trolls have infested political forum again [Archive]

jefhatfield

Jul 10, 2003, 10:32 AM

...and regular posters are becoming troll like in respose

time to wasteland political discussions...rower_cpu agrees and durandal7 agrees

backtothemac won't go there anymore and he has a degree in political science/history

since i am not a mod, the best i could do is not go to the political forums...but i simply won't come back to macrumors anywhere because the trolls will infest this whole site

alphatech left because of them...and i am gone, too

...unless something changes

later days

wdlove

Jul 10, 2003, 10:36 AM

Please don't leave jefhatfield, because you are a valuable member. Just don't enter the political forums anymore. Can't remember the last time that I visited. This forum is such much more. Have you contacted arn with your concerns?

sparkleytone

Jul 10, 2003, 10:53 AM

agreed.

i wish it didnt even show up as an option when i click 'view new posts'. it should just filter out that damn forum. way too many people who arent necessarily 'trolls' but are so far into what they believe that its impossible for them not to piss off everyone else.

i just avoid that forum like the plague.

iGav

Jul 10, 2003, 10:54 AM

I never bother with the political threads... too much passion (probably nicest way of putting it) :rolleyes:

It'd be a shame if you leave because of it, stick to the 'bubble-gum'ness' of the community discussion like my goodself... much more fun!! ;)

Take it easy jef! :)

G

3rdpath

Jul 10, 2003, 11:08 AM

jef,

i think the poli threads are certainly more passionate than they've been in a while.

but isn't the poli thread just like a tv show you don't care for? if you don't enjoy it...don't go there. i truly don't mean that in a smarty pants way.

my reasoning is that it makes more sense to have an area where things may get out of hand( to a degree) than to let that stuff spill into the other threads that aren't specifically politically related.

also, i don't agree with your assesment that unless the poli threads are deleted-trolls will infest the whole site. actually, it seems the people who post the most in the poli threads don't post that much elsewhere...so if there are other trolls out there they are most likely unrelated to the poli threads.

also, as i understand it...alpha left because he didn't agree with the profanity rules of the forum.

and i believe i saw b2tm post there yesterday...and b2 was certainly one of the more passionate posters in the poli threads so i don't think i'd use him to substantiate your arguement.

just my 2cents.

respectfully,
3rd

Mr. Anderson

Jul 10, 2003, 11:09 AM

Have you reported any of these trolls? That's what the mods are here for - let them know!

D

billyboy

Jul 10, 2003, 11:15 AM

Just dont go to the forum. I used to enjoy posting there but it just got so boring going round in circles. Some try to be balanced and concede points, but some of the heavyweights are intransigent and I found their views to be quite scary. Much better to dip into other forums and enjoy the less life and death stuff.

So, who´s out mowing the lawn in your neighbourhood at the moment?

eyelikeart

Jul 10, 2003, 11:21 AM

It's been said many times here...if it's not reported, then u are telling us things are fine.

I've never been a fan of the political threads...ever. I feel they had a purpose during the war, but now their purpose on a Mac site is null...IMO.

Seriously jef, if there's a problem, u need to report it man. ;)

Foxer

Jul 10, 2003, 11:26 AM

Politics are my passion. It is the grounding of both my career and education. I would be happy to engage in that topic with this group of people, who seem - on the whole - educacted and witty. Nonetheless, I avoid the political discussions like the plague.

There is too much bile and heavy words thrown about in there. Granted, I am a member of a minority political viewpoint here, but there is nothing I enjoy more than a lively political discussion/debate. However, these threads are just too monolithic and axiomatic to have any sort of discussion. I'm confident in my ability to hold my own against (and even convert a few) those who disagree with me. I refuse to throw insults, make disingenuous arguments or engage in sloganeering. In return, I usually expect the same from the opposition. Therefore I do not feel comforatble in that forum.

It's just a room where everyone is trying to shout above everyone else. No discussion, no thought, no open-mindedness.

Shut it down.

pEZ

Jul 10, 2003, 11:35 AM

Totally agree with Foxer on this one. I like the occasional political banter, but only when I can talk to someone one-on-one and both s/he and I are willing to be open to opinions.

That forum is a deathtrap. Never once gone in there, even when I started coming to MacRumors regularly late last year, and definitely not since I've become an active poster.

