Quote:
Originally Posted by Advogado
I wholeheartedly agree with you and totally disagree with the ban on political discussions or references.
Few issues of any significance can be discussed without some "politics" working its way into the discussion. Unless TOV is content to be relegated to a meaningless bit of fluff-- discussing only issues such as parades, favorite beaches, and dog poop on lawns, I would say bring back the political forum and let political references creep into other areas, where relevant. When was the last time anybody came up to you and said, "Hey, you won't believe what I saw on Talk of the Villages"?
If one wonders why such a tiny percentage of Villagers log in to TOV and why a handful of members seem to be responsible for the majority of the posts, I think the answer is because TOV is generally boring and very seldom discusses anything of real significance. My suggestion to the administrator: Don't be so sensitive about somebody's possibly getting upset because somebody else disagrees with him or her. Liven up TOV. Allow discussions of politics and other controversial topics and let the chips fall where they may. Just keep the discussion civil by not allowing personal attacks on other members.
|
This is rifle-shot, spot on ...
Someone said in an earlier post they can readily tell a poster's political leanings. I agree with that. What's interesting is, by reviewing the posts in this thread, most people from across the spectrum seem to be agreeing with the idea of having some type (details TBD) of a moderated political forum where people can discuss things that truly matter. This is actually a non-religious miracle of sorts ... a consensus.
From a business model viewpoint, I also fail to understand why "boring" is a clever marketing strategy for TOTV. I can see the point of not allowing politics to intrude onto discussion threads relating to "...parades, favorite beaches, and dog poop on lawns," as that would be intrusive and not-applicable. But, this is all the more reason to have a political forum. The excuse of not wanting people's feelings to be hurt no longer applies because, with a political forum, that's where the political comments will end up. Thus, if someone has tender feelings, don't go to the forum. Pretty simple, plus it also diversifies and spices up the market appeal of TOTV, something we would presumably all want (ie a more financially successful TOTV to be precise)
One other note ... the moderator's reasoning and timing on closing threads for being too political sometimes seems, at least to me, opaque. It’s a difficult job in some cases. But, the recent thread on interrogations and the Senate report did not have any postings for several days ... ie dormant and then all of a sudden Admin says it had to be closed for becoming too political. What?? Maybe if they were able to focus resources on a political forum, they would find this job easier to do and more efficient … ie by not having to police the entire TOTV board or whatever.