More than a dozen years ago I joined a message board on a different topic. At that time it was very friendly and people shared their creative thoughts and a few personal comments, which sometimes morphed into discussions that were pretty far off topic. There were some who disliked the off-topic stuff, and unlike QB, they had no way to set that aside into a different area where those who were not interested could easily bypass it. The moderators instead decided to crack down and make the off-topic conversations taboo. As a result, the board became what I considered utterly sterile. There was no longer a way to get to know people as people. They were just exchanging impersonal information and most of the time, if that's what you want, Google can pull it up in abundance with no need for interacting at all.
We owe a huge debt of gratitude for the wise and wonderful moderators who make this truly friendly and inspiring board possible.