Re-opening of Political Forums on Defencetalk?

Should DefenceTalk board reopen its political Forums & Discussions?

  • Yes

    Votes: 16 50.0%

  • No

    Votes: 16 50.0%
  • Total voters
    32
  • Poll closed .
webmaster

webmaster

Troll Hunter
Staff member
We've been thinking about reopening/reintroducing political forums/discussions on DefenceTalk.

I would like to get your opinion on this issue and how do you feel about being able to discuss politics as well?

Please VOTE before replying!​

Of course, this DOES NOT mean that we will allow any type of politics/political discussions in the current forums/setup that we have, not a chance. The reopening would mean that certain topics that do tend to get into politics, would be dealt with in the political forums rather than in the technical areas of the board.

A little background for those who don't know or came later...

We had to close down our political forum setup (its hidden from public/admin/mod view) back in 2005 due to large amounts of political fights, emotional pride, country bashing and mine is bigger than yours attitude. Instead, the discussions were moved HERE but with so little time on my hands, that area is not getting much attention... although plans are slowly underway to revitalize it and let the public know that it exists.

So thats that. Depending on how things go we may get full political setup or just forum or two for offtopic discussions (anything and everything appropriate goes).

Thanks for voting!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Todjaeger

Todjaeger

Potstirrer
WebMaster said:
We've been thinking about reopening/reintroducing political forums/discussions on DefenceTalk.

I would like to get your opinion on this issue and how do you feel about being able to discuss politics as well?

Of course, this DOES NOT mean that we will allow any type of politics/political discussions in the current forums/setup that we have, not a chance. The reopening would mean that certain topics that do tend to get into politics, would be dealt with in the political forums rather than in the technical areas of the board.

A little background for those who don't know or came later...

We had to close down our political forum setup (its hidden from public/admin/mod view) back in 2005 due to large amounts of political fights, emotional pride, country bashing and mine is bigger than yours attitude. Instead, the discussions were moved HERE but with so little time on my hands, that area is not getting much attention... although plans are slowly underway to revitalize it and let the public know that it exists.

So thats that. Depending on how things go we may get full political setup or just forum or two for offtopic discussions (anythind and everything appropriate goes).

Thanks for voting!
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I think the opening of political forums accessable through DT is fine, I would very much like the defence & defence related topics kept separate though. By all means, if other posters wish to engage in :flame attacks on each other or engage in size measuring contests, or other emotional discussions (a generous description for some, calling them discussions), let them. I would prefer to keep the actual defence discussions at least somewhat grounded in reality.

Just my $0.02.

-Cheers
 
Tasman

Tasman

Ship Watcher
Verified Defense Pro
Todjaeger said:
I think the opening of political forums accessable through DT is fine, I would very much like the defence & defence related topics kept separate though. By all means, if other posters wish to engage in :flame attacks on each other or engage in size measuring contests, or other emotional discussions (a generous description for some, calling them discussions), let them. I would prefer to keep the actual defence discussions at least somewhat grounded in reality.

Just my $0.02.

-Cheers
Click to expand...
I agree with what you have said. Let's have a political forum but continue to keep politics as much as possible out of defence topics. Sometimes I think it is inevitable that politics will get some mention. For example there is at least one thread where a change of government could potentially alter an existing procurement plan and it is hard (perhaps impossible) to discuss the topic without considering this fact.

Cheers
 
O

Ozzy Blizzard

New Member
Tasman said:
I agree with what you have said. Let's have a political forum but continue to keep politics as much as possible out of defence topics. Sometimes I think it is inevitable that politics will get some mention. For example there is at least one thread where a change of government could potentially alter an existing procurement plan and it is hard (perhaps impossible) to discuss the topic without considering this fact.

Cheers
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Agreed. The defence forums run well with the current rules at the moment and politics should be stricktly quarenteened. And I also think these should be some strict rules placed on the political forums, and some hard ass moderators in charge becuase its usually just a tinder box waiting for a flame war. People would have to be respectfull at all times, and this would have to be strickly enforced, it doesnt allways work in defence related forums so it'll be tough policing it in political forums. Having said that I personally would enjoy respectfull political debate and i couldn't think of a better place to do it.
 
