Re: Off topic section? (sort of)

Actually, my idea of an off-topic "section" would be one that has no section display page (so no approval process, no front-paging, no way to post new nodes directly to it). It would be a place to move off-topic threads but there would be no section page for browsing off-topic threads. The point of moving threads there would be to make them less visible in order to discourage the starting of off-topic threads and as an alternative to reaping.

Probably Super Search would know how to search off-topic threads but wouldn't search them by default.

The fact that it would be implemented as a section is somewhat irrelevant, being mostly just an implementation detail. The point would be having a way to consider a node as being off-topic and then enough votes for 'off-topic' w/o conflicting votes would trigger the thread being made off-topic and thus "move it out of the way".

I feel a need for some way to address the "no Perl content" type of considerations that are often way too common for my tastes. But I'm not convinced even this idea would be an improvement, because in some ways it would encourage people to consider nodes as off-topic and experience shows that lots of people can read a node with a question about Perl and not realize that Perl is involved and will even then consider the node for reaping.

I fear the only decent solution will be a way for people to give feed-back on considerations such that the community can designate a consideration abusive or inappropriate and the considerer and those who voted for it lose some moderation power. Such would be complex.

It would also not address the "no value" considerations. For me, there is a huge distinction between 1) "I see no value in that node", 2) "I'm very sure noone would see any value in that node", and 3) "That node does damage of some sort". And I don't think you should reap a node unless it is beyond (3). For me, it is a matter of whether the amount of damage is enough to warrant reaping the node. So I'm frankly baffled when I see people considering nodes for (1).

- tye

Comment on Re: Off topic section? (sort of)

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Re: (2) Off topic section? (not-a-section OT section (better late than never)) by ybiC (Prior) on Mar 28, 2003 at 17:10 UTC
I share your concerns, tye, on the recent proliferation of non-perl root posts. It seems that PM's very perl-specific focus is one significant part of what helps keep the Monastery a friendly corner in an otherwise cold and hostile web. At some point, I'd expect OT proliferation to adversely impact the longstanding PM culture of civility and courtesy. Your description of a "non-section OT section" sounds better than anything else I've heard of. Of course no solution will be perfect. I don't think it's become a problem yet, but have no feel for how long it might take for OT proliferation side-effects to become a issue. About the time I start to wonder if OT root posts would really become an issue, I remember the godless-heathen-slashdot-hordes. Heh. Regarding the potential problems of "no-value post reapings", it looks like the reaping mechanism may not be scaling well. On second thought, `s/reaping/level-powers/;`. KnowwhatImeanVerne? I've no suggestions whatsoever on addressing that, if it is indeed a conceivable source of a possible problem. (So did I couch that last statement in enough qualifiers? {grin}) cheers, ybiC striving toward Perl Adept (it's pronounced "why-bick") P.S. Hrm... might a "not-a-section OT section" end up encouraging even greater volume of OT posts?? /me gets a headache pondering triple double sideways reverse psychology. Update Here are a couple articles by Clay Shirkey that appear quite relevant to the topic of Monastery community and scalability. I'm still absorbing+digesting the info for to develop an opinion. http://shirky.com/writings/community_scale.html http://shirky.com/writings/broadcast_and_community.html	[reply] [d/l]
Re: Re: (2) Off topic section? (not-a-section OT section (better late than never)) by pfaut (Priest) on Mar 28, 2003 at 22:08 UTC
As a not-a-section OT section, these pages could be listed only in Newest Nodes or some other out-of-the-way place. They should also be not-frontpageable.. That would make them visible enough to get answers but invisible enough to discourage use of this site as a first line of support for non-perl issues. `--- print map { my ($m)=1<<hex($_)&11?' ':''; $m.=substr('AHJPacehklnorstu',hex($_),1) } split //,'2fde0abe76c36c914586c';` [download]	[reply] [d/l]
Re: Re: Off topic section? (sort of) by castaway (Parson) on Mar 28, 2003 at 09:52 UTC
I completely agree. C.	[reply]


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