PRSI has fallen so far down the sewer that there is now a political fight over emojis. Seriously does this place have no shame.
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Simply Put, Too Much
- Thread starter willmtaylor
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Because a bunch of people got triggered before reading the actual article which is par for the course over there.
No, not PRSI, the posters - the forum is only what those who participate make it.
If political discussion and debate becomes a platform merely for an exchange of insults, well, it is the posters and participants, not the forum, that must bear responsibility for that lamentable state of affairs.
Possibly.
React before reading, even my students used to try that one in class sometimes.
More reason to just shut it down. And then ban people who complain about it or continue to fight over political issues.
I don’t know why PRSI exists in the first place except for the traffic it brings. Given the forum’s rules, it seems like the topics covered in PRSI make it virtually impossible for anyone to participate and NOT break the rules. I don’t participate in PRSI here, but I do on other forums where there are rules and approaches to moderation that are more conducive to managing those topics better.
It seems the most divisive threads are those created by the staff. Is that by design to drive traffic. Front page stories should never go into the politics section. It just fuels the flames.
Well, let us respectfully disagree on this topic, not least because political and economic choices tend to inform and influence a lot of other matters.
There is no reason why political discussions - and much of what Apple does, for example, is quite political (their labour policies and tax affairs, to instance but two) - cannot be conducted in a civil and respectful manner.
That this does not happen here cannot be laid at the feet of politics, but of puerile posters.
The fact that equally intemperate and infuriated post occur in places such as the iPhone forum should be seen as the proof of that.
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I read through the info wars thread and some of the posts are just vile. Is there really a place for that here?
Haven't even visited, let alone noticed, that thread.
Ought I pay it a visit?
These days, I am a political analyst by profession, and I used to teach and study politics (and history).
However, I don't visit every, or even most, let alone many, of the threads in PRSI; frankly, it is not worth my time, as the dismal quality of debate and the poor quality of the writing is usually pretty uninspiring and very underwhelming. Even the level of insult veers towards the venomous but profoundly unimaginative.
Occasionally, it has its moments; nevertheless, I like the idea that it exists, and sometimes, I find it educational and quite instructive. And, at times, it can be an interesting experience to participate there.
If my experience in moderating quite a few forums over the years is any indication, the "fly trap" theory doesn't work. People don't compartmentalize their attitudes... what is expressed in PRSI bleeds out elsewhere. Members who get into a dust-up in PRSI will take jabs at each other in the more technical areas of the forum.
With increasing frequency I see two members taking jabs at each other in a technical subforum like iPad or iOS. Within the context of the discussion, the jabs don't make sense. Doing a simple member search revealed that they "got into it" in a PRSI thread.
If you take the politics out of the conversation people can be civil. Once things get polarized people's views change. We are at that point where disagreements bleed over into other aspects of conversation.
Moderator Note:
You can discuss and present feedback about the PRSI forum in Site and Forum Feedback but you can’t start discussing politics, religion or social issues here.
You can discuss and present feedback about the PRSI forum in Site and Forum Feedback but you can’t start discussing politics, religion or social issues here.
It ought to be possible to discuss politics in a civil way.
But, politics has a way of leaching into every aspect of life so one cannot easily excise it.
Well you clearly missed a few threads on other forums. Seriously the “Android vs. iOS” threads can get really nasty as can threads about say the new MacBook Pros.
As my erudite fellow MR member wrote above political discussions can be polite if we wish.
PRSI exists to keep the political in one area of the forum. Then users can choose to go there or not. It is important that forum users have a place to vent their political beliefs without it being in every area of the forum.
Why is it important that users on a Mac forum have a place to discuss their political beliefs? Is it similarly important for Walmart to have a section of their store or website for people to discuss political views? Is it important that one’s church have a section of pews where one can discuss politics? Is it important for a rec softball league to allow time before or after the game for such discussions? (Yes, I’m being slightly ridiculous on purpose.)
