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A post of mine was recently removed due to 'hijacking'. I am still learning about this forum. What does that mean?
I certainly didn't do it intentionally!
That is hard to define. Normally I would say it is diverting a topic off to a side topic. Say discussing hijacking and someone starts complaining about their post being tagged for hijacking and someone else starts a rant against moderators for other perceived issues and the thread quits being about the definition of hijacking and becomes a ranting against moderators instead.
I have been tagged for hijacking also, for posts i thought were simply commenting on prior conversations supplementing the topic and I had no intention of moving away from the thread topic. That is why I feel it is hard to define. That same hijacking thread could move into comments about how some moderators are more prone than others to call hijacking and some dont seem to notice blatant hijacking as part of the description of how vague the action can be. That could be construed by some as a divergent topic, yet others might see it as an example of how hard it is to identify hijacking and pointing out that even moderators dont seem to agree on what it is.
I think that as long as threads include more that two people and three posts, hijacking could become an issue even if unintentional and that moderators have to allow some leeway to the topic flow to encourage open exchange of ideas. There is a limit though, and even if it is hard to always identify, some people will try to take over a thread instead of starting their own.
It's an off topic post that moves the discussion into an entirely new direction, not intended by the OP. I'd be hijacking your thread if, instead of replying to your question or commenting on it, I posted something like this: "Yeah, I had a post deleted, too, for personal attacks. Why was that?" I'd basically also be asking about a deleted post but it's a completely different topic.
That is hard to define. Normally I would say it is diverting a topic off to a side topic.
Quote:
Originally Posted by johnrex62
There is a limit though, and even if it is hard to always identify, some people will try to take over a thread instead of starting their own.
Good explanations... Normally the original post (OP) and Title of the thread define the topic.
The Terms of Service say "Stay on topic. Attempts to hi-jack threads by switching topics or going off topic will be deleted and infractions issued. This is not a chat room - when people hi-jack threads by posting messages that are of interest to only few people, the threads often stop being useful discussions of initial topics."
That is hard to define. Normally I would say it is diverting a topic off to a side topic. Say discussing hijacking and someone starts complaining about their post being tagged for hijacking and someone else starts a rant against moderators for other perceived issues and the thread quits being about the definition of hijacking and becomes a ranting against moderators instead.
This is a pretty good explanation. Really hijacking is a series of off-topic posts that take over the thread. One person starts the movement by throwing in a sentence in their otherwise on-topic post and someone along the way latches on to that one sentence and makes it the focus of their entire post. Next thing you know the posts have nothing to do with the thread title or first post. Some posts are clear attempts to hijack a thread but most times it is just an honest response to what the poster felt strongest about in another person's post. Once that happens, while clearly people are interested in discussing the new topic, the off-topic posts get removed because it isn't fair to the people who want to discuss the original topic of the thread.
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When I post in bold red that is moderator action and, per the TOS, can only be discussed through Direct Message.
I find it can be a bit confusing. If I'm participating in a thread, but I feel like my contributions or questions are a little bit different than the OP, then I might start a different thread. But then, someone might chastise me for starting another thread about something that is already being discussed.
I try to use my best judgement.
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