# What to do about hijacks? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [February 9, 2023, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-hijacks/979509 "2023-02-09T04:03:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2023, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-hijacks/979509/41 "2023-02-10T13:15:13Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > Well, because a message board is not an informal party conversation. If we wanted to just have a rambling, free-range discussion, we could have one big wandering thread instead of dividing them up into individual forums and threads. Well, we used to, it was a single thread called Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2023, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-hijacks/979509/42 "2023-02-10T13:21:34Z")
Is it time to remove the breaking-news tag from the Ukraine Invasion thread? I’m not against it. Then we would only be moderating insults and political stuff like any other thread. On the other hand, and this is far from scientific, I’ve actually had a lot of thank-yous for keeping that thread on-topic. As I read most of it and more than willing to continue. Thus far I thread-banned 2 posters and I believe handed out 0 warnings in the pair of threads. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2023, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-hijacks/979509/43 "2023-02-10T13:26:55Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Thus far I thread-banned 2 posters and I believe handed out 0 warnings in the pair of threads. One of those thread bannings was righteous and beyond reproach. I even went so far as to start a thread in ATMB complaining about our resident Russian supporter before he eventually did get threadbanned. This second thread ban doesn’t appear to be in the same ballpark. Not even playing the same sport. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2023, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-hijacks/979509/44 "2023-02-10T13:28:55Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > OTOH, by the time your thread has a couple thousand posts it’s not an “everything including the kitchen sink thread”, but it is sort of an omnibus thread. Which admits of a certain amount of drift. I agree. I get the feeling that, when a moderator feels the OP has been explored and pretty much exhausted, they allow drift. I think it’s harmless at that point. I think the best methodology is self-policing. I have a tendency to go off on a tangent, so I have to make an effort to watch that. If someone posts a comment that obviously leads in an off topic direction, I don’t just take off on it like I have a couple of times in the past. If I really want to discuss it, I can always create a spinoff OP. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2023, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-hijacks/979509/45 "2023-02-10T13:35:42Z")
If you want me out of the Ukraine thread, I’m out - I mean, I was locked out of that thread, so I am, de facto. I’m not quite sure why that thread is so heavily modded when we allow all kinds of other threads to take on a rather omnibus nature. But again, I won’t - and can’t - post in that Ukraine thread again, so I guess…problem solved? I haven’t hijacked other threads. I apologize…is that okay? Won’t hijack again. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2023, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-hijacks/979509/46 "2023-02-10T13:48:39Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > it doesn’t make sense to run two threads in tandem like that, where one thread has the current events and the other thread has the discussion of those current events. The polls threads ([1](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polls-only-no-discussion/953642) & [2](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread/972380)) in MPSIMS seem to work fine. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2023, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-hijacks/979509/47 "2023-02-10T13:49:56Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Is it time to remove the breaking-news tag from the Ukraine Invasion thread? Yes, if that’s what’s causing the commotion here. IMHO it doesn’t make sense to have both a Ukraine-invasion “breaking news” thread and a Ukraine-invasion “general discussion” thread because the two would be so similar that it would be totally confusing and I’d never know where to find anything. The one we have has served us well as a general discussion thread. I mean really, is a long-term ongoing event still “breaking news” after a year? The thread-ban of **Kedikat** was, however, appropriate in any case, and would remain so, since we don’t want fake-news Russian propaganda. But I do honestly think that interested posters like @Velocity have made useful contributions to the thread and should be allowed to continue doing so in the new understanding that it’s an overall general discussion. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2023, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-hijacks/979509/48 "2023-02-10T13:50:06Z")
