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Why is post hi-jacking allowed?
- Thread starter atthecross
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What do you mean by allowed? If the rule against thread hijacking is violated, and a forum member reports it to the moderators, they take care of it.
The moderators can't read all of the thousands of posts each day; they rely on you to call their attention to problems.
The moderators can't read all of the thousands of posts each day; they rely on you to call their attention to problems.
i have seen worse thread hijacking than that example.
anyway, i am surely, during my stay here in mr, been guilty of slightly thread hijacking.
sometimes i post a question which may or may not relate directly to the topic.
my way of thinking during these times are, hey, before i forget my question again and i hope somebody could answer it (or show me a link, which i have not seen), i'd post it to the thread.
i usually always say 'sorry' for hijacking the thread.
re: link. i guess the guy just had more time and was bored...
anyway, i am surely, during my stay here in mr, been guilty of slightly thread hijacking.
sometimes i post a question which may or may not relate directly to the topic.
my way of thinking during these times are, hey, before i forget my question again and i hope somebody could answer it (or show me a link, which i have not seen), i'd post it to the thread.
i usually always say 'sorry' for hijacking the thread.
re: link. i guess the guy just had more time and was bored...
I'd agree that that case was quite mild, I'd just call that a bit of topic-drift.
I'm sure we've all been guilty of some element of thread-hijacking; sometimes simply because we don't want to annoy people with a new thread on a similar topic.
That said, why does the Mac Bytes section not list the pages they are linking to?!?
(I keeed, I keeed)
I'm sure we've all been guilty of some element of thread-hijacking; sometimes simply because we don't want to annoy people with a new thread on a similar topic.
That said, why does the Mac Bytes section not list the pages they are linking to?!?
(I keeed, I keeed)
I agree that I pointed to a 'mild' example, that is not what is in question. The question is why is it allowed?
I'm a fairly new switcher (april 2007), dumped EVERY MS product (laptop, desktop & PDA) and moved to mac (laptop, desktop & touch).
Every forum that I've been on while a MS user, the mods did not allow ANY of the 'mild' or severe jacking of threads.
just a different 'culture' here I suppose.
Just feel for some of the people here, especially in the marketplace forums, who's threads are jacked.
this person just wanted to by some HD-DVD's
From the person starting the above mentioned thread:
"MODS please lock this thread, I didnt' mean to start a HDDVD flame thread. I just wanted to pick up some cheap dvd's.
If someone has hd-dvd's they'd like to sell please just pm me with what you have.
Thanks"
I'm a fairly new switcher (april 2007), dumped EVERY MS product (laptop, desktop & PDA) and moved to mac (laptop, desktop & touch).
Every forum that I've been on while a MS user, the mods did not allow ANY of the 'mild' or severe jacking of threads.
just a different 'culture' here I suppose.
Just feel for some of the people here, especially in the marketplace forums, who's threads are jacked.
this person just wanted to by some HD-DVD's
From the person starting the above mentioned thread:
"MODS please lock this thread, I didnt' mean to start a HDDVD flame thread. I just wanted to pick up some cheap dvd's.
If someone has hd-dvd's they'd like to sell please just pm me with what you have.
Thanks"
topics sometimes drift a tiny bit, it's not outright allowed or disallowed... but you can always report the post(s) / thread to the moderators to sort out.
so, how's the weather?
so, how's the weather?
Do these other forums have 425,445 threads, 4,925,392 posts, and 164,389 registered members by any chance?
now that's FUNNY
I was going to add to my original post 'feel free to jack this thread' but forgot
Do these other forums have 425,445 threads, 4,925,392 posts, and 164,389 registered members by any chance?
This site is only a few years old (5?): aximsite.com (pda site)
Threads: 182,808, Posts: 1,560,910, Members: 212,279
Just seems like what is 'acceptable' here as far as going 'slightly off topic', 'topic drift', 'mild jacking' is just different.
would seem my speculation may be correct, just different 'cultures'
I don't think Mac/Windows culture has anything to do with it.
