Yeah that's right, try and confuse us by throwing logic into it!!jmmw wrote:If such a thread is under the off-topic banner what exactly qualifies for off topic?
Good question by the way ... Sit back and relax, coz this is gonna get complicated.
These are just my own thoughts off the top of my head. I'm not trying to speak for anyone else here of course, but the way I see it, there's off topic and there's off topic...
Posting about ambulances in the police section is obviously off-topic for that particular section and the thread would probably end up getting moved or closed. That's "type 1" off-topic-ness
A thread about ambulances, in the ambulance forum is obviously on-topic, but the half-dozen or so posts about purchasing a pushbike in the middle of the discussion is off-topic for that particular thread. Let's call that "type 2" off-topic-ness
In any thread, there's always going to be a few posts that aren't strictly on-topic as people respond to things that others have written. I dunno about other people, but my brain tends to go off on a tangent sometimes and a conversation can swing from one topic to another without any conscious effort to do so.
Providing that the general "flow" of the conversation is still mostly heading in the right direction, and there's no flame-bait in there, then there's every chance that the off-topic stuff will probably just stay put.
Of course, there's always going to be exceptions and here's where the job of moderating gets tricky - the posts that are off-topic for that particular thread might be pretty good material anyway, and don't deserve to be deleted. The best option for that might be to split those posts into a new "pushbike-buying" thread, so the original thread can continue on it's course without distractions. Or, if the off-topic-ness has died down of it's own accord, then starting a whole new thread probably isn't worth the effort.
Off-topic posts may also be someone's effort at trying to cause a stir and most of the time, the best thing to do would be to just get rid of it. That raises all sorts of other questions ... As a moderator, what do you do with people's responses that quote the stuff you just deleted, but add new on-topic stuff to the discussion? Do you delete those posts too, or leave them (also referencing stuff that's not there any more), or edit them to remove the off-topic stuff but leave the on-topic stuff?
Every topic is different, and moderating a forum isn't an exact science. Mods or admins have to use their best judgement in each case. That means that a decision to trash a few troublesome posts might be appropriate in one thread, and locking or closing the entire thread might be appropriate in another.
That's inevitably going to cause questions about inconsistency in moderating, as there's seldom the time or the space to explain each and every moderating decision, and why a certain course of action was appropriate this time, but not last time, etc.
Jmmw, I bet you didn't expect a long-winded answer like this, but it got me thinking, and I've simply tried to explain how I approach the task of moderating a forum. Some may say it's like trying to herd cats
In the end, my objective is to leave the threads and the posts interesting enough for people to read, and for us all to learn from each other, but not leave anything there that's going to cause arguments and unpleasantness.
Last of all, before I wear this keyboard out ... if anyone has any questions, comments or concerns about material in the forum, PLEASE bring it to the attention of a moderator, or Gavin or myself. We'll do the best we can to keep as many people happy as possible, and to be fair to everyone.
Hope this helps and I haven't sent too many people to sleep!
Cheers,
