Why are So Many 'Hot Threads' Closed?

[bob012345]

A lot of 'hot threads' come up yet when I go there the discussion is already closed. Very frustrating. If you pour cold water on the discussion it's no longer a hot thread.

 

[DaveC426913]

Pretty sure Hot threads is automated. It just barfs up recent threads that have seen a lot of activity.

If there is a spate of threads started that go off-track, they'll get closed but that doesn't prevent the 'Hot' algorithm from retrieving them.

It would be up to @berkeman to decide if it's worth it to )manually) add a sniffer to disqualify any locked threads from the Hot list.

 

[berkeman]

A lot of 'hot threads' come up yet when I go there the discussion is already closed. Very frustrating. If you pour cold water on the discussion it's no longer a hot thread.

Links?

Recent threads that are closed should have a tie-off message explaining what the issue was. Older threads (> a few years old) may be tied off automatically to discourage necroposting. When a thread is that old, it's usually better for someone with a related question to start a new thread.

 

[DaveC426913]

Links?

'Hot Threads' is a main menu item in the What's New Section.

But frankly, I only see a single locked thread on the first page of hits.

 

[Baluncore]

It always seems that the constraint that determines a "hot thread" is to have been inactive, and so cooled for about one month.

Every locked thread, will meet that qualification, once the requisite cooling time has passed.

 

[berkeman]

Pretty sure Hot threads is automated. It just barfs up recent threads that have seen a lot of activity.

'Hot Threads' is a main menu item in the What's New Section.

Then I don't see the issue. Clicking on Hot Threads and looking at the first 10 shows only one tied off by @Dale for cause...

 

[bob012345]

It seems like the Hot Threads menu is customized depending on where I am looking, what subject. I think I ran into two or three in a short amount of time which raised my concern. It's not a big deal. Thanks for the responses.

 

[Ibix]

There's a "hot threads" section in each forum - is that the one you mean? There are a lot of closed threads in them because, in my experience, the threads that generate a lot of posts in a short time are low quality. The OP responds rapidly without thinking, asking machine gun follow ups without pausing to assess, or (typically in Relativity) they keep adding bells and whistles to a scenario to try to find that one thought experiment that will invalidate the whole theory. Either approach has a high probability of a lock.

 

[Haborix]

There's a "hot threads" section in each forum - is that the one you mean? There are a lot of closed threads in them because, in my experience, the threads that generate a lot of posts in a short time are low quality. The OP responds rapidly without thinking, asking machine gun follow ups without pausing to assess, or (typically in Relativity) they keep adding bells and whistles to a scenario to try to find that one thought experiment that will invalidate the whole theory. Either approach has a high probability of a lock.

Indeed, the negative externalities from continued uncritical proposals and questions quickly overwhelm any value someone coming along afterwards might get from reading through the thread.