I thought of an example: this thread > [@Classic Books Which Live Up To Their Reputation](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-books-which-live-up-to-their-reputation/976763): > > Many voluminous classic books have aged badly, are simply not worth the time, are unreadable or never deserved the reputation won when there were fewer alternatives and less knowledge and variety. Inspired by The Atlantic article below, what is an old classic book others may not know about which you think is still timely, entertaining or meaningful? sparked this subdiscussion > [@Classic Books Which Live Up To Their Reputation](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-books-which-live-up-to-their-reputation/976763/117): > > “Tarnished” may have been the wrong word. But ISTM that over the past decade or so—certainly since Le Guin’s Cheek by Jowl was published in 2009—there has definitely been a more widespread awareness that the apparent “naturalism” of Watership Down, and its repeated appeals to Lockley’s nonfiction study of rabbits to sound more authoritative, are misleading. It’s part of a general increased recognition of [longstanding sexist bias in the study of animal behavior,](https://www.wired.com/story/sexist-pseudoscience-biology/) where human gender stereotypes c… which started out being relevant to “Watership Downs”, but that subdiscussion took on a life of its own and I moved it to > [@Sex Roles in other Animals](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-roles-in-other-animals/977848): > > I’ve always been bugged by lionesses in prides doing all the hunting, and the males muscling in on dinner without having done a lick of work. Lioness Lib!!! Which generated a moderate amount of discussion after the move. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2023, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-hijacks/979509/49 "2023-02-10T13:54:29Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > > [@What\_Exit](#): > > > > Is it time to remove the breaking-news tag from the Ukraine Invasion thread? > > Yes, if that’s what’s causing the commotion here. IMHO it doesn’t make sense to have both a Ukraine-invasion “breaking news” thread and a Ukraine-invasion “general discussion” thread because the two would be so similar that it would be totally confusing and I’d never know where to find anything. The one we have has served us well as a general discussion thread. I dunno, when we gave up on the “breaking new-ness” of the “musk buys twitter” thread, and moved it to the pit, I got several complaints about how it was no longer possible to use the SDMB as a news aggregator, and find actual news about twitter. So I created this thread. > [@Now that Musk bought Twitter -- Breaking News only](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-musk-bought-twitter-breaking-news-only/975737): > > Well, the IMHO thread kept heading off the rails, and is now in the pit. But I think there’s interest in just following what’s happening to Twitter. Layoffs? Hardcore-only? More traffic? Fewer advertisers? New/broken features? Post about it here. Then go to the pit thread if you feel the need to vent. It hasn’t gotten a lot of traction, but it’s up to 175 posts, the most recent a day ago. I think we want a breaking news thread for the Ukraine war. But maybe it should be a small thread, and we should have a more active thread for general discussion. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2023, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-hijacks/979509/50 "2023-02-10T14:01:24Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I dunno, when we gave up on the “breaking new-ness” of the “musk buys twitter” thread, and moved it to the pit, I got several complaints about how it was no longer possible to use the SDMB as a news aggregator, and find actual news about twitter. I was really upset by the closing of that thread because it was my go-to source of information and entertainment about the Musk/Twitter fiasco. The re-opened thread has thrived in the Pit (currently at 3155 posts) and I’m always interested to see updates. I have no idea what the complaints you got were based on – maybe folks who are allergic to the Pit? The Pit thread remains a great source of news, rumours, and general discussion. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2023, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-hijacks/979509/51 "2023-02-10T14:09:04Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > . I have no idea what the complaints you got were based on Too hard to find the news among the commentary. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2023, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-hijacks/979509/52 "2023-02-10T14:13:44Z")
Yes, it is OK. That is why you got no warnings. All is well otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2023, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-hijacks/979509/53 "2023-02-10T14:14:57Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Is it time to remove the breaking-news tag from the Ukraine Invasion thread? Yes, I think so. This isn’t a brand new “breaking” story – this is an ongoing situation that affects most of the world in some way. > [@](#): > > On the other hand, and this is far from scientific, I’ve actually had a lot of thank-yous for keeping that thread on-topic. As I read most of it and more than willing to continue. I think you’ve done a great job, in general. But I think this particular action is too severe, and removes a mostly-good, contributing poster (IMHO) because he’s, if anything, too enthusiastic about the topic. I think intent matters, and this was, very obviously, not an intent to troll, not an intent to derail, not an intent to do anything other than express strong opinions about a really, really major ongoing event in the world. Those opinions were beyond the bounds of “breaking news”, but that’s really all that was wrong about them. I think the PERMANENT thread-ban should be rescinded, and a lesser penalty put in its place, along with removing the “breaking news” tag from the thread (and subsequent Ukraine threads, unless there is some new, specific event that truly is “breaking news”). ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2023, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-hijacks/979509/54 "2023-02-10T14:17:14Z")
