# Why was the 1/6 insurrection thread closed? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [January 8, 2021, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-1-6-insurrection-thread-closed/929988 "2021-01-08T01:51:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2021, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-1-6-insurrection-thread-closed/929988/1 "2021-01-08T01:51:22Z")
> [@6 January 2021; A Day worth a Thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-january-2021-a-day-worth-a-thread/929770/1611): > > I have asked the Mods to please close this thread. There are many separate topics that can be profitably opened as new threads. I’d rather keep this as a record of what happened on a day that is going to be remembered, one way or another, for quite awhile. And to those that asked, I figured that there would be protests outside the Capital and the Congress would drag on for 3-4 states, and that this session with the Electoral College debates would be worth a thread, but this…no clue at all. T… This thread was closed … I guess because the OP asked it to be? It couldn’t simply be because a thread named about being 1/6 can only be posted to on 1/6. That’s just inherently silly, and besides, the 2020 election day thread is still open. The OP shouldn’t be able to ask a thread that has hundreds of participants to close just because he decides the discussion is over. His reasoning for wanting it to somehow become a time capsule or something and only contain commentary for that day doesn’t really make sense, it’s not like we lose any of the previous posts if we keep posting on that thread. We had a contained, focused discussion on a significant event that would naturally have weeks more discussion on the topic, but instead of having it all focused in one place, now it’s scattered around a dozen threads instead. That’s just annoying. It breaks the thread of conversation and scatters the participants around for no reason. It also makes it harder to track for a single person in the future looking to follow the topic - they may not know which threads they have to go to in order to keep up with the discussion after that one closed. The 2020 election day thread is still open, why does the 1/6 thread have to be closed? This is just pointless moderating leading to a scattered discussion for no reason. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2021, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-1-6-insurrection-thread-closed/929988/2 "2021-01-08T02:07:08Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > We had a contained, focused discussion on a significant event that would naturally have weeks more discussion on the topic, Oh but contraire. There were over 1600 posts, the magority theme being “Fuck I can’t believe this is happening.” and “Did you see that?” You’d go and get a cup of coffee and there’d be 50 new posts unread. Sure down the track there can be considered, contained threads on the causes and consequences, that thread was vox pop par excellence and IMHO stands alone. Dips me lid to @The_Stainless_Steel_Rat ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2021, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-1-6-insurrection-thread-closed/929988/3 "2021-01-08T05:37:52Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > We had a contained, focused discussion on a significant event that would naturally have weeks more discussion on the topic, but instead of having it all focused in one place, now it’s scattered around a dozen threads instead. That discussion was already taking place in a dozen threads well before the thread was closed. The closure didn’t cause that. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2021, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-1-6-insurrection-thread-closed/929988/4 "2021-01-08T06:17:03Z")
It was an extremely fast moving thread, with updates being _somewhat_ corralled to it. As a result, the volume was astonishing. And yet different aspects were still broken out to different threads. The OP never thought it would become a breaking news thread when it was created. I see no problem with the thread being closed to preserve the “snapshot” while allowing the different angles to have their own threads/forums. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2021, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-1-6-insurrection-thread-closed/929988/5 "2021-01-08T06:49:04Z")
But why did the focused discussion that specific incident need to come to an end? Why did it have to be distributed out to all the other threads where it’s less focused and harder to keep track of? What was the impetus to close it? ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2021, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-1-6-insurrection-thread-closed/929988/6 "2021-01-08T11:36:39Z")
While either way would have been fine by me, that discussion was hardly focused. Too big of a subject in its impacts and implications to be too focused. Many sub conversations deserved their own separate threads. Plus I think a thread creator may not get absolute say so but their wishes are often respected as the default. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2021, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-1-6-insurrection-thread-closed/929988/7 "2021-01-08T14:53:16Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > But why did the focused discussion that specific incident need to come to an end? There never was a “1/6 insurrection thread,” nor “focused discussion of that specific incident.” The OP stated the thread was to discuss: > [@](#): > > I mean, tomorrow: > > a. Should bring about a final result in the Georgia Senate Races, and if…if…they go Democratic, there will be loud and vociferous reaction. > > b. An unknown number of Proud Boys and other reactionaries will be in Washington D.C., along with an unknown number of counter-protesters and Police/National Guardsmen. > > c. The Congress will face an unprecedented opening of the votes, with the actions of VP Pence will take still not quite known and protests by a significant number of Republican Senators and Representatives. At minimum, there will be at least 2 hours (and probably more) debate, all on TV (I presume). > > … > > I’d respectfully ask no one post until the 6th is underway (call it 0600 EST) and **only comment on things happening that day.** Bolding mine. From the beginning, that thread was intended to cover multiple topics, and to run for only that day. It was not intended to be a discussion only of the insurrection, because no one knew it was going to happen. That only became the majo subject of the thread later. > [@](#): > > Why did it have to be distributed out to all the other threads where it’s less focused and harder to keep track of? What was the impetus to close it? The “focused discussion” was and is taking place in the “American Coup Attempt.” There’s no reason why it can’t continue there. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2021, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-1-6-insurrection-thread-closed/929988/8 "2021-01-08T15:09:08Z")
To the extent that that thread had a focus, it was “what’s going on right now”. Once it wasn’t going on any more, the thread’s purpose was finished. The other threads are the more focused ones, focusing on questions like what, in retrospect, should have been done, and what will happen on Inauguration Day, and what the consequences should be, and so on.