Separate Forum for Off Topic Threads?

rkottke · Post by **rkottke** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 7:08 am

I often play the tin whistle to escape from politics. This is especially true now with the US election coming up. In the past, I have found wonderful information on the tin whistle and folk flute in their respective forums but now it is being diluted with large amounts of mainly political off topic threads, many of which are not even labeled "OT". I think it would be fantastic if all off topic threads were moved to a separate forum and let the rest of us keep up with the serious business of Celtic music.

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 7:36 am

With a few exceptions, sustained political discussion has been restricted to the designated thread which can be ignored by those who don't want be confronted by it. The system works very well.

The mixture of whistle-focussed and OT threads is one of the most distinctive and appealing aspects of this board. So long as OT threads are clearly labelled as such, where's the problem? I think quite a few of the OT threads have some relevance to the musical purpose of the boards. As for occasional spillover or derailment in the form of flame wars or politcial or religious asides, that's life. Surely we can all hear a political or social comment from time to time without feeling polluted.

Martin Milner · Post by **Martin Milner** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 7:46 am

Hmm,

I count four posts on the front page that have political content (and one is from a UK member). I don't consider that a terribly large amount. Three of these are polls, which can't be added to an existing thread. However I agree that it would be nice if people could keep the political (and religious) stuff in it's own thread, that's what it's there for, so I can ignore it unless I'm feeling masochistic.

Unfortunately, as Dale himself started one of the 4 guilty threads....

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 8:04 am

Hey!!! Why wasn't this thread labeled OT?

peeplj · Post by **peeplj** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 8:55 am

The problem with a separate forum for OT posts is I don't think they'd wind up there.

Typically when someone has an OT posting (be it political, religous, medical, whatever), they think it's very important, and they are posting it on the whistle board to try to get it viewed by as many people as possible.

On an "OT" forum, the main readership would be the same few folks who make the majority of OT postings.

So I think they'd still wind up posting on the whistle board, just because it's the largest potential audience.

That said, what could be done is to have a separate forum and make it a policy to move OT threads there no matter where they were originally posted.

However, I really think things work fine like they are, and I think the signal to noise ratio on the whistleboard stays pretty good overall. It's a little bit OT-ish right now because of the coming U.S. elections. They will soon be over and the OT posts will die down again, probably after a few bitter postings from supporters of whichever side loses.

--James

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 9:09 am

Would this thread have been posted in the OT forum, then?

No, really.

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 9:40 am

glauber wrote:Would this thread have been posted in the OT forum, then?

No, really.

Hey, Glauber! Back from vacation?

TomB · Post by **TomB** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 9:45 am

To add to this, I'm sure many of us here recall that this very thing has been brought up "several" times, and each time Dale has come out and said the he wants to leave the board as is, in regards to this (If I'm wrong Dale, I apologize, but that is what my memory says- of course, my memorey also tells me that I used to date Heather Locklear and Charlize Theron at the same time- and I know that's false)

All the Best, Tom

tuaz · Post by **tuaz** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 10:02 am

Wombat wrote:With a few exceptions, sustained political discussion has been restricted to the designated thread which can be ignored by those who don't want be confronted by it. The system works very well.

The mixture of whistle-focussed and OT threads is one of the most distinctive and appealing aspects of this board. So long as OT threads are clearly labelled as such, where's the problem? I think quite a few of the OT threads have some relevance to the musical purpose of the boards. As for occasional spillover or derailment in the form of flame wars or politcial or religious asides, that's life. Surely we can all hear a political or social comment from time to time without feeling polluted.

WHat he said. I like the whole jumbled-up, homey feel of this board. Some OT threads are hilarious. I wouldn't want them segregated from the rest of the board. As long as the OT label is used most (I'm not even expecting 100% compliance) of the time, it's up to the readers to decide if they want to view - or subsequently revisit - a thread.

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 10:06 am

TomB wrote:To add to this, I'm sure many of us here recall that this very thing has been brought up "several" times, and each time Dale has come out and said the he wants to leave the board as is, in regards to this

That is correct, except that "several" is something of an understatement.

Hoed · Post by **Hoed** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 10:19 am

As some of you may have seen I posted a similar reply to an off topic post that wasn't labeled as such. The reason is that there is a lot of politics discussed here (of course that's ok), but aren't labeled as such.

I vote for keeping the same system as there has been for a long time. Because some of the OT discussions are interesting and I don't want to miss some of them. Another reason as mentioned before is that posting OT posts on seperate forum doesn't work in my opinion.

But um... I'd vote for the off topic discussions to be labeled "OT: " (as the main part is already).

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 11:08 am

I voted to keep things the same as they are, but I really appreciate it when people label off topic threads as such. Sometimes I check them out if the title sounds interesting, sometimes I follow the thread, other times I lose interest fast.
If there were an OT board, I doubt I'd ever look at it, but I look at this board at least once per day, often more. I've really enjoyed some of the OT threads-- people here have a fascinating and eclectic set of interests!

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 11:20 am

Yes, i'm in favor of labelling off-topic threads as "OT", so someone doesn't accidentally stumble on a thread such as "Best chicken pie recipes for 2003" and think it's about whistles.

For more information, check out this thread:
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=22830

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 11:23 am

I just don't want to have to go 2 places. While the whistle-related content is, obviously, central to C&F's raison-d'etre, I stay for the personalities as revealed through all sorts of threads.

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 11:28 am

Walden wrote:
glauber wrote:Would this thread have been posted in the OT forum, then?
No, really.
Hey, Glauber! Back from vacation?

Yes. It was too short.