Closing a topic

[EasyE]

I notice the mods tend to close topics when they get too heated or off-topic. Just wondering - can you do this with my tweeter feed or with Fox News/CNN from time to time? 

 

It can be exhausting wading through all of this political stuff (and knowing that I sometimes contribute to the mess). 

 

It is a very American thing, I believe, to want every topic or issue to fit neatly into a box. Alas, so many things don't fit into tidy boxes. Like me! 

 

Blessings

 

[awkward-yet-sweet]

Just now, EasyE said:

It is a very American thing, I believe, to want every topic or issue to fit neatly into a box. Alas, so many things don't fit into tidy boxes. Like me!

 

The "on topic" thing... I can see both sides, and an argument in favor of forum neatness and navigability.  But I find it feels very unnatural, not like a real conversation.  As you mention, conversations do not fit into tidy boxes.  Mine definitely don't, and with my friends (or even random strangers) I find that conversations can end up going down some unexpected paths.  I see that as good, but evidently others don't agree. 

 

I've tried to overcome the "on topic" restriction by creating branch topics, but that doesn't seem to flow quite as well for some reason.  Occasionally I've seen the mods create a branch-off topic, but not as often as just shutting something down.  I suspect that "on topic" is sometimes more of a catch-all censorship tool. 

[Carolyn Marie]

Just now, awkward-yet-sweet said:

 

Occasionally I've seen the mods create a branch-off topic, but not as often as just shutting something down.  I suspect that "on topic" is sometimes more of a catch-all censorship tool. 

 

Whether something is on or off topic is subjective, of course.  It also sometimes has to do with how many posts a topic has received; sometimes even topics that stay on course tend to just poop out after 20-30 replies.  If the discussion is lively and on-topic and doesn't get heated it's unlikely to be shut down.  Alternatively, if a topic stays on course but gets overly heated or folks just start repeating themselves, it might get shut down quickly.

 

Nothing is written in stone when it comes to closing a topic; sometimes we Mods and Admins disagree among ourselves.  It is also as much gut feeling as anything else.  We collectively, and myself personally, take the decision to close a topic very seriously and try to avoid doing so.  As you may have noticed, we almost always issue a warning first.  Sometimes the warnings are heeded, sometimes not.

 

In the many years I've been doing this here, censorship is something we occasionally get accused of, and something I believe has never been applied without good reason or careful thought.

 

Carolyn Marie

[EasyE]

Just as a note: wasn't criticizing the mods at all. Just having a little fun and showing appreciation that a mod could step in and say, "we're done" when a topic ran its course. Wish it was so easy on social media or whenever I turn on the news channels...