The owners of this forum felt that by establishing PRSI there would be a place for those conversations to be held. It is their sandbox.
Re: PRSI stuff
Just use "ignore user" very liberally..
Works like a champ
Just use "ignore user" very liberally..
Works like a champ
PRSI exists because it makes ARN lots of money via ad views... stick paid ads on a page, then fill the page with controversial topics that lure people into the fray... instant cash payout. That is why, despite the utter uselessness, it will never go away... it's a recipe for printing ARN's own stash of cash.
Actually, I doubt that the purpose of PRSI is simply to "allow forum users to vent their beliefs", rather, I suspect that it exists because it is not possible to look at Apple, or tech - and the world of tech - without also paying heed to background, context and culture and these things also include matters of politics and power, which may influence the world of tech, but, also, increasingly, are themselves being influenced by developments initially driven by technological transformation.
These can be questions considered relevant chiefly to Apple (such as labour practices, tax arrangements), or of relevance to the wider tech world (for example, privacy concerns re personal data in an increasingly connected world, and whether regulation is needed or desired in such settings); it has also given rise to having to pay attention to that area where tech and politics intersect.
The world of tech is too big, too important and - increasingly - too powerful to ignore, and, while it has transformed society and lives, it is also having a direct impact on political affairs.
And this means that the old days whereby CEOs of tech companies could claim to be "above politics" or agnostic about politics - when what they have invented, or developed - is transforming the political landscape, no longer really washes.
So, I would argue that the existence of PRSI is actually necessary in a tech site, because tech - like any form of scientific or transformational change - cannot exist in a vacuum, especially if it is seen to transform society, power and politics, and how politics and power are consumed, transmitted and perceived.
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You mean like poking sticks at each other over the very idea of brewing a cuppa in a Keurig?!
And then there are those who would put ketchup on a steak...
I like the idea of a moderated political forum in PRSI and I like being able to find sensible answers to apple-centric questions in the tech forums as well. Usually I don't find the latter getting political in the sense of government-type politics. Sometimes there are examples of trolling around brands of tech gear, but I'm slowly learning to ignore that the same way one learns to ignore trolling in PRSI.
Personally I don't mind brief forays into the edges of politics in discussions of movies, books, music etc. since it can be difficult even to describe some of them without reference to their content if that is in fact political or tangential to political concerns. If I'm interested enough to make a partisan political point about content of a book or piece of music then I'm likely to take it to a PRSI post in an appropriate thread. Otherwise I usually try to indicate I'm at the edge of politics but not meaning to take the thread in that direction.
I think the reality is a little more prosaic. I may have forgotten the details, but if I remember rightly, it came about during the first (or perhaps the second) Gulf War, and actually had 'War' in the forum title for a while. First untrashed thread is this one.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/3-american-doctors-killed-in-yemen.16402/
Thread titles around that time include:
Attack by Iraq? Is Bush stupid?
Blix Says Bush is Missusing Inspection reports
Bin Laden releases new tapes
etc.
Blix Says Bush is Missusing Inspection reports
Bin Laden releases new tapes
etc.
And hilariously, "Political Correctness, this is how absurd it is." People bitching about it 15 years ago.
Some great missing oldskool names there: pseudobrit, Rower_CPU, LethalWolfe, zimv20
It's useful to remember that at the time, MacRumors was Arn's side project to his medical career. Commercial incentives weren't the primary driver of site activity and it didn't have much of an editorial team, either. MacRumors wasn't the behemoth it is now.
So, the original idea was to filter stuff off from the main page threads or give a home to the politically-minded to vent... particularly about Donald Rumsfeld.
Regardless, I think it adds texture to the site. If it doesn't platform overtly toxic views that may impact on moderation workload or brand (and advertiser) perception, then it has value and a part to play in the scheme of things.
^^ Wow. For a minute I thought someone had resurrected a really old thread. Thanks for gracing us with mementos of times gone by the boards.
Thanks for gracing us with mementos of times gone by the boards.