G4scott

Jul 10, 2003, 11:42 AM

Yes, the political threads are filled with people who will try at every chance to prove somebody else wrong, and push their views onto them. It seems as if people are just talking, and nobody is listening, unless they find something someone said that they can attack. It's not really a discussion anymore. Just an ongoing argument with no point other than to prove the other side wrong. I really believe there is no real thought, or consideration of politics going on there...

As long as the political posts stay where they're supposed to be, I'm find with them, but if they go beyond their boundaries, I think the mods should delete them immediately, and send a warning to the person. People who constantly post political things outside of the political forums area should be banned. We don't need people talking about politics in the latest G5 discussion, or in the favorite sandwich thread. They may have freedom of speech elsewhere, but if they abuse their [b]privileges[/u] here, they should have them revoked, and they should be banned.

My 2¢ USD...

jefhatfield

Jul 10, 2003, 12:01 PM

Originally posted by sparkleytone
agreed.

i wish it didnt even show up as an option when i click 'view new posts'. it should just filter out that damn forum. way too many people who arent necessarily 'trolls' but are so far into what they believe that its impossible for them not to piss off everyone else.

i just avoid that forum like the plague.

but just avoiding them, when they get troll like, is not enough...

having been here as long as i have, i see how trolls start in one section then infect the whole site and all sections

i have already told arn and mr anderson about my concerns...and it's not just actual visiting trolls that make it bad, but the troll like comments it makes regular macrumors users make in defense

it becomes a forum of threats and insults and basically wrecks macrumors

like many have said already, it's about time to can the political forums...heck, just look at some comments here and elsewhere calling for the shutdown of the political forums

shut it down

QCassidy352

Jul 10, 2003, 12:06 PM

people... why are you calling for the political forum to be shut down? If you don't like it, there's an easy answer... don't go there. Why would you try to ruin it for the people who do enjoy posting there? If an individual post or poster is a problem, the mods can deal with that.

This is ridiculous. The politcal forums are the reason I joined MR in the first place, and even though I don't go there anymore, there's a reason that they exist. It's because those sorts of politcal concerns are very real to people, and they are going to show up in other threads unless people have a specific place to express themselves.

Jefhatfield, sorry, but I just don't see this "infection" of the rest of the site from the political forums. Far from that, the political forum gives people a place to keep the bickering so that it *doesn't* creep in to other threads.

jefhatfield

Jul 10, 2003, 12:14 PM

Originally posted by QCassidy352

Jefhatfield, sorry, but I just don't see this "infection" of the rest of the site from the political forums. Far from that, the political forum gives people a place to keep the bickering so that it *doesn't* creep in to other threads.

from your perspective, that may be the case

but you are a relatively new member

i have been here since the beginning and have seen numerous infections and troll invasions

it's not pretty...alphatech quit becaue of it and he was our #3 poster at the time

stick around long enough and you will see...the porthole are the political threads, and before they existed it was the general discussions threads and the politicos would come in an wreak havoc on our entire site

politics is a heated subject and appropriate for politics or something like escrew.com or rotten.com, but not for a technical mac centered website

sparkleytone

Jul 10, 2003, 12:24 PM

i agree with the sentiment of shutting down the politics forum jef. i think that it doesn't promote what the website is about, and if people want to debate politics they can go somewhere else.

at the same time, don't go glorifying someone elses departure as being decided upon due to these trolls. i for one do not miss said member, and i think he was just as bad of a flamer as we have seen. i was tired of everyone being flamed for dissenting opinions by him, and i was glad to see him go. dont glorify his departure as something that was caused by anything other than his own actions.

jefhatfield

Jul 10, 2003, 12:31 PM

Originally posted by sparkleytone
i agree with the sentiment of shutting down the politics forum jef. i think that it doesn't promote what the website is about, and if people want to debate politics they can go somewhere else.

at the same time, don't go glorifying someone elses departure as being decided upon due to these trolls. i for one do not miss said member, and i think he was just as bad of a flamer as we have seen. i was tired of everyone being flamed for dissenting opinions by him, and i was glad to see him go. dont glorify his departure as something that was caused by anything other than his own actions.

