Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum HiJacking Threads

There is another thread near this one called … ENDLESS DEBATES / HIJACKIED THREADS.

The discussion in there centered about solutions.

One of the suggestions was to report OT threads and allow management to handle it.

Some suggested letting members give "gentle" reminders when they see a thread getting hijacked.

It is my belief that self policing does not work because the offenders just cannot help themselves …. they like to get their thoughts out there and discuss and or argue about things almost endlessly.

Members tend to just let it go and move on and any discussion they were about to contribute is lost.

I offer the ENDLESS DEBATES / HIJACKED THREADS thread as exhibit 1 demonstrating that tendency.

It is now hopelessly HIJACKED and is meandering around with various topics and arguments.

That is what happens with self policing.

Those involved with the hijacking will tell us that the thread was already dead when they participated.

I say ….. You do not know that.

But even if it was …. why not let it retain its' identity for later viewing and perhaps even another post some time down the road ?

There is no justification for HIJACKING.

It is rude, thoughtless, and self-centered and someone needs to say it, so I am.

You wish to argue about your personal philosophies ? Start a thread and have at it.

What gives you the right to take over someone else's thread ?

It's the internet, no-one really owns anything. Free conversation tends to be organic. If you want things to stay strictly on topic, I recommend reading books...

Some thoughts:

• One person cannot hijack a thread, it would require at least two participants to derail it.
• Nobody owns a thread. Someone started it, but that does not bestow ownership
• If the forum software allowed it, the thread starter could be given the exclusive right to fork off a post into a separate thread, thereby making the thread starter the local moderator.

Going off topic in a thread can be so much fun! I think it is totally fine, especially once the OT has got enough answers. It often feels as if those who engage in the derailment of a topic have a good time, joking around a bit. I am happy for them even though I don't often participate. This is not work. An internet forum is not a serious thing.

I don't think it's a problem.

That other thread has become an echo chamber now - they are just talking to themselves and to hear the echo. Soon they will be over here...

Sam

Hi everyone!

Oh, sorry... I'll go back over there, now...

My solution is I stop reading and I move to the next thread.

I think it's as simple as that. One can easily choose what to read and not. I certainly don't read every post here, more like scan and hope the important things stand out. Perhaps it's a flaw on my end, but I almost scan everything now that is written on the web, and pull out what I'm interested in or need. Reading a book is different thing altogether, but I think you get the point.

There is also a ignore feature here. You can choose to mute posts from those that you aren't interested in.

I agree.
Although sometimes I think we could use more "hi" (or even "high" if you prefer) and less "jack."

+2. No one is forcing us to read every single word.

A lot of the time it's OK, but not always. I've seen new members ask a question, the thread wanders off into the 'wild blue yonder' and that's the last we hear of the new member. It should be self-policing, though, unless PW want to recruit extra mods who are ready to pounce. Of course some off-topic comments really do add life and interest to threads and make them fun - unfortunately the problem is that somebody looking for help / a discussion may not find them so.

It's the interminable 'yes it is, no it isn't' stuff that I find gets wearing, as demonstrated in that thread - and avoiding getting sucked into that requires restraint, but when people feel passionately about something.... I just don't bother to read a lot of comments when they appear to be going in that direction.

It's all a matter of balance, and that's something only those taking part can control - unless, of course, we have a 'big brother' watching every thread. Most of the time things work well here in my opinion, and when they don't I just ignore the thread - although I guess it could be entertaining to read on a rainy day, seeing who said what to whom....

I laughed thru the whole skimming of the last page of the other hijacking thread. I didn't *read* that page - heavens, what a waste that would be! But I laughed - the entertainment value of the irony of it becoming it's own topic was worth a minute or two

As long as it's not getting vituperative the hijacks don't bother me at all. I find mean/rude posts getting in the way of *me* discussing a topic annoying, but that doesn't happen often here in the ABF. And it may or may not bother others. The only time, for me, a moderator needs to get involved is if a particular poster is mean/rude in many different threads.

But obviously that's my own opinion. I'm with several others here, tho - if it bothers you, move on.

Well, I'm doin' just the same. Keep it running, guys . . . . but it's always better when the verbal pugilistics begin in earnest. When the mothers are brought into it.
Just love it!

If you go out to dinner with some friends, does the conversation always stay on one specific topic? I think the only problem is when someone hijacks a thread after only a couple of posts. That has only happened once or twice to me.

Off topic posts rarely bother me because they are a natural human thing to do. Conversations meander in real life for a reason. Often the meandering is more interesting and helpful. As long as the original post is addressed I see little harm in it. It’s certainly not something worth reporting in my opinion, unless someone is being egregiously disrespectful. And I think most posters here are courteous enough to stop if someone asks them politely. Self policing is the best policy and has the added benefit of not wasting the time and energy of the moderators unnecessarily over trivial matters.

I believe I've hijacked my own threads more than a few times over the years, going completely OT (talking about Quantum Theory, the Milky Way etc when I should have been discussing my Péchés de vieillesse).

Unfortunately, it's impossible to put myself on 'Ignore' .........so I just ignore my own posts by sheer will power .

It doesn't work very well........

+1

The problem with hijacked threads is that if you quit reading the echo chamber (as Sam S so aptly called it) how will you know if the hijack ends and the topic reverts to the original? I guess you don’t, which is a shame. I don’t mind a hijack when it is a discussion—-but I find irritating and disrespectful when there is no discussion but a couple of posters who bicker over and over and over again, fulling knowing there are irreconcilable differences but not being willing to stop posting.

PW has a PM function which seems appropriate in this circumstance.

What would that be ?