Forking threads

[stan.distortion]

Threads go off topic, its even more inevitable than Godwin's law and it seems to be something we overlook as just one of those things. How about being able to fork threads, take an off topic post that remains in the thread but also forms the start of another and maybe the other way around too, the same topics merging? Not really sure how it would work, maybe git has some examples.

 

[tungfa]

if you are in an endless thread and the conversation with a couple of people "shifts off topic"
but is interesting enough
you can always start a new thread and tag (username) all the people who were involved with the "shifts off topic"
and /or copy/paste part of the other thread as an OP

(that is how i do it)

Edit:
@ username

 

[stan.distortion]

Hadn't used tags before, will take a look at it, thanks. I was thinking of it more from a flow of ideas point of view and of keeping them flowing, one topic sets of a thought that veers off in a different direction, that sets off another, etc. and a way of letting each be discussed without the whole thing turning into a jumbled mess. Just adding a link, something like "topic forked and post repeated here" could work well enough but tags could be a great way of doing it, something like metadata so a run of posts can form the start of a new thread and the whole thing browsed.

EDIT: I mean the thread structure and tags on splits and merges browsed rather than the content as a whole.