Reply #170: sounds intriguing -- a few questions/comments about subthreads

[fishwax]

If people respond in anger (but stay within the rules to do so) and then the initial offending post is edited, then the subthread that remains may be confusing or give a misleading impression of the discussion.

I suppose that could even provide a potential for abusing the system--post something intended to provoke an impassioned response, and then edit it in such a way to make the people who respond look bad. I suppose that extending the general editing period (a possibility raised elsewhere in this thread) may address that, but I think that creates other issues as well.

Also, editing within heated subthreads may become confusing. If person A's post and person B's response to that post are both removed for editing, it may be difficult for person B to edit without being able to refer to the initial post or the edited post (if person A decides to edit). So Person B has to either (a) adjust their response without knowing what they are responding to anymore, (b) self-delete, or (c) not post anywhere else on the site until Person A edits their post. Maybe that's not really an issue, but it seems worth mentioning.

Overall, though, it sounds like an interesting idea, and one that--even just by making disruptive behavior much more inconvenient--may really help.