IN MY OPINION

The hijacking of someones thread is, simply put, a deviation from a protocol that is generally accepted by most members of this forum.  I believe that a posting of one's opinion is an inalienable right of members but, in saying that, I think there is an inherent responsibility for a poster to stay on the original topic of the posted thread.  In addition, I think that all members have responsibility to maintain protocol and should remind members of infractions of generally accepted practices.  A friendly remember should not be considered a "lecture" but a little "nudge" to get the thread back on original topic.  We do not have "Moderators" but we really should not need them if we all moderate the participation of ourselves and others when hijacking or any other deviation of accepted protocol occurs.

I have seen a couple of real battles that have really hurt this forum and we have lost some good members over what should have never happened.

Maybe we need a declaration of the protocol, but we absolutely need to observe a certain level of decorum when participating in the discussion of topics.

The above statement is a statement of MY opinion and is not intended to do anything other than attempt to help maintain our forum.  Feel free to post whatever your opinion is, ON THE ORIGINAL POST, "Hijacking of threads".  I obviously have no control over what you post but I do have the option of deleting the thread.

There is a reason blogs have moderators, humans inerrantly stray. That's why we have police officers. We've lost good members from all I can perceive is a lack of either time or other reasons I have no privy to. Change is a stretching, if not a painful process and as any parent can tell you, it's nice to get a child out of the toddler stage and finally on their way to college. Please. Jon, so much time was invested to get this wonderful site established, such great sharing and relationships just to see people leave for lack of something moderation could have snipped at the bud. So would you or anyone else  please explain to me what the behind the scenes reasons are it can't move forward. It's an honest question which deserves answering. Is it a lack of desire or a I just don't care attitude or something else? Though we are very appreciative of this site, many of us are tired of the silence on this and other issues. Thank you. Noel Goetz Banning, CA  

I usually find the hijacking more interesting. Just saying...I stopped the other day from continuing a hijacking, but really had to tell myself not to. Which I had really good info to share too! Oh well. What made it hard not to, but I didn't.

I have no issues of hijacking threads. A thread shifts to the momentum of the info. Has anyone got upset by this?? a thread on a prevention problem may go to a cure then go off from there. Its a conversation. Dont try to set rules to everything. Start a thread not a argument

Agree with figpig. Hijacking implies that you went completely off topic. If you imagine a thread as everyone sitting around a room discussing a topic, then inevitably the conversation will ebb and flow around a central theme. If someone started discussing a specific other issue or something wacky like NFL draft I would understand. On the other hand a mild ebb doesn't hurt. As this is obviously in response to the $7 tree thread, I really don't see what your issue is. The way the above complaint is written, it would seem we were talking about something horrible. No FIG forum is going to lose members by discussing FIGS in a thread with over 1000 posts.

I do not think words like hijacking and lack of "decorum" are a proper response to this. Honestly I think we will just have to agree to disagree. 

I second Figpig's comment

We are not in school.
There are no moderators, when a topic gets off track Jon
has always taken care of it.

''The above statement is a statement of MY opinion and is not intended to do anything other than attempt to help maintain our forum. "

I do not think Jon needs help running his forum.
If you do not like what you read, then read something else.
JUST MY OPINION.

Doug

It's not my intention to start a debate with a member whom I sincerely respect and appreciate,  but your statement on it's face is inconsistent with the facts.

"There are no moderators, when a topic gets off track Jon
has always taken care of it."

If this were the case, we wouldn't be discussing this.  BTW :) we are still in school, that's why were here. Listen the fact is, we've seen valued members leave this site because there was a lack of moderation when even a minor word or deletion would have been advantageous.  An unattended web-site is like an unattended orchard, try not improving your tree's, watering, fertilizing pruning and see the result. Are you saying that improvements are completely unnecessary? If so, many would beg to differ. Just my 2 cents.

Noel, my friend if you were here over the last 5-6 years you would have seen when Jon stepped in.
There is nothing wrong with change, but many times there is no need for change.
Learn how to grow figs and then share your experience.
In that order.


Doug

Regardless of on or off topics the most important thing is to be kind to people and say things nicely. There is no need to be rude or "yell" inasmuch as you can yell in words. Kindly asking someone to please try to stay on topic is fine, while pontificating is never appreciated. I speak for myself only, but when someone talks down to me I will defend my point even if I am not 100% in the right. 

I pretty much agree with most of the above.  When a post goes off topic and loses the original thread it has been hijacked.  A thread discussing whether or not James is a scam artist or not should not morph to a discussion on Panache figs.  The discussion on the Panache is totally better than the James subject but it should be in it's own thread.

As I said, I have the power of deletion so if a thread of mine goes off topic and does not return after a "nudge" I will delete it.  It really has nothing to do with whether or not I agree with or like the post, if it's off topic it should have it's own thread.

Doug has been around long enough to have seen the bad, and saw Jon Lock threads, it hasn't happened in a while, and that is a good thing.  The last time we lost a good member who had contributed a lot to our forum, too bad.

There is a decorum that exists, as it should.

Thanks for the input.

Since this thread was started partly for my interaction with OP on a separate thread I will say that mfehmi's response was gracious and a kind nudge. After that the topic would have been back to normal and a separate thread was indeed created. OP's response in that thread was less than kind which is how this whole thing got started. I don't think this really needs to be discussed ad nauseum. Everyone wins.  

Let's just move and and call it a day. 

Someone mentioned the other day that topics within topics are not easily "searched" for. Newbies sometimes get "fussed" at for not using the function. That is the biggest issue that I see.

I feel that the person who started the thread should be the one to let posters know that they have wandered off topic, if the person who started the thread is not upset, and the off topic posts are clean and of value, then who has the right to tell everyone to start a new thread. I feel that off topic posts are much more acceptable than posts of name calling and cussing, this is the thread that should be of serious discussion.

Perhaps an Off Topic section could be included on the forum? You can visit it if you want.

NoelG...we are in the school of life, not kids at a desk awaiting instruction. Besides some of us were naughty way back then as well. ;)

DirkTX...I dont usually Hijack a thread, but reserve my options, especially in almost 30 page threads where arguments break out, and people leave this forum...maybe A LITTLE HUMOUR is in order....

Oh BTW, I posted that immage using IMGBB.COM

I think this is a great service to forum members who are having trouble posting pics.

Dirk TX,

Please remember you can delete this thread at any time. ;) And try not to fly TWA, ok ?

Yes imgbb.com is the easiest image posting service. You don't have to worry about resizing the image or anything.

@lewi Agree, humor is a better way to get your point across without raising people's hackles. Love you guys photoshopping! Now where are those TPS reports... lol

Ha Noel I recognize that work of art....I think it was specially made for this beer ;) Notice Man and woman are happily drinking beer instead of bickering about improved celeste, or forum etiquette.

( This and Leff Tripple were some of my favorites overseas, years ago )...


upload pictures

Or just maybe they hijacked the art for the beer commercial. Those pesky eternal questions. Which came first, the fig leaf or the beer? Btw I didn't know Lewi = Levite. They might call you up for a priests job when they finally build a temple in Jerusalem. They have all the implements and even the Red Heifer for dedicating it.  

Looks like Eve prefers grape leaves.

So comical, kinda proves my point......Hijacking to beer, LOL.  The levity is fun.

Yeah this is getting a little off topic.

Quit lecturing us, silly. Can't you see we're rebels?