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Fred started this thread...
I had raised this issue earlier, in another context, and would like to do so
again. Really, I don't think the subject-line should be used as space in which
we score cheap points (or take potshots) against those we are debating an issue
over.
This would amount to what Netiquette guides call "thread hijacking".
To cite one example, a post which starts off as "Matka Numbers" suddenly
becomes "Re: [Goanet]Roy, Joe, Hugo and Fred's matkaphobia". Other posters
tend to carry on with the same thread, without quite realising the small
game that's being played out.
Not that I mind these cheap shots, but does it make for ensuring quality debate
on Goanet? Below is an extract which is also relevant. FN
http://linux.sgms-centre.com/misc/netiquette.php
When starting a new thread don't just reply to a message sent by someone else and clear the subject line. Not all e-mail and news clients behave like yours and will thread messages correctly based on the "Message-ID:", "In-Reply-To:" and "References:" headers embedded in the messages. Only programs which don't comply with Internet standards sort messages by subject and call that "threading". When you simply change the subject of a message, all of the threading information remains intact and your new "thread" simply continues at the end of the old one. This is called thread hijacking.
By doing this, you're shooting yourself in the foot twice over. First of all, people following a thread don't want to see unrelated messages cropping up in the middle of it. The most complacent will just delete your message without reading it, others will killfile you, some having complained to you asking you to learn how to post. Secondly, those who aren't interested in the hijacked thread and who have set their programs to ignore it won't even see your message.
If you want to start a new thread then use your mailer's/newsreader's "New Message" function. This will start a fresh thread of your own without any traces of previous threads.
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1) Trust Fred to find a vague reference on the Net that suitably fits his argument and ignore all others. Fred's definition of "thread hijacking" is different from what others see it as, "A radical departure from the topic of the thread". Now Fred gives my change of the "Subject" for a "Matka" related discussion as an example of "thread hijacking". How can that be when I have indeed stuck to the topic being discussed? And retained the word "Matka" in the Subject?
2) From a thread purist's (brahmin?) point of view then, Fred should stick to the heading,"What's happening every Eighteenth of January?" since this was my original posting where I asked, in passing, whether it would be ok to put up Matka numbers on GoaNet.
3) Thread headings about 'Caste' and 'Sausages' and "Ribandar" and what not have changed all the while and Fred has not objected. The moment his name crops up in a Subject and a little fun is poked at him he calls it "thread hijacking" and tries to introduce a stupid new rule on GoaNet. In fact I distinctly remember Dr. Santosh Helekar asking the GoaNet Admin Team some time back (in response to an accusation that he had changed the Thread Heading) whether there was any rule regarding this, and they had assured him there was none.
4) Threads will ravel and unravel and come loose and come together. That's what good conversation is all about. I wish Fred would not try to run this list like a Technical or Academic one (of which there are many others for the so inclined) and allow interesting topics to evolve and conjoin at their own pace instead of standing around like a headmaster and deciding how threads should proceed. How many times has he to be told that this should be treated as a fun but decent party in progress rather than a boarding school for delinquent juveniles.
5) As always Fred sees a conspiracy and an evil 'game' where there is none. And also takes a slight elbowing as 'cheap shots' not conducive to "ensuring quality debate" on GoaNet. I can similarly point to cheap shots by Fred himself and I will not even venture into the quality of some of the debates here. At a party one goes with the flow, or ignores the irrelevant, or changes the topic, or goes away. Only antiquated headmasterly types try to introduce Rules for Conversation like Thou Shall Not Change The Subject Heading Under Any Circumstances, when actually all they wanted to say is Making Fun of Anyone Else is Allowed but Not The Headmaster!
Cheers!
Cecil da Thread Pirate
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