Why "Official Thread" fad has been ruining this board

[PonyExpress]

I've been thinking about why I find these official threads so annoying, and finally figured it out. In the past I read this board less for the topics than for the posters themselves. Certain members had great things to say, real insight, and when they created a thread you knew it was driven by their eloquence and energy. Now the official thread fad has instituted a tyranny of the "topic". The great posters are mixed in with drivel and the exercise of sifting through the threads constitutes a colossal waste of time. The moderators have suppressed the personality and individual touch that gave this board its charm. Now it is an antiseptic bore. The moderators should relax this tyranny and allow multiple threads to be opened on the same topic, and let readers decide which thread authors they want to read.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

Is this the Official "official thread"?

 

[Ian]

I've been thinking about why I find these official threads so annoying, and finally figured it out. In the past I read this board less for the topics than for the posters themselves. Certain members had great things to say, real insight, and when they created a thread you knew it was driven by their eloquence and energy. Now the official thread fad has instituted a tyranny of the "topic". The great posters are mixed in with drivel and the exercise of sifting through the threads constitutes a colossal waste of time. The moderators have suppressed the personality and individual touch that gave this board its charm. Now it is an antiseptic bore. The moderators should relax this tyranny and allow multiple threads to be opened on the same topic, and let readers decide which thread authors they want to read.

The only "official threads" launched by the mods are usually by PatsNutMe on the game and post game threads. When others start other "official" threads, we generally don't touch them. I'm open to other suggestions of how to better handle things and always enjoy the feedback, as do the other mods, but wanted to clarify that a bit since some of the recent ones weren't necessarily started by any of us.

But heading into the season I'd love to hear any ideas people would like, so feel free to share them here

 

[Deus Irae]

I've not seen any real issue with official threads.

 

[Ross12]

Is this the Official "official thread"?

Literally came here to make the same joke, darn it.

 

[Ian]

Following up on this same discussion, we'll have to possibly explore what threads are merged for the sake of allowing different angles on a certain topic. I think that might be one area that we could improve on, but obviously feel free to share your thoughts on this as well.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Ian:

Based on my experiences with another (non-sports) board, I would suggest this general (but not exhaustive) rule:

* "BREAKING NEWS" posts (i.e., ones that just re-post tweets/links) should be merged.
* "Analytical" posts (i.e., ones that involve original thinking) should be left alone.

For example, patfanken's game threads shouldn't be merged with the general "official post-game thread," but a post merely linking BB's post-game presser should be merged.

 

[jmt57]

I am assuming that what Pony Express is referring to is moderators merging threads, rather than the Official Thread itself. Specifically, some in-game reaction threads being merged into the 'official' game thread, or some post-game reaction threads being merged into the 'official' post-game thread.

As a moderator, I can see both sides. Some merges are obvious (e.g., three people start a thread on the same subject such as a player being traded, or released).

Part of the problem is that if we have multiple threads on the same subject, then worthwhile threads on other topics get pushed further down - and once they hit page two they are virtually gone forever, never to be seen again. This is very common in the immediate aftermath of a game.

It's a subjective call that is sometimes difficult to make. We certainly don't want to suppress creativity and individuality. It's a balancing act with a whole lot of gray area: do you let every thread that is opened stay as is, or do you try to keep the front page of the forum from being 80% threads on the same topic?

I am open to any and all suggestions, and I am sure the other moderators are as well.

 

[Skeeter712]

Apparently he always has his thread merged. Poor guy.

 

[Joker]

Look, I only have one suggestion. Ian just updated the site(once again) and gave us all T-O-O-L-S to modify the board as we see fit. You don't like a certain thread, look to the left on the main threads page and use the ignore function. This ain't rocket science and the gameday thread is what it is. I'm almost part of the cyberfabric here and even I shun the gameday thread until the end. Basically, I wait for the post game thread. Perhaps it would be better to use some initiative and HELP YOURSELF rather than dropping in from the ether and begin requesting nukes for certain threads you object to.

apologize for the bluntness but it has to be said.

 

[Sticky Caulk]

For example, patfanken's game threads shouldn't be merged with the general "official post-game thread," but a post merely linking BB's post-game presser should be merged.

patfanken's post game thoughts and observation threads or one of my favorite things about this board. I remember a lot more people doing that sort of thing in the past. That stuff is what had me lurking (reading, but never registering to post) patsfans for years.

 

[The Scrizz]

The only "official threads" launched by the mods are usually by PatsNutMe on the game and post game threads. When others start other "official" threads, we generally don't touch them. I'm open to other suggestions of how to better handle things and always enjoy the feedback, as do the other mods, but wanted to clarify that a bit since some of the recent ones weren't necessarily started by any of us.