i know he was rough around the edges at times, but these trolls who are here now are not mac users...they have come here to start trouble for the sake of infecting our site

i will mention it til the cows come home...i have been here three years...longer than anyone else...and the trolls start in one section and work thru the site...they are spoilers...maybe alphatech was not nice sometimes but many friendlier mac users were chased off by the badmouthing of trolls...to the troll's delight

notice i am the only user from 2000 that posts here? there were once over a thousand of us here...the trolls, coming in at times infesting our site, has chased many of them off

trolls suck and the political forums should be shut down

SHUT DOWN POLITICAL FORUMS

Mr. Anderson

Jul 10, 2003, 12:39 PM

Originally posted by jefhatfield
i have already told arn and mr anderson about my concerns..

I can't get my email today from home here at work- but PM me with yours so we can talk....

D :D

jefhatfield

Jul 10, 2003, 12:46 PM

Originally posted by Mr. Anderson
I can't get my email today from home here at work- but PM me with yours so we can talk....

D :D

concerns are

1) trolls infecting political forums

2) regular users becoming troll like in response

3) troll behavior infecting whole site...which in three years here i have seen happen...when political section becomes slow from time to time, the trolls move through our site an bugs us there

i am simply asking for mods to shut down political discussions...again...but for good

when i came on in the beginning, it was about macs, not trolls...we are a technical site, not a hate site

pseudobrit

Jul 10, 2003, 01:01 PM

The only post I feel I responded to in an ill-tempered (flaming) manner was tazo's, when he physically threatened me. :mad:

He did the same thing to zimv20 in the Current Events section too. Should we shut down CE also? Or should such behaviour be dealt with properly?

Other than that, the only thing I see are an influx of non-Mac using libertarians, which from what you've said, jef, you've invited in. :rolleyes:

Speaking of the pol/war discussions infecting other sections, isn't that exactly what you've done with this thread?

vollspacken

Jul 10, 2003, 01:02 PM

I don't go to the political forums anymore, it's just people bashing and flaming each other... but if it would get closed, those people would spill over to other forums (current events, community discussion)..!

vSpacken

Kwyjibo

Jul 10, 2003, 01:03 PM

i gave up on the polforuma while back...it got really annoying,. my question is tho, if rower acknolwegdes the problem isn't he a mod? Can't he do something if he vists there alot? I'm not sure its right to shut down the forum because polticial threads will jsut popup in comm discussion and the trolls will debbate in current events .....I don't think closing it wil fix anything but perhaps banning a few of the mreo flagrant people would be good

Abstract

Jul 10, 2003, 01:03 PM

Oh boo hoo. Geez, just don't go in there. I've never even stepped foot in the Politics forum, and it hasn't bothered me at all. I didn't even know there was a problem until you mentioned it. Stop whining about it. Don't go in there. Its simple.

3rdpath

Jul 10, 2003, 01:08 PM

jef,

with all due respect, i must disagree.

there have always been trolls on this site...they come and go. to say that the political forums are responsible for inflicting some type of virus on the rest of the site is far-fetched.

i will gladly accept a correction from the mods if they feel the poli threads have contributed more trolls and spam to the other areas than they would normally have experienced sans a dedicated poli area.

if anything, it seems to me it is easier to police this site since everyone knows where the " high crime" area is. once again mods, correct me if i'm wrong.

and once again re: alpha...unless i'm corrected, alpha left because he couldn't abide by the profanity rules not because of the political threads...seriously, who or what could ever offend alpha? he was the smack-down master.

and finally, to make a threat of " i'm leaving, unless something changes" is childish and reeks of self-importance. i wish there was some less-blunt way to state that because i'd rather not offend you.

and i certainly don't wish for you to leave macrumors.

3rd

jefhatfield

Jul 10, 2003, 01:10 PM

Originally posted by Abstract
Oh boo hoo. Geez, just don't go in there. I've never even stepped foot in the Politics forum, and it hasn't bothered me at all. I didn't even know there was a problem until you mentioned it. Stop whining about it. Don't go in there. Its simple.

again, i have been here since the beginning...3 years...and have seen troll invasions before

when it gets slow in the political forums, the trolls, who are into abusing others, go to our other forums and basically wreck this site

notice i am the only poster left from 2000? trolls chased many off...when one wants to talk mac and some idiot just goes off on them...trolls find this funny, then we often lose the mac user, not the troll who is usually not a mac user

this site is about macs, not trolls, and certainly not hate and threats

remember, we are macrumors.com, not trolls.com;)

eyelikeart

Jul 10, 2003, 01:12 PM

Rower is a mod, but...it's not up to him (nor any of us for that matter) to shut down a forum. That's arn's decision ultimately.

and for the record...Alpha left at his own will for reasons said above...

