Could we move the Israeli War threads into Politics? - Page 8

[Aeress]

Maybe a crazy idea-dunno but-

Could we keep NCE a place to post story links? I know I read NCE for the news and ignore the comments.

[JessicaS]

Originally Posted by brendon

Maybe a crazy idea-dunno but-

Could we keep NCE a place to post story links? I know I read NCE for the news and ignore the comments.

Do you mean only take new threads and not posts?

[Ms. Mom]

Originally Posted by AdinaL

No one can change the balance of who posts in the forums, other than the posters themselves. Our job is not to recruit even amounts of people from both sides of every issue to have a conversation. The bottom line is that if people are posting within the UA, they are free to post, and people are free to refute, respond and discuss right back.

Adina you made a great point. When we ask someone to be a moderator it's because we feel they can be moderate when reviewing their forums. We don't ask what their political opinions or religious backgrounds is because it does not matter. What matters is that they can moderate their forums according to the UA and forum guidelines. I have spent a lot of time working with our Politics and N&CE moderators and I believe they work very hard to be even handed. If they question themselves or are unsure, they bring the issue to their co-moderators and the administrators so we can all review it.

[kolleen9]

A big thanks to the mods and admin who have helped to oversee the entanglement of N&CE or Politics. As someone who just started getting used to this place, I will miss those forums.

I have moderated a controversial board from the 1995 to 2006 with over 200,000 members and 30,000 active members. I know first hand how hard it can be to make sure people keep up with the UA. I know how hard it is for a member to keep up with them too, especially if one is a member of many boards with different rules, like myself.

I certainly can understand how overwhelming it must of been to have only one mod in the N&CE forum during heated worldly issues like Gaza/Israel.

Since an unmoderated board isn't a possibility, then maybe a separate forum in which the UA is a little different can be an option? Something that has clear cut wording that removes the magazine from the opinions of the board? Much like many of the newspapers and TV stations do now on their websites.

Again, a hearty handshake and round of applause for the mods and admin that have worked hard on keeping a fine board like this going. Kudos to you.

in peace,
Kolleen

[Maeve]

What about having it set up like TAO where threads have to be approved before being posted? And have it set up that the mods that approve the threads are the ones that moderate them?

[JessicaS]

Originally Posted by Maeve

What about having it set up like TAO where threads have to be approved before being posted? And have it set up that the mods that approve the threads are the ones that moderate them?

Rarely is it that the OPs are an issue. Usually something occurs in the thread.

[fek&fuzz]

Perhaps people who are interested in continuing news and political discussion with MDC members could start their own forum. It's what the LOA folks did when their needs outgrew MDC and it's worked beautifully. Maybe someone should just spearhead the new forum, with the rules they want in place, and run from there. PM the folks on this thread who seem to be interested and let the word spread.

I don't think MDC was meant to be all things to all people, and honestly when I would see the NC&E posts in new threads about "Mom drowns baby in well after putting it in the microwave **may be disturbing**" I wondered why such sensational things had to be discussed over and over. It started to look like a tabloid magazine cover.

[JessicaS]

Originally Posted by fek&fuzz

I don't think MDC was meant to be all things to all people, and honestly when I would see the NC&E posts in new threads about "Mom drowns baby in well after putting it in the microwave **may be disturbing**" I wondered why such sensational things had to be discussed over and over. It started to look like a tabloid magazine cover.

It was those threads that were causing the issues.

[Arduinna]

Originally Posted by fek&fuzz

Perhaps people who are interested in continuing news and political discussion with MDC members could start their own forum. It's what the LOA folks did when their needs outgrew MDC and it's worked beautifully. Maybe someone should just spearhead the new forum, with the rules they want in place, and run from there. PM the folks on this thread who seem to be interested and let the word spread.

I don't think MDC was meant to be all things to all people, and honestly when I would see the NC&E posts in new threads about "Mom drowns baby in well after putting it in the microwave **may be disturbing**" I wondered why such sensational things had to be discussed over and over. It started to look like a tabloid magazine cover.

Those threads always struck me as rubber neckers at a freeway accident.

[CathMac]

Originally Posted by vbactivist

and it's all so subjective anyhow. I see people breaking the ua all the time, but unless someone wants to tattle on them, they won't get a demerit.

Exactly.
~Cath

[Joyster]

Originally Posted by athansor

If there is a place to connect with other posters here to continue these dialogs, I'd love a PM, and I hope to see the discussions back in the future.

Me too on the PM part, and the hoping for meatier discussions returning. I love learning from other viewpoints and parts of the world that help cultivate those viewpoints, even when I disagree with them. Compared to a lot of other woman's forums I visit, aside from some sarcasm I've seen of late, these are pretty respectful, but admittedly, I don't see what is behind the scenes.

I understand it's a hard role playing moderator, I've done it myself and can understand how popular or unpopular and how very stressful it is. I think there are a lot of great suggestions over the several threads on this topic, I do hope they are being heard.

