A Politics Subforum

[thegreekdog]

Concise description:

• The creation of a new subforum specifically for politics

Specifics/Details:

• Any discussion of politics in the current Schrodinger's Catbox would be moved there
• Current political threads which have not been posted in for 6 months old would be moved there, while all others are probably not going to be posted in again. And if they are posted in again, the mods will just move it over to the new subforum

How this will benefit the site and/or other comments:

• A lot of people looking to post in the off-topics area are put off by the dominating theme of political threads, keeping them from contributing to the great community we have here. We did this for Forum Games, and even created a special subforum just for Mafia, so why not do the same for politics? Those who want to post in political threads win by getting a straight link to all of them, while those who just want to talk about other things can without having to sift through all the politics.

Can someone explain why "A lot of people looking to post in the off-topics area are put off by the dominating theme of political threads" leads to "keeping them from contributing..."

I've made this point a number of times in the past - posting a non-political thread in the forum can be done and has been done and will continue to be done.

That being said, I'm fine with a political subforum (obviously). I just don't agree with the reason.

[Qwert]

second name for flame war

[JoshyBoy]

second name for flame war

[GreecePwns]

Can someone explain why "A lot of people looking to post in the off-topics area are put off by the dominating theme of political threads" leads to "keeping them from contributing..."

I've made this point a number of times in the past - posting a non-political thread in the forum can be done and has been done and will continue to be done.

That being said, I'm fine with a political subforum (obviously). I just don't agree with the reason.

Okay. Well let's say you've been playing on the site, but almost never enter the forums.

So you decide to take a look around and you click on the Off Topics forum, hoping you could connect with users there, and these are the threads you see at the top after a quick glance:

TGD Renounces Tea Party Membership
f*ck China
ARIZONA CONGRESSWOMAN SHOT IN HEAD
Drug Tests for Welfare Applicants?
the longest thread, thread
US Military Action in Libya?
Theory: Two Moons Collided to Create the One we have Today
Is this an international forum?
Socialized Healthcare - Waivers blah blah i don't remember
etc, etc

After that quick glance, you're going to think, "Oh its all American politics. I'm not interested in politics (or if they are, not American politics)." And never visit the forums again.

I think it happens more often than it sounds.

[thegreekdog]

Can someone explain why "A lot of people looking to post in the off-topics area are put off by the dominating theme of political threads" leads to "keeping them from contributing..."

I've made this point a number of times in the past - posting a non-political thread in the forum can be done and has been done and will continue to be done.

That being said, I'm fine with a political subforum (obviously). I just don't agree with the reason.

Okay. Well let's say you've been playing on the site, but almost never enter the forums.

So you decide to take a look around and you click on the Off Topics forum, hoping you could connect with users there, and these are the threads you see at the top after a quick glance:

TGD Renounces Tea Party Membership
f*ck China
ARIZONA CONGRESSWOMAN SHOT IN HEAD
Drug Tests for Welfare Applicants?
the longest thread, thread
US Military Action in Libya?
Theory: Two Moons Collided to Create the One we have Today
Is this an international forum?
Socialized Healthcare - Waivers blah blah i don't remember
etc, etc

After that quick glance, you're going to think, "Oh its all American politics. I'm not interested in politics (or if they are, not American politics)." And never visit the forums again.

I think it happens more often than it sounds.

I would agree, but you left out some threads (and "Theory: Two Moons Collided to Create the One we have Today" is not a political thread). I'll give you a list of threads that aren't related to American politics, but first I'm making a pact (call it a post-moderator promise) not to create any more new political threads. I will, of course, comment in political threads.

Here is the list:

(1) Where in the World is pimpdave?
(2) Multicultarism, is there a down side for Europe?
(3) Islam... is it really a violent religion?
(4) Waxing your butt...
(5) the longest thread, thread - Occasionally NSFW
(6) Funny Sayings
(7) Back Problems
(8) Accepting Nominations for CC Home Coming King
(9) Colony Questions
(10) Largest Computer Hack Ever - 1st Cyberwar?
(11) Theory: Two Moons Collided to Create the One we have Today (seriously, you created this thread)
(12) Stand Up for Your Phone!!!
(13) Uncle Saxi's SC Greek Bondholder Friendship Challenge
(14) Are you a coin collector?
(15) Do you watch dwarf porn?
(16) Study Highlights Plight of Europeans
(17) Sorry about your little butt...
(18) Have you ever kissed someone on the lips?
(19) Great name
(20) Google+ invites
(21) Apple vs. Android vs. Windows Mobile Phone
(22) What do you want to learn about?
(23) Football (real)
(24) Post a picture of yourself!
(25) Later hypocrits, trolls, baiters, and nutjobs.
(26) Sticking your thumb up your butt...
(27) It's fun to get threads locked
(28) Have you ever had your balls sucked? (locked)
(29) Got Recipes? Share your faves...
(30) Which is against the rules.

That's 30 threads that don't have to do with American politics. There are 49 threads on the first page of off topics (1 is being moved to GD).

So 30 out of 50 have nothing to do with American politics. And you can probably add a couple to the 30 (like "Would guns have prevented Norwegian camp tragedy?")

[GreecePwns]

My list was just an example of what the top threads would look like, not all political threads. If one, on their first couple of visits, took a quick glance at that list and wasn't interested in politics, they'd be turned away.

They say a web page has about 8 seconds to hook a viewer.

[Army of GOD]

They say a web page has about 8 seconds to hook a viewer.

We should sticky the "5 minutes of breasts a day" thread.

[thegreekdog]

My list was just an example of what the top threads would look like, not all political threads. If one, on their first couple of visits, took a quick glance at that list and wasn't interested in politics, they'd be turned away.

They say a web page has about 8 seconds to hook a viewer.

Wouldn't that result in all political threads?

Honestly, I'm just arguing for the sake of arguing; I disagree with the premise. I don't care whether there is a politics subforum or not. But the reasons for it are as nebulous as the reasons for getting rid of Flame Wars.