Quote Originally Posted by Wildor View Post
Obviously, this place is not perfect.

But I ask myself, what is this place all about? Is it about the conversations themselves, or the people?

If we'd only focus on the conversations, then it would be a matter of principle almost to keep threads on track and clean, going where they are supposed to go in a clear, precise way.

But this meeting place is also, and my mind mostly, about the people in it.

You see the nuance? If we, Moderators and staff, keep our focus and outlook on this place as a gathering of different people, from different places and backgrounds, then a certain amount of tolerance and leeway must be exercized regarding the structure of conversations that occupy us here. After seeing the rules followed and a certain etiquette observed, we must allow people to simply be people, interacting as people do. Not always on topic. Not always original and inventive. Not always funny...

In other words, and unless the situation calls for it, I like to see the people have priority over the integrity of a conversation/thread, so to speak.
The problem is when people try to interact in such a manner in the wrong threads. If somebody makes a serious thread, then you don't really expect people to just be chatting about nothing to eachother, you expect them to discuss the topic at hand. There's nothing wrong with just interacting with other members, it's just finding the right part of the forum to do it.