Adding exclamation points at the end of topic titles in the Breaking News Forum - okay?

I would not be asking this if it were in any other forum, since everybody has a right to free speech, but from what I understand, when you are referencing an article, you are not allowed to make any changes to that article.

However, I often see exclamation points being added at the end of article titles without an exclamation point ever being in the article title itself (I won't be mentioning names unless a moderator asks), and oftentimes, those are the topics that end up being starred and flagged more often.

Are we allowed to do this? Doesn't it infringe upon the original article maker's rights, or since article titles usually don't have ending punctuation marks, adding one is fine?

[edit on 7/23/2008 by SonicInfinity]

This is a pet peeve of mine as well. Multiple exclamation points combined with a word in caps is a formula that seems to get used a lot. Throw in the word "Breaking" and you have the perfect trifecta.


BREAKING!! Barack Obama is a RADICAL MUSLIM!!!!!!!!!!

I'm probably missing out by doing this, but generally when I see this I don't even bother opening the thread, especially when it says "BREAKING!"
I mean, it is THE BREAKING NEWS FORUM!!!! so we know it's a breaking news story already - at least in theory...

In some instances it also points to a lack of commentary by the poster - and for me, that's even worse.
Things like "WOW, what do you guys think of this!!!" and that's it - doesn't make for a very interesting discussion.

Nobody else has any input on this issue? So just me and the two posters above somewhat care about this?

I mean, if this kind of this is allowed on the Breaking News Forum, it makes no difference to me - I'm just trying to Deny Ignorance and find out if it's right or not.

[edit on 7/24/2008 by SonicInfinity]

If I noticed a headline like that, I would edit it.

BAN headlines are supposed to remain unchanged in any way, unless the original title is grossly misleading or biased.

reply to post by Duzey



I will occasionally add a [bracketed] word to a title if I feel that it needs clarification. For example: In this Breaking News title I felt that the original title was misleading.

reply to post by SystemiK


This is a good example of when a change to a headline is acceptable. The original title of that article is misleading.

Originally posted by budski
I'm probably missing out by doing this, but generally when I see this I don't even bother opening the thread, especially when it says "BREAKING!"
I mean, it is THE BREAKING NEWS FORUM!!!!

so we know it's a breaking news story already - at least in theory...

Not that I am condoning title edits...but IRL there is an overabundance of the work BREAKING in the MSM.
Damn near everything seems to qualify as breaking, even to the extreme where the news is hours, if not day, old.
I think we become so numbed by what we see IRL that we lose sight of the impact of the word "breaking news"...or "icon" or "hero"

just my 2 petunias.

So what should I do if I see topic tiles edited with (an) exclamation point(s) at the end? Just ignore it, or should I say something about it in the thread itself the next time I see one?

reply to post by SonicInfinity


My advice would just be to enjoy the ride and not worry about what color it's creator painted it (that's where the mods come in, their job is to make sure that the ride conforms to 'specifications')

It's not your problem, nor your responsibility to deal with it, there are mods who will take care of such things on your behalf.