I really admired the fact that this forum allowed mothers to discuss some difficult topics. I've never really like the whole notion that once we're moms, we should all be sweetness and light and lose that fierce part of being a woman with opinions on the world. I'm feeling kinda lost, in a way silenced and it's not sitting too well right now. I'm guessing I'll come to terms with it, what choice do I have, but I guess to be honest some of that level of admiration has been diminished. Ah well, that's life, I don't think there is any entity that can please all the people all the time.

[littleaugustbaby]

If someone started a new off-site forum for political and current events discussions, would we be allowed to advertise it on MDC?

[JessicaS]

Originally Posted by littleaugustbaby

If someone started a new off-site forum for political and current events discussions, would we be allowed to advertise it on MDC?

I don't know the answer to that at this time. It depends on several things.

[CathMac]

Originally Posted by Missy

And this is one of the issues. Because many of us held similar perspectives--although often for very different reasons--it was assumed and asserted often that we were not thinking for ourselves. Even when we explained our individual views and clarified our very individual reasons for those views, the assertion continued. That kind of hostility is dismissive and can destroy real debate. The implication behind it is clear. I do hold very strong opinions, but they are mine, not some imagined group's.

Obviously the "majority" did not agree on every issue. Nevertheless, there were some pretty compelling common denominators on which there was little, if any, room for dissent.

Speaking as someone in the minority, it was a pretty lonely, isolating and demoralizing experience. And that's a tremendous understatement.

Originally Posted by Missy

Also, while many have claimed that the forum had a liberal bias, others felt it leaned to the far right. I think that was often about perspective and perhaps the sometimes unfortunate timing of decisions that affected the board.

The "support only" threads that were left in peace for upwards of a year versus those that were eviscerated and derailed in a matter of hours told the real story. Keep in mind that MDC's stated policy is that they don't host "support only threads". Yet the minority always understood that certain threads were sacrosanct; it wasn't worth the risk of unnecessarily antagonizing someone.

And if there was still any doubt you didn't need to look much further than the occasional poll. A cursory look at the sheer number of self-described Democrats that posted more than once on a daily basis versus self-described Republicans that posted even on a semi regular basis was incredibly lopsided. And the comments in one or two of those polls regarding the apprehension Conservatives had about posting really drove it home.

~Cath

[CathMac]

Originally Posted by aoife

... Members have to choose to post. ...

aoife,
Members will post when they feel welcome.

WADR, you need to be a die hard masochist, and/or an oppositional contrarian, and/or someone grimly determined to make themselves heard when you have only one or two people who agree with you on your core issues and that have any sort of time and energy to offer you support on a regular basis.

In the absence of anything resembling moral support (as a minimum the willingness to report obvious UAVs on you) then proactive Moderators are a rock bottom condition precedent to any sort of healthy discussion. Otherwise the two or three lone voices in the wilderness are crowded out pretty quickly.

Again, the squeaky wheel gets the grease, sets the agenda, and sets the tone.

~Cath

[JessicaS]

Cath are you talking about *formal* debate?


Do you want me to add that to the list?

The problem with formal debate is we would have to find a way to only let a limited number of people respond to "their" threads, otherwise there may be a lot of party crashers.

I am not saying it would be impossible but we would need to figure it out.

[Missy]

Originally Posted by CathMac

aoife,
.

Again, the squeaky wheel gets the grease, sets the agenda, and sets the tone.

~Cath

Well, then.

**cough**ahem**


SQUEAK!!


If, in fact, that's really how it worked...

[Arduinna]

Originally Posted by CathMac

aoife,
Members will post when they feel welcome.

WADR, you need to be an die hard masochist, and/or an oppositional contrarian, and/or someone grimly determined to make themselves heard when you have only one or two people who agree with you on your core issues and that have any sort of time and energy to offer you support on a regular basis.

In the absence of anything resembling moral support (as a minimum the willingness to report obvious UAVs on you) then proactive Moderators are a rock bottom condition precedent to any sort of healthy debate. Otherwise the two or three lone voices in the wilderness are crowded out pretty quickly.

Again, the squeaky wheel gets the grease, sets the agenda, and sets the tone.

~Cath

basically yep to all of that. I have a lot of respect for the people that had the stamina to go in there on a regular basis and post views that were not part of the majority. That took some ovaries.

[littleaugustbaby]

Originally Posted by CathMac

Speaking as someone in the minority, it was a pretty lonely, isolating and demoralizing experience. And that's a tremendous understatement.

I think that stuff like this is the huge problem...if a messageboard gets to you so badly that you describe it as "lonely, isolating, and demoralizing" then I think it's time to take a step back and stop going. I have to question the motives of anyone who would repeatedly put themselves in a situation that they felt compelled to use such strong language to describe.

I realize that politics is a hot issue, but when people start taking everything so personally, I think that is where the most drama is created.

[JessicaS]

IMO Politics is personal.