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DPChallenge Forums >> Administrator Announcements >> Forum policy/enforcement changes
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 09/30/2004 12:47:40 AM · #1
As most of you are probably aware, it is an established practice on DPChallenge forums to limit the number of duplicate/repeat threads by locking new threads on an existing topic, and pointing readers to an existing discussion on that topic. Because the rant folder was, until recently, an unmoderated folder, this "lock and link" policy had not until today been applied to Rant threads.

Effective immediately, we have begun to apply this policy to the Rant folder as well. This decision was primarily motivated by the sharp increase in the number of active political threads.

The primary purpose of this to allow for a reasonable amount of political discussion while preventing the political and other off-topic discussions from overwhelming the photography discussion. To this end, we also ask you take a moment to consider the relevance to DPChallenge of any new thread before posting it. While occasional off-topic posts are acceptable, if you find more than a small percentage of your posts (and especially of new threads you create) are not photography related, please consider whether there is another forum that may be more appropriate for that activity. While it is not site policy to encourage off-topic discussion, we would like to avoid reaching the point where we have to start banning discussion topics entirely. It is only with everyone's cooperation that we can do so.

We would also like to remind everyone that the practice of "threadjacking" is not permitted on DPChallenge. Threadjacking is any deliberate attempt to disrupt an ongoing discussion by attempting to overwhelm or divert that discussion with irrelevant posts.

Your cooperation with both of these forum policy changes is appreciated.
 09/30/2004 12:51:04 AM · #2
Bless you :-)
 09/30/2004 12:52:38 AM · #3
There is a God after all... ;o)
 09/30/2004 12:53:09 AM · #4
Originally posted by digistoune:
Bless you :-)


Ahchoo? ;-)

-Terry
 09/30/2004 01:35:05 AM · #5
Thank You!

I will soon have less threads to ignore!

Message edited by author 2004-09-30 01:35:23.
 09/30/2004 07:24:26 AM · #6
Originally posted by laurielblack:
There is a God after all... ;o)

More like big brother, if you ask me.

Even though this is primarily a photography site, it's also a place where folks who share a common interest can discuss other issues of interest. Locking off threads might be necessary for some of the time, but there a danger of locking out ones which may of interest to a large group of the membership.

For one, part of my 25 dollars goes towards enjoying the occassional joke, the occassional off-topic story. Where has the democratic vote on which topics are acceptable or not among the paying membership? Doesn't my money count for anything?
 09/30/2004 07:27:01 AM · #7
Originally posted by Koriyama:
Originally posted by laurielblack:
There is a God after all... ;o)

More like big brother, if you ask me.

Even though this is primarily a photography site, it's also a place where folks who share a common interest can discuss other issues of interest. Locking off threads might be necessary for some of the time, but there a danger of locking out ones which may of interest to a large group of the membership.

For one, part of my 25 dollars goes towards enjoying the occassional joke, the occassional off-topic story. Where has the democratic vote on which topics are acceptable or not among the paying membership? Doesn't my money count for anything?


No probs just keep it to one thread.
 09/30/2004 08:42:28 AM · #8
Originally posted by jbeazell:
Thank You!

I will soon have less threads to ignore!


Here, here! I would be interested know how many people are ignoring such threads right now because I have ignored every political thread I have come across.

Thanks, CJ!!!
 09/30/2004 09:33:25 AM · #9
Originally posted by Koriyama:
For one, part of my 25 dollars goes towards enjoying the occassional joke, the occassional off-topic story. Where has the democratic vote on which topics are acceptable or not among the paying membership? Doesn't my money count for anything?


Koriyama, your (and my) $25 is payment for a service, not for part ownership. The owners of the site make the rules. They are welcome and advised to take member's (be they paying or not) opinions into consideration, but the decisions lie on them and them alone. If it was truly a democracy amongst paying members, then it would only be a matter of time before we all voted to have DPC pay each paying member $100 per challenge submission. As far as we are conserned, our only vote is with our wallet. If we don't like the rules, we don't renew. Personally, my payment if for the photography part and photography related forums. The presence of off-topic forums is a nice bonus, but not a make or break feature.
 09/30/2004 09:38:40 AM · #10
Some people really enjoy the Rant threads but don't enjoy the political Rants. Why not just make "Political Rants" another viewable option, just as the normal "Rant" threads are on the Preference page.
09/30/2004 09:41:48 AM · #11
Please understand, we are not locking threads just to get rid of them. When locked, a link will be given, when appropriate, to another topic of similar discussion. Hopefully, this will prevent three threads with exactly the same topic matter. So, a topic that is locked isn't completely dead, it is just moved.

It is not a new policy. It is only new in the rant forums. We have always locked and linked duplicate threads in the others.
 09/30/2004 10:50:55 AM · #12
Originally posted by ClubJuggle:
We would also like to remind everyone that the practice of "threadjacking" is not permitted on DPChallenge. Threadjacking is any deliberate attempt to disrupt an ongoing discussion by attempting to overwhelm or divert that discussion with irrelevant posts.

Would posting a photo alone, with no text, and no obvious connection to the thread topic or current discussion, be considered "threadjacking"? If so, then it appears that some DPCers are engaging in that practice more and more frequently.
 09/30/2004 10:55:52 AM · #13
Originally posted by RonB:
Originally posted by ClubJuggle:
We would also like to remind everyone that the practice of "threadjacking" is not permitted on DPChallenge. Threadjacking is any deliberate attempt to disrupt an ongoing discussion by attempting to overwhelm or divert that discussion with irrelevant posts.

Would posting a photo alone, with no text, and no obvious connection to the thread topic or current discussion, be considered "threadjacking"? If so, then it appears that some DPCers are engaging in that practice more and more frequently.

