Off Topic

[KLS52]

I'm wondering what constitutes as off topic and if the rules are more strict in the debate forum. I feel like we often go off topic for a bit in some threads and the posts do not get deleted. Yet posts are being deleted in the "What constitutes a personal attack thread".

I apologize if this is addressed in the VV rules...I didn't think to check there, first, as I am at work and almost done with my lunch break so posting the question here seemed easier. And I was afraid if I asked the question in the other thread that it would be deemed off topic!

 

[Moll Flanders]

Yes, I agree. I don't see why some posts are deemed to be off topic and deleted and some aren't.

 

[Second Summer]

I'm wondering what constitutes as off topic and if the rules are more strict in the debate forum. I feel like we often go off topic for a bit in some threads and the posts do not get deleted. Yet posts are being deleted in the "What constitutes a personal attack thread".

Yes, the General Discussion forum (formerly the Debates forum) has special guidelines which are linked to at the top of the pages in that area, and these guidelines make clear that we want threads there to stay on topic.

I started the "What is a personal attack?" thread to discuss that question, quite obviously on a theoretical level as should be clear from the thread OP. One member then appeared to hijack the thread by accusing one of the moderators of committing personal attacks. (No specific posts referenced, just a diffuse accusation.) So I deleted those posts because I judged them to be off topic.

Exactly what constitutes off-topic is down to moderator discretion as we don't have any rigid definition. I imagine it would be very hard to give a sufficient yet concise definition.

You are right that threads in that forum routinely go off-topic despite these guidelines, so the mod practise has been to delete only some of the worst examples of off-topicness.