I tend to think that most threads get closed due to violations of board decorum way beyond drifting topics. For instance, personal attacks tend to invite the heavy hand from mods/admins that the OP was objecting to in the first post.
When it comes to closing a thread I am thankful that the mods intervene when a thread becomes either a circle-jerk or little more than a "game of the dozens."
Closing down threads that are frequented by folks that not only engage in personal attacks, but brag about such juvenile behavior and wear it like a badge is good for the over all health of the board.
Pruning is a good practice for mods to engage in. In the end it leads to the kind of growth that we want.
Originally Posted by ANONONE
An effective moderator doesn't squash discussions in a discussion forum. An effective moderator steps-in only to guide or reign-in an errant discussion and bring it and bring it back on topic. Should personal attacks occur, or should the topic run off course again, those members who aren't following the moderator's directives should be dealt with individually. Why should the entire discussion be Locked because a few nit-wits can't follow instructions?
With regard to your stating
"the kind of growth that we want"; Do you have a gerbils? crabs?? what??? Where do you get this "we" from?
Going by the guidelines at the top of the forum, it seems that on-topic discussions are encouraged--as well they should be. This IS a discussion forum. Just because you don't care for a particular topic or even members posting in that thread, doesn't mean that it's not a topic worthy of discussion and it certainly doesn't fit into that "we" category, it falls into a "they" category--not wrong, just different.
If a member doesn't care to discuss that particular subject and the thread has stayed pretty-much on-topic; following your brilliant logic above, you'd rather see that thread locked than effectively moderated--and you seem fine with that; so long as it's a "we" subject.
Yet when one of YOUR threads--asking members for instructions on how to give a good blow job or whatever the hell it was-- gets locked, you demand to know why it was locked and suddenly it isn't so "wonderful" anymore because NOW you're one of "them".
(
http://www.eccie.net/showthread.php?t=26611)
Now ANONONE, seriously. Ask yourself WHY did this bother you so much. Was it because it was YOUR thread? Was it because it contained subject matter that YOU were interested in discussing? Was it because the discussion was squashed and information was not able to flow freely? Was it because you felt it was locked unnecessarily? I'm betting that it was a combination of all the above.
But just play along.
Now how would you feel if some nit-wits came into your happy little "How Can I Give A Better Blow Job" thread and posted some off-topic crap which led to am immediate lock-down? Discussion's over. No dealing with the individual nit-wits. No moderation. Done!
Is that fair? Is that effective moderating? Is that the type of growth "we" (meaning you and the gerbil/crabs/??) want? How in the hell can a discussion board grow if discussions are continually squashed instead of effectively moderated?