The stated intent of some members to insert random photos as a disruptive influence was a significant part of the discussion.

Yes, that is one of the practices we are reminding people is not OK.

I have pretty-much recused myself from any locking/linking activity (on the "political" threads) since I've participated in several ...
 09/30/2004 11:06:08 AM · #14
Originally posted by Koriyama:

For one, part of my 25 dollars goes towards enjoying the occassional joke, the occassional off-topic story. Where has the democratic vote on which topics are acceptable or not among the paying membership? Doesn't my money count for anything?


We aren't disallowing any topics. We are all for the occassional joke and the occassional off-topic story. However, the political posts have become far from occassional. We are simply trying to manage this by containing similar topics to the same thread. We do the same thing with photography-related material. You'll still get the same content you paid your $25 for, it just won't be spread all over the place.
 09/30/2004 11:24:14 AM · #15
Wouldn't it be easier to use the existing mechanisms to put in place a 'political' forum that can be ignored, like rant ?

Save the SC time, having to 'police' rant threads, save the blood pressure of the 'I'm being censored' crowd, appease the 'lets post pictures randomly to disrupt things that are getting out of hand' group and only require about 30 minutes of Langdon's attention to manage a growing problem on the site ?

I know this was asked for a few times about 6 months ago, but it seems like you are trying to band-aid the problem, rather than addressing it in a pretty simple way.
 09/30/2004 11:28:15 AM · #16
agree with Gordon - would love a blockable/ignorable political rant section separate from the general rant forum.
 09/30/2004 11:35:35 AM · #17
Originally posted by Gordon:
Wouldn't it be easier to use the existing mechanisms to put in place a 'political' forum that can be ignored, like rant ?


Personally, that's what I'd like to have, too.
 09/30/2004 11:37:17 AM · #18
Originally posted by Gordon:
Wouldn't it be easier to use the existing mechanisms to put in place a 'political' forum that can be ignored, like rant ?


Excellent idea for a solution. You know... that Gordon guy is a pretty smart cookie. ;o)
 09/30/2004 11:41:31 AM · #19
Why would we need or want a political discussion board at a photography site? Too me, it would just be more stuff to ignore. I like the SC's implementation! Good work!

Message edited by author 2004-09-30 11:42:02.
 09/30/2004 11:52:16 AM · #20
Originally posted by jbeazell:
Why would we need or want a political discussion board at a photography site? Too me, it would just be more stuff to ignore. I like the SC's implementation! Good work!


The point is it would be less stuff for you to ignore, than the current SC implementation.

We've already got a political discussion board on a photography site. It has been here for a while. This would just be a more efficient way to manage it.
 09/30/2004 07:32:29 PM · #21
Thanks a lot for removing my photo. I guess we are not allowed to post photographs at a 'photography' web site. Here's another post you can remove if that is what you need to do to get your kicks.
 09/30/2004 07:51:25 PM · #22
Originally posted by frychikn:
Thanks a lot for removing my photo. I guess we are not allowed to post photographs at a 'photography' web site. Here's another post you can remove if that is what you need to do to get your kicks.


I think they specifically pointed out that threadjacking was not a kosher activity. *shrug*

Clara
 09/30/2004 08:37:25 PM · #23
For my 2 cents (whatever that's worth), I think a big part of the problem was the (in my view) redefinition of the General Discussion as being required to be photography related. (It's not in the Photography section and there's still nothing in the forum description about photography. And there's 8 other photography specific forums, not counting site and challenge related ones.)

To reverse Gordon's suggestion (which is fine), just allow people to post non-photography, but non-controversial, topics in General Discussion - jokes, personal stories, cookie recipies, whatever. Then leave Rant for, well ranting - political, philosophical, had a bad day, whatever.

I know the only reason I turned the Rant forum on (and subsequently got sucked mind, body and soul into the whole thing) was when the (in my opinion) irrational response to a questionable posting in General Discussion was to redefine it, and a lot of conversations and topics I enjoyed following were now lumped into the Rant forum - even when there was no ranting involved. :(

Really, the end result is the same as Gordon's, but requires 0 minutes of work on anyone's part.

And thank you, thank you, thank you for the ruling on threadjacking. :)
 09/30/2004 08:50:14 PM · #24
Originally posted by frychikn:
Thanks a lot for removing my photo. I guess we are not allowed to post photographs at a 'photography' web site. Here's another post you can remove if that is what you need to do to get your kicks.


You are more than welcome to post photographs to any thread where doing so is directly relevant to the discussion, or to begin a thread asking for comments and critiques of that photograph in "Individual Photograph Discussion." Posting photographs to a thread where they are not relevant is disruptive, and such posts will be removed.

-Terry
 09/30/2004 08:56:02 PM · #25
Originally posted by Gordon:
Wouldn't it be easier to use the existing mechanisms to put in place a 'political' forum that can be ignored, like rant ?

Save the SC time, having to 'police' rant threads, save the blood pressure of the 'I'm being censored' crowd, appease the 'lets post pictures randomly to disrupt things that are getting out of hand' group and only require about 30 minutes of Langdon's attention to manage a growing problem on the site ?

I know this was asked for a few times about 6 months ago, but it seems like you are trying to band-aid the problem, rather than addressing it in a pretty simple way.


Yes, PLEASE do this....

I come to this site for photography related discussion, NOT political ranting and raving. I think those that want to discuss politics should go to a politically oriented site and discuss it there, but for those who simply must share their point of view on all things political with their fellow photographers, I don't see why they shouldn't be restricted to a section of the forums that is optional viewing for those of us who get our fill of politics elsewhere.

Message edited by author 2004-09-30 20:56:49.
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