Off topic

A topic outside the bounds of the current discussion

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages)

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (August 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Off topic" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

Some of this article's listed sources may not be reliable. Please help improve this article by looking for better, more reliable sources. Unreliable citations may be challenged and removed. (August 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

(Learn how and when to remove this message)

In the context of mailing lists, discussion groups, discussion forums, bulletin boards, newsgroups, and wikis a contribution is off-topic if it is not within the bounds of the current discussion, and on-topic if it is.

Even on very specialized forums and lists, off-topic posting is not necessarily frowned upon,[1] but a common netiquette convention is to mark a new off-topic posting or email by beginning it with "OT"[2] \- for example in a forum discussing the Linux operating system someone might post: "OT: Did anyone else see that giant goose?".

Posting off-topic messages to deliberately aggravate other members is a form of trolling.

## See also

[edit]

* Netiquette

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Members of more informal lists may be excited to learn you've had a baby or landed a new job. Others may find such posts annoying and may even flame you. " Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine, Medieval Mailing Lists
2. ^ "It is appreciated if articles that have absolutely nothing to do with Tolkien have subject lines beginning with "OT:" ("Off Topic")." Archived 2021-01-25 at the Wayback Machine. The Tolkien Newsgroups FAQ

## External links

[edit]

* NewsReaders.com: Getting Started: Netiquette
* Netiquette of sending

This article about the Web 2.0 is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

|

* v
* t
* e

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template