In the context of
mailing list
A mailing list is a collection of names and addresses used by an individual or an organization to send material to multiple recipients. The term is often extended to include the people subscribed to such a list, so the group of subscribers is re ...
s,
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, but a common
netiquette convention is to mark a new off-topic posting or email by beginning it with "OT"
''"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 - for example in a forum discussing the Linux operating system someone might post: "OT: Did anyone else see that giant skunk?".
Posting off-topic messages to deliberately aggravate other members is a form of trolling.
See also
* Netiquette
References
External links
NewsReaders.com: Getting Started: Netiquette
Off Topic Forum
Internet forum terminology
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