Livre d'Or

The thing is, shreena, I think you're at one particular extreme in a range of attitudes. I'm like this too, perhaps not surprisingly considering our similar backgrounds, but I really enjoy debate. Nine tenths of the reason why I post on LJ is because I want to generate discussion. I'm also extremely difficult to offend. I positively enjoy disagreement and I find a good discussion can be a great way to meet new people.

However, I'm very much aware that most people I encounter are not like you and me in this respect! Some like disagreement, but only within certain parameters. A lot of people are quite uncomfortable with strangers; any approach by someone they don't know may be read as hostile.

The other thing is that the definition of "off-topic" seems to be one of the most vexed questions on the internet. Some of the worst flame wars I have seen end up being about whether a particular comment is on topic or not. (IMO this is usually an indication of bad moderation, whether that moderation is by an individual or collective.) For me personally, my journal is not at all formal and I'm happy for people to post whatever; the last thing I have energy for is policing comment discussions to make sure they stick to the original question I posted about. But again, it's something that many people do care about.