Any objections to fewer megathreads in this forum?

[Niall]

@Melbourne Red requested here that we have less megathreads in this forum as it's damaging discussions.

My main concern with megathreads has primarily related to the football forums but if regularly users of this forum want them done away with here too, I have no problem with that.

Any objections?

 

[golden_blunder]

I dont see how it would work in this forum? Most topics grow into big threads but are current.

For example the thread about the missing flight. Is he proposing we have a new thread everytime something new happens?

Look at the threads on the 1st page, I dont see how we could split them up

 

[nimic]

I actually don't mind them here. They're usually about one subject anyway, and despite it being called "current events" we're more using it as a... "serious discussions" forum. I think it would be a little bit annoying if we'd have new threads every time there's a development in the Malaysia thing, for example.

 

[Niall]

I agree Malaysian airlines type discussions are a single topic that belong in one thread. But threads like 'Irish Politics' and 'American Politics' are very broad. Would those style of threads benefit from being broken up into separate threads?

 

[golden_blunder]

I agree Malaysian airlines type discussions are a single topic that belong in one thread. But threads like 'Irish Politics' and 'American Politics' are very broad. Would those style of threads benefit from being broken up into separate threads?

no, but perhaps should be split by years. So "Irish Politics 2014" etc so that the thread doesnt grow huge. I dont think we need a thread for every party for example, that would be silly

 

[Raoul]

There may be one off threads in the CE that shouldn't be megathreads, but in general, this is one forum where condensing discussions into specific topics actually works. Most threads in the CE tend to "expire" once the discussions run their course.

 

[Stanley Road]

You have my approval Niall, guess that's all you need to go ahead with your plan

 

[golden_blunder]

There may be one off threads in the CE that shouldn't be megathreads, but in general, this is one forum where condensing discussions into specific topics actually works. Most threads in the CE tend to "expire" once the discussions run their course.

precisely

 

[Big Papi]

I object to the use of 'less' in the title thread.

 

[x42bn6]

Some of the stuff in the American Politics thread can be split up - some of the recent pages are about Snowden, for example (which is probably worth a megathread in itself). Several past "sub-threads" are about specific elections, so we could have individual threads for those instead.

Part of me thinks we should still have a "catch-all" mega-thread for American politics for questions and minor stuff that doesn't deserve its own thread, like far-right wackiness, conspiracy theories and low-level politicking. Some forums do this, like TeamLiquid (online competitive gaming): http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/starcraft-2/365518-sc2-general-discussion-and-simple-q-a

 

[JustAFan]

I agree Malaysian airlines type discussions are a single topic that belong in one thread. But threads like 'Irish Politics' and 'American Politics' are very broad. Would those style of threads benefit from being broken up into separate threads?

Not sure about the Irish one but for the most part the American one is fine as a mega thread. Basically it is the same discussion over and over anyways.

 

[Niall]

Ok, I'm not going to enforce any kind of change in policy. IMO it's at the discretion of individual posters if they think a discussion is worthy of a new thread. If it's not, a mod/admin can merge it into an existing megathread.

So, use common sense and all will be well

 

[peterstorey]

It works OK in here I think, the megathreads tend to be an ongoing refresh.

 

[Sky1981]

Imo it's ok in here, most topics are clear and precise, except for several general one which can be splitted up into smaller threads of its own (US politics for example), but to be fair when there's something specific, people will make thread for it, and the general thread is just a discussion for that general topic itself (if it makes sense)

 

[Melbourne Red]

@Melbourne Red requested here that we have less megathreads in this forum as it's damaging discussions.

My main concern with megathreads has primarily related to the football forums but if regularly users of this forum want them done away with here too, I have no problem with that.

Any objections?

Yeah, it was mainly the "American politics", "Politics at Westminster", "Irish politics" type threads I was talking about. I used to like it a lot better when different issues/events had their own threads. My impression is that it used to focus the particular issue and invite debate because the OP would proffer a view, someone else would chime in with another, contrary and usually more controversial view and it would kick off from there.

To be fair, there's still plenty of debate to be found in the megathreads. I find it annoying having to sift through pages of it to work out where it started but I can appreciate that others are not too bothered about it.

Having had a glance through the threads in this forum, I agree that most of them are better in mega thread form.

 

[Plugsy]

I do think a lot of news stories go unnoticed/discussed because they're all crammed into the 'politics at Westminster' thread. I'm not saying we need a new thread every time a politician opens their mouth but if disseminated into specific discussions may well bring more attention. Like having a forum to discuss books and just having one thread called 'Novels', it does what it says on the tin but you'll get more people engaging with it if it was broken down IMO.

Megathreads for one subject are fine, such as the budget or an upcoming election, or UKIP or whatever but mega-mega threads may be a bit stifling.

 

[golden_blunder]

if i had my way, all political threads would go in one giant trashcan