New Moratorium On Political Threads & Posts

[Lady Henevere]

What's up with the political ads? There are some deceptive ads popping up regarding California's propositions. Just curious. Thanks.

Edited because I realized I probably broke the rules by commenting on an ad! Sorry about that.

 

[Nifty]

It's a valid question!

The ads are served through Google AdSense who control what ads are shown to whom and when. In fact, some peeps may see ads others don't see based on Google's algorithms.

If there are specific problematic ads please PM me with as much detail about the ads as you can (especially the URL they are advertising) and we'll review see if we can get those ads turned off.

 

[Icu4dzs]

Edited as the whole post questioned moderation. Do not bring the issue up again

 

[Wifezilla]

 

[k0xxx]

Frankly, I feel rather pleased by this moratorium...

I politely disagree. IMHO if we never discuss the things that we disagree about, we will never truly understand and learn from each other. These days our society has become extremely polarized and hostile. I believe that much of the reason is that we have been told to avoid certain subjects (such as religion and politics) so as not to hurt anyone's feelings. In my opinion that has only contributed to a lack of understanding of opposing views, and a resulting lack of tolerance. YMMV

Edited to clarify to whom I was replying.

 

[Ldychef2k]

I just figured this was a personal issue, as this thread was pretty much dead for six months.

 

[Wifezilla]

Sumpin like dat!

 

[Nifty]

We've been managing online communities for many many years and have a TON of experience with what does and doesn't work. There are a plethora of other places on the internet to debate politics, but we've found that it doesn't work here.

Believe me, we worked VERY hard to maintain an open / self moderated system... and then the reports of hurt feelings, flaming, trolling, etc. started flooding in. We realized the pros of supporting these discussions were vastly outweighed by the cons.

It wasn't an easy decision, but based on the feedback (mostly via PM and reports) it was the best for this community.

How about a challenge: Prove that you can discuss non-politics in self moderation. If everyone goes for 1 month without any drama or reports of problems (as the forum is currently setup i.e., without politics) we'll allow a single political discussion of your choosing. If that discussion causes strife or reports we'll revert back to no-politics?

So, want to accept the challenge?

 

[noobiechickenlady]

I vote keep it like it is. We have had the opportunity to discuss politics before and IMO those were the threads that really got out of hand. Political discussions in general are often heated, and the flat medium that we are speaking in tends to fan that flame even higher. And we can't even go out for beers to chill out & make up afterward

Doesn't the rule state that IF the political issue is terribly relevant to the self sufficient lifestyle (ie laws that make it harder to grow or get heirloom seeds or selling homemade goods, eggs or meats) then it can be posted & discussed, as long as it remains civil & polite?

 

[Nifty]

Hmm... spirit of the law or letter of the law...

Honestly, it will be case by case. There is a huge difference between:

1) A new topic with the subject: "Can you believe they voted this idiot into office in my state!?!"

vs.

2) A topic about beekeeping and someone brings up laws in their town related to beekeeping.

Of course, even Self Sufficient related political topics can just as easily turn into a flamefest.

In general we ask that our members be super duper careful about what they post, especially if it touches on sensitive topics of any kind.