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Location: The Circle City. Sometimes NE of Bagdad.
24,503 posts, read 26,045,935 times
Reputation: 59898
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeJaquish
Absorbing huge amounts of trolling and vitriol in diverting such greatly from other forums is specifically the point and the raison d'être of P&OC.
The goofiness and pointlessness of most of the "discussion" is clear evidence that it serves its purpose. No sane person would recommend that one go to P&OC to learn or to intelligently discuss.
You are fairly new to CD, so weren't here when P&OC was created. It was quickly obvious that it was nearly a stroke of genius.
Mike, I seem to remember that the Current Events forum was created to help stem the tide. Do you recall anything about this?
Another thread popped up in the Relationships forum the other day regarding a highly controversial topic, and it was promptly moved to the P&OC sub where it likely belongs. I'm now imagining the P&OC sub as a trash receptacle of sorts for those 'toxic' thread subjects.
There is a lot of infantile behavior at P&OC, but there are also a lot of good people, on both sides of the progressive/conservative divide, who try to maintain the exchange on a rational basis. The problem is that the basic nature of the process tends to generate more heat than light.
And deep down inside, I know that many of us who stand close to a particular ideological issue do so because we perceive that a principle or cause we value is threatened, and that makes it even more difficult when a moderator harbors such values. Still, there out to be a way to separate the respectful posters from the "drive-bys" -- and the possibility(?) that a handful of articulate, but paid-for professional "shills" are in attendance further complicates things.
When the objective of the exercise is respectful discussion, the best forum for that is probably Great Debates, rather than Current Events, but most of the issues will still emerge "down in the boondocks" of P&OC.
Last edited by 2nd trick op; 04-09-2019 at 10:01 AM..
Location: The Circle City. Sometimes NE of Bagdad.
24,503 posts, read 26,045,935 times
Reputation: 59898
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2nd trick op
There is a lot of infantile behavior at P&OC, but there are also a lot of good people, on both sides of the progressive/conservative divide, who try to maintain the exchange on a rational basis. The problem is that the basic nature of the process tends to generate more heat than light.
And deep down inside, I know that many of us who stand close to a particular ideological issue do so because we perceive that a principle or cause we value is threatened, and that makes it even more difficult when a moderator harbors such values. Still, there out to be a way to separate the respectful posters from the "drive-bys" -- and the possibility(?) that a handful of articulate, but paid-for professional "shills" are in attendance further complicates things.
When the objective of the exercise is respectful discussion, the best forum for that is probably Great Debates, rather than Current Events, but most of the issues will still emerge "down in the boondocks" of P&OC.
Yes, you are correct, I think the Great Debates was the one I was thinking of not Current Events, my mistake..
Entering the dark universe that is the P&C forum it's perplexing that your comments can be deleted for trolling and yet just about every comment that's made is a variation of trolling. I guess moderating this forum is an exercise in futility.
Yeah good point. How do you distinguish what is trolling and just a good hunch? I had a post deleted early on in Trump's presidency because I said that I thought that he was mafia. Well, it turned out that it may have been a good hunch because it was all over the media a month or two later. The moderators do the best that they can under the circumstances, and you have to respect that. Remember, they work for free and it's a huge commitment.
I love the verbal jousting on the political forum. For me it's sport. I get beat up verbally and I counter punch verbally. It's all good. I would sit down with any of them and have a drink, why not? I'm sure it would be more sedate in person then on an anonymous forum. That's he nature of the beast, and that dark universe isn't just on the political forum. Anonymity can bring out the worst in people on any forum. I don't think that moderating the forum is an exercise in futility. Think of what the forum would be like without moderators.
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The goofiness and pointlessness of most of the "discussion" is clear evidence that it serves its purpose. No sane person would recommend that one go to P&OC to learn or to intelligently discuss.
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One other thing I find P&OC useful for is when someone is trolling (but avoiding behavior that would get their posts deleted) another forum, I look at what they have posted there, to see how their brain functions (malfunctions), so that I know their weaknesses.
Quote:
Originally Posted by animalcrazy
Yeah good point. How do you distinguish what is trolling and just a good hunch? I had a post deleted early on in Trump's presidency because I said that I thought that he was mafia. Well, it turned out ...
Been on CD forums for ten years, in that time I've seen the off the wall posters come and go, the big problem seems to be that most of the major PIA folks never leave. The economics forum has been a bully pulpit for some time, posters tend to utilize that forum for some heavy bragging, either with regard to their financial IQ, or their own outlandish tales of personal financial success. The P and OC forums does seem to be a bit overpopulated with the fanatics who regale us with their sophomoric ragging on others, but, I've never put anyone on ignore but I do quit reading their stupid posts.
At days end we have to realize that the forums are not unlike a neighborhood bar where some really good people go to have a drink and some conversation, along with the skanks who come to annoy others..
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