Any suggestions for dealing with very long threads which go off topic, often pointlessly?

[mathepac]

A "get a room" button that other posters can hit, letting the two know that they are boring everyone else

Or at best boring those who have hit the "button" as they'd only speak for themselves.

I think you can sterilize a discussion by being to focused on not moving outside the perimeters.

Very unlikely to happen if one is invested in the off topic stuff. "I must fight my corner because the other guy is wrong."

It's very simple, Brendan.

Except it's not. I'm sure there'd be no request for suggestions from the site owner and mods if turning off les cris des coeurs was so simple.

While I'm supportive of this, isn't it likely that it's likely to impose more work on the Moderators who are volunteers and may not welcome the increased workload?

Yes. My understanding was for suggestion to decrease the non value-added work for mods.

Without trying to offend the moderators but could a simple solution be as simple as the mods moderating
It seemed obvious to me in the BER thread which way the discussion was going to go from posts in the middle 50 range
A simple warning from a mod to say "Back on topic" should have been enough to put the discussion back on topic

Would that mean that mods wouldn't participate as Sheila/Sean posters and confine themselves exclusively to moderation? I've seen it work elsewhere but I'm not sure how that might suit the purpose of askaboutmoney.com.

I personally would be in favour of suspending posters for a duration who either derail a thread or appear to be trolling (both at the mods discretion).

Like other suggestions, more work for mods monitoring threads and then keeping track of who got suspended, where, for what, and for how long. Unless it ties in with mods exclusively modding, it's simply more, rather than less work.

Suggestion Number 2 from me.

How about a mod per forum, based on volunteering and verified (how?) topic expertise? Do it on a round robin basis with the current forum mod disallowed from debate / posting in that forum until ex officio. The current site mods still have their responsibilities as today but don't get dragged into the nitty gritty at forum/thread level and can maintain their helicopter view of the site. Appeals to the site mods are disallowed until a user submits an appeal to a "jury" of forum mods. Banning posters totally can only be done by site mods, suspensions/post / thread deletions to be the responsibility of the forum mods. Site mods to disallow current "bad boys" from the responsibilities of forum mods.

 

[peemac]

Frankly I don't think it's too bad exactly as it is.

Yes a few go off course, but the majority stay relevant to the topic.

Why create a lot of work where the issue is not that serious.

A simple "back on topic please - request 1" followed by "back on topic - final request" followed by topic closure.

 

[Clamball]

I don’t like posts being deleted, I think it prevents people from posting again.

I think if a thread goes off topic then move the last 5/6 off topic posts to a new thread, reply to the original thread to with please keep to topic, let’s wait to hear from the original poster etc.

I love when the original poster pops back onto a topic with an update or more insights, it shows everyone is getting something from the topic. I think they are less likely to repost if the topic gets derailed.

And if 10-12 different people post and half say sell and half say buy I find that interesting as everyone is coming from a slightly different angle and the original poster may find the one answer that resonates with them.

And perhaps if you are the poster who needs to clarify exactly the errors of another poster but are not directly engaging with the topic of the thread, just starting a new topic and on the original topic announcing you have taken the discussion off line so as not to derail the original topic? Play nice!

 

[bankrupt]

Generally speaking I think the current policy works pretty well. One thing that can become a bit tedious is too many back and forth posts from only two individuals in rapid succession (often repeating the same points, usually getting more and more fraught with each other). Perhaps to discourage this behaviour there could be a limit on how frequently people are allowed to reply in one day to a conversation? Perhaps rather than locking posts permanently it might make sense to lock them only for a day or 2 to allow things to cool down?

 

[DeeKie]

A different colour for off topic posts? Mods can just tag the posts and some readers will choose to only read the posts on message

 

[joe sod]

In any normal conversation nothing stays rigidly on topic because other factors are also relevant in any discussion. Frankly I think there seems to be over policing of keeping discussions rigidly on topic. If it is a discussion on general economic or political policy for example I don't see why this needs to be policed to keep it rigidly on the original topic. The best ideas come from free flowing conversations.

 

[Brendan Burgess]

A "get a room" button that other posters can hit, letting the two know that they are boring everyone else

I think the easiest option is if users use the report post button. I've done it a few times where a thread was being derailed by a squabble.
Other option as Steven Barrett suggests is a button that would actually show up in the thread without the user being sanctioned for back seat modding. Or allow comments like "Would you two take your spat elsewhere"

A simple "back on topic please - request 1" followed by "back on topic - final request" followed by topic closure.

A different colour for off topic posts? Mods can just tag the posts and some readers will choose to only read the posts on message

An initial reaction to these.

If someone asks a specific question, we take an interventionist approach. So if someone posts off-topic or if they tag their own question onto someone else's they are deleted.

We take a more interventionist approach earlier in the thread. Usually anything that can be said, has been said in the first two pages.

But it's not just about going off-topic.

Others have referred to the pointless back and forward repeated posts between two posters which ruins it for everyone else.

The moderators don't read every thread.

