Thread drift

Jargon Guides

• The LONG DP Jargon Guide
  • Content Providing jargon
  • Group Activity jargon
  • Guidelines jargon
  • Post-Processing jargon
  • Project Management jargon
  • User Role jargon
  • Workflow jargon
• Forums jargon for DPers
• Wiki jargon for DPers
• Book Publishing jargon for DPers
• LOTE Jargon Guides
  • En Español
  • En Français
  • In Italiano
  • Em Português

Thread drift (also drift) is the phenomenon of the conversation in a particular thread of the DP forum straying somewhat from the original topic through a series of comments made in follow-up posts. In some ways, drift in a thread is similar to a person's "stream of consciousness" thought process.

Thread drift is a mild form of a thread hijack. Where to draw the line between "drift" and "hijack" is very much open for debate, but two rules of thumb that can be useful are if a moderator pulls out his or her "scissors" to split the thread, it was likely a "hijack," and if the thread's conversation eventually returns to the original topic through its own meanderings, it was likely a "drift."