As the article itself points out (though in a specific rather than general mode), what you are trying to accomplish and facilitate matters a great deal. When I approach a place on the Internet in which a discussion can take place, my primary concern is that I be able to participate in many different threads of discussion at once. How could a flat structure accomodate this?
I can get by in IRC just fine, talking to 20 people about as many different topics all at once, and keep it straight (I am a very engaged conversationalist, I consider discussion one of the sublime joys in life), which is fine so long as I restrict it to private message boxes. Any time I carry on a conversation with 3 or more people simultaenously on different topics in a main channel, most people have a breakdown and can't cope.
If you make your discussion format flat, I will not alter my habit. I will break your discussion format. I will write 10 replies in a row, directed to different recipients at different points in a discussion on different subjects. And you'll see them all as one big block (or maybe 10 blocks nested to the same level).
I spend a lot of time in Reddit comment threads. The only hierarchy I have EVER expanded was comments downvoted into collapse. Not once have I ever collapsed a part of the tree. Why would I? I can, exactly as the author said they wanted to, just scroll down. There's even a straight line for your eye to follow as you scroll down so you don't get lost in the indent!
Comments
As the article itself points out (though in a specific rather than general mode), what you are trying to accomplish and facilitate matters a great deal. When I approach a place on the Internet in which a discussion can take place, my primary concern is that I be able to participate in many different threads of discussion at once. How could a flat structure accomodate this?
I can get by in IRC just fine, talking to 20 people about as many different topics all at once, and keep it straight (I am a very engaged conversationalist, I consider discussion one of the sublime joys in life), which is fine so long as I restrict it to private message boxes. Any time I carry on a conversation with 3 or more people simultaenously on different topics in a main channel, most people have a breakdown and can't cope.
If you make your discussion format flat, I will not alter my habit. I will break your discussion format. I will write 10 replies in a row, directed to different recipients at different points in a discussion on different subjects. And you'll see them all as one big block (or maybe 10 blocks nested to the same level).
I spend a lot of time in Reddit comment threads. The only hierarchy I have EVER expanded was comments downvoted into collapse. Not once have I ever collapsed a part of the tree. Why would I? I can, exactly as the author said they wanted to, just scroll down. There's even a straight line for your eye to follow as you scroll down so you don't get lost in the indent!