This Thread started out in GQ, and was moved to Cafe Society. Why? I don’t really have a beef with the move, but I am puzzled by it.
The OP is looking for a book about Terrorism. I would have categorized this as a request for information (GQ) not as a art or entertainment (Cafe Society). Are discussions of all books (and maybe TV, movies, etc…) now Cafe bound, even if it’s not entertainment?
IANAM but there is no factual answer to this question, it’s a matter of opinion. Normally this would go in IMHO but since it’s about a book it goes to CS.
Haj
Just because it’s about a book doesn’t necessarily make it CS material. CS is mostly fiction, entertainment, and the arts, so I might have made a different call then did Xash. The line is often grey and fuzzy.
However, once a thread has been moved and a Mod has made a decision, we’re not going to double-guess each other. (“When Mommy says no, ask Daddy”).
Hi Tastes of Chocolate, you certainly have a legitimate question.
First I’ll answer the “Why?” question, then I’ll explain a bit about thread-moving decisions in general.
I moved this specific thread to CS because it already got a fair number of good answers in GQ, and I thought perhaps the bookworms in CS might have better answers to add to it.
CS is perhaps the most confusing forum for me, even after all this time. It’s always difficult to figure out whether a specific thread belongs in CS or IMHO or MPSIMS or GQ, especially if it has some CS elements in it.
When I think of moving a thread, I think two primary questions:
If the thread fails Q1. it gets moved to the appropriate forum, or locked, or removed. Then comes Q2. If the thread is likely to get better responses in another forum, provided that it qualifies for that forum, it could get moved there. This mostly applies to GD and CS, e.g. sometimes a factual question is asked in GQ, which might benefit more from some excellent debating of the complex issues at hand than from straight factual answers.
What hajario states is also a very valid point. Another litmus test for GQ is “Is there a possible factual answer to this question”. While this didn’t play a part in my decision to move this specific thread, it usually does.
Now, thread moving is often based on interpretation of general guidelines, and it’s seldom black or white. Sometimes some people will interpret it differently from others. CKDex and you both believe it would have been better to leave it in GQ. Which is a fair call. Here’s some interesting mod trivia for you on this subject. When mods disagree, it’s usually left to the mod that made the original decision to change stance or stick to it. Which is why you will very rarely see two mods posting an official decision in any given thread, and even more rarely will you see contradicting decisions.
If the OP (of the original thread) objects to the thread being moved to CS, I don’t have any problems with moving it back to GQ.
I hope that answers some of your questions.
One more thing. Please, whenever you start a thread that involves a mod decison, email the mod a link to inform him/her. I don’t come to the Pit often and might have missed your question entirely had it not been for Dex informing me.
-xash
General Questions Moderator