Abstract

Jul 10, 2003, 01:14 PM

If you stopped going in there for a few months, you'd forget that they were there completely and just enjoy the place. Again, I didn't even know there were trolls. ;) I don't complain......I CAN'T complain. I didn't even know they were there. But now that you mention trolls........
http://forums.fanhost.com/forums/graemlins/uhoh2.gif

jefhatfield

Jul 10, 2003, 01:17 PM

Originally posted by 3rdpath
jef,

with all due respect, i must disagree.

there have always been trolls on this site...they come and go. to say that the political forums are responsible for inflicting some type of virus on the rest of the site is far-fetched.

i will gladly accept a correction from the mods if they feel the poli threads have contributed more trolls and spam to the other areas than they would normally have experienced sans a dedicated poli area.

if anything, it seems to me it is easier to police this site since everyone knows where the " high crime" area is. once again mods, correct me if i'm wrong.

and once again re: alpha...unless i'm corrected, alpha left because he couldn't abide by the profanity rules not because of the political threads...seriously, who or what could ever offend alpha? he was the smack-down master.

and finally, to make a threat of " i'm leaving, unless something changes" is childish and reeks of self-importance. i wish there was some less-blunt way to state that because i'd rather not offend you.

and i certainly don't wish for you to leave macrumors.

3rd

thanks for your concerns, 3rd path

but overall we are a site about macs and the mac community, not hate, not trolling

if one wants hate or troll behavior, there are plenty of other sites on the internet

i love macrumors, but not if it turns into a troll site of non mac users

if i was in a yachting club and the yachting people who used macs all left, that would not really make a difference...but if the mac people leave here and the trolls take over, then it's not macrumors anymore, is it?

there is plenty of sites for politics, but few for mac...keep macrumors for mac users, not non mac using trolls:)

Kwyjibo

Jul 10, 2003, 01:17 PM

Originally posted by eyelikeart
Rower is a mod, but...it's not up to him (nor any of us for that matter) to shut down a forum. That's arn's decision ultimately.

and for the record...Alpha left at his own will for reasons said above...

i meant to close threads and warn members who may be crossing the passionate line...to inflamatory.

pseudobrit

Jul 10, 2003, 01:21 PM

jef, you still haven't addressed what I said; you've admitted to inviting the trolls in. I find it disingenuous that you now want them shut down because of it.

And what does the Pol/War forum consist of? I'd say it's about 75% news stories that the topic starter knew would generate too much heated debate to reside in the CE section.

I've also seen mods move such posts from CE or elsewhere to the PolWar section because they know the debate will get political.

scem0

Jul 10, 2003, 01:23 PM

This is why I hate politics.

It is sad that the whole country gets so washed up in a whole bunch of mature men arguing like 10 year olds.

It is terrible that politics are so corrupt.

It is terrible that the country (in a political sense) isn't like what the constitutional convention members wanted it to be.

Go USA! :rolleyes: ;)

scem0

wdlove

Jul 10, 2003, 01:25 PM

I admire the job that arn & the mods are doing. It's very hard to please everyone. Your job is one that I don't envy in the least. Hopefully you can work these problems out with a one on one basis.

It seems to me that if the political thread were closed, the problem could still exist. As jef said then tend to infect the hole site!

jefhatfield

Jul 10, 2003, 01:27 PM

Originally posted by pseudobrit
jef, you still haven't addressed what I said; you've admitted to inviting the trolls in. I find it disingenuous that you now want them shut down because of it.

And what does the Pol/War forum consist of? I'd say it's about 75% news stories that the topic starter knew would generate too much heated debate to reside in the CE section.

