Regional Forums people hijacking DCUM

[Anonymous]

NP but other than school-related things, I don't see a problem with people outside of DC posting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with the person on the College Forum. The most recent example concerned a thread about a *specific* school within FCPS and whether it would be better to send her kids there or to a *local* private school, vis-a-vis college admissions.

Enter the SF poster(s) who derail the entire the thread to discuss Bay Area schools that are completely irrelevant to the topic of that thread. The poster who was upset was correct to be. The SF posters totally ruined that thread by trying to turn it into a source for Bay Area parents.

Most of these threads aren't really affected by non-local people posting - but when the subject is very much LOCAL, it would be much appreciated if posters could stay on topic.

Report post such as that. They are off-topic and will be treated like any other off-topic post. The location of the poster is not the issue.

The report button will set you free, people. Use it. Jeff is very responsive; about 80% of what I report gets removed. The rest I know is borderline when I report it and am not surprised when he doesn’t remove.

Seriously, I used to try to debate people until I realized that the off-topic/troll-y/racist/whatever posts could just be disappeared. It’s much more pleasant living this way.

ALL OF THIS!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with the person on the College Forum. The most recent example concerned a thread about a *specific* school within FCPS and whether it would be better to send her kids there or to a *local* private school, vis-a-vis college admissions.

Enter the SF poster(s) who derail the entire the thread to discuss Bay Area schools that are completely irrelevant to the topic of that thread. The poster who was upset was correct to be. The SF posters totally ruined that thread by trying to turn it into a source for Bay Area parents.

Most of these threads aren't really affected by non-local people posting - but when the subject is very much LOCAL, it would be much appreciated if posters could stay on topic.

I think this partly happens because people browse Recent Topics where the thread title attracts more interest than the subforum. They don't always notice what subforum they are in.

I also notice that some people just read the OP and then active page (last page). Or they skim. Lots of people miss key facts in the next to last page of multipage dialogues.

I think it's futile to tell people to "go away". It just makes them mad.

I don't tell people to go away, but I do tell them to stay on topic. And if they can't manage that, I report.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do we have "Regional" forums?

It's hard to keep up in context when people from outside the DMV are responding on posts.

I've come across many lately and their responses makes no sense and makes DCUM people mad...

I've seen them in Jobs, real state, schools, college, adult children, parenting, etc...

Are you the person who keeps posting about interlopers? I've been on here for 2 years (after decades away) and in the last two months it seems like there's one person in particular who is upset and keeps using that word.

Please consider that you might be in the minority about how upset you are.

The regional forums are very slow. NYC barely active. Chicago and LA in the a few posts a year category. People don't want to use those subforums very often. Many people browse based on Recent Topics because they want to be part of active discussions, not post something and come back weeks later.

For example, I had better luck posting a question in the generic Real Estate section than the California section (with an appropriate geographic header). I've learned more than a few things about California school admissions from DCUM and something helpful about real estate from this site. There are both current Californians, former Californians, and DMV people seeking to send their kids OOS to California schools here. I don't have trouble distinguishing between these groups when necessary.

The bothered person seems to be concerned about college admissions. The most accurate advice there comes from high school data that you will get outside DCUM. The rest is just loose context and none of it is completely sourced anyway. Very few people seem to share OP's concerns about not being able to figure out who is talking.

It’s not one person. I started the thread a few weeks ago in this forum about how annoying it was to have non-local posters who post on college forum without indicating they aren’t local, resulting in a lot of inaccurate info, but I am not the op of this thread. I also am not the poster(s) who was unhappy with the CA poster in the Langley thread. So there is at least three of us, likely more.

I do think it’s one particular California and a few NY posters who is causing most of issues in the college forum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with the person on the College Forum. The most recent example concerned a thread about a *specific* school within FCPS and whether it would be better to send her kids there or to a *local* private school, vis-a-vis college admissions.

Enter the SF poster(s) who derail the entire the thread to discuss Bay Area schools that are completely irrelevant to the topic of that thread. The poster who was upset was correct to be. The SF posters totally ruined that thread by trying to turn it into a source for Bay Area parents.

Most of these threads aren't really affected by non-local people posting - but when the subject is very much LOCAL, it would be much appreciated if posters could stay on topic.

Report post such as that. They are off-topic and will be treated like any other off-topic post. The location of the poster is not the issue.

The report button will set you free, people. Use it. Jeff is very responsive; about 80% of what I report gets removed. The rest I know is borderline when I report it and am not surprised when he doesn’t remove.

Seriously, I used to try to debate people until I realized that the off-topic/troll-y/racist/whatever posts could just be disappeared. It’s much more pleasant living this way.

How do the Steeles have a life if all they are doing is removing posts at every report..?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with the person on the College Forum. The most recent example concerned a thread about a *specific* school within FCPS and whether it would be better to send her kids there or to a *local* private school, vis-a-vis college admissions.

Enter the SF poster(s) who derail the entire the thread to discuss Bay Area schools that are completely irrelevant to the topic of that thread. The poster who was upset was correct to be. The SF posters totally ruined that thread by trying to turn it into a source for Bay Area parents.

Most of these threads aren't really affected by non-local people posting - but when the subject is very much LOCAL, it would be much appreciated if posters could stay on topic.

Report post such as that. They are off-topic and will be treated like any other off-topic post. The location of the poster is not the issue.

The report button will set you free, people. Use it. Jeff is very responsive; about 80% of what I report gets removed. The rest I know is borderline when I report it and am not surprised when he doesn’t remove.

Seriously, I used to try to debate people until I realized that the off-topic/troll-y/racist/whatever posts could just be disappeared. It’s much more pleasant living this way.

+1

I report much more often these days and it’s extremely satisfying.

Shuts down trolls/off-topic weirdos/bullies.