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Political and Religious threads on ehMac. Do we need them?

  • No, I'd rather not have those hot button topics on ehMac.

    Votes: 19 29.7%
  • Yes, I like have those discussions - OR - I don't mind / don't care about them.

    Votes: 45 70.3%

Quick poll - Political and Religious threads on ehMac. Do we need them?

4K views 87 replies 26 participants last post by  ehMax 
#1 ·
Personally, I've grown to loathe political and religious threads on ehMac. (Or any forum for that matter)

I'm just curious, for those who visit the Everything Else forum, what do you think?
 
#2 ·
Looks like i'm the first to vote on this.

Personally I don't mind them at all, they can be rather fun.beejacon
 
#4 ·
I agree they can be fun. I think some people get a bit upset when others disagree with their point of view but of course that's what makes this kind of thread so much fun to start with.

I've always believed that those unwilling to listen to an opposing viewpoint are afraid their own viewpoint will not hold up under critical examination.

FWIW it is very unlikely that any one will convert any one but it is still fun.

These threads are easy enough to avoid if ones interests lie elsewhere, so by all means let them run their course with minimal interference.
 
#5 ·
It sure keeps the ad hits up for the site. I probably visit a dozen times per day or more just to keep up with these interesting threads. While visiting them, I also check to see if I can offer help or advice in the various tech forums.

If the site were limited to Mac-only (or benign topics like recipes or pets) I would likely visit only when I had a computer question--about once a week.
 
#7 ·
Almost every forum with a 'everything else' board eventually finds its way to threads on politics and religion.

I have a love-hate relationship with them. On the one hand, they seem to be the liveliest threads. On the other hand, they always seem to end up devolving into the same cheap-shot-laden arguments between the same players. (That's not just here, but on other boards I frequent as well.) If you aren't one of those players, it gets kind of repetitive and boring.

Still, especially around election time, I do like the political commentary... the other boards that I frequent regularly are US-based, so it's nice to actually discuss some Canadian politics for a while. And I've always liked a good religious discussion, though that seems to very quickly become same old-same old very soon.

Perhaps I can best sum it up this way. For the first few pages or so, those types of threads on ehMac are often interesting, but by page 10 or so, they tend to devolve into the same arguments by the same people and seem to become substantially less interesting to the rest of us. Because these people greatly enjoy these types of threads, they tend to jump into them very early on and start dominating the conversation, thus speeding the devolution to the same-old. (But clearly they must enjoy that a lot, since they keep coming back to do it.)

I didn't answer the poll. I can't quite make up my mind. I suppose if I could wave my magic wand and control everything, I'd keep the political and religious threads, but I'd like to see the usual suspects contribute less, everyone else contribute more, and the political and religious threads just peter out much faster.
 
#19 ·
I have a love-hate relationship with them. On the one hand, they seem to be the liveliest threads. On the other hand, they always seem to end up devolving into the same cheap-shot-laden arguments between the same players. (That's not just here, but on other boards I frequent as well.) If you aren't one of those players, it gets kind of repetitive and boring.

Still, especially around election time, I do like the political commentary... the other boards that I frequent regularly are US-based, so it's nice to actually discuss some Canadian politics for a while. And I've always liked a good religious discussion, though that seems to very quickly become same old-same old very soon.

Perhaps I can best sum it up this way. For the first few pages or so, those types of threads on ehMac are often interesting, but by page 10 or so, they tend to devolve into the same arguments by the same people and seem to become substantially less interesting to the rest of us. Because these people greatly enjoy these types of threads, they tend to jump into them very early on and start dominating the conversation, thus speeding the devolution to the same-old. (But clearly they must enjoy that a lot, since they keep coming back to do it.)
Excellent post Sonal. You expressed the exact same sentiments I'm feeling, but a lot better than I could. :)

It's not that I don't like discussion on politics and religion, but they are topics about deep seated personal beliefs and ideals that really do require a bit more care than say a discussion on iPads or using flash.

I hear what you are saying about the "but by page 10" comment. I think there are some regulars who come here for the argument itself. That's the enjoyment. It's not the debate or bouncing of ideas or opinions, it's the enjoyment of the argument itself, and politics and religion are the best threads to engage.

That's what I really could do without on ehMac, and could care less if I lose that kind of traffic. (I actually want to lose it)

How to moderate that or steer things that way is what is a little tricky. If you find that magic wand, could I borrow it? :)
 
#9 ·
To be quite honest, I preferred it when Politics had its own sub-forum. I really can't stand sifting through Everything Else, Eh! just to find posts I might like, so I don't venture in there all that often. But, to each his own, I just don't really care about politics, or religion in the slightest. =)
 
#10 ·
Likewise, I just sift through the EVERYTHING ELSE thread list each day myself and avoid questions about sports, Olympics, investments, job searches, local internet providers, satellite dishes, travel and restaurants--to find threads I might like.

I agree, to each his own.
 
#12 ·
I feel for you, Mr. Mayor, because someone has to moderate these discussions, and I'm sure the redundancy of telling people 'not to get personal' and 'keep on topic' must be wearing. Could use your moderator's option of 'locking' a topic?

For my own part, 'I don't care/I don't mind' sums it up - I've learnt to filter out the dross, and I seldom will go into a discussion of 10 pages or more because it will usually have devolved into the 'usual'.
 
