There's quite a lot of political threads on EC and I feel like it would be appropriate to give them a section because putting that into the chit chat section mixes political threads up with general talk. Anybody agree?
This has been suggested before, and it's not something that is likely to happen. Political discussions represent maybe 10% of the total posts on EC, but probably 50 or 60% of the moderation energy of the staff team due to the constant arguments. (This, by the way, is true for pretty much every message board that has political and religious discussion.) There are a lot of online discussion communities centered around political discussion, and creating a forum for political discussion would only have the effect of increasing the amount of political discussion, which isn't EC's primary focus, nor something that any of the staff are particularly fond of. So, since there are so many other excellent forums that do that and do it well, we're inclined to let other communities handle that. It's not something we're likely to consider in the foreseeable future.
Yeah, I will admit that political threads are the ones that take the shortest to turn into unbearable and irrational arguments. I'm honestly surprised that they make up only 10% though. Oh well, thanks for responding so quickly .
Like Chip said, I'm afraid that this subforum would make the weight of moderation duties for staff much heavier, and probably something we will not look for in the future. I feel that the news section and current events can serve as an effective substitute for lack of a politics section if that's something you happen to be interested in.
I understand the reasoning for not having a separate forum for it - would a subforum be a more viable option, or are the same issues present? I'm meaning one similar to the anonymous subforums, but not necessarily mirrored. I understand if not though, just s thought
A subforum would likely create the same issues. Political threads take up a disproportionate amount of the staff's energy, so we're not likely to create a specific section and cause the amount of threads, and thus the energy that we must expend, to increase.
Very intense, and sometimes heated political threads take up a lot of staff time but they also detract from the main ethos of Empty Closets, which is to be a safe, supportive community for LGBT people. If we have members indulging in a back and forth arguments about political issues it does little to promote the care and goodwill that is necessary to maintain a supportive space (our first priority).
Like politics in general, a board for that would likely turn into a wretched hive of scum and villainy. I like framing it as Global News anyway. "Politics" is just the machinations and shifting of power that leads to things happening.
I think it sounds like a good idea, but indeed if it's inefficient like the staff says I guess there isn't much to do about it. Hmm... How about maybe... introducing prefixes like in the News section, for the Chit Chat section? Like one for "General Discussion" or something and one for "Politics" or "Politics/Religion". That way, those that don't want to participate in those kind of discussions can just avoid the political ones, as if they were playing Minesweeper, you know. Or would the same problem arise again, that people might go for the political ones a lot, which might arise in heated opinionated discussion and thus an increased need for moderation?
I think that part of the problem is that even a politics label will influence the way people approach such a thread. Political discussion often involves people discussing issues that are deeply ingrained in their sense of self and identity. One of the reasons why people very rarely change their political views is that those views are much more than what they seem, they are important sources of stability in the same way that any religion or any other set of beliefs is. Political discussion has a secondary purpose to it beyond simple discourse which is to reinforce that part of a person's identity revolving around political views, this is probably one of the reasons why people feel a need for a political section. they want to express and reinforce that part of themselves. However, others hold different views that are just as important to them and when people enter into a political debate, the two personal needs clash and someone inadveribly ends up hurt as they feel that another person is invalidating their identity. This can be a very real problem when that person is during an unstable and vulnerable time of their life and might depend heavily on their political views for the stability they are struggling to maintain in other areas of their life. Hmm... that'd at least how I see things, I hope it makes sense and helps explain why we should limit political discourse to a certain extent if we want to maintain a supportive atmosphere. Eveline
