Hijacked Threads

[ckharlan66]

DiverBuoy once bubbled...
While the content of the hijack may be funny in and of itself, the effect on multiple things is negative:

• Serious thread is sidetracked
• Searches on content fail because the title and general content are mostly unrelated
• Visitors are confused and have more difficulty hunting down answers
• Isn't usually appreciated, especially by the originating member
• It is against the rules
• Usually gets moderated anyway (making more work for us)

That said humor has it's place, we certainly want this board to be a fun place to hang out, a little "on-topic" humor is an excellent way to lighten up a serious subject. To hijack and redirect a thread is inconsiderate at best.

[edited: Thread moved to Non-Diving]

Serious threads are rarely highjacked if they are, and it isn't a good thing (more on this in a minute) then they should be quickly moderated and returned to a the serious topic.

The exceptions to this are that sometimes the quickest way to stop a flame war is to creatively redirect the thread (I am guilty of trying to do this to various degrees of success.) or if the thread migrates on it's own to another topic that is indirectly related and relevant to the thread

If it is a humor thread to start with then IMNSHO they are fair game.

 

[Big-t-2538]

DiverBuoy once bubbled...

To hijack and redirect a thread is inconsiderate at best. Of course moderators let it slide fairly regularly, and have even been guilty of it a couple of times.

[edited: Thread moved to Non-Diving]

well...I guess we know how you voted...

 

[Walter]

I don't understand the concept of a hijacked thread. When people discuss anything (and these forums are simply discussions) the topic will wander. It is a normal part of conversation. It is illogical to expect anything different. A threaded format makes it easier to follow the various side issues that arise from time to time while still keeping the general flow on target. This format is linear and requires frequent quoting to enable people to understand to exactly what you are referring.

 

[WreckWriter]

Big-t-2538 once bubbled...
well...I guess we know how you voted...

Would you have imagined him saying anything other than what he did?

WW

 

[Big-t-2538]

WreckWriter once bubbled...


Would you have imagined him saying anything other than what he did?

WW

my boss says I'm not allowed to use my imagination anymore...I guess he's trying to get me ready for my 'derf' fundy's class in June

 

[cat]

Cave Diver once bubbled... Due to the many sick and twisted personalities that frequent this board, the threads often get off topic.

I personally think most of them are pretty darn funny.

Hmm, now why do I have the sudden urge to hijack THIS thread? Must be my sick and twisted personality - or maybe it's the fact that I live too far from a decent-sized body of water and it's too cold to go diving!

Hijacking a serious thread - iffy. I find some hijacks (or attempts thereof) really irritating - as a newbie diver there's lots of technical information threads that I read thoroughly but don't post to and if one gets hijacked I tend to quit reading it (unless the hijacking is exceptionally entertaining). Hijacking a frivolous one - usually funny. Hijacking a serious one on a non-diving topic that has erupted into namecalling and flaming - a necessary task sometimes so that people have a chance to regain their senses of humour...

Thread meanders simply happen - I'd definitely agree with Walter on that one. Big difference between simply lettting it meander and cutting it a new channel, though. Just my $0.02 CAN

 

[DiverBuoy]

It is not stated in our TOS that hijacking is not allowed. Sorry for the misinformation. Hijack away... <just kidding>

That said another moderator put it this way to me "it is an appeal to fairness and ettiquette". When "wandering" gets completely out-of-hand at the descretion of the moderators it could get split into a separate thread or pulled. It doesn't happen often but it has been done. Walter is right, a healthy discussion always involves tangents of thought and "wandering". OTOH, hijacking is a deliberate attempt to derail a thread, no matter what attempts are made by the participants to bring it back on topic, the hijacker (and company) attempt to keep the train off the tracks. cat I'd like to add your thought to my original list - it is harder, especially for new folks, to make a post that is back on topic after a thread has become hijacked.

Here's a thought - if anyone gets a brain fart that's completely off-topic, why not consider whether it would be worthy of starting a new thread? In the new thread you will be able to thoroughly exhaust the "new" topic for discussion.

Oh and by the way I voted "it's halarious" <just kidding>

 

[seadog]

in two categories: some of the usuals turning a thread into a private discussion or, if it's a gear question, of course the BP/wings DIR crowd seems to want to take over.
:boom:

 

[Aquamaniac]

its a good thing............keeps the kids amused

 

[O-ring]

...since I am as guilty of thread hijacking as anybody, they usually fall into a couple categories.

1) Accidental - like seadog says, some of us know each other pretty well and actually dive together off the board. Sometimes we see something somebody we know posted, make a joke about it, and the thread derails.

2) Wandering - the natural flow of human conversation. Can you imagine how boring this board would be if someone posted a bp/wing question and all we did was answer his/her question exactly to the letter? Auuugh...I would leave, which you may think is great, but I bet a lot of the other people would too and that might suck.

3) Keeping the peace - like Cat alluded to in her post. Sometimes these things start to get too crazy and people start getting pissed. I have jumped in a couple lately and taken heat off somebody because I thought they were getting massacred unjustly and nobody was there to bail them out (not even mods).

4) Trolling - yes, sometimes somebody (myself included) trolls up a thread or says something out of line. Hopefully this doesn't happen too often, but I recognize it does occur. There have only been a couple I can recall that were intentionally messed up, but those threads were doomed before they were even posted...usually highly inflammatory stuff anyway.

I am sure there are other types of hijackings people will bring up, but these are some of the main ones I can think of off the top of my head..