We’re lucky in the Etsy community to have so many knowledgeable, helpful people with so much information and so many ideas to offer, with thousands of members coming to the Forums every day to contribute! Even so, it can be pretty staggering to see the post count on any given forum topic shoot upwards within a short span of time. What makes that happen? Sometimes the topics are hot-button ones that can attract a tremendous number of opinions and a lot of discussion very quickly. What else? The other most likely possibility is that the thread has been derailed – our topic of this week’s Forum Decorum!
It’s totally natural for discussion on any topic to have tangents that split from the main topic. They’re usually either pretty informative and important in their own right or, shoot, they’re just a lot of fun – kind of like a cupcake break in the middle of an intense, important meeting. Tangential discussions and cupcake breaks alike both deserve their own share of attention (and if you’re having a cupcake break sometime soon, please let us know; we’ll be right over!), but usually that attention is best given in its own space and time. Similarly, it’s usually easier for newcomers to any given thread to get information about the topic if there isn’t much off-topic posting in the thread.
One of the best ways to handle tangential discussions is to acknowledge, "Hey! This topic needs some attention too! Let me start a new thread on that topic and then link to it in a post here, so that the off-topic discussion can continue in its own thread." This keeps most good discussions both organized and easier for readers to digest. You can do the same kind of thing with a running gag that gets its start inside a serious thread. We’re not trying to tell you not to have fun in serious threads, just don’t let the cupcake break take over the meeting that you know is important to someone!
As a footnote, another way to avoid off-topic posting is to resist the urge to post just a little something to "bookmark" the thread. All of the major browsers have easy-to-access features to mark webpages that you want to come back to, or you can use a web-based bookmark system (like del.icio.us) if you swtich computers often. This way, you can keep your topics you’ve posted in page limited to threads in which you’ve joined the discussion, instead of having to wade through threads you just wanted to read.
Discuss this article on the Forums, in this companion thread: Keepin’ it relevant and useful.
In the Forum Decorum series, Lauren (stellaloella) and RobWhite of the Community team explain some of the finer points of cultural etiquette in Etsy’s community spaces. When something is an official site rule, we’ll be sure to link you up to the DOs and DON’Ts or Terms of Use. Simply consider these as tips for avoiding a forum faux pas.
