Several members have called on me to shut down threads like this one, disallow political discussion, etc. I am not going to, and here are some of my thoughts on why.
While David and I keep these forums running, we are not their rulers. These forums exist to foster discussion about pro audio among a group of intelligent people contributing from across the globe. In the interest of the community there is a special forum, the Basement, where off topic discussion is allowed. While we all post here ostensibly in the service of pro production, many of us share certain interests. Although many posters have never met we have a relationship with each other due to years of discussion and in many cases mutual admiration and respect. Just because I met many of the people I work with every week through this forum or its progenitor doesn't mean I only talk shop with those people. God knows that pro audio folks also tend to like cars, explosions, outer space, and any of thousands of topics that it amuses us to hash out in the Basement.
I see no reason why one of those discussion topics shouldn't be politics. Political discussion is often incendiary, but these topics are usually clearly labeled. If this sort of discussion doesn't interest you, don't read these topics. Their content will not leak out of the thread and somehow infect the on-topic discussion elsewhere on the board. Posters participate at their own risk, if a member wants to make an ass of him or herself in a political thread, so be it. The risks are the same as anywhere else, or perhaps less since it's pretty difficult to punch someone in the face over the Internet.
In short, I have little interest in restricting what people may or may not discuss in the basement. That creates a large onus of moderation that will waste a lot of time to little benefit. Obviously there is great interest in these topics or the threads would not exist, nor would their discussion be so rapid nor their view count so high.
That said, I want to make it very clear that there is not a free for all on any topic, any time. Anyone hijacking someone else's thread with inflammatory discussion will be looked upon very poorly, and their posts in that thread possibly deleted. I don't care if it's politics or V8 engines, if you dump it right in the middle of a thread on another topic I am going to have to clean up your mess. Start your own damn topic.
Additionally, I have very little patience for a member thinking they're clever and passive aggressively inserting some little jab in a thread for all intents and purposes on another topic in order to foster reactionary discussion. You are not clever. I see exactly what you are doing. You are pissing me off. Start your own damn topic. If a fast paced conversation ensues, good job. If not, obviously nobody wanted to talk about that subject in the first place.
Obviously the standards for reining in members who are attacking other members personally instead of participating in reasoned discussion remain, regardless of whether the discussion happens in the Basement or the Varsity forum.
While David and I keep these forums running, we are not their rulers. These forums exist to foster discussion about pro audio among a group of intelligent people contributing from across the globe. In the interest of the community there is a special forum, the Basement, where off topic discussion is allowed. While we all post here ostensibly in the service of pro production, many of us share certain interests. Although many posters have never met we have a relationship with each other due to years of discussion and in many cases mutual admiration and respect. Just because I met many of the people I work with every week through this forum or its progenitor doesn't mean I only talk shop with those people. God knows that pro audio folks also tend to like cars, explosions, outer space, and any of thousands of topics that it amuses us to hash out in the Basement.
I see no reason why one of those discussion topics shouldn't be politics. Political discussion is often incendiary, but these topics are usually clearly labeled. If this sort of discussion doesn't interest you, don't read these topics. Their content will not leak out of the thread and somehow infect the on-topic discussion elsewhere on the board. Posters participate at their own risk, if a member wants to make an ass of him or herself in a political thread, so be it. The risks are the same as anywhere else, or perhaps less since it's pretty difficult to punch someone in the face over the Internet.
In short, I have little interest in restricting what people may or may not discuss in the basement. That creates a large onus of moderation that will waste a lot of time to little benefit. Obviously there is great interest in these topics or the threads would not exist, nor would their discussion be so rapid nor their view count so high.
That said, I want to make it very clear that there is not a free for all on any topic, any time. Anyone hijacking someone else's thread with inflammatory discussion will be looked upon very poorly, and their posts in that thread possibly deleted. I don't care if it's politics or V8 engines, if you dump it right in the middle of a thread on another topic I am going to have to clean up your mess. Start your own damn topic.
Additionally, I have very little patience for a member thinking they're clever and passive aggressively inserting some little jab in a thread for all intents and purposes on another topic in order to foster reactionary discussion. You are not clever. I see exactly what you are doing. You are pissing me off. Start your own damn topic. If a fast paced conversation ensues, good job. If not, obviously nobody wanted to talk about that subject in the first place.
Obviously the standards for reining in members who are attacking other members personally instead of participating in reasoned discussion remain, regardless of whether the discussion happens in the Basement or the Varsity forum.