Pre Migration Most liked posts in thread: A vote to ditch the politics

I agree with you 100%.

I own a website called Carnuts.us and we had a political section too. It was full of consternation and accusation and eventually the same emotions bled over into the regular threads too.

I finally closed the section down and while I lost a few who insisted that it was the only reason they came, I invited them to go elsewhere to post their political diatribes and come to Carnuts for fun car information.

 

I followed Nathan's how-to on blocking a forum section and blocked the politics. Much better IMO

http://www.motoringalliance.com/forums/how-do-i/3321-hide-forum-how-do-i-hide-forum-area-i-do-not-want-see.html#post30334

 

I am torn.

This country is at a major turning point and the government has basically created an environment where we are afraid to discuss politics anymore, even though it desperately needs to be discussed. I have been calling it tabooism because they have got this country so torn up it won't even talk about the one thing that so desperately needs to be discussed.

On the other hand, it does raise blood pressures and cause friends and families to feud, etc.

Not sure where the answer lies.

 

Politics Yea or Nay

I'll go with the flow.

Jason
De Oppresso Libre

 

People discussing politics on a car forum isn't going to accomplish anything in terms of actual sociological change. :lol: At most, it provides some entertainment.

 

But at the same time, those who do NOT go to the politico sites get at least SOME insight to what may be going on if they choose to check it out. Especially if the topic involves something that interests them.

Again, I am torn.

Not my site, so I second Jason's comment of going with the flow.

(unless it involves oil, of course... LOL!)

 

This was always my position, and it's particulary frustrating to me because all I heard were the same ol bashings over and over again.

I tried to suggest that rather than bitching loudly on a car forum that the protagonists should get involved and actually DO something about the things they believed. My suggestion was roundly pooh-poohed, and that's when I pulled the plug......

Good to know we have the ability here to simply make the forum invisible, but as I said, sometimes those feelings find their way into other threads too.

 

At the same time you have to ask how much NEW traffic is scared away because of it. If a new member isn't someone who likes the heated political discussions and came here looking for MINI related discussions, they may be quickly turned off when the majority of the threads that pop up when they click "new posts" are political battles rather than automotive talks.

I know that before I blocked the political forum, I found that the political threads were bumped so often that they dominated the "new posts" section that I check when I visit the site.

 

How many of the discussions have been truly "heated" tho? I have only followed a couple, but they have been relatively tame with good points made.

Haven't seen anything that would have made me think twice before signing on, especially since everyone I have encountered on this site have been very cool and mature about things.

 

Second that.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

 

Mhy .02 cents, as sometimes I meander over there...

I seriously doubt it's turning people away--it's easy to scan down the new post section and pick and choose what you're after.

The political discussion here are about the most civilized I've seen anywhere; much more civilized than a few of the performance threads... And that's why I lean toward keeping them. The political discussions here are mainly a community thing; which is probably why they remain relatively civil, compared to other places where the folks are more anonymous. The off-topic stuff certainly doesn't make the site, but on the other hand, it's an interesting sounding board to hear what other people in this community are thinking about, especially people who's opinions I've grown to respect. Nothing more, nothing less. But I do think it adds something here--and I really don't think it takes away from the vendors. I check the new posts frequently, but the first thing I look for is what's going on (today, group4 is pretty much where it's at), the political stuff is all secondary, but at times still entertaining.

If it was gone, I wouldn't be heartbroken, really wouldn't change how I use the site, but I'd miss it a little...

 

True, but it doesn't take long for a few e-opinions taken out of context or with misinterpreted intent to devolve into a negative volley of cheap shots. The political threads are civil here on MA now probably because they are dominated by a relatively small group of folks who know each other pretty well. As MA grows, it will become increasingly problematic. I think we've all observed this even in auto-related threads (e.g., R53 vs R56 on the sewing site, etc.). People have this tendency to "get brave" and post bold and stupid things when protected by the distance over the Internet. I think the political topics increase the probability of ruffled feathers and hard feelings, and this probability will only increase as new personalities pop in and inject their opinions.

Throughout my prior career in the Navy, there were two traditionally taboo discussion topics in the wardroom -- religion and politics. We followed the tradition religiously (no pun intended) because it lessened the possibility that people would harbor negative feelings about fellow officers when their inter-dependent lives could be at stake. While the stakes are clearly much lower here, one could argue that good MINI friendships, especially those cultivated over many years but even casual online acquaintances, are not worth putting at risk either.

 

But again, are we to live our lives in fear of what may happen or do we just say, hey, be a grown up and act accordingly?

This atmosphere of fear of offending someone is part of the problem in this country. If you have something to say, please say it. Just do it in a courteous manner and remember that we may meet someday.

If someone crosses a line, tell them they have been warned... If they insist, adios.

Not sure why this is such an issue.

 

All good points--but why not let things play out? The tone here is different than other boards; it hopefully will remain that way as new people come on board. As new people do come on board, if they get out line, I'm sure the mods will redirect them as to how they want the board to function. If it gets out of hand after that, well, then you can always get rid of it.

But the MINI community is relatively small, even as this site grows, and that's why I think we can get away with it here. If it was a forum with 100,000 members, I agree with you, it probably wouldn't work.

 

There ya go.

It's easy enough to ignore the Messy Stuff forum, even if you don't block it. The most you'll see are some obnoxious headlines that will reinforce your own political views one way or another. I say leave it.

 

Ditto

Mark

 

I figure it's like the radio.

If I don't like what a particular stations format is, it doesn't get programmed into my radio.

I can still pick and choose those. That hasn't changed. (yet)

.....Les