Should Titles That Lie Be Permitted?
 

A recent thread started by saying that it included a poll that asked whether users wanted voice dialing on the N900.

Then the poll didn't ask that question.

The author of the poll said that he lied deliberately because the title he chose got more attention for his subject.

I think that lying titles are unusual, and I was surprised that not only was this one permitted, the moderator actually asked people in the thread not to discuss anything but how voice dialing should be implemented.

Discussions of whether the title of a thread is accurate are quite common -- often, for example, a title such as "Arghhh!" is criticized for not having much information about the actual problem the user has. I have never before seen a moderator ask responders to such a title not to discuss the appropriateness of the title but just discuss the OP's concern.

I think that a moderator should consider disallowing a deliberately misleading title such as the one mentioned here. I don't think that a moderator should ask posters to refrain from criticizing a title that deliberately lies.

Re: Should Titles That Lie Be Permitted?
 

No, the mods should change the title and/or close/remove the post in that case IMO.

Re: Should Titles That Lie Be Permitted?
 

I think that even having to talk about this kind of stuff tells us quite a much about moderation on this forum. :|

Re: Should Titles That Lie Be Permitted?
 

There's no problem with mods here.

This forum seems very much like sitepoint in a way.
All the mods need to is remove the spam posts, the community moderates it's self. Very rarely do I see a thread where a mod was forced to step in.
Most of the time a regular user points out that 'your being a dick!...wind your neck in!'

The worst type of forum is one where there are too many mods with egos way surpassing their intellect.

Re: Should Titles That Lie Be Permitted?
 

Damn, I read the title as :"Should Tities That Lie Be Permitted?". Now I'm really disappointed :(

Re: Should Titles That Lie Be Permitted?
 

After soft-deleting two flamebaiting, insulting posts, the moderator, me, asked people to discuss voice dialing, not insult other participants in the discussion. That's completely separate from discussion of the thread's title, which I welcome.

In short:

• discussing voice dialing in relation to the N900: good
• commenting on the discontinuity between the thread title and the poll within the thread: good
• posting "If you [want|don't want] voice dialing, you're a <insult of choice>.": bad

As for the title-poll disconnect itself, that has bothered me since the thread was first created. However, the thread was created before I had moderator rights, and by this point the thread, and its misleading title, are well-known and long established. Changing the thread's title now might throw off people who know, and search for, it by the odd title it has held for so long. Additionally, many posts within the thread itself make reference to the title-poll disconnect, and changing the title at this late date would destroy their meeting.

So, I've refrained from making a change.

However, if there's a general feeling that damage from a changed title would be less than the existing mess, I'll happily make a correction.

Re: Should Titles That Lie Be Permitted?
 

I didnt notice the thread in question, but in a similar vein i'm contrinually frustrated with thread titles that seem to be declaring a new application or a fix release.. only to find out after opening that it's an user asking if the app exists, requesting it to be ported, or moaning that it doesn't exist.

I would appreciate it if mods could edit the title of such threads, a simple "?" at the end would suffice.

However I understand that forum rules haven't been breached, and it's probably only me annoyed by this.. but.. well thanks for letting me vent anyway!! :p

Re: Should Titles That Lie Be Permitted?
 

I do so when I catch them. Are you using "Report This" to alert moderators to threads with misleading titles?

Also, for one year following a thread's creation, the original poster can update the title of his or her thread. Are you requesting such changes within the threads themselves?

Re: Should Titles That Lie Be Permitted?
 

well, personally im not to fund of changing the headline without notify the thread-creater. If we don't allow most of the thread names, we can't allow lies in post either. And editing or deleating post becouse of lies is extreamly dangerous.

only personal attacks shall be removed...Lies must be accepted since its to hard to decied whats a lie and what not.

Just made all this up. Is it a lie?

Re: Should Titles That Lie Be Permitted?
 

At this point i go "grrr gahhh ffs not again!!" and hit the back button, before collapsing onto the ground in the foetal position, swaying back and forth, murmuring "twinkle twinkle little star.. mummy.. mummy .. take me to the beach mummy..".

However I can see your point about using "Report This" or requesting the title change though, it's possible that could be more effective. Will note for future, my liege :)

Re: Should Titles That Lie Be Permitted?
 

Oh no this is not at all what I was expecting. I thought you had created an app which could use your voice and leave a lying voicemail or something like that.

Re: Should Titles That Lie Be Permitted?
 

Welcome to the wonderful world of journalism. Often used to provoke a reader to read the article, btw. On the Internet we'd call it trolling though it isn't a new phenomen. Note also that a personal website (blogs et al) are an perfect place for that; forums aren't since the forum users together make the website.

So indeed, I believe you're right, and titles should be accurate. Implication of this is that something like a column is not possible on the forum anymore. But again, blogs are a more appropriate place for that.

I'd actually go further than this. In my opinion the first post of a thread should be a descriptive of the whole thread, and the person who started the thread should keep in mind his/her post can be edited to contain additional information. IOW, important progress made in a thread should be reflected in the first post. I believe this has been proposed before, though I believe the same counts for your proposal.

Re: Should Titles That Lie Be Permitted?
 

I'll say mods should remove all titles, just put random numbers or convert titles to binary form, that way all post will be treated the same way.. :D

tbh, I haven't see much posts with Lie titles, the best way to handle it is to inform mods, of course after notifying the OP.