Rule 12: Thread Titles – Do not use vague thread titles. Use descriptive thread titles.
Why isn’t this being enforced with respect to Beckdawrek’s excessive use of uninformative “teaser” thread titles that tell you absolutely nothing about the content? A recent selection:
She’s a valued and actively contributing member of the forum, but - even in MPSIMS, which I don’t think is exempt from the rule - when I go down the page I want to see titles that give me some idea of the topic of the thread so I can decide if I want to read it. I don’t want to see look-at-me clickbait style teaser titles.
Oh, man. I’m sorry.
I thought I was doing ok with titles. No mod has ever said anything to me about it.
I’ll endeavour to try and do better.
Jeez Louise, I feel bad now.
I thought that by tradition if not specific rule, the MPSIMS board was a lot looser on this.
The MMP ALWAYS has a title that has nothing to do with the thread as a whole. Please don’t tell me we’re going to have to make each week’s title The Week of _______ [date] MMP or restrict this week’s MMP to a discussion on bathroom scales.
People have come to expect and understand that “Bad, Bad” is going to mean a personal experience story. The rule makes good sense in GD or GQ. MPSIMS, not so much. It seems like a non-issue to me, but if we need a separate rule for MPSIMS, I’m OK with hat.
I agree. I don’t mind **Beckdawreck’s **entertaining tales (or anyone else’s,) but I’d like to know what a thread is going to be about before clicking on it instead of having to click and read each one individually in order to see what it is this time.
The presence of “MMP” tells you what the thread is about - albeit some familiarity with a board tradition is needed, but that’s fine, and it’s one thread a week.
Aside from that, I don’t see any other threads currently in MPSIMS with uninformative titles. I think it’s a terrible precedent to start allowing/encouraging this. I’m not objecting to the “bad, bad, bad” conceit, I just think teaser titles are annoying and unnecessary when you’re looking through the content of the board for what might be interesting to read. Please explain why you think the rule should be changed for MPSIMS - what good reason is there not to inform people about the content of a thread in the thread title?
And to reiterate - Beck’s certainly a valuable contributor to the board. It’s just the teaser titles that I have a problem with.
Riemann, if I’m anything, I am highly ‘teachable’
I’m not sure where I got the idea that thread titles were restricted to the number of characters and spaces that can be used. And, I certainly didn’t think I was making ‘click bait’ titles.
As I said above, I never knew there was a problem. I will try and do better.
My sincere apologies~
beck
Beck, stop apologizing. You’ve been here long enough to establish your creds. I love your posts, and most of their titles. The “bad bad bad” series is classic.
Riemann, I respect you as a valued poster but you’re taking this much too seriously.
Yes, we’ve had posters who have posted really dumb meaningless generic thread titles about serious topics that in many cases have had to be clarified by the mods, and I agree that in such cases thread titles should be clear. But most of Beck’s are all in fun. Leave her alone!
It has nothing at all to do with how much I like the poster. The point I was making is that it has everything to do with the intent of the post. A title in GQ like “I’ve always wondered about this” would be stupid and would break the rule, and we’ve had a few of those throughout the board. Most of Beck’s are just having fun (although perhaps a few might be a little clearer – the “yep I saw you” thread never made any sense to me even after I read the whole thread). I just think the OP’s criticism is a little harsh.
It has everything to do with liking the poster, you are excusing and allowing the practice because you like her and think it is “fun”. The intent of the post is judged differently because you like her and I have little doubt that an unpopular poster would not get that leeway.
If those gimmicks are allowed in MPSIMS then fine, allow them. Change the rules to allow them. But if they currently violate a rule then that should be actioned regardless of who it is doing it.
Beck isn’t the only one with this problem. There’s currently a thread titled just “Michelle” – https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=890294 – I even read the entire OP, but couldn’t figure out what the actual topic was. How much of the thread do I have to read before I get an idea of what it’s about? I even reported it as needing a more descriptive title, but I guess I’m the only idiot who doesn’t understand it.
Just my opinion, but I don’t mind Beck’s thread titles and I don’t mind clicking them to see what they’re about. This has probably been said a million times, but have you considered reporting her threads if you think they’re unclear?
ETA: Your response and some others seem to been along the lines of “I disagree with you because we shouldn’t be mean to Beckdawrek”. I think that’s completely irrelevant, I’ve made clear that I respect her as a valuable member of the board, this is about a narrow specific issue. Rule 12 exists, and there are obvious reasons why it exists.
So, again - if you think Rule 12 should be changed, please explain what is to be gained from having thread titles that don’t tell you anything about the content of a thread?
Addressing the “Bad, Bad, Bad” threads specifically, it seems to me there is sufficient history at this point to establish what the thread is likely to be: a humorous commentary from Beck.
For other threads where the title is unclear, I would suggest reporting the ones that are problematic.
That still doesn’t explain to me why a thread title can’t contain her catchphrase and also be informative about the content. Humorous commentary about what? What do you think is gained by the absence of information?
No, I never said you shouldn’t be mean to Beck. I agree her posts have value. That’s why I don’t mind clicking on them. I don’t consider reading her threads to be a waste of my time. I don’t believe in putting the rules under a microscope and strictly enforcing them 100% of the time. The mods are loath to enforce hard lines. I think there can be some wriggle room.
