Adding more subforums - UPDATE - NOT CHANGING

[hal]

I can't believe that the thread isn't a joke.

Re the 'other' side... Are the mods demanding a raise for all of the work they do? :-)

Seriously, that's one thing that DM did right. Like, Davester, I preferred the old forum as a single forum, but there are plenty of people that have no interest in the more 'spirited' conversations and were very happy to see them removed from the main area. Also, since there was only one forum, often heated discussions would overflow to unrelated threads with little revenge posts.

There are now two clear areas; one where you are expected to behave and one where it's not a requirement. If there were only one, it would be populated with plenty of ugly posts.

[OWC Jamie]

Marc Anthony wrote:
There are occasionally topics on the Tips side that get moved to the other side, even if the thread isn't out of control; they're moved solely because they might get politicized or are NSFW..

Some just get removed completely .
Hopefully not often.

[OWC Larry]

MRF - Mac Resource Forums - are a place to discuss Mac/Apple Tech and Deals. Off Topic has been accepted by the group on the Tips/Deals side and a conversational part of the flow. The political side was there as the outlet used to work a lot better... today there are other, dedicated, political forums that seem better suited. I don't think a comparison to Craigslist really applies as even the original political forum portion was outside the main theme of MRF.

Another option is to make it a paid portion of the forum and only paid users can access/view it.

DMF went down hill because a relative few created a need for policies and splits that fragmented and undermined it for the everyone else. The execution was poor and thus MRF... but easy to say, harder to do.

Honestly - if people just learned to use that ignore button when they consistently don't like what another member's positions are, be a lot less issue.

anyway - feedback always good. And not about judging. This site has a Terms of Service agreement all members agree to when they are given access to post. Keep within the spirit of that and its simple.

Carnos Jax wrote:
Larry, unfortunately without such a side to the forum, political posts will then leak onto this side and poison it. This is why Craigslist originally had a section for 'hookers'. When they eliminated that, the hookers now advertise in the regular personals section. I think this place would be a lot worse off if we didn't have an 'outlet' such as the political side.

[OWC Larry]

I am told it's pretty rare - but it's simple - keep within the TOS and there is no issue.

DMF collapsed initially because it was becoming unpleasant for the majority due to the personal bickerings of a minority as it went from a true Deals and Tech discussion forum to being one with lots of OT.

Now that I think about it... used to be standard good etiquette and decorum to post 'OT' in front of off topic threads here.... I don't even remember when that stopped happening.

And, feedback always good.

billb wrote:
[quote=Marc Anthony]
There are occasionally topics on the Tips side that get moved to the other side, even if the thread isn't out of control; they're moved solely because they might get politicized or are NSFW..

Some just get removed completely .
Hopefully not often.

[OWC Larry]

TOS still applies to both sides. And the nearly all of the same people who report posts cause they have become personal post personal attacks themselves. Statistically - the vast majority of the users of MRF don't even visit the political forum.

Maybe it's time for it to be more of an anything goes. Pay to play/see. If you don't like it - don't be a part of it. Maybe it's $1.99 a month or $9.99 a year. I don't know. I do know it sucks that people can't stick to their own 'facts' - right or wrong - and agree or agree to disagree vs. bring it down to personal snipes and worse. If it wasn't anonymous, bet would be a lot different too.

Price.com recently brought all moderation in house. Even the best volunteer mods become biased and personal over time even without realizing it.

hal wrote:
I can't believe that the thread isn't a joke.

Re the 'other' side... Are the mods demanding a raise for all of the work they do? :-)

Seriously, that's one thing that DM did right. Like, Davester, I preferred the old forum as a single forum, but there are plenty of people that have no interest in the more 'spirited' conversations and were very happy to see them removed from the main area. Also, since there was only one forum, often heated discussions would overflow to unrelated threads with little revenge posts.

There are now two clear areas; one where you are expected to behave and one where it's not a requirement. If there were only one, it would be populated with plenty of ugly posts.

[OWC Jamie]

OWC Larry wrote:
I am told it's pretty rare - but it's simple - keep within the TOS and there is no issue.

DMF collapsed initially because it was becoming unpleasant for the majority due to the personal bickerings of a minority as it went from a true Deals and Tech discussion forum to being one with lots of OT.

Now that I think about it... used to be standard good etiquette and decorum to post 'OT' in front of off topic threads here.... I don't even remember when that stopped happening.

And, feedback always good.

[quote=billb]
[quote=Marc Anthony]
There are occasionally topics on the Tips side that get moved to the other side, even if the thread isn't out of control; they're moved solely because they might get politicized or are NSFW..

Some just get removed completely .
Hopefully not often. That's the progression I recall.

[Acer]

What, so it all comes down to unpleasantness on the political side? Do we need to be reminded of the DM spirited in recent years? Or any political forum or subforum with looser moderation *cough*Apple$witcher*cough*? Or how about the "Comments" section on any politically-leaning news/blog website? They are intellectual cesspools. Our "friendly" side here is unicorns and rainbows compared to that, and I would miss it very much.

[decay]

if the political side becomes pay to play, the terrorists have won.

[Sam3]

OWC Larry wrote:
::nip:::
Now that I think about it... used to be standard good etiquette and decorum to post 'OT' in front of off topic threads here.... I don't even remember when that stopped happening.

And, feedback always good.

I think that the disappearance of the "OT:" was a natural progression, as more and more posts were not Mac-related.

I would be disappointed to see the political side disappear, as I have learned a lot from there, whether it is from a user's posting, or whether it is from a linked article. However, I do see the problem in that a lot of posts quickly devolve into personal grudges, shouting matches and general disregard for the other posters.

Why is it that people there feel that they have to respond to a post, knowing full well that there are a lot that are posted only to get the ire up of the other forum participants? I agree with Larry, if there is an antagonist, don't try fighting with him/her, ignore them, whether it is with the ignore button, or just not participating in the thread. Turning a thread into a "what I had for dinner" is quite childish and shows an element of cliquishness and could even be considered a personal attack on the original poster. Why can't threads like that just be ignored (not responded to) and let them die on the vine?

[hal]

"Honestly - if people just learned to use that ignore button when they consistently don't like what another member's positions are, be a lot less issue."

This assumes a certain uniformity of people that just isn't a reality. There are ALL KINDS of folks. Some find it VERY hard to ignore posts.

I'd love it if the ignore function was a good deal stronger. You can't not see thread started by ignored posters - those are still visible even when place on 'ignore'.

But I strongly feel that you need the outlet of the FPR (Friendly' Political Ranting) to keep that angst from creeping into the main area. Larry, you see this as one good forum with a sponsor and one bad forum that only eats resources with no sponsor. I think it should be seen as one single entity.

BUT if you want to be rid of the FPR - it's your sandbox... do it and be done with it. The world will still spin. We'll get on with life.

PS - about there being lots of other outlets for that kind of activity... that's not at all how the FPR people look at it. We see it as absolutely unique - it's a forum populated by many 'friends' that have been hanging out together for well over 10 years. Every other political forum is much larger and populated with people we don't know.