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View Full Version : The evolution of a thread


Jeff Rutledge
08-10-2003, 05:24 AM
I quite often am away from the boards for days at a time. As a result, when I return and click "New Posts", I am greeted my pages and pages of new threads.

Sometimes, to see if it's a conversation I'm interested in joining, I'll scan the first page and last page of a post. I have noticed that they often don't appear to be related at all. :) After going back and reading the entire history of the thread, the connection is clear, but I find the disparity sometimes amusing.

So I thought I'd do a little (completely unscientific) experiment.

I took the first five threads that were at least four pages long and compared the general idea of the first page with the gist of the last page. Here's what I found:

1. It's vs. Its --> Swinging your arms and chewing bubble gum. (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=16303&highlight=)

2. Gotta get me a laptop --> 17" LCD Screen Resolution OR "Do you hear what I hear" (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=16248&highlight=)

3. Why'd you pick your Avatar --> Delete those DLL's TopDog! (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4872&highlight=)

4. AS with MS's BT --> Get the TDK (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4915&highlight=)

5. Dale isn't dead --> DNS and Star Trek. (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=16338&highlight=)

OK, I'll admit I took a little bit of creative license when defining the "general idea" of a page, but I think the point is still there that it's interesting to see how discussions evolve.

Would the results be different on another day with different threads? Probably.

Do I have too much time to kill on my weekend vacation? Definitely. :mrgreen:

Jason Dunn
08-10-2003, 05:48 AM
Yup. 'Aint the nature of chaotic online forums just great? :mrgreen:

Kati Compton
08-10-2003, 06:09 AM
Looks like we need a 3rd moderator. :lol:

Excalliber
08-10-2003, 06:40 AM
Personally, I find this the best forum that I've run across for pretty much anything (even though you didn't say this forums isn't the best, i had the urge to share :wink: ). Every other forum that i lurk around or join for a few days has the Off-Topic forum filled with sexual confessions, and the mods do almost nothing to move the ones that make it into the general discussion to the off-topic section. I'll stay here, thankyou. Those are general forums about politics or movies, however. I've intrestingly enough never found that sort of thing on any PPC site, or pretty much any technology site's forums that I've been to.

Was this what you started this thread as? 8O

dangerwit
08-10-2003, 07:02 AM
It must be difficult to moderate some discussions -- you don't want to seem imposing and rude, but at the same time, you want to keep discussions on track for those needing information about the thread. I guess people like to talk about what they like to talk about. Reminds me of a similar vein of thought: sometimes when I'm asked a question I'd rather not answer, I instead answer the question I wanted asked. ;)

This site does have some of the better information around, and I appreciate the difficulty in moderating such an active site.

I often do the first/last page thing too on several sites. It does prove useful, unless I miss some good reads in the middle. Thank goodness for that little scroll wheel in the mouse. :)

dh
08-10-2003, 01:41 PM
I'm always wandering off topic and I think that whether it's a problem depends on the type of thread involved.

If it's a thread where someone is asking for help with a problem or is specific to a particular PPC or software, it's good to have it kept on the straight and narrow.

A lot of threads are much more conversational and tend to go off in all sorts of directions. These are some of the more interesting to read as well.

Anything in "Off Topic" is fair game to a large extent.

Janak Parekh
08-10-2003, 04:36 PM
So I thought I'd do a little (completely unscientific) experiment.
Pretty neat experiment, but some minor points:

1. It's vs. Its --> Swinging your arms and chewing bubble gum. (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=16303&highlight=)
I think the moderators generally let Off-Topic discussions meander a bit...

2. Gotta get me a laptop --> 17" LCD Screen Resolution OR "Do you hear what I hear" (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=16248&highlight=)
Well, if you read the complete thread, it's all related to laptops in general.

3. Why'd you pick your Avatar --> Delete those DLL's TopDog! (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4872&highlight=)
Again, offtopic. And this thread has gone on for years. ;)

4. AS with MS's BT --> Get the TDK (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4915&highlight=)
Perfectly relevant. TDK's latest beta driver works with MS's BT products, and supports AS.

5. Dale isn't dead --> DNS and Star Trek. (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=16338&highlight=)
DNS is sort of relevant... I guess Star Trek isn't. :lol:

So, what am I saying? We do meander -- any community does, and I think a little meandering builds community. But also I think Steve and Kati do an excellent job of balancing on-topic vs. open discussion. :werenotworthy: If you've seen other forums, off-topic doesn't even begin to describe how threads go.

--janak

Jeff Rutledge
08-10-2003, 06:50 PM
Good points all Janak. I wasn't intending to make straying conversations a bad thing. I agree totally that it's important to building a community. I hope it wasn't taken as Thoughts-bashing because that wasn't it at all. It was just a fun observation.

It's kind of like that children's game called Operator (at least, that's what I called it). You line up 30 or so kids and tell the first one a story (say 3-5 sentences long). Then they pass it on to the next kid and so forth down the line. It's usually quite funny what you end up with at the end.

In reality, I was impressed with how close to topic these threads stayed (a testament to Steven and Kati). I almost abandoned my post because it wasn't turning out as funny as I thought it would. Numbers 1 and 5 are the best examples of what I was hoping to illustrate. In fact, even the Avatar thread had a couple posts on the 24th page (or whatever it was) that were completely related to the first post.

It's true that this would have been a completely different story on other boards though. Their threads get hijacked so easily and go so far off topic (usually towards more childish ends) that they don't remotely resemble the topic brought forth.

I think the fact that this community can stray off topic a little bit and have some fun, but get back down to business again before it gets out of hand, is one of the main reasons these boards are so successful.

ctmagnus
08-10-2003, 07:51 PM
imo it's just human nature to eventually nudge a thread (ever so slightly) OT. After all, most of us aren't :robot: yet.

Kati Compton
08-10-2003, 08:12 PM
imo it's just human nature to eventually nudge a thread (ever so slightly) OT. After all, most of us aren't :robot: yet.
Nudging? I think you shove. ;)

FredMurphy
08-10-2003, 11:50 PM
There are always loads of threads that go completely off-topic on my website. Best one recently went from "What's under your bed?" to a few parallel discussions including...

One person leaving their PC to see if they could fit into a suitcase unaided.
Why a female cat would try to "milk" a male cat.
The behaviour of prostitues in Leith.
Playing the piano and watching goldfish whilst stoned.
A French film called "La Haine" and whether it was any good or not.

All this in one thread. 8O

maximus
08-11-2003, 02:54 AM
imo it's just human nature to eventually nudge a thread (ever so slightly) OT. After all, most of us aren't :robot: yet.
Nudging? I think you shove. ;)

In a formal company meeting, or in a presentation, I agree that we have to be totally to topic. But in a family gathering, social gathering, chit chat between friends, I think wandering around a bit is OK, right ?