Users can help by
1) Staying on topic. And it's important not to make a throwaway off-topic comment as an afterthought to an otherwise good response. People will react to it.
2) If you see an off-topic post, don't respond to it. Just report it. Mods will deal with it fairly quickly.

I am not sure about encouraging people to mark a post as off-topic. We could experiment with it. But the outcome would probably be a deterioration of the thread into a discussion about whether the post was off-topic or not.


Brendan

 

[Brendan Burgess]

Perhaps rather than locking posts permanently it might make sense to lock them only for a day or 2 to allow things to cool down?

I like this idea. We tend to close permanently. But we will experiment with temporary closing to see if it reduces the pointless one to one discussions.

Brendan

 

[Brendan Burgess]

These are the current options.

I will see if it's easy to change them.

Thumbs up is useful for saying : I agree or good post.
Thumbs down would mean: I don't agree but it's not saying that there is anything wrong with the post.
Off-topic
Boring, repetitive post - please go elsewhere.

Brendan

 

[Brendan Burgess]

 

[Brendan Burgess]

So it's relatively easy to change the reaction buttons. If we do use it, I would refine it.

I have marked Joe post as off topic to show how it works.
(No offence Joe, it's just to see how it works.)

Any suggestions for dealing with very long threads which go off topic, often pointlessly?

A "get a room" button that other posters can hit, letting the two know that they are boring everyone else :) Or at best boring those who have hit the "button" as they'd only speak for themselves. I think you can sterilize a discussion by being to focused on not moving outside the perimeters...

www.askaboutmoney.com

 

[Brendan Burgess]

A "get a room" button that other posters can hit, letting the two know that they are boring everyone else

One thing that can become a bit tedious is too many back and forth posts from only two individuals in rapid succession (often repeating the same points, usually getting more and more fraught with each other).

So another reaction icon for "get a room"?

Brendan

 

[PaddyBloggit]

"get a room"

It has a sexual connotation to it. Would you aggravate a poster by telling them to get a room?

What about allocating Moderators to specific fora? If you need a few more mods, why not put a call out to the frequent posters on specific fora?

Existing moderators could be super mods and could overrule the ordinary moderator.

 

[Brendan Burgess]

Hi Paddy

I am so innocent.

That was Steven's suggestion.

I have changed it to boring.

Brendan

 

[AlbacoreA]

Simply ask the posters to start a thread and not continue the line of discussion thats off topic.

It's not a solution for moderators, but my user experience went way up once I started hitting the "ignore" button for certain posters.

I'm much less likely to get sucked into back and forth when I just don't see the responses.

This is what I do on other forums. Works well.

Never needed it on AAM in all the years I've been here.. But recently was seriously considering for two posters.

Ultimately people will leave if threads are constantly disrupted like that. A new forum I was on for while that started failed to keep a handful of posters in check, and now is a populated only by those few people going around in circles. Everyone else left, new posters leave.

 

[DeeKie]

I think banning or suspending people would have a very chilling effect. Sometimes the off topic chat is great and spawns other conversations

 

[Brendan Burgess]

Sometimes the off topic chat is great and spawns other conversations

Hi Dee

If I want to give my opinion on a particular aspect of housing and to get the response of other people to it, it's very frustrating when people see the word "housing" and go off on a rant about some other aspect of it.

It can be difficult to manage. If I say "integrate pensions and house buying" , it's probably ok for someone to come in and say -"The only solution is to build more houses" even though that solution is covered in many threads already.

But it's not ok for them to come in and say, yet again, " but we will really be in the soup when Sinn Féin gets into government."

And, I repeat, the later it goes off topic, the less serious it is. If we have three pages about integrating pensions and home ownership, and then it goes off into a discussion about Sinn Féin and landlords, it doesn't ruin it for everyone.
But if we are still teasing out the pensions and home ownership issue, then I would zap the off-topic discussion.

And it's less important again when people meander in Letting Off Steam and Shooting the Breeze.

Brendan

 

[Brendan Burgess]

But it's much worse where someone, especially a newish user, asks for guidance on a personal finance issue.

It is very annoying when that is taken off topic or for two people to get into a head to head discussion on an off-topic issue.

Brendan

 

[AlbacoreA]

Not a fan of stuff going off topic. Usually goes down the route of a private argument.

 

[Paul F]

These are the current options.

View attachment 6570
I will see if it's easy to change them.

Thumbs up is useful for saying : I agree or good post.
Thumbs down would mean: I don't agree but it's not saying that there is anything wrong with the post.
Off-topic
Boring, repetitive post - please go elsewhere.

I see you are trialling "Off-topic" and "Boring".

A couple of suggestions:

• Can we think of alternative wording for "Boring"? People might use it wrongly (for something that bores them), whereas we want people to use it for spats between two users – hence the original "Get a room" wording. Maybe "Take it elsewhere!"
• Could the IT team implement something to alert the mods whenever these reactions are used on a post anywhere on the site? Because if somebody uses those reactions it may well signify that a thread is being derailed.