But heading into the season I'd love to hear any ideas people would like, so feel free to share them here

So some "Official Thread" threads aren't official?

 

[unoriginal]

While Joker is right that use of the messageboard tools are what's called for, I don't think Hide Threads will do what PonyExpress wants, which is find posts by users he likes, or just good posts in general, without trawling through mega-threads to get at it.

The problem is, last time I checked, "Search posts by user" was malfunctional, and I don't think there's even an ability to search for recent posts by rating. When I've had to find what this board was saying about Mayo in 2010, for example, I used a targeted Google search (i.e. "site:_atsfans.com searchterms" edited to remove smileyface) but that does not sort by date or understand thread pagination.

Ian is overworked and under-appreciated as is, and if many users utilized search in this fashion the database server would probably explode, but those would be the tools to use to sift the grain from the chaff.

 

[The Scrizz]

I am assuming that what Pony Express is referring to is moderators merging threads, rather than the Official Thread itself. Specifically, some in-game reaction threads being merged into the 'official' game thread, or some post-game reaction threads being merged into the 'official' post-game thread.

As a moderator, I can see both sides. Some merges are obvious (e.g., three people start a thread on the same subject such as a player being traded, or released).

Part of the problem is that if we have multiple threads on the same subject, then worthwhile threads on other topics get pushed further down - and once they hit page two they are virtually gone forever, never to be seen again. This is very common in the immediate aftermath of a game.

It's a subjective call that is sometimes difficult to make. We certainly don't want to suppress creativity and individuality. It's a balancing act with a whole lot of gray area: do you let every thread that is opened stay as is, or do you try to keep the front page of the forum from being 80% threads on the same topic?

I am open to any and all suggestions, and I am sure the other moderators are as well.

At soxprospects.com another site I frequent, they have a 'Throwdown' forum for ridiculous arguments that derail threads. A 20 page thread can be a lot to get through when 5 pages of it is an ad nauseam argument between a few people. So the mods will take an argument and just dump it into there where it can be discussed and followed by anyone who actually cares.

And I know that there are tools but I don't want to 'ignore' particular posters just because I find them annoying at times.

 

[Clonamery]

Literally came here to make the same joke, darn it.

OT, but I am literally nauseated by the overuse of the word "literally," figuratively speaking. Literally used to literally be awesome to add in an exclamation or point of reference. Now, like awesome, it is literally overused. I mean it.

 

[patsfaninpa]

I thought the spyware/adware ruined this site a few years ago.

 

[Kontradiction]

So are we supposed to beg you to come back after reading that?

 

[pwes]

I am assuming that what Pony Express is referring to is moderators merging threads, rather than the Official Thread itself. Specifically, some in-game reaction threads being merged into the 'official' game thread, or some post-game reaction threads being merged into the 'official' post-game thread.

As a moderator, I can see both sides. Some merges are obvious (e.g., three people start a thread on the same subject such as a player being traded, or released).

Part of the problem is that if we have multiple threads on the same subject, then worthwhile threads on other topics get pushed further down - and once they hit page two they are virtually gone forever, never to be seen again. This is very common in the immediate aftermath of a game.

It's a subjective call that is sometimes difficult to make. We certainly don't want to suppress creativity and individuality. It's a balancing act with a whole lot of gray area: do you let every thread that is opened stay as is, or do you try to keep the front page of the forum from being 80% threads on the same topic?

I am open to any and all suggestions, and I am sure the other moderators are as well.

I'll say that in the past it has annoyed me with postgame threads when some people want to discuss one specific thing about the game and their thread is immediately merged into Official postgame thread. Most people dont want to sift though all those pages to discuss one specific topic. But I also understand the clutter it would create if everyone started a thread after the game. Perhaps a compromise where we leave them alone for a few hours and merge them later. That way in the immediate aftermath people have time to talk in a specific thread about one thing and later the board is cleaned up by merging them.

 

[Rob0729]

For example, patfanken's game threads shouldn't be merged with the general "official post-game thread," but a post merely linking BB's post-game presser should be merged.

Not to put myself in the same class with patfanken, but I have have never had one of my post game threads merged with the official game thread. Certain veteran posters like myself, ken, Zeus, etc. do have the cache to have their own threads (right or wrong). So from that standpoint, I don't think this particular thing is an issue.

I find that every post game, several key veterans start threads with real and thoughtful discussion (at least of the most part) and the people who want to vent, trolls, and the generally insane go to the official post game threads (although there is some thoughtful discussion in those threads too).

I don't have a problem with stuff getting merged into official threads. Most of the mods are good enough to determine what deserves its own thread and what should be merged. Otherwises, when we have news like Mankins getting traded having 30 threads with discussions that are exactly the same thing.

 

[Galeb]

I think an "official" suggestion thread should be created and this thread should be merged into it.