One really long thread, or multiple similar threads?

[JimF]

My site is somewhat news and rumor related (trades, acquisitions, signings, etc.), and there is a balance that we're having a hard time finding between allowing new news to be posted and keeping general comments about that topic in one thread.

What was happening was people would post threads whenever there was a new article published somewhere with information on the topic (in this case a player trade between two baseball teams), which could literally be dozens. Now there would be all these threads that were basically about the same thing, but slightly different angles on the situation. ("He's coming", "He's not coming", "He'll come if they send this player", or "This player doesn't want to go, so he's not coming", etc.)

I'm really at a loss as to what to do. We don't want to discourage people from starting a thread if there's something newsworthy, but we don't want a million threads on the same general topic.

Any advice?

-jim

[MrNase]

If they are about different angles they can be titled as different threads

Be happy your members open threads.. Similar threads about one topic can easily be made into one but I wouldn't stop them from opening those topics you describe in your post
Delete the threads but one may cause trouble because in that situation the members must post into one thread and there's big chance some get mad when their different beliefs come together in one thread. Keep them seperated and they won't argue

[JimF]

It's not so much arguing that I'm concerned about as it is redundant content.

On all of the super large boards I visit (TWoP, AVS Forum, etc.) they use the one thread rule, as this seems to be the best way to keep the forum neat and tidy. However, it makes it tough to find new info in that format.

There has to be a middle ground somewhere .

[Floris]

On various big sites (million+ threads) I see them merge all threads into one and call it

The Official "something" Thread.

And the thread starter or mods keep the first post updated with any new information to get a nice little overview.

[JimF]

On various big sites (million+ threads) I see them merge all threads into one and call it

The Official "something" Thread.

And the thread starter or mods keep the first post updated with any new information to get a nice little overview.

That's what we've been doing, except for the last part, which is what I think the missing element is.

[Floris]

Doesn't hurt to give it a try