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The way I usually see this solved is by relentless moderation to keep communication on topic, i.e., only things of direct interest to possums. Otters self-sele
by colanderman 5y ago
The way I usually see this solved is by relentless moderation to keep communication on topic, i.e., only things of direct interest to possums. Otters self-select out because they can't talk about group-adjacent stuff. It helps also to point otters to groups where they can talk about this interest and other things.
Examples: I am an an Esperanto language learners group on Facebook. Any posts about anything not directly relating to that topic are closed, and the posters pointed to other, more general groups.
Many phpBB-style topical forums I'm in have a "general discussion" subforum. Any posts not directly related to the forum's topic are moved there, and so follow the otters.
- phicoh 5y agoI don't know if this an otter thing, but many groups of people that know each other online for a long time get interested in off-topic discussions. Just like most people talk to colleagues also about other things than just work. In small amounts, this seems to be a good thing. Too much and the group loses it original topic and becomes just a social hangout. Is it that possums only want to talk on-topic?
- kodah 5y agoIsolating the topic kills communities in the long run. People who know each other deeply, even because of a topic, will start to go topic-adjacent, and then off-topic. You either end up having to broaden the scope of the overall community or risk losing folks after a certain period of time.
- BeFlatXIII 5y agoThat's why it's important to have an off-topic containment section on the same forum. Give the regulars a place to have their social chats while not spamming up the on-topic threads.
- kodah 5y agoI'm not sure this really helps, because it is a different place. I've found these kinds of places get dusty quick.