Most of what you mention is fine by me. I simply want to give a different perspective on "you really lose context"
- You lose part of the context that it stems from, that is true. We get tiny pointers to the discussion it is from.
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On a larger timeframe, keeping everything in a single topic constitute in itself "lost context". The recent discussion on How can we make more nutritious soup for more people? is a good example (84 comments as I write this). The topic started as an inquiry on how to bring FB traffic over to fmSoup. People started to have good suggestions on how to generate traffic in general (not pertaining to FB). In the midst of this:
- There were suggestions on how to improve our SEO
- There were suggestions to revisit our mission statement
- There were comments about why we like fmSoup
- There were suggestions to change the UI
- Other comments were moved to a separate topic (see my comment about that)
I believe revisiting our mission statement is a good idea. Did it get the space it deserves, smacked as comments within that thread? What were the conclusions about that sub-discussion: to know, I have to figure it out from a mega-thread of 80+ replies. Thanks, but no thanks. If I want to contribute back to in 2 months from now, will I go back to a discussion titled "How can we get more traffic/traction", quite unlikely I would say.
If I'm looking for any previous ideas about our site SEO, seeking to contribute new ideas or just revisit what was already covered, not to overlap, will I go back to a thread with a title that conveys nothing about SEO. Not a chance.
Just the same way no one ever will look into this discussion for info about Java, as I attempted to point out to fmpdude.
The same applies to the other contributions (SEO, UI, ...). We had our chat, and the precious comments will be lost, buried in another topic.
I'm sure there is a way we can figure what is good for today AND tomorrow. Not have one at the expense of the other.