Political thread discussion
 

As a member of several forums i have seen a large number of forum groups which allow political discussions.

I have also seen a large number of forums which have a "zero tolerance policy" on political threads.

For example: any thread which is deemed by a moderator to be political in its nature is quickly closed - regardless of the poster's intentions (be them good or bad) and regardless of the politics being discussed.

Such a policy as i have seen it on other forums is purely preemptive - and is meant to prevent arguments, fights and wasted moderator time rather than simply censor opinions.

Just out of curiosity - without talking ANY POLITICS HERE - what is your opinion?

Should subsim allow political discussions?

OR

Should subsim adobt a "zero tolerance policy" on political discussions?

(please note... this thread has no bearing on whether or not subsim will or will not change policy... i just want your opinions WE ARE ALL FRIENDS HERE * * * THINK BEFORE YOU TYPE)

No need to talk about it. It has already been decided for you.

-S

This is going to sound really strange coming from a person that participates in political threads a lot, but it would probably be easiest on the site owner and moderators if they weren't allowed.

Having said that, I also believe that there is some value to having them allowed. I know that there are some things that I've learned that I wouldn't have otherwise (some things that coincided with my previous political views and some that didn't).

So, I guess if there was a poll, I'd have to vote a definite maybe:hmm:

Political debates are the very basis of democracies. Heated or not, they form a major contribution to the open discurse and opinion building. Though the latest trend of more and more disinformation and propaganda both on international and domestic levels are becoming bothersome to the degree of physical pain it is a nessecity to encourage further talk. For some people a forum is their only possibility to get a broader picture of not only homegrown issues and attitudes, but a more global one as well.

Just merge them all into one thread until the election is over. If you want to talk politics then visit that one thread.

It would be nice to consolidate all of the "Pimp my Candidate" and "Slam the Opposition" threads into one location.

Maybe even make a temporary subforum until the election. Then we could all ignore it together.

It unfortunately gets out of hand when mods start to take sides and attack users with their powers...

*cough*flamingboat*cough*

now now... did you read the first post?

I suppose if a person wanted to have heated political debates they could go to a politics forum.

i think in a multi-national forum such as subsim (and others of which i am a member) the typical result of political threads ends up being hurt feelings, bruised egos, and flared tempers.

it just doesnt seem worth all the heat to me.

To solve this whole thing, why doesn't Neal create a "Politics" section? I mean, it wouldn't be difficult. The GT section would be pretty boring after that, although it would solve this problem of "this is the general topics form and it is not meant for political discussion and blah blah blah".

Having political threads shouldn't be a problem, it's only when people start to lose their heads and get nasty toward others in the forum is when it goes to far. Most threads are stoped by moderators only when people reach these limits and exceed them.:yep:

The Moderators here do a good job at keeping everyone playing nicely!:up:

Thats one thing to consider... but it would have to be strictly governed somehow or another... otherwise it turns into a 24/7 scream fest.

to have a moderated honorable debate is one thing... but to have the sort of "debate" we have been encountering with greater and greater frequency here at subsim is another thing entirely!

you must remember that some people here at subsim are not old enough/ mature enough - or well traveled/ versed enough to formulate a constructive debate without screaming and flinging insults.

Perhaps i have grown soft with age when it comes to politics... i have adopted the saying "East is East, and West is West and never the twain shall meet"

which means basically you will see it your way and i will see it my way and there is no way we will ever agree so discussing it pointless.

I have also adopted the saying "It is better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt"

as you will notice... this is my first really "political" type thread - i dont typically start them - nor do i typically contribute to them either.

just to keep things on track, more opinions please :D

with a new option

Political only section of subsim added?

Zero tolerance policy on political posts?

or leave it like it is?

I agree. :yep:

Im of the opinion they should stay.

It is, whether we like it or not, such an integral part of our lives! Tax breaks, tax hikes, defence spending, so on so on, we couldn't discuss them because they can be deemed political.

I was half tempted to have a whinge about the idiot local candidates in the ACT election standing by the side of the highways waving at traffic and causing chaos, and point out they were predominantly from 1 particular party, but I couldnt.

We just need to keep it civil, and failing that, we need Tak's squirrel!:lol:

The mods in that thread were not mods of the GT forum, and did not attack with their powers.

Anyway, we all need to gear down on the political threads.

thanks
Neal

Man, ain't that the truth. :yep:

We're going to start merging these threads. After all, they are all started by the same 5~7 people.

Political threads on this forum are more often than not the Subsim.com equivalent of the Jerry Springer show and we'd be better off without. IMO.

PD

I'd say if it's ok with Neal it's ok with me. :)

Frankly I do not like the politics because they have turned this forum into something to come to when Obama makes a fart or McCain makes a bad joke. For some they perceive that if they flood the forum with topics of political nature with their obvious bias. It will somehow stick with the entire community.

The fact is tho. That if we can fire a torpedo we most likely have decided who to vote for LONG ago. And those who are undecided are not going to suddenly go to one candidate because of some loudmouth on a forum.

Want to talk about the F-35 compared to future drones? Go find the topic after it is buried in "Obama = Socialist" threads.

Want to discuss some awesome new video card? Well you just have to fight with that thread that says "McCain = Racism"

There are 2 major forums where the camps can go to.

Free Republic for the the Right Wing
Democratic Underground for the Left Wing

Now one may ask. "Well its just some weeks until the election..." "Why do it now?" Well there are multiple elections and multiple bills that will happen in the next 2 years.

Amen to that, and the same used to apply to global warming threads(which reminds me that we haven't had one of those in a while) :lol:

I don't agree with a complete ban though, but a subforum just for them would be a good idea. GT has basically been a no-go area for me since it started filling with all the "Teh candidate sucks"-threads. Even putting the most active "contributors" on ignore doesn't help much since their threads remain visible in the list.

IMO, the proliferation of political threads has definitely made the GT forum a less appealing place to visit. I would not favor a total ban, but I would approve moving all political threads to another sub-forum, so GT can lighten up.

I miss those Cheezburger Cat photos already! :lol:

I think the main thing is avoiding descending to the level of venom and general bad-spiritness. I think arguments and debates are a great way of community-building, as long as they're within bounds.

On the other hand, the other thing that could really use being reminded to people is that they should really remember what this community is about. I'm actually against a separate political forum because it'd only give the topics more focus and make people dwell on them more. This community nor any specific part of it should ever be about politics. Or the environment. Or big-time sabre-rattling of any kind. I think if people come here specifically for that, they should really reconsider why they're at Subsim in the first place. There's better forums for politics than this - but let's not kill the chance to have a good community outlet for these things, too.

Also, while GT can be a more persistent headache if one takes it very seriously, I'm glad to say that I never found it more problematic from the administration perspective than the much nastier things that happened between modding teams in the last couple of years - those were a lot more difficult, but I'm also glad at the approach Neal & co. take to those, mediating as much as moderating.

Also, don't overestimate the "power and glory" of the mods. They're members too, and most of us have very limited jurisdictions that Neal assigned us. I think all the mods I know have been extremely well-behaved, though at the same time I don't think it's fair to expect them to remain aloof of everything, especialy in parts of the forums totally outside their moderating area. Mods are human too!