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Pastimes : SI Beta Site Launch - 7/01/99 -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: BryanB who wrote (1425)	8/6/1999 4:20:00 PM
From: RTev	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2340

My notions on one of the ideas discussed here in the past few days: Off-topic button on posting page, with ability to filter out those messages when reading. I'd hate to see this on implemented because I fear it would encourage off-topic discussion. Most posters now are pretty good at putting "OT" at the start of an off-topic message which makes it easy to jump past them if we don't want to read the stuff. My limited experience with threads here tells me that most of them are pretty good as self-regulation. If users put up too many off-topic posts, there will usually be a complaint, followed by some discussion of the complaint, and then a return to the subject at hand. If there were an off-topic button, however, the response to any complaint would be "Just filter it out, dweeb. We can talk about anything we want as long as we press the off-topic button on the post." I often enjoy the off-topic flurries that occasionally erupt on a thread, but also appreciate their limited appearance. I'd hate to have to filter all of them out, but I'd also hate to see a subject where the off-topic thread overwhelmed the on-topic thread. I fear that would happen if the "Off-topic" button on the posting page encouraged that kind of discussion.