I think we could all benefit from reading the FAQ on this forum.
https://forum.hearingtracker.com/faq
If everyone were mindful of this, especially the “Improve the Discussion” section, we’d have a lot fewer inane, off topic comments that occur regularly by a few here. Please take an opportunity to read the FAQ and let us each work to make this forum an educational place for the benefit of all.
I agree but people tend to be lazy. It’s so much easier to ask something that’s been asked, over and over again and wait for responses then to do a search. Kind of like this thread. No offense.
I think the built in search function of this site is poor. I get better results using google and limiting results to this site. I believe people when they say they searched and didn’t find.
No one forces anyone to answer questions. You can pass on any you’d like. They won’t fire you or cut your pay!
WH
I’m not referring to posts like those, but the totally off topic, inane, and inappropriate posts trying to pass as humor that lately seem to eventually infect every thread here.
Mute function works well.
I’m not accussing anyone of lying. Never even implied that. I just said it’s easier to ask than to search. For whatever reason.
Thank You jay_man2 for posting this reminder.
I don’t mind people asking the same questions over and over again instead of searching to see it their particular question has already been answered. That is not Off Topic.
What is Off Topic, is the numerous comments made that have absolutely nothing to do with hearing or the topic,
taking the direction of the informational discussions into Off Topic banter between a few people. (Entertainment?) These useless comments are not the same as a Topic going in a different direction in the discussion of hearing.
There are a number of very good, informative discussions that have been de-railed and ended not on the subject.
This is a good reminder.
+1 Some folks just seem to have to comment on every post. Best to just ignore and move on.
I don‘t agree. Searching means typing in a few keywords and read the results. If I am to open a new thread I have to think of an informative caption, have to explain my issue in a way that others understand and wait for replies. That might be different for native speakers but for international users opening a thread takes way more time.
I think the complaint here is that we’re addressing the same subjects over and over again, which I don’t have a problem with. Anyone who has a question that I can help with, based on my experience, I’m more than happy to respond to. But it’s in the op’s best interest to search because there are a lot of intelligent responses provided by members who just may not feel like responding again to a subject matter that they have previously addressed. But to each his own. Do as you please. It is an open forum.
@hass5744 you are very wrong about the reason I started this thread. @Mago posted above exactly what I am referring to. Too many times lately threads have devolved into off topic banter between a few people. It goes directly against what’s stated in the FAQ about how to participate in threads so we maximize the educational value of the forum.
Well in that case j man I’ll move on. I’ve wasted enough of everyone’s time. But I don’t have a problem with people contributing as much to a subject matter as they want. Hearing loss is a very individual thing and telling someone they’re limited to a certain number of responses may be detrimental to the op who is trying to learn. Yes sometimes things go off track which is unfortunate. But that’s human nature. Here we have a thread that has nothing to do with hearing. You proved your point. And yes I’m guilty of contributing to it.
Totally agree.
We have a great forum that helps so many but a few members continually derail and go off topic on helpful threads.
I noticed that as well. Couldn’t help chuckling. Thread is perfectly titled though. Only complaint I have about off topic is it requires more scrolling, and that wears out the finger I use on the scroll wheel. Solved with a SpaceMouse that I use for other things anyway. <---- example of thread drift, I know.
I think normal human conversations go off-topic all the time. And as pointed out in this thread, the very fact that so many “new” threads are a “reasking” of an old question that’s already been answered many times over the years dilutes the pleas for the sanctimonious perfectness of any thread.
So, I think the best thing is to chill out, block anyone whose posts you don’t want to read, and one could always find links to already existing threads that explain something rather than starting over again with a completely new thread on the same old topic - that would work for both OP’s and responders.
I think the A.I. that reads any post that you’re writing and then advises you “Do you really want to make this post because there are all these other threads on the same topic…” illustrates the difficulty and time-wasting of over-policing. Most of the time, the A.I.'s suggestion are inane. And if you do decide, hey, yeah, I should post my contribution in one of these older threads, much of the time you then get a warning to the effect, "This thread is over a year old. If you post in this thread, you’re going to stir up all these previous posters who were over and done with the thread a long time ago, etc.).
So, we do have a moderator or two. You can flag posts that you think are totally inappropriate. Your idea of what’s inappropriate might not be someone else’s idea of what’s inappropriate. I think easy-going, free-wheeling, light-hearted CONVERSATIONS are the best sort of forum to have and to enjoy. Getting into a rigid authoritarian, we’re going to penalize you if your post is not entirely original and not johnny-on-the-spot on topic sounds like a good way to kill the attractiveness of the Hearing Tracker forum. 
I could be wrong, but I think I know what the OP is talking about. He’s talking about people who pop into threads with a “look at me” post that disrupts more than it contributes. There’s an occasional uninformed opinion about the topic at hand, whose only purpose seems to be to refute any suggestion that the post is off-topic.
@jim_lewis: A good post. Lighthearted conversation beats pointed, hateful diatribe any day. Especially in topics in which the OP’s question was answered long ago, to the point that the thread itself has become an inanity. Let the moderators rule!
(@AbramBaileyAuD takes good care of his site, and always responds to PMs and emails, BTW)
I have flagged inappropriate posts, and they’ve been dealt with or I received an explanation from the moderator, usually @rasmus_braun.
I’ve not flagged the inane off topic posts that are usually comments directed between a couple of posters. I need to take the input from others here and either mute those posters or flag the posts for moderation.
Your answer may lay in how moderators react to your flags.
This forum isn’t unique, threads in other forums frequently devolve into, well, just about anything once the OP has received a few suitable answers.
