Political discussions on other forums

[happycamper]

As this is the "political" side of the forum I figured I'd see if anyone else tries discussing on other forums and what their experiences are.

 

I have from a time or two and, frankly, it's tough. Traffic is often less, this is an extraordinary active board in my experience. There's a lot more group think and moderators somewhat enforce it; if you go against the grain, even if you are civil and bring up points, you get public callouts to be nicer, somehow, even as other posters gleefully conflate your targeted points as racist or communist(or whatever other keyword means you're automatically wrong). That's if it is a lightly moderated forum. Furthermore, posters tend to be less willing to read into nuance and also less willing to be informed. 

 

Anyone else know of any other rhetorical wonderland like mwcboard?

[AndroidAggie]

I have a limited sample size.

The off topic section on the USUFans seems to be driven by a few key posters who are able 'dominate' (horrible connotations, I know) discussion.  I also think that Mormonism hits a little too close to home for a lot of people on that board...  It's a very understandable and sensitive issue, but it makes it very difficult for honest conversation to be had.  Both folks who I could classify as critical to Mormonism or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and faithful to it can't seem to separate the very visceral emotions that are connected to it in order to talk meaningfully and respectfully across divides.  (Naturally the 'critics' and the 'faithful' run the gamut of levelheadedness, so there are solid folks in both piles.  But the ones who are too emotive to really talk seem to be the ones that characterize discussion.)

I've also participated a ton on a Mormon message board that's heavily moderated because of the numbers.  'Critics' seem to have way more time and numbers to talk issues than the 'faithful,' but after several years it seemed like the same talking points were discussed and nothing was new to really investigate.  I got to know very intimately the viewpoints of folks who were gay, who had left my church, who felt that the current and former leadership were frauds.  Some 'critics' were just whiners and others had really good arguments and presented them in a very reasonable way.  Virtually every time it came down to a question of whether or not you believed someone's account of something, and since these are mostly historical issues that have always been there, each incoming crop of faithful and critic would kind of follow the same pattern of discussion.  I eventually just got bored.

MWCBoard seems to have the best distribution of level headed people, probably by nature of our collegiate team's demographics -- Cali, Rocky Mountain, Hawaii, etc...  We necessarily are more diverse and evenly balanced.

 

[retrofade]

The Barkboard is mostly Trump supporters, with about 4-5 of us that oppose him. If you don't agree with the masses, then you're unamerican. 

[Monty93]

2 hours ago, retrofade said:

(...) If you don't agree with the masses, then you're unamerican. 

Unfortunately, this has been the general direction of any disagreements over the past decade or more.  The ability to have a civil discourse seems to have been abandoned.  It's much easier for many to label someone rather than to listen to their point of view.

[toonkee]

3 hours ago, AndroidAggie said:

I have a limited sample size.

The off topic section on the USUFans seems to be driven by a few key posters who are able 'dominate' (horrible connotations, I know) discussion.  I also think that Mormonism hits a little too close to home for a lot of people on that board...  It's a very understandable and sensitive issue, but it makes it very difficult for honest conversation to be had.  Both folks who I could classify as critical to Mormonism or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and faithful to it can't seem to separate the very visceral emotions that are connected to it in order to talk meaningfully and respectfully across divides.  (Naturally the 'critics' and the 'faithful' run the gamut of levelheadedness, so there are solid folks in both piles.  But the ones who are too emotive to really talk seem to be the ones that characterize discussion.)

I've also participated a ton on a Mormon message board that's heavily moderated because of the numbers.  'Critics' seem to have way more time and numbers to talk issues than the 'faithful,' but after several years it seemed like the same talking points were discussed and nothing was new to really investigate.  I got to know very intimately the viewpoints of folks who were gay, who had left my church, who felt that the current and former leadership were frauds.  Some 'critics' were just whiners and others had really good arguments and presented them in a very reasonable way.  Virtually every time it came down to a question of whether or not you believed someone's account of something, and since these are mostly historical issues that have always been there, each incoming crop of faithful and critic would kind of follow the same pattern of discussion.  I eventually just got bored.

MWCBoard seems to have the best distribution of level headed people, probably by nature of our collegiate team's demographics -- Cali, Rocky Mountain, Hawaii, etc...  We necessarily are more diverse and evenly balanced.

