Ranked Vote: How To Restore Meaningful Civil Discourse

Does the Reality of Global Warming Burn Your Arse?

This has to be a classic thread title but you wonder what debate can ever happen with a start like that lol.

 

If you want civil discourse, discuss only civilised issues.
No politics, no religion.

Area's of the board which are dedicated to other subjects can reasonably expect a more civil and good humoured interaction between people.

Dinner party etiquette.


To reduce political discussion to the effete only, to limit it to those people, places you in an echo chamber from which the common man is excluded.

The answer is not to exclude coarse discussion in others, but to toughen up yourself.
Not to be a snowflake or snowflakeland will be your only home.

Each of us has the ignore feature available.
If the standard of someones discourse is ruining it for you. Silence them.
Self moderate as per your individual tastes.

Be liberal.
It is more socially inclusive.

 

One of the forums I use expects essay length responses.
One line posts are banned and will get you banned. That sort of thing.

I enjoy it.

But basically you are chatting with professors and highly skilled or experienced type people. High level of knowledge is expected.
Don't expect "Proofs". Or Google links to be provided to stuff you don't know. You are expected to know your **** before you open your mouth. To be up to speed or to get yourself up to speed before replying. Read around the subject matter, not just make confirmation bias research.
Normally any thread rapidly devolves into a group of people asking the resident expert to explain things to them.

And this reduces the amount of people greatly.
But makes for very educational reading.

When you get someone who is not at the same education level as you in such a debate, it kills it. All it takes is for one person to start speaking out of his arse, and a thread is ruined.

It just takes one moderator, to join in and not be at the same level and the debate is ended.
You can't say, shut up idiot, or dismiss his posts, if he refuses to concede a fundamental, advanced discussion is screwed.
One bad mod and it's over. Dead forum.

Essentially I use different forums for different subjects.

International politics. Here and other places with lesser US dominance.
National politics somewhere local.
Economics, history and political science, somewhere else and so on.

Because my knowledge base in these fields is all at different levels and the specialist stuff really isn't advantaged by having a high readership, while the national stuff needs more locals, and the international stuff needs plenty of internationals and one size does not suit all.

I also have to use sites with good moderation (like here) where for example, I am not censored for being politically incorrect.
I simply can't post my thoughts on Lefty moderated forums. I am a racist or whatever.

 

Folks, if you want board growth you need to build for all. The Flame Zone could have a yearly fee of 15 dollars and make more and produce more threads then ANY other forum here. building a CDZ is fine but the more you restrict things the less it grows. Open the FZ once a week and look at the results. NOT everybody like to write reply white collar stuffed shirt. THAT thinking just lost an election okay? @TNHarley @Moonglow tell them where the money is. Tell them how an FZ beat out politics in 4 out 6 weeks before the elelection.

 

A bad mod is sure death, over moderation is slow death.

 

I can read educational crap and debate my friends that are professors and triple major fellows, yet, I love to let loose wit da inanity....and a bong.

 

G and S are essentially the same thing, and I like them both. C would also fit in nicely to such a sub-forum. So ...

S
G
C

Seth

 

Amen! Blue collar FREE SPEECH needs a place as well.

 

WE NEED H! Call it like you see it!

 

Can't we just go back to the basics by kicking someone's azz that doesn't agree?

 

Not here I guess. Its a shame FREE speech is such a GREAT thing. If someone is acting like an idiot you should be able to say so.

 

What is surreptitious on every site is that one is allowed to generalize a name-calling situation but not directly slur someone...With every adversary I have ever had, after a brutal confrontation, we became allies..and you should have seen the tits on the blonde I met after leaving work, I do hope she calls for a good time.

 

I have one comming in from Utah. CDZ's are fine for someone looking to kill a board. But then its kind of a lily white ***** group. There are days people just want a bar to rant and rave. If you are going to RE-build a board like they are TRYING here, why not build a board for ALL? HONEST to God you/I/TNharley could bring more board growth and MONEY to this site.

@TNHarley what say we gather 15 or 20 NEW members to gather here and just show them how its done? Hell WE come from a place with 1.7 million members and we know what got it there. CK made the plan in what 08? and today it stands at 1.7 million?

