The forum isn't a single conversation: it's a collection of conversations, all happening at the same time. Some of them are grave, some are light-hearted, some are geekily technical. I think most people intuitively get that. I'd be the first to criticise anyone goofing off in a rider down thread, but what happens in a different thread, at the same time, is in my view irrelevant. For what it's worth, I was shocked and saddened by the news of MJ's death, but the negative fall-out on here was entirely predictable, and easily ignored.
The forum isn't a single conversation: it's a collection of conversations, all happening at the same time. Some of them are grave, some are light-hearted, some are geekily technical. I think most people intuitively get that. I'd be the first to criticise anyone goofing off in a rider down thread, but what happens in a different thread, at the same time, is in my view irrelevant. For what it's worth, I was shocked and saddened by the news of MJ's death, but the negative fall-out on here was entirely predictable, and easily ignored.