I've been meaning to bring this up for some time. Please consider changing the forum moderation policy, so that a "cat lovers unite" thread would not be automatically locked and merged to a "mammals are awesome" thread.
Sometimes this makes perfect sense. We don't need a bajillion self promo threads. But other times, the difference is significant enough to warrant multiple threads to exist.
The most recent example I noticed was the GIF suggestion being merged to general feature suggestion thread. In this particular case, the general suggestion thread feels like a black hole. Sure, staff might read it from time to time, but to get the attention of other community members and get their feedback, you need a new thread with a descriptive title.
On the other hand, if someone were to make a "make clickable links in the comments section" thread, it would make sense to merge that one and the GIF one together, as that specific suggestion is getting brought up multiple times in the GIF one as an alternative. There's definitely a lot of nebulous area here and requires judgment calls to be made... When is a related topic different enough to be allowed to exist on its own? I feel the current policy is leaning too close to "NEVAH!"
The Tapastic forum already has the unfortunate reputation of being filled with self promo (which isn't accurate, but I can see where they're coming from). I for one WANT to see more threads meant for genuine discussions -- even if it means a bit more "clutter" in the topic listing. It's good clutter.
Please note this isn't a grump against hardworking mods; this is about the policy.