I've also seen mods move such posts from CE or elsewhere to the PolWar section because they know the debate will get political.

i didn't invite the trolls...i like third party views and the libertarians and they are invited, and while not the more common republicans or democrats, are no more or less likely to troll

it's just that it's gotten ugly with some non mac users who i won't mention by name...you know who they are...they didn't come here for macs, but to bash in heads for fun

the second the pols thread dies down, they come into other sections to insult and threaten mac users...i have been here three years (in case you haven't read my other responses) and they take the discussion away from macs and into trollhood

this site is for macs, not trolls...can't say it more basically than that;) :D

Kwyjibo

Jul 10, 2003, 01:28 PM

Originally posted by scem0
This is why I hate politics.

It is sad that the whole country gets so washed up in a whole bunch of mature men arguing like 10 year olds.

It is terrible that politics are so corrupt.

It is terrible that the country (in a political sense) isn't like what the constitutional convention members wanted it to be.

Go USA! :rolleyes: ;)

scem0

your serious? the const. covnention was a poltical hotbed....southern senators were ready to walk out after talks of phasing out slavery...which is whythe word slvery is not in the whoel document... and when the northern states wanted to exclude slaves from population counts the south again threatened to walk out....then they reached the comprimise of a slave coutnning as 3/5 of a person for representation purposes....these politics are very american. debate is american but not persoanl attacks and other things ofthat nature

jefhatfield

Jul 10, 2003, 01:33 PM

Originally posted by Kwyjibo
your serious? the const. covnention was a poltical hotbed....southern senators were ready to walk out after talks of phasing out slavery...which is whythe word slvery is not in the whoel document... and when the northern states wanted to exclude slaves from population counts the south again threatened to walk out....then they reached the comprimise of a slave coutnning as 3/5 of a person for representation purposes....these politics are very american. debate is american but not persoanl attacks and other things ofthat nature

so true

if the political forums were about politics, then that would be cool

but some abusive trolls have come on board to get their jollies...give them time and they will go to other areas of this site

remember, we have 13 year olds here

macrumors is for macs!

arn

Jul 10, 2003, 01:37 PM

Originally posted by jefhatfield

it's not pretty...alphatech quit becaue of it and he was our #3 poster at the time

alphatech left because he didn't like me censoring his posts.

arn

arn

Jul 10, 2003, 01:39 PM

Jeff,

I will look into it. But I need specific examples of trolls.

If the problem is rampant - please report them.

arn

jefhatfield

Jul 10, 2003, 01:47 PM

Originally posted by arn
Jeff,

I will look into it. But I need specific examples of trolls.

If the problem is rampant - please report them.

arn

thanks :D

hopefully we can remain macrumors.com and not turn into trolls.com

pseudobrit

Jul 10, 2003, 01:49 PM

I called out two of the new users whose posts were exclusively in the PolWar section as to what kind of Mac they were running.

mercedesrules, who said he didn't have one

and

mattd, who said a very "old one" not plugged in.

pseudobrit

Jul 10, 2003, 01:51 PM

I agree with jef that there is a problem that has emerged in the past week or so, but rather than throw the baby out with the bathwater, why not identify the source of the problem and eliminate it?

Perhaps locking out newbies from the PolWar section would be a workable solution? It would keep people from joining just to post in a thread someone has linked to, which I'm certain is what is happending.

scem0

Jul 10, 2003, 01:52 PM

Originally posted by Kwyjibo
your serious? the const. covnention was a poltical hotbed....southern senators were ready to walk out after talks of phasing out slavery...which is whythe word slvery is not in the whoel document... and when the northern states wanted to exclude slaves from population counts the south again threatened to walk out....then they reached the comprimise of a slave coutnning as 3/5 of a person for representation purposes....these politics are very american. debate is american but not persoanl attacks and other things ofthat nature

yeah that is correct. You must remember that they were living in completely different times though. Slavery wasn't just a concept - it was a way of life.

The southern economy was dependent on slavery (and it was all the way up to, and even past, the civil war).

So, yes, the constitutional convention was a political hotbed, but they still set out a very people oriented, fair (excluding slavery) way for future politics.

I think politics aren't fair or people oriented any more.

That was all I was trying to say.

scem0

pseudobrit

Jul 10, 2003, 01:53 PM

Originally posted by scem0
yeah that is correct. You must remember that they were living in completely different times though. Slavery wasn't just a concept - it was a way of life.

