will find the same posters with the same locked-in political views, saying the same fucking things. I’m not much for GD or especially the Pit. But IMO \*\*Dallas Jones \*\*nailed it. I don’t care whether omnibus threads exist or not. But if a poster wants to reach the audience that shares **Dallas** ’ and my views on them, don’t waste your bytes in omnibus threads. Or any long thread really. I will read into the 3rd page if I’ve been following along. But I’m not opening a 4+ page thread that I’ve just noticed, or that appeared overnight like some malignant mushroom. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-omnibus-pit-thread-omnibus-pit-thread/728135/16 "2015-08-19T10:40:47Z")
I’m much more a Dope reader than a poster, and I agree with the anti-omnibus crowd. The SRIotD thread was a good idea to keep track of a lot of minor things that keep happening, but each individual one wasn’t worth a thread. However when a Republican says something **really** stupid it deserves its own thread to attract my attention, same with the subject of all the other omnibus threads. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-omnibus-pit-thread-omnibus-pit-thread/728135/17 "2015-08-19T11:07:08Z")
There are exactly four omnibus threads on the front page of this forum. One deals with common, minor (I assume) gripes, which is why I assume no one was complaining about it. Why all the hand wringing? What is the huge issue here? Are you all just assuming people are too afraid or too lazy to consider major issues that deserve their own thread? It’s not like any of them were created by mod fiat, so the issue is… peer pressure… that no one is exerting directly… I guess…? ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-omnibus-pit-thread-omnibus-pit-thread/728135/18 "2015-08-19T11:47:49Z")
Omnibus/perpetual threads suck shit. They just condense down to a handful of posters shooting the shit or bickering back and forth and make the board insular and intimidating to any potential new posters. Someone new shouldn’t be screamed at to to sift through a 900 page umbrella thread before posting anything. They are _literally_ the cancer which is killing message boards. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-omnibus-pit-thread-omnibus-pit-thread/728135/19 "2015-08-19T13:12:47Z")
There are a few that are perfect for me. [The Great Ongoing Guitar Thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=550219) is a treasure of information and advice For guitar players. 83 pages long but contains a really nice archive of advice and experiences from some of the boards most gifted musicians. I have it on speed dial 😃 ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-omnibus-pit-thread-omnibus-pit-thread/728135/20 "2015-08-19T14:41:12Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > There are exactly four omnibus threads on the front page of this forum. One deals with common, minor (I assume) gripes, which is why I assume no one was complaining about it. > > Why all the hand wringing? What is the huge issue here? Are you all just assuming people are too afraid or too lazy to consider major issues that deserve their own thread? It’s not like any of them were created by mod fiat, so the issue is… peer pressure… that no one is exerting directly… I guess…? You do realize that, just like you’re urging others to post separate topics if they are interested in a subject already covered in an omnibus thread, you can by the same token post IN an omnibus thread all to your heart’s content? Just because some don’t like them and are grousing over them, it really has no impact on you and how much you DO like them or wish to participate in them, right? Why so much hand-wringing from your end? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-omnibus-pit-thread-omnibus-pit-thread/728135.md?page=2)