long threads where we have to put up with two or three posters hogging a thread to settle bickering arguments among themselves
Can we deal with this through revisions of the Posting Guidelines and tougher implementation?
Here is an example of a long thread.
Banks trying to systematically change terms and conditions
The original poster, Padraic, made a a very serious accusation.
Sarenco asked for clarification and evidence.
Most posters completely ignored Sarenco's point. They just rehashed some of the awful banks which everyone agrees that the banks did. But they did not provide any evidence of the banks systematically changing the terms and conditions in a criminal fashion.
What do we do as moderators? Close the thread? Delete it? I think we have to let it run.
I started this thread based on a comment from a Credit Union.
Is PCP a good way to finance a car?
I don't have time to look into the issue, but just raised the question.
The thread is probably of no use to anyone because it has gone on to 5 pages. I don't really know how people can fight so much about this sort of thing. I do understand how an "all banks are criminals" argument can run and run.
It would be great if someone summarised the PCP arguments in one good post. Then we could close the old thread. Anyone who comes to askaboutmoney to research car finance would read one good post instead of trawling through 5 pages of bad-tempered point scoring. ( I haven't read the thread, so apologies if it's not that.)
When I do a Key Post, I get very annoyed when people take it off topic, and delete the posts. But it's a lot of work.
Occasionally, people report a 10 page thread and ask that the it be split into two topics. The reality is that is a huge amount of work for a moderator as some posts comment on both topics. And it's not clear from other posters what they are actually talking about.
Maybe we should highlight the following Posting Guidelines and then enforce them. Perhaps these should be combined into one separate Posting Guideline - " How to keep threads short and relevant."
8 Use the "quote" button sparingly
When replying to a post, use the "Post Reply" button or "Reply" button in preference to the “quote” button.
Quoting a very long post in its entirety makes the thread very cluttered
Only use the quote button to quote the bits directly relevant to your comments.
Do not quote the post immediately above your one.
10 Do not abuse other posters
Controversy and argument are welcome. But please keep your comments civil. Attack an opinion by all means, but please don't attack the person expressing the opinion.Posts or threads which use language designed to be deliberately offensive or just to stir up trouble will be deleted.
19 Please stay on topic
Some threads stray off topic to such an extent that the discussion bears no relation to the original question. If you want to introduce a new question, start a new topic. Off-topic banter which distracts from the original question will be deleted.
20 Please keep recurring debates on a particular topic to a single thread
When someone asks a question , they want an answer and not a debate. For example, if someone asks about buying a house, they don't want a debate about the pros and cons of mortgage brokers. Keep such debate to The Great Financial Debates forum. It is ok to occasionally post a particularly relevant reply with a link to that debate. In particular do not hijack a thread to let off steam on a vaguely related issue. A lot of threads have been dragged off thread to engage in public sector bashing or to say that we need a general election now. Don't waste time composing a long serious post with an off-topic aside on it. The full post will be deleted. The moderators do not have time to edit out the off-topic bits. If another poster takes a thread off-topic, ignore them or report the post. Don't respond.