#14 ·
I'd have a different tune if there was 'more informative' and 'less bickering'.

I'm part of another really large forum that is just for forum owners. It's split about 50/50 of forums that allow political / religious discussion and those that don't.

They're two topics that people have very solid opinions about and a discussion isn't going to change them. There are very, very few people who will enter one of those discussions and exit the discussion with a different opinion than the one they entered with.

Especially when the discussions degrade to calling the other sides opinion holders nutjobs and whackjobs etc..

Ironically, there were two large forum owners who said their political and religious discussion went really well, because their board had a lot of members from Canada and the UK. :)

Anyways... keep the feedback coming.
 
#16 ·
You are always going to have some passion on these topics. I would just as soon see them stay and also not see them relegated to their own sub forums.

For religion, most of the time I am pretty agnostic, but on some issues I do want to see what is happening on that front.

For politics, absolutely everyone has an axe to grind. Far better to grind it out in the open where it can be moderated by conflicting views. We all learn that way, even if sometimes our feathers get ruffled.

If the noise gets too loud on any particular thread, I just don't go there. If the tone gets really nasty or in pretty bad taste, forced moderation solves it just as in any other type of thread.
 
#23 ·
I know this much: if threads on religion and politics went away, so would I. I just can't be bothered with most other topics... like MacFury, I would only swing by if I had a tech/Mac question. Not much interested in sports or pop stuff. I like the visual arts, photography and music - no, I love that stuff. But I also like to delve into politics and religion; those topics are where you discover the profound differences in the various tribes which make up humanity. I think it's fascinating. Yes, egos and neuroses can get in the way. Yes, people can be terribly repetitious and puny in character. But I would rather see all hat in the mix than a board sterilized free of any heat or passion.

I think the traffic would drop. I think boards can suffocate from their own genteel sterility. And I've certainly seen boards which are more divisive and brittle than this one.
 
#24 ·
I'll rarely discuss religion in person & close to never online. I've never gone to the religious thread & could care less about it.

I'll rarely engage in political discussions online, simply because it's a dead end street. I may follow one here & there just to watch the freakshow, purely from an entertainment perspective.

I'm a member at POTN, no religion or politics allowed. Don't miss 'em...
 
#25 ·
I voted yes, but not because I find it all that interesting. I think that ehmac needs them to help prevent political/religious discussions from bleeding into the rest of the site. It can also be kind of nice to actually read, learn and contribute to political and theological discussions. I learn a lot from the differences in points of view.

However, I find that when there is an actual discussion going on, it turns into a republican/conservative vs democrats/liberals debate. It doesn't really matter whether it has anything to do with what is being discussed.

The other problem is that there are too many people that politically polarized and are not responsive to actual debate, in these instances I find having threads kind of useless where it turns into bush/obama/harper/ignatieff(or whatever liberal leader of the week) sucks.
 
#27 ·
While I don't loathe these threads they can become tiresome if you are engaged in them. I have generally stayed away from posting to them the lately as I have enough stress from politics every day of the week without further adding to it here.

Obviously I have been very embroiled in them in the past, but I just have grown a little weary of posting to them. I still read them but only when I just can't help myself have I been responding lately.

All that being said I wouldn't want to see them removed either, they can be at times great threads to go to for a good debate on ideas and issues, it is just when they break down to partisan sniping back and forth that they just become a source of frustration and irritation.
 
#28 ·
I recall when Politics was given its own forum, many members couldn't help but insert politics into the other Everything Else threads, claiming that their comments weren't political in nature. It's human nature.
 
#31 ·
Thing is, no one is being held back. You either feel like issuing an opinion on something contentious or you don't; no one is being forced to post, nor to read any posts, nor restrained from posting. Some people like to participate directly and some people like to watch - and yes, sometimes folks can be fascinated by train wrecks.
 
#32 ·
Even if only all religious and political topics were excised here, it would be enough to reduce my visits to once a week or longer. This is the only forum in which I currently participate where Canadian issues are discussed freely, so I would simply find another.
 
#33 ·
Same here. Although I will say that I don't shift forums easily. After years of hanging primarily on American-dominated boards, I've come to consider Ehmac my forum home. I've never bothered looking for other Canuck places to hang my hat because this one more than suffices. Were it to "clean up" and ditch the controversial threads, I for one would be dismayed... but I'd get over it and simply recalibrate to a world 'post-Ehmac.'
 
#38 ·
Slightly off-topic, but with the charitable ventures off on its own board, that kind of hides them from view.

You could argue that there are a lot of threads that are dominated by a small group of people that get a little repetitive in nature... The Shangri-La Clubhouse for one, since it's a small group of people who mostly say hello and goodnight to one another. The Two-Word game is dominated by just a few players, as is The Weather thread. No one seems to mind, however.

It's just different with politics since the repetitive parts are less 'nice'. But seeing as the people who go in and sling words at each other seem to enjoy slinging words at each other... I don't know, maybe at some point when the discussion is fully devolved, the thread can just be shut down until a new issue pops up. (Or, we could just have a political mudslinging thread. :) )

I did like having the political sub-forum around election time, since for a while it seemed like most of the threads were political. But once the elections calmed down, it was good having them re-rolled back into the regular forum.

Evidently, I'm all about creating more work for you, ehMax... ;)
 
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