request about forum posts and tangents

Shrug. I like Amazon.

...

As long as MR is populated by humans, things will drift now and then.

 

Moderators generally rely on users to report posts that are off topic, over the line, etc. since they are not able to be in every thread

I will confess I have not opened that thread so I would have no idea what is in it

People love to hear themselves talk and want to have their say
You will always have superfluous discussion and comments
But if it is out of hand, use the report function and a moderator will take a look at it

 

I think some people like to be heard. I don't think that "all" people care as much as you think.

 

Our cat did the funniest thing last night... I'll post a photo..



Seriously - I agree that in some cases the discussion can get sidetracked... and I may have been guilty, on occasion, of contributing to that. But I feel that this is a community where people join and participate as much for the sense (and enjoyment) of belonging to the community as getting information. And when you have a bunch of people having fun discussions can sometimes take weird turns.

However, I have noticed that for the most part it's not really that hard to get the discussion back on track, without resorting to the moderators. It just takes a little humour and a little patience. Thought to be fair, I may have had some posts of mine, um, 'excised' on occasion. And I didn't mind.