Comments on: The responsibility of running a community http://pdf23ds.net/2006/06/20/the-responsibility-of-running-a-community/ I will not be swayed be every small current; nor will the memes faze me or infect me. I am pure. I am intelligent. I am rational. I am at peace. Tue, 06 Jan 2009 23:53:27 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: pdf23ds http://pdf23ds.net/2006/06/20/the-responsibility-of-running-a-community/#comment-55 pdf23ds Thu, 29 Jun 2006 18:24:51 +0000 http://pdf23ds.net/2006/06/20/the-responsibility-of-running-a-community/#comment-55 Many readers don't have the skills or temperment to minimize time wasted on such uninteresting threads, and those readers will develop an aversion to the community as a whole. If there are too many such threads, even the readers with the skills won't be inclined to stick around. So allowing too much of this can harm the community. Also, off-topic is not necessarily uninteresting, or unhelpful to the community. Many readers don’t have the skills or temperment to minimize time wasted on such uninteresting threads, and those readers will develop an aversion to the community as a whole. If there are too many such threads, even the readers with the skills won’t be inclined to stick around. So allowing too much of this can harm the community.

Also, off-topic is not necessarily uninteresting, or unhelpful to the community.

]]> By: Mike Hearn http://pdf23ds.net/2006/06/20/the-responsibility-of-running-a-community/#comment-53 Mike Hearn Thu, 29 Jun 2006 18:19:11 +0000 http://pdf23ds.net/2006/06/20/the-responsibility-of-running-a-community/#comment-53 I tend to be pretty lenient when it comes to off-topic or inane conversations in places I run. For two reasons: Firstly if something is off topic, it may simply be that there's no appropriate/good forum where it actually is on topic. If the conversation has value its value should not be diminished by a lack of 100% appropriate forum. For instance I tend to allow any discussion of blue sky packaging/distribution topics on autopackage-dev, even if not really related to autopackage itself, simply because there's a bunch of knowledgable and interested people there and there aren't [m]any other places to discuss such things. Secondly, it's really not that "expensive" to scan read a conversation to see if you're interested in it or not. We do it all the time. Especially in email you can just blackhole the thread, so nobody loses much from a wandering discussion. Trying to suppress them would be optimising the wrong thing. I tend to be pretty lenient when it comes to off-topic or inane conversations in places I run. For two reasons:

Firstly if something is off topic, it may simply be that there’s no appropriate/good forum where it actually is on topic. If the conversation has value its value should not be diminished by a lack of 100% appropriate forum.

For instance I tend to allow any discussion of blue sky packaging/distribution topics on autopackage-dev, even if not really related to autopackage itself, simply because there’s a bunch of knowledgable and interested people there and there aren’t [m]any other places to discuss such things.

Secondly, it’s really not that “expensive” to scan read a conversation to see if you’re interested in it or not. We do it all the time. Especially in email you can just blackhole the thread, so nobody loses much from a wandering discussion. Trying to suppress them would be optimising the wrong thing.

]]> By: pdf23ds http://pdf23ds.net/2006/06/20/the-responsibility-of-running-a-community/#comment-51 pdf23ds Tue, 27 Jun 2006 02:58:21 +0000 http://pdf23ds.net/2006/06/20/the-responsibility-of-running-a-community/#comment-51 Well, not so much "on topic" as "contributing to the purpose of the community". At Unfogged, that means either sharing an interesting anecdote or being witty or engaging strongly and insightfully with some other commenter/poster (or some combination thereof). Well, not so much “on topic” as “contributing to the purpose of the community”. At Unfogged, that means either sharing an interesting anecdote or being witty or engaging strongly and insightfully with some other commenter/poster (or some combination thereof).

]]> By: Becks http://pdf23ds.net/2006/06/20/the-responsibility-of-running-a-community/#comment-50 Becks Tue, 27 Jun 2006 02:54:30 +0000 http://pdf23ds.net/2006/06/20/the-responsibility-of-running-a-community/#comment-50 I guess it depends on the site. On Unfogged, for example, "on topic" is pretty expansive. I ended up in an email conversation once about whether a comment was appropriate or a troll that involved the sentence "It was on topic but maybe he doesn't mean the primer on how to have sex with a dog in the right spirit." I guess it depends on the site. On Unfogged, for example, “on topic” is pretty expansive. I ended up in an email conversation once about whether a comment was appropriate or a troll that involved the sentence “It was on topic but maybe he doesn’t mean the primer on how to have sex with a dog in the right spirit.”

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