Question Regarding Questions

[DTho]

Does the author of a question maintain a certain "ownership" of the question?

I have participated in forums where, should a question "dare" deviate from the original subject matter, the Moderators goose-step on in and move, or otherwise interfere in the question.

In other words, if I ask a question about kittens, and the subject turns to puppies, and I (the asker) am okay with that, can the question be left alone to run its own course without Forum intervention?

If the question is unclear, I can elaborate.

-DT

[ST88]

Thanks for asking this question. In general, this forum has been about how some questions lead to others. Additional topics brought up within another topic have routinely been discussed -- usually as they apply to the original topic. The "separate topic" portion of the rules have generally been applied as a test to original thread questions. That is, if a question has already been asked, then the topic is closed and all traffic is diverted to the first time the question was asked.

Other moderators may disagree with me here, but I have noticed that debates rarely get stopped by moderators because of the evolution of one topic to another. In fact, I have rarely seen topics closed at all for any reason other than administrative duplication. Most moderator intervention in these forums tends to revolve around which questions belong in which forums. Your "Define God" question, for example, is not really a debate question. An example of a debate question on this topic would be "How has the definition of God changed since the Bible was written?" or "Can there be more than one definition of God?"

Now, at any time during a debate, any participant may claim that a question that has been brought up by someone else is beyond the scope of the original topic, and not discuss it within a thread (and possibly start a new thread based on the new topic). I have seen that happen many times. But this is entirely up to the individual. If you are familiar with America's Debate, DC&R compares as being more tolerant of tangents.

ed to add: In my opinion, the questions do not exclusively belong to the question askers, and the askers should not need to monitor the topic in order to make sure it stays on track. All questions belong to everyone.

[otseng]

Does the author of a question maintain a certain "ownership" of the question?

In a technical sense, nobody "owns" a thread that he/she started. The person cannot move it, close it, or even delete it. In a functional sense, there's not really any ownership either. The original poster can suggest how people are to participate in the thread, but cannot enforce it.

I have participated in forums where, should a question "dare" deviate from the original subject matter, the Moderators goose-step on in and move, or otherwise interfere in the question.

This is a rules based forum. Even the admins and moderators are to follow the rules. So, the criteria for moderator actions are based on the rules, not on personal whims.

That said, I hope that what we follow here is the spirit of the rules, not the letter of the rules. Though diverging from the debate topic is technically against the rules, as ST88 said, there is tolerance for deviations.

I personally don't like to watch every move people make and make sure people are following the rules to the letter. Furthermore, I don't have time for it even if I wanted to. There are really only a few things that I care about. One is that the forum is respectful and the other is that it is engaging and meaningful. And a minimum amount of order is necessary for meaningful debate. So, threads should have some sort of organization to it and that includes having a limited scope of discussion.

In other words, if I ask a question about kittens, and the subject turns to puppies, and I (the asker) am okay with that, can the question be left alone to run its own course without Forum intervention?

It depends on how far it deviates. The purpose of intervention is not to discourage discourse, but to provide organization to the site. Discussions about puppies might prove to be very interesting. But, if someone later wants to find those posts, it would be easier to find it if the thread dealt with puppies, rather than being in a thread about kittens.

[DTho]

Hmmmm . . . this forum may be a tad . . . regimented . . . for my taste; management may end up getting on my nerves and vice versa; but, I'll give it a chance (for the time being).

Thanks for the replies to my question,

-DT