The southern economy was dependent on slavery (and it was all the way up to, and even past, the civil war).

So, yes, the constitutional convention was a political hotbed, but they still set out a very people oriented, fair (excluding slavery) way for future politics.

I think politics aren't fair or people oriented any more.

That was all I was trying to say.

scem0

LOL this thread belongs in Political Discussion now too!

Mr. Anderson

Jul 10, 2003, 01:54 PM

Originally posted by pseudobrit
why not identify the source of the problem and eliminate it?

again, nothing can be done unless you report the threads!!! There is a link to the bottom right of every post. If you're going to get upset about it, maybe you should use it.

D

scem0

Jul 10, 2003, 01:56 PM

Originally posted by pseudobrit
LOL this thread belongs in Political Discussion now too!

I know.... I know......

I'm so sorry for stealing this thead but I just wanted to clarify what I was saying in my fist post.

No more posts like that from me in this thread.

Your stupid scem0 you have no friends.

No MacRumors is my friend.

http://www.lordoftherings.net/legend/gallery/images/gollum/thumb_gollum1.gif

;)

scem0

pseudobrit

Jul 10, 2003, 01:57 PM

Originally posted by Mr. Anderson
again, nothing can be done unless you report the threads!!! There is a link to the bottom right of every post. If you're going to get upset about it, maybe you should use it.

D

Is a new user showing up and posting just in that section a violation of anything? What good would reporting them be if they're not breaking any rules per se?

pseudobrit

Jul 10, 2003, 01:58 PM

Also, tazo physically threatened two different people (one of them me) in two separate forums; both threads were locked, but what has been done about the problem?

jefhatfield

Jul 10, 2003, 01:59 PM

Originally posted by pseudobrit
LOL this thread belongs in Political Discussion now too!

but you two are civil about it...not to mention names, but bring in some trolls, and all of a sudden all mac users are then called freaks whose moms....

keep macrumors to mac users and i think the problem will be solved

there are plenty of sites for political talk or personal attacks and personal bashing related or not realted to politics

i am glad that there are mac users of every political persuasion

mostly, i just want to help keep the integrity of this site for mac users and sincerely curious, possible switchers...i didn't start this site, so i have no say and one day it might evlove into a political science website

but while it's still macrumors, i hope it stays with macs:D

scem0

Jul 10, 2003, 02:01 PM

Originally posted by pseudobrit
Also, tazo physically threatened two different people (one of them me) in two separate forums; both threads were locked, but what has been done about the problem?

can you post links? I want to see how he physically threatened someone.

If you don't quit posting i'm gunna break your arm!

Am I the only one that thinks that sounds a little... strange when talking to someone online?

Did you report his posts?

The mods can't moderate everything.

scem0

Kwyjibo

Jul 10, 2003, 02:02 PM

Originally posted by pseudobrit
LOL this thread belongs in Political Discussion now too!

were discussing the nature of politics not poltics themselves

pseudobrit

Jul 10, 2003, 02:03 PM

Originally posted by Kwyjibo
were discussing the nature of politics not poltics themselves

It was a joke ;) :p

pseudobrit

Jul 10, 2003, 02:07 PM

Originally posted by scem0
can you post links? I want to see how he physically threatened someone.

If you don't quit posting i'm gunna break your arm!

Am I the only one that thinks that sounds a little... strange when talking to someone online?

Did you report his posts?

The mods can't moderate everything.

scem0

Try this: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=30649&perpage=25&pagenumber=2

and this: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=30622&perpage=25&pagenumber=5

scem0

Jul 10, 2003, 02:07 PM

In response to the posts below (didn't want to create a whole new post to say this because that would just be hypocritical to what I am about to say):

It was still off-topic and I feel that I am the only user on this forums who hasen't shown a distaste for off-topic posting.

scem0 (Again) ;)

God damnit! I hate when that happens. I think I'm editing my post but I accidently hit 'quote'. ARGH. That angers me.

Sorry, accident. But it still sort of has to do with the thread.

I even put it in color so people woulf recognize it at the end of my post.:rolleyes:

oh well.

scem0 (yet again ;))

wdlove

Jul 10, 2003, 02:09 PM

Originally posted by scem0
can you post links? I want to see how he physically threatened someone.