With thousands of posts being made a day, it's simply not possible to to regulate each and every one. So, we pick our battles. Stop spammers, stop scammers, stop major rules infractions. Thread hijacking? Who cares?
Personally, I looked at the thread when CRAZYBUBBA reported it. As far as I was concerned, it's perfectly cromulent for people to question why they should sell their HD-DVDs for $7 a pop. You'll notice that there weren't any takers for that price in that thread, ya?
Periodically when I have time, I will go through larger threads and clean them up as best I am able, but most of the time if it's not reported by members, then we don't know about it.
With thousands of posts being made a day, it's simply not possible to to regulate each and every one. So, we pick our battles. Stop spammers, stop scammers, stop major rules infractions. Thread hijacking? Who cares?
Personally, I looked at the thread when CRAZYBUBBA reported it. As far as I was concerned, it's perfectly cromulent for people to question why they should sell their HD-DVDs for $7 a pop. You'll notice that there weren't any takers for that price in that thread, ya?
Periodically when I have time, I will go through larger threads and clean them up as best I am able, but most of the time if it's not reported by members, then we don't know about it.
When posts are reported, the moderators base their actions on the forum rules and policies, which are in turn designed for the benefit of our members. The moderators do their job quite well, but it's perfectly reasonable to ask why we have the rules we do and whether they should be different.
Here's the current rule/policy:
Here's the current rule/policy:
Thread hijacking is considered to be a rules violation in Marketplace threads. Off-topic posts in News threads are also routinely removed. We are less concerned in other forums, and least concerned with off-topic posts in the Community Discussion forum.
and the reason:In the Marketplace, hijacking or off-topic posts can interfere with the purpose of the thread, while in the News forums they can inconvenience and annoy people reading our most important threads. On the other hand, when the topic wanders in a Community Discussion thread, the thread participants rarely mind. In between those extremes, the moderators use their best judgment case by case.
Could the rule be stronger? Yes. Should it be stronger? Personally, I don't think that's necessary. But the rule is for your benefit, not ours, and comments/opinions are welcome.I'd like to retract the mac/MS culture remark as there probably are MS sites that operate in a similar fashon as this one, relative to thread jacking. I should have said community culture. Sorry
From the replys within this thread I am lead to believe that I could hit the '!' icon and report the issue, but if I had done that and yellow was the mod that responded to the report it sounds like nothing would have happened because yellow considers it cromulent ('normal' and yes I had to google it )
which is a perfectly fine answer, that just means that the 'culture' within this particular community is different from the one I came from and that too is fine.
I do however agree with the rule as listed by Doctor Q relative to the marketplace and the example from the now closed post is prime example.
Again, I just feel for the person, they were just trying to buy some HD DVD, if no one was interested then it would have just died on the vine.
When I post in the marketplace I activate instant notification and I would be frustrated evertime I got an email and it turned out to be something other than a legitimate response to my marketplace post.
From the replys within this thread I am lead to believe that I could hit the '!' icon and report the issue, but if I had done that and yellow was the mod that responded to the report it sounds like nothing would have happened because yellow considers it cromulent ('normal' and yes I had to google it
)which is a perfectly fine answer, that just means that the 'culture' within this particular community is different from the one I came from and that too is fine.
I do however agree with the rule as listed by Doctor Q relative to the marketplace and the example from the now closed post is prime example.
Again, I just feel for the person, they were just trying to buy some HD DVD, if no one was interested then it would have just died on the vine.
When I post in the marketplace I activate instant notification and I would be frustrated evertime I got an email and it turned out to be something other than a legitimate response to my marketplace post.
The Marketplace is notorious for posts with no relevancy and/or interest in the item being sold. People love chiming in on price, better products, etc...I've learned to just ignore it and hope mods can well...moderate it.
