On Tue, 29 Nov 2011 17:27:12 +0200, Unknown W. Brackets
<usefirstnameinstead-newsgr...@unknownbrackets.org> wrote:
Well, that's all I mean by self moderation. If users are making a
conscious effort to clarify (just like a "forward" button in email),
then problem solved.
I find subthreads undesirable because humans think and experience the
conversation linearly. They're not unlikely to cross reference, and in
newsgroups it's common to read "as X posted in his other reply" and
such. So, then you have to go hunt that down.
I find cross-referencing to occur quite rarely.
It also seems like providing links to other posts can't be done ideally.
It's rarely done, sometimes it uses a proprietary link, sometimes it
uses news://, and in most readers this seems to break threading (e.g.
pretty sure Thunderbird just opens the post in a new tab without
context.) So, solving the multi-parent/cross-referencing issue oneself
isn't trivial.
This is an implementation problem (albeit a rather real and unfortunate
one).
Sure, and choice is wonderful. But conflicting choice is the problem.
For example, on a web based forum I typically will reply, quoting
multiple people who talked about similar things, and addressing their
points or concerns together.
I may make multiple posts in a row (depending on the forum, some
consider this bad manners) if there are many posts to reply to with
slightly varying sub-subjects.
This usually works well, and allows people to skim in ways that make
sense.
Now, if I have the choice to do that, how does it mesh with a newsgroup
style? Now I have a single post with multiple parents. Where does it
go? This is the question that "hybrid mode" fails to answer, and when
you see it enabled, it's obvious who does and who doesn't use the
threading.
So, in that case at least, choice makes everyone lose, basically.
I think you're over-exaggerating the problem (especially considering the
trade-offs). Just put a "Reply" button next to each post, and remove the
reply facilities that are not visually tied to specific posts.
--
Best regards,
Vladimir mailto:vladi...@thecybershadow.net
