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So you are asking that you can pre-flag that you are about to go off topic, be vulgar, or in general not contribute to the thread. That is kind of self righteous, that you would know what i consider off topic, vulgar, and/or relevant to the thread. Maybe, instead, just don’t post if you feel that? It is that easy. Don’t hit send.

Or if you are looking to add a feature that would “summarize” the idea you are about to add to a thread, maybe it would be easier to not write in a way one has to decipher your ideas and thoughts. Short and sweet. Say what you gotta say. Don’t beat around the bush. Understand your audience. Cut to the chase. Discuss, don’t lecture.

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@Fable If someone can’t help themselves to not go off-topic, what makes you think they’d be self-aware enough to tag their own post as such?

I mean, I suppose I’d be OK with posts flagged as off-topic being dimmed rather than hidden, at least then it would save the annoyance of having to un-spoiler that post to see if it was merely off-topic, or a rightly-flagged stream of unhinged abuse.

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I would describe that as bad “pace”.

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Would it not be better to start your own thread if you know you are going to go off topic?
Or DM the other person if it off topic, but still slightly attached to the back an forth they are having.

Purposely going off topic on a thread is hi-jacking it. Sometimes, the posters don’t realize they have strayed from the OP post. So a flag allows us to reel it back in so to speak, or move to a new thread/DM.

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What makes you think they can’t be corrected? What makes you think that staying on-topic is the only way to be aware enough? Sometimes the deal is so good that the only issue left is to talk about an indirect topic related to an on-topic reply. To finish the deal.

If they incorrectly tag their comment, we can still correct it by flagging them to correct the issue.

Yeah, this is mainly my issue. It would be great if they were dimmed instead, coz hiding is too punishing.

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If you are uncomfortable with the term flagging, then you could use the term tagging instead. Maybe that delegates a more positive pattern to your eyes. Being vulgar enough is always off-topic, but being off-topic is not always being vulgar. Not all off-topic comments should be hidden.

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Sometimes it could be the best route, but not often enough I wager. This is why we tend to write the comment where the original reply resides, and as close as possible, if possible.

Same thing here. I rarely have anything to say thorough DM. With off enough comments, I don’t know why would DMing do any difference; actual siderailing aside.

Not always. Hijacking happens by siderailing, but purposely giving an off-topic comment to an on-topic reply isn’t necessarily siderailing unless it continues far enough.

Correct. However, hiding is too much when they are lumped with violator comments too. You want to reel them back in, not cut the wire.

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It says it in the title.

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This is how i feel about this thread…
a

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I should have a pre flag…
Maybe just do what Ricky Bobby does…
a

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That’s what typically happens to me, for example.

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Uugh, that’s a level of pedantry that I’m in no way prepared for. That is not the future path I want to steer towards. :unamused:

At least we agree about dimming off-topic posts rather than hiding them, although for me it’s not a matter of it being punishing towards the poster, but annoying to everyone else trying to read the thread.

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True as well. I just provided another perspective. One I personally feel strongly about.

Edit:

I apologise for the lengthy posting.

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They are vague… tell me I used a word not allowed, and not telling me what word is does not help someone who uses English as 2nd Language. XD

Last few were system messages that said there was a issue with post, but not what issue was.

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At this point, I think the flagging feature should die out right. It is just another thing to be weaponized by those drowning in lake “Me!” against anyone that challenges their views, or takes issue with their emotional outbursting spilling onto the forum. It is a far poorer tool for maintaining civility, than its benefits for addressing lack of self moderation.

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Sure, but I have a feeling most of the initial flags, for legit abuse, come from throwaways/sock puppets, with the puppet masters well out of risk of consequence for abusing the system.

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