Multiple concurrent discussions will be merged

[Leafless]

That is ridiculous. Merging a thread, which needed to be merged, is not a form of censorship.

If you think merging a thread that contains new information relating to a initial old controversial thread, that would add favourable information for a particular political party could be seen as censorship if that moderator is a supporter of another party and decides to move it for that reason.

You might not think so, but that possibility exist. Anyway the reasons used to determine if a new thread should be merged is debatable.

This is why I think when a old issue as been substantially updated with new information not related to the title of the old thread, should not be merged and be allowed to remain as a new thread.

I will tell you something.

After a thread as been debated with many replies, IMO, I have read all I want to read relating to that thread, I will not return to that thread under its old topic heading, even unknown to myself, something relevant could have been added to that thread.

There is just to much hassle reading all the follow up post.

With new threads on a old issue, it is much easier to follow new updated developments, than to scan through fifty old replies relating to the original issue.

Edited March 5, 2008 by Leafless

[jbg]

If you think merging a thread that contains new information relating to a initial old controversial thread, that would add favourable information for a particular political party could be seen as censorship if that moderator is a supporter of another party and decides to move it for that reason.

**************

There is just to much hassle reading all the follow up post.

With new threads on a old issue, it is much easier to follow new updated developments, than to scan through fifty old replies relating to the original issue.

This focus on the proper placement of threads shows that at least some posters take themselves, posting and thread placement far too seriously. There's a world beyond the computer screen. Take it in.

[socred]

This focus on the proper placement of threads shows that at least some posters take themselves, posting and thread placement far too seriously. There's a world beyond the computer screen. Take it in.

I'm not the one who complained to the mods about the thread placement.

I think you're the one who needs to take the world in.

[Charles Anthony]

Everybody should try their best to avoid creating new threads when an active thread is discussing the same topic. Scan through the list of recent discussions and see if there is one in which you may post your thoughts.

There has been a lot of threads on similar topics created over the past few weeks. I have been merging threads without being able to post notes to indicate the mergers. There has just been too many.

If you think that your thread has disappeared or has been deleted, check your own list of posts under your profile. If your thread was merged, your posts will still remain under your chronological list and they are publicly available -- i.e., you should be able to find them in a thread. However, if you can not find your post under your profile, it has likely been deleted in an inappropriate thread.

[betsy]

Putting all threads under one generalized topic can be quite frustrating. It means sifting through all the pages and discussions getting all mixed up. Some of us have limited time to spend.

Some topics may want to focus on a specific angle or concern.

[Charles Anthony]

In the past couple of weeks, the forum has been inundated with new threads that border on repetition. You, yourself, Betsy have just done so this morning on a topic concerning the auto sector. What gives??

Some of us have limited time to spend.

The irony! Here I am spending time pointing out the obvious. Sometimes you guys post things that are clear and obvious repetition. Sometimes you guys try to climb through the kitchen window by adding a slight twist to the angle of your Opening Post to make "different" enough from an other active thread. Balancing all of this is a challenge but I am resolved to minimize clutter. A few days ago, it seemed like some people did not know the difference between posting a reply and posting a new topic. New topics have sprung up like leaves.

Everybody should remember that this is a discussion forum and not a community of blogs inter-mingled with news aggregates. Your posts and replies should be presented to engage fellow members in discussion but it is a two way street: you should make an effort to engage the discussion of other fellow members before starting a new thread. In other words, if you want to talk about something and somebody else is talking about it too, you should talk together!

I really would like to send a PM to each member after I merge, edit or delete a thread -- that would be the ideal. However, I just can not always do so. During the course of typing this post, I dodged a couple of drinking boxes from one person, changed the diaper of an other and refereed an ultimate fighting match between the two.