Proposal: new debates board (yes, including religion -_-)

[ninwa]

Just discussed the idea of a new debates-only board for the argument-loving members of this forum with enwiabe. We're keen to hear your views.

Overview
Entirely separate debates/rants board.

The default will be that users post entirely anonymously, although you can choose to post as yourself. This is to encourage people to share their opinions and views without it necessarily being linked to their account. National mods and admins will be able to see who you are, and if you break the CoC in any way your username will be outed and moderation action taken as necessary. Relevant SMF mod here unless someone can find a better one.

Posts in board do not count toward post count. Obviously they will also not appear in your account's posts unless you've chosen not to post anonymously.

If possible, posts in the board will not show up in Recent Posts so those who are not interested don't have to be bombarded by it.

There will be no respect system. This is so people don't lose respect points for simply having an opinion. It is up to mod discretion how they choose to deal with obvious troublemakers. Also, you'll still be able to report posts.

edit: new option, see Re: Proposal: new debates board (yes, including religion -_-)

Suggestions/comments welcome.

[Camo]

Great idea, I just hope the idea doesn't lead to a result of but this religion says, no but this religion says.
I have nothing against religion and as it allows people to have faith in something, I believe religion even if I am an atheist to be beneficial.

However, I hope others will please use this opportunity if approved to be able to debate issues other then religion.

Could it be suggested that we have a topic of the week as to allow us to discuss something central in the media at that given time?

[Yitzi_K]

Will mods and admins be required to hold by the Code of Conduct? Or is that just for us plebs

[taiga]

I note that many users were unhappy with several posts made in the rants/debates section (presumably on the basis of them impeding on the beliefs of others).

It seems the rest of the administration believes such posts are in line with the CoC, so this proposal doesn't do anything to reduce the presence of them, but to simply move them to another place. The anonymous nature of future posts may also increase the intensity of such posts, and given what is happening now has been decided to be in line with the CoC, I question the extent to which cohesive moderation can take place under this system.

I ask members to take this into account before making your vote.

[MuggedByReality]

 
   Good idea; it might encourage both regular users and mods to let their hair down. A yes vote from me (though I rather scoff at the idea of people having such delicate sensibilities that they can't bear the idea of happening upon a web page containing an opinion they dislike.)

[shinny]

Will mods and admins be required to hold by the Code of Conduct? Or is that just for us plebs

And keep in mind that we're not just one entity acting in line with one another. While we try to be cohesive for the most part, several issues have often led to mods standing up against each other and even (especially?) the admins. If something's going on, someone will pick it up.

[enwiabe]

Will mods and admins be required to hold by the Code of Conduct? Or is that just for us plebs

And keep in mind that we're not just one entity acting in line with one another. While we try to be cohesive for the most part, several issues have often led to mods standing up against each other and even (especially?) the admins. If something's going on, someone will pick it up.

Nina and I like to make it a habit to give the mod titles only to people who we know can think for themselves

[Russ]

Nina and I like to make it a habit to give the mod titles only to people who we know can think for themselves

I completely and unreservedly agree.

/seriouspost

Debate section - useful but I don't see how it solves the problem of threads spiraling out of control. It seems to just confine it to a particular subforum, which is good but not exactly perfect

[ninwa]

The reasoning is that these debate threads are going to pop up no matter what we do, so we might as well damage control as best we can and make sure that the forum is hidden for those with "delicate sensibilities" (as MbR put it).

The other option is to ban them entirely, which I would support, but a lot of members would probably get up in arms about that.

[shinny]

The other option is to ban them entirely, which I would support, but a lot of members would probably get up in arms about that.

Perhaps start a 'debate about having a debate board' board then.

[LOVEPHYSICS]

Wouldn't solve the problem.

[burbs]

Wasn't this suggested a while ago, when there were more vicious debates going on? I've been a bit inactive on the debate areas so I'm not entirely sure what the new reason for suggesting this is...

The anonymous thing sounds good, perhaps have a button that people click... like Suspected Troll. It wouldn't send emails to mods or anything (that's what the report button would be for), but just when a mod  goes to the forum they can check out the suspected troll posts and see if any actually are just bored teenagers.

Wouldn't solve the problem.

Thank you for that detailed and informative opinion.

[Russ]

The anonymous thing sounds good, perhaps have a button that people click... like Suspected Troll. It wouldn't send emails to mods or anything (that's what the report button would be for), but just when a mod  goes to the forum they can check out the suspected troll posts and see if any actually are just bored teenagers.

We already have this, but nobody uses the report function, they just start fights in threads.

[ninwa]

The other option (and I should have added it in the poll earlier) is to ban any threads with religious overtones. Most other debates threads don't seem to get nearly as fiery (except maybe the carbon tax one)

You can change your votes now

[pi]

We already have this, but nobody uses the report function, they just start fights in threads.

I used it a couple of times...


Looks like I'm a minority


To add something to this discussion, the biggest problem I find with religious debate threads is that they seem to go totally off-topic and end with a 'god vs no god' debate, followed by a lock. I think for this to work, bans (temporary, of course) need to be more strictly enforced on such off-topic discussion. And if this means tempo banning mods/admin ( -is that even possible?) then so be it, as it should be a level playing field in a good debate. This is probably a bit extreme (and stupid?) but, maybe if someone starts a permanent 'god vs no god' (or 'religion vs no religion') thread with your notion of anonymity for users if they wish, other threads might stay on track. Just a thought I had, not sure if its viable or logical though.

Just my two cents.