Politics, Religion, Social Issues Forum Closed (July 2021)

[arn]

We are closing the Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum, effective immediately.

For regulars of the PRSI forums, I apologize. We've long kept a politics forum on this site in order to allow users to discuss practically any topic beyond just Apple and Tech. And that's the reason I've defended keeping it over the years. However, due to a number of issues, it seems the best course of action now is to close the PRSI forum indefinitely.

Complaints about political discussion have been around since near the beginning of the site. In 2002, there were complaints about political discussion taking over the site - As a result we opened a politics subform to contain that conversation. That didn't last very long and required us to close the politics forum in 2003. We reopened them with stricter rules shortly after.

At this point we are going to prohibit all political and social issue discussions from the site with the exception of News stories that are categorized under Political News. We will also continue to post some news stories related to politics and social issues without comment threads. Over time, we will re-evaluate the need for political discussion in news stories at all.

 

[AutomaticApple]

At this point we are going to prohibit all political and social issue discussions from the site with the exception of News stories that are categorized under Political News. We will also continue to post some news stories related to politics and social issues without comment threads. Over time, we will re-evaluate the need for political discussion in news stories at all.

I encourage you to just close the comments in all political news stories. It's for the better.

What a way to celebrate Independence Day though, am I right? 🇺🇸

 

[AsherN]

I will miss it, and my driving reason to come to this site. It is a sad commentary on today's world where we can't discuss politics anymore.

I started coming to this site when ApplePay was being deployed in Canada. since then, I've been a regular visitor, mostly to PRSI and then to other topics. I can see myself now visiting the site a bit around announcement times only.

 

[I7guy]

Too bad. There were a handful of threads in PRSI that were worthwhile.

 

[ericgtr12]

Gotta give credit where credit is due. The rules of this site are simply too stringent for a forum like that, this is a sensible change and hopefully will lessen the burden on moderators.

 

[GGJstudios]

I know there will be plenty who disagree, but I won't miss it at all. I never felt that PRSI topics were appropriate for a tech-focused forum, and they have a much higher likelihood of spawning arguments and ill will. There are plenty of other places to discuss such non-tech topics.

 

[Clix Pix]

Back in 2005 I came to this site for information about Macs and, well....here it is 2021 and I am still here and intend to hang around for many years to come. The PRSI forum was never an attraction for me and frankly, I always wondered why a tech forum would even bother having such a component, especially when it became increasingly evident that it created issues and conflicts. The past several years have brought out more and more of those issues and conflict. It seems to me that people interested in politics, religion and various social issues have plenty of other places to go on the internet if they want to discuss these topics and engage in vigorous discussions, debates, whatever.

This will definitely ease the stress and pressure on MR's admin and moderating team, too, and I am sure that finally, a break from the near-constant tension and demands of that one subforum is going to be so, so welcome for everyone on the team!

 

[Herdfan]

Hey, I made it all these years without getting suspended or banned. A few minor warnings for sure, but never banned.

Wonder what thread was the straw. Some newer ones were getting out of hand. Guess I should change my Signature and Avatar now.

 

[SuperMatt]

Hey, I made it all these years without getting suspended or banned. A few minor warnings for sure, but never banned.

Wonder what thread was the straw.

When the main point of the forum becomes figuring out how to dodge moderation, perhaps that, not any particular thread, is more informative as to the cause of its demise.

 

[Herdfan]

When the main point of the forum becomes figuring out how to dodge moderation, perhaps that, not any particular thread, is more informative as to the cause of its demise.

For sure. Mine were always minor and I never came close, or at least don't think I did, to getting banned. Some posts you were just waiting to see the "Suspended" show up under their name.

 

[TiggrToo]

Hey, I made it all these years without getting suspended or banned. A few minor warnings for sure, but never banned.

Wonder what thread was the straw. Some newer ones were getting out of hand. Guess I should change my Signature and Avatar now.

Death of a thousand infested cuts I feel.

 

[TiggrToo]

For sure. Mine were always minor and I never came close, or at least don't think I did, to getting banned. Some posts you were just waiting to see the "Suspended" show up under their name.

Hey, I resemble that remark!

Although I don't think I ever got placed in Mac Jail because of PRSI...

 

[B S Magnet]

We are closing the Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum, effective immediately.

Thank you.

 

[ThisBougieLife]

I am disappointed, but not surprised. I've mentioned many times that on most other specialty forums I am a member of (audio, classical music, another tech site), there is an "Off-Topic" section where users can discuss topics not related to the topic of focus, but discussion of politics and religion is prohibited. It's a common practice on many forums.

That said, I will miss this site as a place to discuss politics because the political discussion here was always fairly tame compared to what I see on other sites that allow it. I fear there are becoming fewer and fewer places to discuss politics without it devolving into flame-wars. And I will say that personally, I've been seeing far more deleted posts and drama in the "Political News" section than I was seeing in PRSI. It might be a good idea going forward to close to discussion articles that may be political.

