Off topic

In the context of mailing lists, discussion groups, discussion forums, bulletin boards, newsgroups, and wikis a contribution is off-topic if it is not within the bounds of the current discussion, and on-topic if it is.

Even on very specialized forums and lists, off-topic posting is not necessarily frowned upon,[1] but a common netiquette convention is to mark a new off-topic posting or email by beginning it with "OT"[2] - for example in a forum discussing the Linux operating system someone might post: "OT: Wow, did you feel that earthquake?".

Posting off-topic messages to deliberately aggravate other members is a form of trolling.

See also

References
  1. "Members of more informal lists may be excited to learn you've had a baby or landed a new job. Others may find such posts annoying and may even flame you. ", Medieval Mailing Lists
  2. "It is appreciated if articles that have absolutely nothing to do with Tolkien have subject lines beginning with "OT:" ("Off Topic").". The Tolkien Newsgroups FAQ
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