Originally Posted by gmw
Very much this. Sometimes, after the main agenda is over, people keep chatting just like they do after any in-person meeting. It seems to me that, most of the time, drift only starts after starting topic has been played out. As long as the OP, or participating members, are not finding the drift objectionable then I don't have a problem with it. If the drift doesn't suit me I move on.
Like all imperfect systems, there can be times when thread drift means that some late post arrives on-topic and almost seems out of place, and it risks getting lost amid the general banter. (Like that guy from the meeting who always wants to rehash everything when all everyone else wants to do is wander back to their desks  ). This can also make it hard to catch up on relevant posts when you come late to the party. But I haven't noticed this to be a major problem here - maybe that's just because I've usually moved on already.
In general, I like the way threads are managed here. P&R, overt advertising and spam are all trodden on pretty quickly, but most of the rest seems to be left up to the participants to decide if there's a problem. It seems to work pretty smoothly, although I don't have any idea how much work the moderators face to make it seem this way.
Oh, and I don't like kittens all that much. |