 

Which is why I favor a sub-forum for invited members. I'm just not interested in name-calling people.

 

I've spent some time PM people of different partisanship on here and I've found there can be common ground I have found it satisfying just seems not in the forums itself lol.

I think a subsection is the way forward I would say that it should not be earned! Everyone gets access but say something off place and the mods kick you from access the subsection say 2 weeks no questions. Won't take long for people to start to play ball, or stick to the normal section for the chaos.

But then we have to set a standard that the moderators abide to as well if we have this subsection. I would suggest the 2 mods must both decide yes before the user is kicked. Also if the same user is highlighted to kick again at least one different mod must make that choice next time. This will reduce any suggestion of bias by moderators.

 

There is nothing wrong with brutal honesty. A sub forum for "invited" members will be seen as a elite group and dislike for that group and its members will follow. How is that ANY different then groups based on color or gender? It's not. It WILL encourage bigotry and hate amid members.

 

I agree it should not be invite only but I do think we can make it work.

 

Years ago, I was on a forum that did the same thing, and no one cared. What I would suggest is that it is set up so that all members can see and read the forum but cannot post unless they are members of that sub-forum. That way, they can see what it's like and decide if they would like to be a part of it. If so, they could contact the moderator in charge of the sub-forum and make the request. If they didn't have the interest, they could just remain as a participant in the main forum.

I think some people genuinely like to discuss issues and interact respectfully with those with whom they disagree. I do. I am simply not interested in exchanging insults, direct or implied. There are tons of places all over the internet where you can do that with almost no restrictions. The other thing I find bothersome are threads that start on a topic but where the conversation veers wildly off course, and you have posters taking up page after page on some totally off-topic point. In a tightly moderated sub-forum, this would not be allowed. PF is pretty well-moderated and does not allow members to hurl direct insults at each other, so what I see is a lot of passive-aggressive behavior and implied insults instead. For example, if I say, "You're a brainwashed moron", that is not allowed and can get you in trouble with the mods. So, instead, I say something like, "I'd have to be a moron to believe that" about your point of view. That is passive-aggressive and just vague enough to keep you out of trouble with the mods, but the message is the same, that you're a moron. This sort of passive-aggressive behavior discourages meaningful discussion.

Another thing I would like to see in the Masters Forum is a requirement to participate in discussion. Just throwing out a point of view but not taking part in discussion is what I call "internet graffiti". I've seen where posters start a thread, and you reply to them, and there's just no answer back. Nothing. I've seen where they start a thread, and they don't answer back to anybody. I don't care if they want to do that on the main forum, but not on the Masters Forum. The watchwords on the Masters Forum would be ...

Respect
On topic
Participation

Seth

 

Think tank is the word

 

I agree with you and the owner not to have a "free-for-all food fight" area of the forum. There are other places people can go if that's what they want.

On the opposite side of that idea is the idea of an extra tightly moderated forum, a Masters Forum, by invitation only, where implied or passive-aggressive insults are not allowed, the discussion must stay strictly on-topic, and participation is required, as I described above. Your thoughts?

 

You just start a 'masters forum' and see the hate come fast and hard. You call yourselves masters and the hate will build fast and hard just based on foolish name choice for the group. Optics folks, optics and that optic suggest certain members are smarter than others. That is bigotry in practice.

 

So call it something else.

 

They say a rose smellls just as sweet no matter the name. A forum like you are suggesting would stink no matter the name. Just the idea that a group of members here are better than others breeds dislike distrust and division. You want people to walk on EXTRA thin egg shells to prove what?

Please never invite me as I would be ashamed and embarrast to ever join a group based on what you suggest. I follow the boards and have for a decade. Seen them come and go and watch MANY failures. Anytime one group looks to present itself as smarter failure starts. This Xenforo platform you have here? I was a Beta tester for it five years ago! I got money that says you have no idea what this platform can do.

Tell you what tho. Build your extra protected elite forum but charge 12 bucks a year to join. I wll built an FZ that will cost 12 bucks a year to join and in one year I will draw more screens more comments and more money than your idea. @moon @TNHarley