Closed "Substantially" Thread

[SailinAway]

Originally Posted by ITD

It won't work SailinAway, the debate part allowing political stuff, you can't keep the political part isolated to one corner.

Sure you can. That's what moderators are for. You delete political content that's posted in the wrong subforum and soon people get trained to post it in the right place. They figure out that "Home Maintenance" is for . . . home maintenance, not politics.

[SailinAway]

John Mercier, much as I always enjoy reading what you have to say, much of what you've posted in this thread is off topic. The original post was about why threads get closed down. It was not about energy. If we could exercise more self-discipline in keeping our posts on topic, fewer threads would get closed down.

However, since there are clearly quite a few people who want to make non-Winnipesaukee posts, the best solution is to give them a subforum for that. You and several others who like to talk about non-Winnipesaukee topics---politics, economics, energy, the pandemic, etc.---should support my proposed new subforums. Then you would would have license to discuss whatever you want, and we would have the pleasure of reading your thoughts without threads getting shut down. It's a win-win all around.

[ITD]

Originally Posted by SailinAway

Sure you can. That's what moderators are for. You delete political content that's posted in the wrong subforum and soon people get trained to post it in the right place. They figure out that "Home Maintenance" is for . . . home maintenance, not politics.

Why would any sane moderator sign up for that? I'm telling you, I've seen it on 3 other forums, they all ended the same way, with the off topic sections being shut down, plus scores of posters booted because they couldn't control themselves. If it were put to a vote, I would vote no.

[LikeLakes]

I think maybe John meant to post the energy comments in the new thread I started, not sure.

https://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums...188#post377188

As for threads about politics, no idea if a separate section would work or not. I really enjoy talking politics in person but not online, too hard to have a conversation that stays civil.

[lakewinnie]

My head is spinning...

[SailinAway]

Originally Posted by ITD

Why would any sane moderator sign up for that? I'm telling you, I've seen it on 3 other forums, they all ended the same way, with the off topic sections being shut down, plus scores of posters booted because they couldn't control themselves. If it were put to a vote, I would vote no.

What's wrong with booting scores of posters who can't control themselves? What I'm suggesting is very common in forums---many have an "Off Topic" subforum. Here at the Winnipesaukee forum what we have is a tendency to post off-topic comments just about anywhere, and then dissatisfaction when threads are closed, which invites ideas for improvement. Hence my suggestion. This could be done a trial basis and shut down if people behave too outrageously. Then they would be instructed once again to not make non-Winnipesaukee posts. The contradiction is that people are showing a desire to make and read non-Winnipesaukee posts (e.g., international energy trends) and congratulating certain well-informed posters for their well-written but off-topic posts---and then being upset when those threads are closed down. Then the forum owner's choice is to let things run rampant, close down threads and remind people to post only Winnipesaukee topics, or accommodate those who want to have non-Winnipesaukee discussions. In the past the forum owner has occasionally stepped in and stated that this remains a Winnipesaukee forum, as conceived in the beginning.

Based on the experience in the Covid thread, there's a good possibility that an Off Topic subforum would decline into hostility and fake news. So the onus is on forum members to not do that.

[ITD]

Originally Posted by SailinAway

What's wrong with booting scores of posters who can't control themselves? What I'm suggesting is very common in forums---many have an "Off Topic" subforum. Here at the Winnipesaukee forum what we have is a tendency to post off-topic comments just about anywhere, and then dissatisfaction when threads are closed, which invites ideas for improvement. Hence my suggestion. This could be done a trial basis and shut down if people behave too outrageously. Then they would be instructed once again to not make non-Winnipesaukee posts. The contradiction is that people are showing a desire to make and read non-Winnipesaukee posts (e.g., international energy trends) and congratulating certain well-informed posters for their well-written but off-topic posts---and then being upset when those threads are closed down. Then the forum owner's choice is to let things run rampant, close down threads and remind people to post only Winnipesaukee topics, or accommodate those who want to have non-Winnipesaukee discussions. In the past the forum owner has occasionally stepped in and stated that this remains a Winnipesaukee forum, as conceived in the beginning.

Based on the experience in the Covid thread, there's a good possibility that an Off Topic subforum would decline into hostility and fake news. So the onus is on forum members to not do that.

I love your faith in the members here Sailin'