To think that posters who derail threads should start their own instead

[Fitbitironic]

... Rather than just keep banging on with their own agenda!

If you're not taking the facts of the OP or developing discussion into account, what's the point of going off on a tangent, other than as a deliberate effort to derail? If said poster felt that strongly, surely they would start their own post instead of make it difficult for others to comment without some irrelevant reply.

I'm all for discussion, this being a public forum after all, but there's a big difference.

Or are derailers a specific type of troll?

Is calling everyone a troll for not following YOUR idea of thread etiquette a form of trolling?

I derailed one yesterday (for good reason) but I apologised and felt a bit guilty.

This makes me immediately think of - "My Bluetooth doesn't work like that."

? Must have missed that one...

Fitbit- yesterday. It wasn't around for long. Hope it wasn't genuine for the OP's sake.

I like derailments and i'm guilty of them . The main reason i come on MN is because i am lonely and miss conversations with adults. One of the things i like about conversations is they meander. I try not to do it on serious threads tho.

Also i post lots on one thread because i like the back and forth of a chat, rather than posting one line then pissing off to another thread to do the same. That feels like walking up to strangers saying something random regarding a conversation they are having then walking off. I just feels a bit rude to me - altho i do understand the etiquette of the internet is different. I just am not very good at it. I don't post on any other forums either so have never really got to grips with the difference in communication online.

Yanbu - it annoys me so much. Some people will doggedly try to shut down a debate.

mrsK I don't think I've ever seen you be a goady derailed though . I sometimes post quite a bit when I'm by myself all day... I also find it difficult not to 'answer back', when it's aimed at me and obviously goady!
semper I take it that it wasn't good...

Well i would try not to be FitBit, but i can see how if someone is passionate about a subject they may not realise they are coming across that way. Especially if they feel their point isn't being understood/taken seriously.

Sometimes i've seen threads where someone comes along and points out quite a sensible view point, which if acknowledged could put an interesting spin on things, but everyone is completely ignoring them and still talking over them. They continue to post, getting increasingly frustrated and then get accused of trying to derail/push their agenda. I think if they were addressed earlier they might just move on.

On a longer thread I tend to read the first page then the last page and then backfill.
If it's degenerated into a random dispute between a core of posters, I'll tend to leave it unread.

There are some posters who have their niche topics that they latch on to and inevitably spin it to their own agenda.

So anyway, cake...

Based on what Somewhat said, I just went to a few threads and read the first and last pages. 4 out of 5 had descended into a bicker-fest.

Bit facist.

I bloody love cake though but

I really don't like cake all that much.

Chocolates, biscuits (apart from evil wafers of doom), sure - but cake and puddings are all yours, was :)