I’ve posted before (and have shared privately with mods) my thoughts that mods tended to be a tad heavy handed WRT hijacks. A good part of my perception is undoubtedly due to my failure to appreciate the very different approaches to the different forums - or even within a single forum. For example, it makes no sense to my brain to have MPSIMS discussions on both the Ukraine invasion (breaking news) and cat avatars - with apparently different mod approaches to threads in the same forum. I tend to agree with the folk upthread who opine that some degree of digression is common - and , in fact, desirable in most discussions. When a specific hijack gets out of line - with a very small number of posters just going back and forth - it is entirely appropriate for a mod to tell them the shut up or get a different “room.” But I’m also dubious about the idea that an OP has complete discretion over how discussion proceeds on a thread they started. If you decide to start a discussion, you are taking a risk that that discussion may evolve into something you did not anticipate or may not especially appreciate. My impression is that modding has been getting progressively stricter in the last couple of years, which I’m not thrilled with. But I’m an old fogey, and was fine with things as they were before - including the toxic Pit. The modding is far from perfect, but it ain’t at all bad for a group of volunteers. I derive a great deal of pleasure from these boards, but I have a hard time getting too worked up over any single post or mod action I encounter. IMO overall, the modding contributes to and enables a pretty decent level of discourse. Finally, the mods are very open to public and private discussion of their specific choices, and have admitted when they could have acted differently. And we are able to express our thoughts in threads such as this. I’m not sure what more one might reasonably expect of unpaid staff on a free MB. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2023, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-hijacks/979509/55 "2023-02-10T14:19:09Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > > [@wolfpup](#): > > > > . I have no idea what the complaints you got were based on > > Too hard to find the news among the commentary.   Maybe the complainers would be happier just going to [cnn.com](http://cnn.com) if all they want is straight news? The traditional understanding about MPSIMS “breaking news” threads is to avoid _ **political** _ digressions and jabs. But as far as “commentary” is concerned, isn’t commentary what this board is all about in the first place? ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2023, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-hijacks/979509/56 "2023-02-10T14:21:34Z")
I will just say that it is very easy to forget what thread you are in when a conversation drifts. I know I participated in a recent “hi-jack” and didn’t even realize it until after the fact. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2023, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-hijacks/979509/57 "2023-02-10T14:21:46Z")
Commentary has been allowed, but I have cut off big digressions like talk about nuking the Russians, the capabilities of jets not even involved in the fight and things like that. And of course anything that edges into the political or insults to the other posters. > [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > I will just say that it is very easy to forget what thread you are in when a conversation drifts. I know I participated in a recent “hi-jack” and didn’t even realize it until after the fact. I have the same problem. Which is why very few warnings are handed out. But repeat offenders might get a thread-ban or a warning if the intent seems trollish. @Velocity’s did not feel trollish so after at least 8 posts that were modded, I did bring out the thread-ban tool. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2023, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-hijacks/979509/58 "2023-02-10T14:22:40Z")
I mean, i come here for the commentary, not for the news. I have something like 15 news organizations that send alerts to my phone all day long. But different strokes for different folks. My sense is that the two general Twitter/Musk threads are both serving a useful purpose. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2023, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-hijacks/979509/59 "2023-02-10T14:34:02Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > will just say that it is very easy to forget what thread you are in when a conversation drifts. I know I participated in a recent “hi-jack” and didn’t even realize it until after the fact. The flip side is also challenging, when related aspects are spun off into different threads. Often the result is that I step out of the discussion, rather than trying to keep up with multiple threads, or trying to figure out in which of them I out to post what I wish to say. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2023, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-hijacks/979509/60 "2023-02-10T14:35:56Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I thought of an example: Nice! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-hijacks/979509.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-hijacks/979509.md?page=4)