Feedback On-Topic Forums: Books, Movies, & TV/Webisodes

Kevin

Code Monkey
Staff member
Generally we don't worry too much about threads being created in 'on-topic' only forums here and is why sometimes you will see general conversations in some of the areas.

Well, I'm working on something that would be better if the Books, Movies, & TV/Webisodes forums were more focused on actual works instead of having general conversations in them. I'm always 'working on something', some experiments work out, others not so much. :D

To clarify, a topic like "The Stand by Stephen King" would be perfect for the Books forum when talking about the book for the Movies and/or TV forums when talking about the adaptions of the book. A topic like "Who likes books/movies like The Stand?" would be better in the "Sci-Fi, Horror, and Fantasy Talk" or the "Entertainment News and Talk" forums since both of those are meant for general conversations.

Why the change? Because then if we do any kind of listings on the front page of topics being talked about, such as "Hot Topics: Books" with a listing of books that have the most recent activity, then the threads listed will be just book titles and not general conversations.

It's a minor thing but as a result you guys might some some threads being moved from the Books, Movies, & TV/Webisodes forums to other areas.

And, of course, I'm always listening to feedback & suggestions so if anybody has ideas for better forum names just let me know. We kind of inherited the general "Entertainment News & Talk" forum when we brought the AllAlias/DiscussionJunkies community the fold so there is likely some overlap between it and the "Sci-Fi, Horror, and Fantasy Talk" forum.
 
The only thing I see is that sometimes Books & Movies topics will turn into a general discussion about that reference.
Example: Trancendence.
The topic refers to the movie but discussion explores the science fiction concepts with-in the movie. It looks at Science Theory and opinions on concepts within the scope of the movie but doesn't blandly just discuss the movie only.
Being Science Fiction oriented we all think with a CoolSciFi mind. There is only so much one can say about a particular movie itself but when the discussion delves into the ideals the movie creates it opens our SciFi minds to new possibilities.
I referenced movies because in this day and age more people watch movies than read books. But the same can be said about books.
Example: The Honorverse
Many science fiction discussions can be created and enjoyed by discussing the science fiction in David Weber's universe. Discussions that should be in his topic.

If I am missing the point please let me know?
 
For the on-topic threads that lead to general conversations, really those posts that veer off from the main topic should be split either into their own thread or an existing thread with the same topic (if there is one).

Using the Transcendence thread as an example, conversations in general about if & when AI will reach the infamous singularity point would be best served in its own thread. The singularity as displayed in that movie would be best served in the existing movie thread. The flip side of there being only so much to say about a particular movie is that anybody searching for the topic in general of singularity would end up getting search results across a multitude of different topics instead of an ongoing thread to talk about it. And, of course, anybody who is searching the movie Transcendence and wants to talk about the movie might not be interested in the off-shoot topics in the same thread.

By keeping conversations on track a bit more focused we'll see what impact it has on traffic. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
 
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