If you don't quit posting i'm gunna break your arm!

Am I the only one that thinks that sounds a little... strange when talking to someone online?

Did you report his posts?

The mods can't moderate everything.

scem0

Well now we have an example of physical threat of violence! :p

There is nothing wrong with politics in and of itself, it's threats that would make people feel uncomfortable. This is a place for the sharing of ideas. There should be some fun also!

scem0

Jul 10, 2003, 02:12 PM

Kwyjibo

Jul 10, 2003, 02:13 PM

jefhatfield

Jul 10, 2003, 02:17 PM

Originally posted by wdlove
Well now we have an example of physical threat of violence! :p

There is nothing wrong with politics in and of itself, it's threats that would make people feel uncomfortable. This is a place for the sharing of ideas. There should be some fun also!

i just wish the political fights didn't spill off into the mac threads here, but it does

it's not the nature of politics i am worried about, but the bullies and trolls who come here, make political fights so they can bash someone, and then come to other threads here, about macs, and insult us there

sure, we are 5% or less of the population because we use macs, but that doesn't give trolls the right to bash us when the political sections get slow so they decide to start bashing us

if we can get rid of the political threads, or only open them to longer time users to avoid the newbie troll politico bashers , then we can save the "mac" parts of this thread

when i want a political fix, i go to crossfire...and sometimes that is a trollfest at times, too

but without this site, there are not too many comparably great mac sites here for us to enjoy...that is the beuaty of the world wide web where you can find specialized sites for every purpose

it's just key to keep this one mac...if you want bashing, go see the rock and goldberg hash it out in a steel cage:p

Foxer

Jul 10, 2003, 02:23 PM

Originally posted by pseudobrit
Try this: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=30649&perpage=25&pagenumber=2

and this: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=30622&perpage=25&pagenumber=5

And it looks like you responded in kind.

I was going to ask for examples of the trolling the Jef is referring to, but I think I jsut saw two in these threads.

Look people, to say "just don't go in there" is a simplistic answer. We're offending each other, making threats, hurling insults and generally pissing each other off in a sideline of a sideline. I know that some of the off-hadned comments people have made OUTSIDE of the political forum, including a couple signature lines, have offended me. And I don't see why we do that. We're all here for one thing, our love of (or at least interest in) Apple Computers. Why are we going out of our way to make that common experience less enjoyable? There is no reason for this site to have a political forum any more than meetup.com needs an OSX section.

There are pleanty of outlets - more appropriate outelts - for political expression away from this site. No offense, but I don't want to know any of your opinions about world/domestic events. If I did, I'd be somewhere else. I want to know what you think about Panther and two-button mice.

There.

jefhatfield

Jul 10, 2003, 02:25 PM

scem0

Jul 10, 2003, 02:28 PM

Rower_CPU

Jul 10, 2003, 02:31 PM

The threat situation with tazo has been addressed. Drop it.

arn

Jul 10, 2003, 02:34 PM

Well,

To sum up a few things:

First - "Report them or don't complain"

Second, personal insults will get you banned. No warnings. This was a policy for a short while... but seems to have been laxed lately.

I will publically state that now. Moderators heed this.

If someone personally insults another in the forums (any section). Ban them. Period. If there's a question - we'll sort it out later. This isn't grade school. People should be able to avoid personal insults.

I've cleared out the political forums. If you guys want to talk about 'em - you gotta start over.

arn

Ugg

Jul 10, 2003, 02:38 PM

Originally posted by Foxer
There are pleanty of outlets - more appropriate outelts - for political expression away from this site. No offense, but I don't want to know any of your opinions about world/domestic events. If I did, I'd be somewhere else. I want to know what you think about Panther and two-button mice.

There.

Your response makes it seem as though this is a democratically governed site, when in fact arn controls it. He's good about responding to people's desires but it is ultimately up to him what he wants here and what he doesn't.

Not that two-button mice and Panther are good examples but we all come from different backgrounds that may well influence our opinions about them. That background, whether we like it or not is wrapped up in our socio/polital/economic/religious origins. If expression of that were to be eliminated from this forum it would soon turn into nothing more than a bunch of postings solely about technical data. Subjectivity would be sacrificed in the name of objectivity.

As has been said before, why throw the baby out with the bathwater?