Sorry to do this everyone, but I think it’s time there is a discussion about the future of the US Politics thread.
Quite often over the past year, but especially in the past few weeks, quite a few of the discussions in that forum have turned into people with differing views taking shots at each other, and discussions sometimes going way off topic.
I mean this with no disrespect to any individuals - I understand people have strong views on certain topics. However, some of the back and forth between members over the past few weeks is getting a bit tiering, especially for those who want to have a more civil discussion (for the lack of a better term) about US politics.
I also still agree that people should be allowed to have say, which is why I’m going to suggest that maybe that area could be put onto mod queue to try and stop people from taking shots at each other?
We do have a team of moderators looking after the forum. I understand they can’t see everything.
Are you using the report button on posts that concern you? It’s the quickest way to get the moderators to check things out and potentially redirect the discussion if they feel necessary.
There does seem to be a tendency lately of certain topics and debates (such as US Politics) getting to a point where people get to a stage of playing the person, not the ball (so to speak).
I certainly wouldn’t say I’ve been perfect myself at times (especially in the past- unfortunately there have been a few occasions where someone has gotten under my skin and I may have responded in a manner that in hindsight was rather unkind), but I have tried to make a conscious effort particularly of late to be considerate when responding to comments I may not agree with.
There is a recurring issue on this forum (particularly in the Spectrum threads, but I notice it is happening with some users elsewhere) where particular users will post in an inflammatory, aggressive manner, and then completely hijack the thread when they are called out for it by others, or if the same aggressive/inflammatory tone is matched by others.
Aside from not being conducive to civil conversation, it’s also just boring at this point. But there aren’t really any rules breached by members at this stage, so there’s no scope for any action to be taken against repeat offenders.
To be honest, I’m not convinced this can be solved without increased moderation efforts. Moderating this site seems like a full-time job at this point - being the victim of our own successes - and that workload doesn’t seem feasible or sustainable for a group of volunteers to me.
So perhaps we have to ask: why do we bother having off-topic forums at all? If they’re the catalyst for most of this behaviour, perhaps we look at retiring those forums… which frankly aren’t the purpose of Media Spy and the first place.
Been a while since I was a mod, but I know The Spectrum used to be left a little more open to robust discussion than some of the other threads in this place. It even came with a warning on the opening page, something like “if you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen”.
Not my call as to the future of it now, but I was always fine with things being a little more intense in there, providing that the participants were aware and accepting of that (and in the knowledge that it would be policed accordingly). That’s how discussions and debates about politics work in the real world - people get passionate about this stuff. I also kind of feel that these threads will die a natural death of disengagement if they descend into a bore of inane arguing and namecalling.
If lines are being crossed, by all means smash that report button and get it looked at. But my view has always been, if I’m not interested in or engaged by the tone of debate in a particular topic/thread here, I just ignore it. Much better for my own mental health doing things that way.
Agree on the muting, but I’m more than happy to have those off-topic threads here - I think it can be nice to engage in a community you’re familiar with on issues not necessarily strictly in line with the site theme/title. Just pick and choose what you want to read or engage with.
Same goes even with the media side - I personally don’t give a shit who is presenting the news in whatever city that day, so I don’t actively read those threads. Same as those who don’t give a shit who’s hosting 2SM breakfast or what radio signals I receive at my house don’t have to read those ones. You can choose your own adventure here.
So it still impacts at least 10% of the user base. I don’t think that is too small to be dimissed.
And so what if that 10% wants to like more posts than others… it’s not hurting anyone else if they wish to do so.
And I certainly haven’t seen any evidence of anyone abusing the ‘like’ system… Posting of unnecessary pics is more of an issue and there’s no limit on how many of those can be uploaded (AFAIK).
I will make one comment on this, ever since the falling out I had with another member on here, especially in the US political discussion threads, I have put that member on the mute, and it has been great to have them silenced (hope they did the same to me). There are certain members on certain discussion threads with the way they hijack discussions to suit their own agenda that have resulted in me being biting back with nastiness.
My posts are moderated, and to be honest, ever since the admin team put me in there, it has probably been the best thing as I am not as posting as much crap or biting back at others.
