One of our goals in this new incarnation of Talking Time is to use the fresh start as an opportunity to improve the quality of the discourse. One example of this is to abolish the tradition of the "not worth its own thread" thread.
While such a thread may serve a valid use in theory, in practice, worthy topics of all varieties end up getting dumped in there and fizzling out prematurely, when they could have sustained a discussion just fine had a thread been dedicated to them. And even if a discussion is able to take place, it just becomes orphaned once it has gone dormant, effectively unable to be referenced or resumed amidst a megathread that grows to tens of thousands of posts covering thousands of topics over a period of years. It loses every advantage that a persisting forum offers in the first place.
For some of us, creating a thread may pose a certain anxiety: "Would I be wasting my time? What if no one but me cares? Can't I just drop this somewhere it won't matter either way?" An opening post needn't require any special effort, however. It can be a link and a sentence, just the same as you'd plug into the old megathread. And history has shown time and again that a thread concerning even the most minor of topics can cultivate a vibrant conversation. But for that to happen, someone has to make the thread first. So for the sake of enriching the forum, if you have something to share or discuss that doesn't fit in an existing thread, tell yourself these words: "Always make the thread!"
While such a thread may serve a valid use in theory, in practice, worthy topics of all varieties end up getting dumped in there and fizzling out prematurely, when they could have sustained a discussion just fine had a thread been dedicated to them. And even if a discussion is able to take place, it just becomes orphaned once it has gone dormant, effectively unable to be referenced or resumed amidst a megathread that grows to tens of thousands of posts covering thousands of topics over a period of years. It loses every advantage that a persisting forum offers in the first place.
For some of us, creating a thread may pose a certain anxiety: "Would I be wasting my time? What if no one but me cares? Can't I just drop this somewhere it won't matter either way?" An opening post needn't require any special effort, however. It can be a link and a sentence, just the same as you'd plug into the old megathread. And history has shown time and again that a thread concerning even the most minor of topics can cultivate a vibrant conversation. But for that to happen, someone has to make the thread first. So for the sake of enriching the forum, if you have something to share or discuss that doesn't fit in an existing thread, tell yourself these words: "Always make the thread!"