View Poll Results: Should PF have a "Political Discussion" sub-forum?

Voters
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  • Yes, herd the cats into one pen.

    45 58.44%
  • No, leave it like it is

    32 41.56%
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Thread: Politics sub-forum

  1. #1
    Modding this sack of shit BehindBlueI's's Avatar
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    Mar 2015
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    Midwest

    Politics sub-forum

    The staff has been discussing the possibility of creating a sub-forum specifically for political and hot-button issues and to then leave general discussion for less controversial and more social topics. This would allow the people who just want to bullshit with friends to do so without having to "ignore thread" multiple times if they don't want to engage in the political discussions. Especially now, we understand that this can be rather divisive.

    We'd like input from the membership and if it would be open to all members or only to site supporters (meaning for non-site supporters, there would not be an option for political discourse).

    This would also apply to the "memes" thread, where political content would go in a new meme thread in the new sub-forum.

    Lack of civility or getting butt hurt over what's deemed "political" would result in loss of access to the sub-forum.

    This is all spit-balling now and nothing has been decided, so we want your input.

    Thoughts?

    (Poll is up and voting isn't public)
    Sorta around sometimes for some of your shitty mod needs.

  2. #2
    banana republican blues's Avatar
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    Aug 2016
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    Blue Ridge Mtns
    I see pros and cons on both sides...gonna have to think on it a bit.
    There's nothing civil about this war.

    Read: Harrison Bergeron

  3. #3
    Chasing the Horizon RJ's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Fuck yes.

    Apologies for my terse but heartfelt reaction. It’s been on my own mind, as I’ve been self-isolated myself, by ignoring’ certain threads (very useful feature, that) in GD. (I’ve found myself caught up in it way too much lately.). And I believe tensions will run even higher as we get to November. Poli-Sci is an extremely useful construct in online fora. If it all gets funneled into a Poli-Sci cesspool subforum, it’ll be easier to ignore the whole lot.

    I’m all for it.

  4. #4
    Gray Hobbyist Wondering Beard's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
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    The Coterie Club
    I'm ambivalent about this and tending towards no.

    Those types of specific discussions tend to, after a while, only pull in those who want to argue and whose minds won't be changed. Those who have an interest, a more nuanced view or just questions would rapidly be turned off and never come back. Only the loudest will post after a while.

    You might be herding all the cats in one place but I figure that most of the moderating (and ensuing butt hurt, rage quit, baseless accusations and general acting out etc ..) will be there and thus that most of the tension created there will migrate to other threads/sub forums. In other words, you may think you're containing all the bad/stupid political stuff in one place but you're actually putting it all in a high pressure cooker ready to blow over everything else. The way it is now, it is mostly spread out over a large bunch of threads where people who normally won't engage (or would in a mild manner) will apply pressure for the stupid political parts to stop (the less stupid political parts would continue). If you keep things spread out, I think it will be smoother overall than if you try and keep the tempest in one place only.

    Of course, I don't know all that you moderators have to deal with and how you deal with it, so I could be wrong.

    If the membership decides on a political sub forum, I'd rather it be for site supporters only.

    As to a political meme thread, I might support that only if memes are all that's posted, no commentary on memes posted. Let the memes fight it out without people needing to argue.
    " La rose est sans pourquoi, elle fleurit parce qu’elle fleurit ; Elle n’a souci d’elle-même, ne demande pas si on la voit. » Angelus Silesius
    "There are problems in this universe for which there are no answers." Paul Muad'dib

  5. #5
    banana republican blues's Avatar
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    Aug 2016
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    Blue Ridge Mtns
    Quote Originally Posted by Wondering Beard View Post
    I'm ambivalent about this and tending towards no.

    Those types of specific discussions tend to, after a while, only pull in those who want to argue and whose minds won't be changed. Those who have an interest, a more nuanced view or just questions would rapidly be turned off and never come back. Only the loudest will post after a while.

    You might be herding all the cats in one place but I figure that most of the moderating (and ensuing butt hurt, rage quit, baseless accusations and general acting out etc ..) will be there and thus that most of the tension created there will migrate to other threads/sub forums. In other words, you may think you're containing all the bad/stupid political stuff in one place but you're actually putting it all in a high pressure cooker ready to blow over everything else. The way it is now, it is mostly spread out over a large bunch of threads where people who normally won't engage (or would in a mild manner) will apply pressure for the stupid political parts to stop (the less stupid political parts would continue). If you keep things spread out, I think it will be smoother overall than if you try and keep the tempest in one place only.

    Of course, I don't know all that you moderators have to deal with and how you deal with it, so I could be wrong.

    If the membership decides on a political sub forum, I'd rather it be for site supporters only.

    As to a political meme thread, I might support that only if memes are all that's posted, no commentary on memes posted. Let the memes fight it out without people needing to argue.
    As usual, completely un-surprised that you touched on the very reservations I referred to in my post above, but was too lazy to delineate.
    There's nothing civil about this war.

    Read: Harrison Bergeron

  6. #6
    Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Location
    northern Virginia
    I voted no for two reasons:

    1) Unlike some other forums, 2A politics is central to a site for gun owners. I'm not sure if that should be discussed in some out-of-the-way place, where it might get buried with all the other political crap.

    2) Sometimes when you put the RSP (religion, sex, politics) in a far away place, the participants think the rules are looser and they can get away with worse behavior. It's good for the overall forum because RSP isn't discussed there, but the RSP area becomes a cesspool that normal people don't want to visit.

    That's my two cents.

  7. #7
    Site Supporter ST911's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    Midwest, USA
    Quote Originally Posted by BehindBlueI's View Post
    The staff has been discussing the possibility of creating a sub-forum specifically for political and hot-button issues and to then leave general discussion for less controversial and more social topics. This would allow the people who just want to bullshit with friends to do so without having to "ignore thread" multiple times if they don't want to engage in the political discussions. Especially now, we understand that this can be rather divisive.

    We'd like input from the membership and if it would be open to all members or only to site supporters (meaning for non-site supporters, there would not be an option for political discourse).

    This would also apply to the "memes" thread, where political content would go in a new meme thread in the new sub-forum.

    Lack of civility or getting butt hurt over what's deemed "political" would result in loss of access to the sub-forum.

    This is all spit-balling now and nothing has been decided, so we want your input.

    Thoughts?

    (Poll is up and voting isn't public)
    I like sub-forum idea, indifferent on participation. I'd like to ignore most of that content, but still up my chainsaw and air fryer games.

    I'd also love to ignore content by keyword.
    الدهون القاع الفتيات لك جعل العالم هزاز جولة الذهاب

  8. #8
    Site Supporter
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    Feb 2016
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    In the desert, looking for water.
    Hmm. I haven’t thrown a spitball in a long while.

    No, for all the reasons @trailrunner gave.

  9. #9
    Site Supporter CCT125US's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    Ohio
    Yes, and I would suggest for SS only. Otherwise anyone can chime in and bloviate.

    As a bonus, it may provide an outlet for some to feel like they are being heard, without cluttering other threads.
    Taking a break from social media.

  10. #10
    Site Supporter SeriousStudent's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Texas
    I vote yes. I enjoy getting a chuckle out of the meme thread, it's usually very funny. But the political stuff just makes me sigh.

    I completely understand Wandering Beard's point about things boiling over into other threads.

    But I do feel that the folks whose knee responds involuntarily will do so regardless of the name on the subforum.

    Definitely agree on the site supporter part.

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