# Terminology: topics vs threads

**URL:** <https://meta.discourse.org/t/terminology-topics-vs-threads/63390>\
**Category:** UX\
**Created:** [25 Maio , 2017 21:00 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/terminology-topics-vs-threads/63390 "2017-05-25T21:00:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
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**Author:** ![Remah](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/remah/32/70590_2.png) [@Remah](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Remah)\
**Post date:** [25 Maio , 2017 22:25 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/terminology-topics-vs-threads/63390/4 "2017-05-25T22:25:10Z")

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Topic is perfectly appropriate in ways that thread never can be:

- A topic describes content. As others have already pointed out, a thread describes the mode of operation where messages are connected in threads.

> [@codinghorror](#):
>
> Thread is a technical computer geek term, also it implies threading. So worth avoiding for both of those reasons.

- Thread is also a literary term but a topic describes focus at a higher level than a thread which, in literary terms, always runs through a larger body of text.
- A thread is interior to a topic. One topic can have many threads. New topics become new threads.

> **[Urban Dictionary: thread](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=thread)**
>
> thread: On a message board, the inside of a topic revealing all the messages.

- A topic is more focussed than a thread. Topics are major parts whereas threads are minor parts in the main discussion.
- Technically, you do not have a thread until there is at least a message in response/reply.
- Likewise, in computer systems threads don’t normally exist independently. They normally execute from a process. However, there are exceptions which is another reason for avoiding the technical computing term where threads are concerned.

> **[Thread (computing)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thread_(computing)#Threads_vs._processes)**
>
> In computer science, a thread of execution is the smallest sequence of programmed instructions that can be managed independently by a scheduler, which is typically a part of the operating system. In many cases, a thread is a component of a process. 
> The multiple threads of a given process may be executed concurrently (via multithreading capabilities), sharing resources such as memory, while different processes do not share these resources. In particular, the threads of a process share its execut...

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