Thread hijacking, also known as derailing, is when a user replies to a comment thread on the forums asking a question unrelated to the original question or suggestion of the first post in that thread. It is common among newer Scratchers who do not understand the forums, as well as users who like to troll or spam. Thread hijacking may cause off-topic discussion and necroposts.[1] Users who frequently engage in thread hijacking may receive alerts or bans.
Users who have a problem with Scratch and want to seek help on the forums are recommended to explain their problem in a new topic. This will prevent necroposting and other clutterings of threads with unrelated discussion. While thread hijacking can be very irritating to users who just want a clear and concise answer to their issues, the only real option is to report the user's posts and ignore them so that they can be dealt with.
Where is this usually found?
Thread hijacking may happen more in the Questions about Scratch and Bugs and Glitches forums, due to their purpose and high activity, but it could happen in any forum.[1][2]