But it often seemed that many of the people complaining about PRSI and demanding its closure never posted there and seemed to just be bothered by its very existence.

That's all I have to say. RIP PRSI.

 

[TiggrToo]

We are closing the Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum, effective immediately.

For regulars of the PRSI forums, I apologize. We've long kept a politics forum on this site in order to allow users to discuss practically any topic beyond just Apple and Tech. And that's the reason I've defended keeping it over the years. However, due to a number of issues, it seems the best course of action now is to close the PRSI forum indefinitely.

Complaints about political discussion have been around since near the beginning of the site. In 2002, there were complaints about political discussion taking over the site - As a result we opened a politics subform to contain that conversation. That didn't last very long and required us to close the politics forum in 2003. We reopened them with stricter rules shortly after.

At this point we are going to prohibit all political and social issue discussions from the site with the exception of News stories that are categorized under Political News. We will also continue to post some news stories related to politics and social issues without comment threads. Over time, we will re-evaluate the need for political discussion in news stories at all.

I think that ultimately this is the right call. MR tried to keep it open but I feel that with America especially being so polarized, that PRSI was a dead forum walking in 2021.

Let's us bow our heads for a minutes silence, while one of the mods plays "Taps".

 

[B S Magnet]

Let's us bow our heads for a minutes silence, while one of the mods plays "Taps".

I’ll pass. I don’t memorialize the removal of septic tanks when the municipal plumbing hook-ups arrive.

 

[triptolemus]

Good riddance.

At this point we are going to prohibit all political and social issue discussions from the site

And this bit here should keep the mod team busy enough.

It is a sad commentary on today's world where we can't discuss politics anymore.

Absolutely you can. Just not here. It doesn't make sense that a tech site would host political debate.

 

[Falhófnir]

Hey, I made it all these years without getting suspended or banned. A few minor warnings for sure, but never banned.

Wonder what thread was the straw. Some newer ones were getting out of hand. Guess I should change my Signature and Avatar now.

All that talk about ketchup, for a certainty 😟 😂

 

[Michael Scrip]

Too bad. There were a handful of threads in PRSI that were worthwhile.

Agreed.

I always got a chuckle out of the "humor" threads.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Great news to hear. The politics section of this site really does give an awful impression to outsiders in terms of how it is talked about on social media etc. Mac Rumours doesn’t need that sort of reputation and I’m sure I’m not alone in saying good riddance.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Looking ahead to more positive vibes and happenings here on MR as the year progresses. This is the best tech site on the web., in my opinion.

 

[ericgtr12]

Great news to hear. The politics section of this site really does give an awful impression to outsiders in terms of how it is talked about on social media etc. Mac Rumours doesn’t need that sort of reputation and I’m sure I’m not alone in saying good riddance.

Well, it's just one small section on this juggernaut of a site anyway and there's plenty of other interesting boards for those who care to venture out. Frankly, the digital photography forum here is one of the best on any site outside of Reddit and it's pretty much where I hang my hat these days anyway.

 

[sevoneone]

While things could get out of hand, it was probably the tamest place to discuss politics online with a good mix of viewpoints. There are not many places left that are not echo chambers for a target audience. Our society needs communal places to voice and hear opposing political viewpoints that are not overrun by the mob mentality of one side or the other. That’s how we ended up with the extremist polarity we‘re seeing everywhere now. And, worse, the sentiment that turning cheek and being as apolitical as possible is going to fix things. It’s to the point where you can’t stop some people from being horrible to one another over even the most mundane of opinions, or even sharing any opinion. So I understand why, and would probably make the same choice if it were my tech forum, but I will miss PSRI.

 

[NT1440]

Alright, well. I guess I’m not gonna re-up my subscription next year.

I’ve been a member (non-paid) for over a decade, and I can say unequivocally that PRSI has been THE most sane and non-cesspool areas of political discussion on the web that I’ve encountered. Yes there were trolls and troublemakers, but I was a part of that community for more than a decade and again, easily the cleanest environment for political discussion I’ve found.

Obviously I’m disappointed Arn, but it’s your site and you can do what you want with it. That said, have felt this coming for several months, it was my observation that the loudest complainers about PRSI here were people that *never* utilize it, but instead people that didn’t want their consumer based world tainted by pesky reality.

In short, this is why we can’t have nice things 🤷‍♂️

 

[Scepticalscribe]

While I'm not terribly surprised at this news - I've thought it inevitable ever since PRSI was closed to new members earlier in the year - I will say that I am sorry that PRSI is now permanently shut.

In common with many others, initially, I joined this site because I had bought an Apple computer - in the process, "switching" from the Windows world - and had questions I wished to ask about it, but I stayed because the forum was interesting, instructive, and informative about not just the tech world, but about US socio-economic and cultural and political attitudes.

In a way, it is a pity that political discussion and debate have become so polarised on this forum, but that, I suspect, is merely and mostly a reflection of the wider world. But, I regret that it is now closed.