Why do decent threads turn into p*ssing matches?

Don't click on the thread? I don't understand. You have a thread about a specific topic, folks are interested and involved, and then it just jumps the tracks for no reason, and then just dies of stupidity. How would someone know to not click on the thread?

(sorry, I see Moddy just said the same. I defer.)

 

Well if the thread was started by me or I made the last post...... ;D

 

Like I said, Moddy, I'm far more irritated by blatant flamebaiting threads that are created for that specific purpose than I am in threads that get jacked.

 

With you on the last part, but it's not like there aren't thousands of outlets for religion/political talk. Given that the forum's intent is to propigate journalism news/job openings/shop talk, does it reflect poorly on us to outsiders if the hot-and-heavy threads are the same bullshit wrapped in better phrasing?

 

Actually, if you have an urge to begin a threadjack or to contribute to one that should be a sign that you should move on and click on a different thread. It means you have nothing to add to the conversation or that you don't like the direction of the conversation.

 

Polarizing, coarse, unnecessarily inflammatory language? Anyone?

 

Again it should be noted -- I think since there were some clear rules set forth -- the journalism board has become far more serious and idiots have stayed away and have not ruined threads there. The jobs board has become more serious.

And those are the two more serious threads.

And despite the fact that threads do melt down on this board -- I really think if people stepped back and looked at the big picture they'd agree we have a pretty good online community here and these discussions are usually pretty good, at least for a period until we all begin talking in circles and that's where the silliness and threadjacks occur.

I don't think that is a bad thing.

 

See, if anything I think it'll get worse because once the Obama v. Clinton threads wither away, it'll turn into general D v. R drama. Maybe it'd be worse if it was Clinton v. GWB, but no matter who runs, everyone runs to their fortified ramparts and fire off the party lines. And epic fail will be had.

 

And does the fact that 15 members are reading this thread right now mean we're somewhat full of ourselves, that the most interesting thing on the board is meta, state-of-the-board stuff?

 

Threadjacks are hard, damn hard, to police because they usually come out of nowhere. And they're often a product of individual poster's styles.

For example, the thread about Chris Matthews reminded of the scene from A Fish Called Wanda where Wanda tells Otto he's wrong that Aristotle is Belgian, etc. So I post the quote and a picture to go with it.

That didn't turn into a threadjack, it was never intended to turn into one, the way my brain works, I see a situation, it reminds of something else in our culture and I draw a parallel.

But if we had a bunch of Fish Called Wanda fans on board at the time, it could very easily HAVE turned into a Wanda-jack. You just never know.

And let's be honest, some threadjacks are more interesting than the threads that spawned them.

I realized long ago there are no absolutes, no standards, no consistency to SJ at all. And that goes right down to those who post, those who moderate, etc. And I like it that way, even if it does infuriate me one day and engross me the next.

 

This will probably rank me among one of your losers, but here's the deal Bruce: For some of us, who work from home, or who don't go into the office very much, or who have left the profession, this place is our newsroom, our press box. The one thing I miss from my time in newspapers was the sense of camraderie I found there, the give and take, the jokes and the intellectual acrobatics.

When my attic became my office, SportsJournalists.com became my surrogate newsroom -- it became the place where I found the things I missed after leaving the newspaper. So, it's not just another site for me, and it's not just another site for a lot of people. A real sense of community has built up here over the years. I've made some great friends here, have learned a lot about life and writing, even copped some story ideas. It is for me what my old job was.

That's why I'm protective of it, and that's why a lot of people are protective of it and want it to be a good and useful place.

 

I think if Clinton were involved it would be far worse because we'd be reliving the 1990's and that was a very divided and polarizing time in our history.

And just for numbers sake -- I just counted -- out of the last 200 threads created on this board only eight have been locked (a ninth was moved) for idiocy or whatever - which is not nearly as high a number as one would have us believe.

And of those eight, I think three were baseball, one had to do with cheerleaders, one was something else and only three were political threads.

So again, things are not nearly as bad as some are trying to make us believe.