 

That's one of the best things about the MW conference in general. Lot's of little distinct micro-cultures and interesting diversity.  

[youngredbullfan]

I post on a mostly-liberal message board with a majority black userbase that has more activity than this one. It's interesting watching divisions within the left (knockdown, dragout fights between Bernie people and mainstream Democrats), as well the interjection of other ideologies that don't get respresented here for obvious reasons (including black nationalists who hate everyone, black Trump supporters, with an off black libertarian now and again). 

 

Because of the larger user base, there's everything from self-described revolutionary socialists, ANTIFA-cheering anarchists, pan-African nationalists, Hillary fanboys, and alt-righters going at each other. 

[retrofade]

1 hour ago, Monty93 said:

Unfortunately, this has been the general direction of any disagreements over the past decade or more.  The ability to have a civil discourse seems to have been abandoned.  It's much easier for many to label someone rather than to listen to their point of view.

The best one was the other day when I was called ungrateful and unamerican for not standing up for God Bless America at sporting events. 

[modestobulldog]

I think it is all good when one realizes forums (sport and other) are primarily for entertainment purposes.  It is also like bad marriages where the little crap gets magnified beyond all comprehension.

[Old_SD_Dude]

The Aztec Mesa OT Board is dominated by one very conservative guy (I suspect he posts occasionally here in a much more subdued way) and a couple of his winged monkeys. Lots of climate change denial as I recall. There's really no point in trying to have a real discussion. It's kind of surprising, as SD's really not that conservative anymore. I haven't really looked at it in the Trump era, but I expect it's still a dumpster fire. 

[AndroidAggie]

2 hours ago, youngrebelfan40 said:

I post on a mostly-liberal message board with a majority black userbase that has more activity than this one. It's interesting watching divisions within the left (knockdown, dragout fights between Bernie people and mainstream Democrats), as well the interjection of other ideologies that don't get respresented here for obvious reasons (including black nationalists who hate everyone, black Trump supporters, with an off black libertarian now and again). 

 

Because of the larger user base, there's everything from self-described revolutionary socialists, ANTIFA-cheering anarchists, pan-African nationalists, Hillary fanboys, and alt-righters going at each other. 

BBChunter.com

[halfmanhalfbronco]

10 hours ago, youngrebelfan40 said:

I post on a mostly-liberal message board with a majority black userbase that has more activity than this one. It's interesting watching divisions within the left (knockdown, dragout fights between Bernie people and mainstream Democrats), as well the interjection of other ideologies that don't get respresented here for obvious reasons (including black nationalists who hate everyone, black Trump supporters, with an off black libertarian now and again). 

 

Because of the larger user base, there's everything from self-described revolutionary socialists, ANTIFA-cheering anarchists, pan-African nationalists, Hillary fanboys, and alt-righters going at each other. 

 

What are your thoughts on it in general and how what are some of the similarities and differences between here?  How is it moderated?

[halfmanhalfbronco]

The OT section on this site is leaps and bounds better than any other forum I have been on.

So many different opinions, a general level of respect.  And a bunch of fellow egomaniacs who just have to be the best sourced, affluent and logical.  People put some REAL effort into some of their debates here and I know I have personally learned a lot and hope I have reciprocated in kind.

 

[bluerules009]

I have learned a lot here and considering I know everything, that says alot! 

[UofMTigers]

the csnbbs 'spin room' is an alt-right swamp trying to disguise itself as a Libertarian board...it's what got me banned for 6 months as they didn't want to hear what a Southern Liberal had to say.

I like this board...

[youngredbullfan]

10 hours ago, halfmanhalfbronco said:

 

What are your thoughts on it in general and how what are some of the similarities and differences between here?  How is it moderated?

It's similar in that you can find very intellectually vigorous discussions on a variety of topics.

It's different in a variety of ways, but mostly because there is a zero tolerance policy for anti-black racism. The mods will be on your ass if you say something racist, which honestly I don't mind. However, there is a heavy black nationalist presence on the site, which means there is a lot of mistrust and even sometimes bigotry. Fortunately those voices are balanced out. And honestly it's hard to blame some posters for harboring those sentiments.