What is "Off Topic" for?

I understand how it is utilized.

I'm curious what purpose it serves GRM.

I applaud your efforts and abilities to keep the site clean and respectful, and understand ultimately it is a reflection on the publication.

But sometimes threads seem to get locked right after they figure out how to self-correct.

I recognize your right to do so, and have no problem with it. But I am not sure I understand what it accomplishes.

If I make a bonehead, vulgar, or otherwise inappropriate and/ or disrespectful comment, which is followed by several people correcting me and moving things toward the right track again, it seems that the continuing pursuit of the right track adds more value than the lock.

I would understand deleting my inappropriate comment easier than I do the lock.

So, what should we be striving for? I'm honestly curious about what the goals are of the "Off Topic" section and what it is trying to accomplish.

Thanks!

My understanding, based on what similar places were for in other forums I have administered, is that it's kind of a big hav-a-hart trap to keep the vermin out of the content-specific areas of the forum without actually killing them.

Asked and answered before. It's a party. Enjoy, don't forget to try the shrimp. But once your table can be heard arguing loudly enough to annoy the other diners and partygoers, we're going to bring you your check and send you on your way.

Margie

I suggested the lock of the "Human Population" thread because I didn't want to ruin a good run.

Its one thing to keep the conversation going by introducing new ideas (as you, Curmedegon, and a few others did) but its another to enter the thread, and reply to someone else's statements with a completely off-topic response. Or worse yet, blatantly spout off about topics that you know will attract opposing opinions.

So why not delete offending posts??

Moderators don't have the time time.

Time time time...

So, what should we be striving for?

Wasting hours upon hours of time that could otherwise be spent doing something productive, preferably on someone else's dime.

Yup. And much of that thread was good. But I'm not going to spend all afternoon censoring the "good" responses from the "bad" ones. That's not my job, not the way this forum works. Have fun, but when it gets ugly, the lights go off and it's time to move on to the next thing.

Margie

Does it take a lot of time to delete a post?

I am assuming the time is not related to reading the post, since the moderators probably read it if they locked it.

Man, I never did get any of the shrimp...

I hate shrimp. But I love a good debate thread until people start throwing the shrimp at each other.

In reply to SVreX:

LOL! Someone got back to the board with a mouthful of something to say.

Jilted of the last word!

In reply to SVreX:

It takes a lot of time to weed through posts. If you come into a post late, do you take the time to go back and read through all the pages that came before, or just the first few, then skip to the last page?

What interesting is that for the most part 90% of threads stay quiet, but man, as soon as you post something in the news or anything involving culture: BAM! the shrimp go flying.

I'll try my best to catch the shrimp.

Its a lot like work. You come here, you discuss your Miata, you go home.

I suspect the Off Topic Section might be a good place to start the "Please reinstate SVreX" thread.

Don't question the man behind the curtain!

PHeller wrote: I'll try my best to catch the shrimp.

I prefer eating them, digesting them and pooping them with an appropriate measure of privacy.

It only gets bad when the shrimp was poisoned to begin with.............

I got no problem with Paul, he's usually a fine dinner guest! As others have said, though, don't have time to nursemaid the more volatile threads because we're busy publishing car magazines. (You do know that's actually what we do, right?) So when the shrimp start flying, the threads stop.

Margie

Their house, their rules.

Nothing else to say really.

SVreX wrote: Does it take a lot of time to delete a post? I am assuming the time is not related to reading the post, since the moderators probably read it if they locked it.

I don't know about here specifically, but the actual mechanics of deleting a post are a drop in the bucket compared to the time it takes to read every post in a thread, set criteria of acceptability, evaluate the questionable posts, apply that criteria as objectively as possible, and then deal with the inevitable fallout generated by deleting post X while failing to delete post Y.

Wai wai waiiittttt

You guys do a magazine?

Since when?

All along I thought this was "guns religion and money" forums!

I guess it's a testament to how comfortable we are here, that we forget that we're guests. Thanks for the great party, Margie.

I'm sure that when I'm without a car, riding my bicycle everywhere, using the computer at the library, and running my own organic farm...I'll still be posting on GRM.

Lesley wrote: I guess it's a testament to how comfortable we are here, that we forget that we're guests. Thanks for the great party, Margie.

+1. Now can we lock this steaming pile of horse-thread and pretend it never happened?

Yes, Margie, thanks for letting us play here.