M

merocaine

New Member
Theres an element of politics in most of the threads already, as evidenced by the many warnings given out by the mods.
A politcal thread, no matter how well intentioned, will be hijaked by idelogical warriors out to grind there political axes. There is a danger that Political threads could poision the general atmosphere of respect that prevails on defencetalk.
Merocaine says NO!
 
W

Waylander

Defense Professional
Verified Defense Pro
I also go with a NO.

I can already see about what most threads will be and how they will be overrun.

I wouldn't want to be the mod looking after these flame wars.
 
C

Chrom

New Member
No! A bit of politic is fine, but pure political forum will attract users what useally dont contribute much in military talks... These users will flood other military forums with, well, pure politics.
 
A

Aussie Digger

Guest
Personally I'd say no.

I have a different posting style on some websites I'm a member of (under a different user than this) and I'm sure some people wouldn't be overly fond of me (imagine that?) because of this...

On a political forum people seem to tend to become more personal in their thoughts and more likely to start arguing "aggressively" towards others.

Switching between "aggressive" posting in Political forums and nice and polite Defence Forums is going to be next to impossible for some.

As fo us moderators, we're not going to make friends in that other forum and we'll have more instances like "Thumper" who cracked a case of the sulks and left because he wasn't happy with our moderating style...

Most people won't differentiate between forums after a while IMHO and it will affect us (the forum) quality wise...
 
Tasman

Tasman

Ship Watcher
Verified Defense Pro
Aussie Digger said:
Personally I'd say no.

I have a different posting style on some websites I'm a member of (under a different user than this) and I'm sure some people wouldn't be overly fond of me (imagine that?) because of this...

On a political forum people seem to tend to become more personal in their thoughts and more likely to start arguing "aggressively" towards others.

Switching between "aggressive" posting in Political forums and nice and polite Defence Forums is going to be next to impossible for some.

As fo us moderators, we're not going to make friends in that other forum and we'll have more instances like "Thumper" who cracked a case of the sulks and left because he wasn't happy with our moderating style...

Most people won't differentiate between forums after a while IMHO and it will affect us (the forum) quality wise...
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You mean to say that you are not a nice and polite person all the time AD? :D

I think you've make some good points. I also agree with a comment Waylander made. Being a moderator in such a forum would be no picnic.

Cheers

BTW, I wondered why Thumper stopped posting!
 
A

Aussie Digger

Guest
Ozzy Blizzard said:
It shows up on my screen that he is a banned member. But he stoped volentarily??? Does that mean he put me on block or something. Like he didint like me?:teary
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Nope he didn't like being "moderated" and asked to be banned as he intended to never return.

He seemed to have quite a case of the "huff"...
 
RubiconNZ

RubiconNZ

The Wanderer
Nope, I'm happy with the forum as is, I have stayed around as long as I have because of the rules and the pedigree of defence discussions.:D
 
F

Falstaff

New Member
I voted yes. That's partally because I like discussing politics :rolleyes:

I think that most threads contain political issues to some degree anyhow. Oftentimes these issues are discussed very decent.

I think that if very strict rules are apllied- the same as for the military discussions- it might work. Perhaps you could give it a try, nominate some more moderators especially for that section, and see how it works out?

BTW as an almost first-day member of the sinodefence-forum I once had to change my username and give up my email-adress because I constantly received very nasty mails. So I know what it can be like...
 
Scott

Scott

Photographer/Contributor
Verified Defense Pro
I like the solution you came to. While I often enjoy political discussions, there are enough circular discussions on this site already and even more ideological dead-ends.
 
webmaster

webmaster

Troll Hunter
Staff member
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #20
Thanks Scott.

There has been recent activity on the WAT Forums so I encourage everyone to participate in the sociopolitical discussions over there.

PS: Rules are not as strict as over here on DT... :D

Enjoy!
 
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