Well, I should note, I removed 2 Off Topic posts in this thread earlier with no user reporting.
And I should also note that I am a new mod and not completely versed in all the rules and their application to the site, despite the whipping Q gives me.
And finally, "cromulent" is a joke word from "The Simpsons".
Let's look at this in another way, if I removed all the OT posts from the HD-DVD sales thread, that user's thread would have died a quick death in terms of visibility to the Marketplace forum. FYI, bumping is not allowed.
And I should also note that I am a new mod and not completely versed in all the rules and their application to the site, despite the whipping Q gives me.
And finally, "cromulent" is a joke word from "The Simpsons".
Let's look at this in another way, if I removed all the OT posts from the HD-DVD sales thread, that user's thread would have died a quick death in terms of visibility to the Marketplace forum. FYI, bumping is not allowed.
Yeah, I had to google cromulent and saw the Simpson's reference.
Thanks to all who answered my question. I do enjoy coming to this community
At least half the threads on the News section get hijacked by people who want to whine about Macbook pro updates, and half the threads in the Macbook Air forum get hijacked by people who want to whine about the Air not being exactly what they wanted it to be.
One reason for the "better" moderation on some forums may be a better ratio of moderators to members. Maybe that site has too many moderators, maybe macrumors has too little? (Hint Hint I kid.)
I kid.)
Indeed. They can't see everything (in fact, they can only see very little) so they rely on us to help them out (and the whole community in the process).
Or, as Eraserhead put it:
I think that part of it is the perceived difference between hijacking (which I would consider taking a post completely OT and not allowing it to return to anywhere near the original point) and "post drift" or tangential discussions, which are a normal part of any extended conversation, verbal or written. It's a fine line, one that I'm sure I've touched in the last few years (and hopefully not crossed). I don't envy the mods in making that distinction.
As rarely as it may occur, JohnNotBeatle has expressed what I probably wouldn't have been able to myself.
OT posts can and will be deleted at times.
But to me, threadjacking is like, for example: a thread oh, about someone's MB having kernel panic issues. Then someone posts; "OMFGBBQ1!1!! Mai iTouchy pod thingie won't play videozzz!11!1" That is clearly meant to be its own thread. That, to me, is truly a threadjacking.
But again, OT posts can also be annoying and Forum Rules violations. So do everybody who might stumble upon those posts a favor, and report them.
OT posts can and will be deleted at times.
But to me, threadjacking is like, for example: a thread oh, about someone's MB having kernel panic issues. Then someone posts; "OMFGBBQ1!1!! Mai iTouchy pod thingie won't play videozzz!11!1" That is clearly meant to be its own thread. That, to me, is truly a threadjacking.
But again, OT posts can also be annoying and Forum Rules violations. So do everybody who might stumble upon those posts a favor, and report them.
In the spirit of (neigh) full disclosure, I am guilty of causing a "post drift" here or there over my time here.
I've noticed it occurring more in the news threads - for example, every time there's a little bit of news about something, there are always a few posts I report for just saying "who cares? where's the mbp?", or "stufu! n33d mbp FTW!!!!1".
It's all well and fine that you're throwing your toys out of your cot because your precious new MBP isn't here, but for god's sake, have your tantrums in the appropriate thread, not the bloody iPod Shuffle Updates news article discussion.
It's happened with every drawn out update Apple have subjected us to - not just the current MBP situation... But it's certainly happening more in the last little while.
I "don't believe you".
It's all well and fine that you're throwing your toys out of your cot because your precious new MBP isn't here, but for god's sake, have your tantrums in the appropriate thread, not the bloody iPod Shuffle Updates news article discussion.
It's happened with every drawn out update Apple have subjected us to - not just the current MBP situation... But it's certainly happening more in the last little while.
In the spirit of (neigh) full disclosure, I am guilty of causing a "post drift" here or there over my time here.
I "don't believe you".