A Brief Word on Staying on Topic and Moderation of OT Posts

[iacas]

From time to time, a small minority of people will complain about a thread going off topic and being "moderated."

Keeping threads fairly strictly on topic is and always has been a goal of this forum. There are a number of reasons for this, but among the top:

• Threads kept on topic (and with good thread titles) perform better in SEO  (both externally and when using our own search engine on the site). This benefits anyone who wants to search (here or on Google, Bing, etc.) to find information. Someone who searches is more likely to stick around and contribute if they find the information they seek.
• Better "SEO" also benefits members in other ways: you are more likely to know what a thread is about by looking at the title or reading any post. If you search for "X" and the discussion is three posts about X and then 39 posts about Y, Z, Q, and L, that's not benefitting anyone.
• It's better for organizing the information on this site. If you want to look up a previous discussion, or quote something from another thread, it makes it easier to find and remember the location of it when the comment came in the discussion in which you expect it - not when a comment about Q was in a discussion on X.
• It cuts down on the number of personal attacks and stops people from bringing up old stuff. If Person B dislikes Person A because of a discussion from a month ago, it's likely off topic for Person B to mention how stupid they thought Person A behaved in a new thread. We can't completely stop people from liking and disliking others, but this helps keep it to a minimum.

There are other smaller ones, but those are the big ones. Also, we care quite a bit more about keeping things "on-topic" in the golf-related threads (particularly the instructional threads), than we do in other, slightly more fringe-related threads (though given people's sensitivity to politics, racism, etc. we will strive to keep a non-political, non-golf thread from devolving into a political discussion).

While it's easy to understand why this policy of fairly strict tolerance to keeping discussions on topic can be frustrating the first time you encounter it - particularly if you're new to the site - a great many of the members, particularly the long-time members, appreciate that this forum maintains this policy, likely for the advantages listed above.

I've been on other forums. Often many quickly devolve into discussions about something else entirely. Even when I'm not a member, I'll search for a topic, find a thread on a forum with a promising thread title, and find out that by the fifth post everyone's talking about something else entirely. That doesn't make the forum look good.

If you find yourself wanting to discuss an off-topic thing, the simple solution is this: start a new thread with the new topic . You can even "quote" a post in the original thread, copy it from the reply box, and paste it in to the new thread to kick things off. Also, we know we aren't perfect. We strive to be, but we're human in the end. You catch more flies with honey, as they say, but the truth is we don't even need honey - if you feel a topic has been wrongly labeled as "off topic," send a PM to myself or @mvmac and tell us why, logically, it should be allowed.

I have no good way to end this, having said all I think I need to say on this. Executive summary: we are somewhat strict about keeping discussions on-topic, for what we feel are good reasons, and over time the majority of people come to appreciate and welcome it. Many have told us this is the best moderated forum out there (and a good many of those people have had disagreements with myself, Mike, or other long-time forum members).

The end.

[Phil McGleno]

Been a member of many sites from golf to fishin and this one does the best job of staying on topic. I seen a bunch of people get their panties in a wad when they are told their posts are off topic-START A NEW THREAD. Simple solution. Common sense aint so common though these days.

[nevets88]

One of the great things about staying on topic can be seen in the instructional threads. Each thread you can cut and paste the whole thing, archive for later reading and acts as sort of a like a chapter in an instruction book because the thread doesn't veer.

[14ledo81]

Count me in as a member who appreciates the "on-topic" moderation.

For those who disagree, try reading some other forums sometime when you are actually looking for something specific.

Again, like has been said, there is a very simple solution.  Nothing wrong with starting a new thread.

[newtogolf]

Overall I think we do a good job on keeping things on topic.  In most golf related threads it's pretty easy to see what the topic is and keep it on topic.

In threads like Bishop getting fired, there are potential tangents to the main topic that relate to the OP but need to be monitored.  For example, social media, political correctness and Bishop's past actions as President of the PGA are all relative to the topics discussion so it becomes a bit more challenging to know what is and what isn't on topic.  I made a post there in response to someone else that I felt was a bit too off topic and labeled it as such but noticed the Off Topic was removed.

I think to avoid there being too many threads that are all inter-related to the same original topic the moderators could be more involved in directing us when to create a new thread if we're strayed too far from the OP.

[mvmac]

Thanks for posting @iacas . You brought up a lot of good points. Members appreciate keeping things on topic and it's how we run a well-organized forum.

[JetFan1983]

Yea, this thread needed to be made.

And you've been linked to this thread and had something removed, don't take it personally. We've all had off-topic posts removed, myself included. It happens. Cheers.

[Ernest Jones]

Yea, this thread needed to be made. And you've been linked to this thread and had something removed, don't take it personally. We've all had off-topic posts removed, myself included. It happens. Cheers. :beer:

I had an off-topic post removed from THIS thread. :-P But I'm an asshat so it doesn't really count.

[Shorty]

I think this is a very good topic.

I have to say that one thing that peeves me regarding thread titles is when someone starts a thread with a  title like "Never saw this coming" when what they should have called it was "Moving from stiff to regular shafts" or something along those lines.

I hate the idea that people are supposed to be intrigued by a title and have to click on it to find out what it's about. Make it clear what you want to discuss and you'll get more meaningful replies and more people will actually read it.

For the record - I have found the moderation on this site very even handed and fair. In fact, I think the moderators are quite lenient.

Some people probably get away with more than they should and the people complaining almost always are moderated for getting overly personal and moving away from the topic.

I have ruffled feathers more than once and have NEVER been treated unfairly. So moderators...moderate away. And change thread titles, please.

[chris3putt]

I had an off-topic post removed from THIS thread.

That's actually quite impressive!

(Darn, now I'm OT. )

[Ernest Jones]

I have to say that one thing that peeves me regarding thread titles is when someone starts a thread with a  title like "Never saw this coming" when what they should have called it was "Moving from stiff to regular shafts" or something along those lines.

I hate the idea that people are supposed to be intrigued by a title and have to click on it to find out what it's about. Make it clear what you want to discuss and you'll get more meaningful replies and more people will actually read it.

I'm with you all the way on this one! I also don't care for the partial sentence lead ins like, "Hey, waddya all think of..." and then you open it and the sentence continues, "...Big Bertha's new lofts." Just tell me what the damn thread's about so I can make an informed decision of whether or not I want to read it.

[iacas]

Shorty said:

I have to say that one thing that peeves me regarding thread titles is when someone starts a thread with a  title like "Never saw this coming" when what they should have called it was "Moving from stiff to regular shafts" or something along those lines.

I hate the idea that people are supposed to be intrigued by a title and have to click on it to find out what it's about. Make it clear what you want to discuss and you'll get more meaningful replies and more people will actually read it.

Here you go:

 

[jamo]

I think this is a very good topic.  I have to say that one thing that peeves me regarding thread titles is when someone starts a thread with a  title like "Never saw this coming" when what they should have called it was "Moving from stiff to regular shafts" or something along those lines.

If I see a thread title on a brand new thread that's particularly bad, I'll change it, but we don't want to change a title after it's taken off a bit because the thread could get hard to find. I get what you're saying though. It's a balancing act.