[2BNTV]

I have notice there has been a bump in posts that ask questions, that are borderline political, or trying to discuss topics that can be inflammatory?

This raises several questions:

1. Do we need to bring back the political forum?

2. Do most people feel a need to have a crises in their lives, to feel, more alive?

3. Are we, that bored?

We all should be aware of world events and how they affect us. We should all be open to discussion of ideas and be civil in those discussions. I would like to think we have arrived in a time of our lives to be content with all our blessings, instead of trying to solve to world's problems.

I vote for being civil and nice to all people and long for the return of people who like to kid around, and be friends to everyone, but then it could be just me.

I must apologize in advance, for losing my head, and think this thread will resolve anything.

[billethkid]

to me it is pretty simple.
Let people discuss anything they want (including politics) and express their opinions and beliefs.

As we enjoy that freedom let's all just ignore the very, very small percentage that will try to stir the pot or disrupt the dialogue or mount personal attacks.

Let's try something different. Let the majority enjoy the freedom and not let the isolated trouble maker define what shall or shall not be discussed.

They are so easily dismissed by ignoring them and not responding to their fodder and baiting!

[Chi-Town]

Originally Posted by 2BNTV

I have notice there has been a bump in posts that ask questions, that are borderline political, or trying to discuss topics that can be inflammatory?

This raises several questions:

1. Do we need to bring back the political forum?

2. Do most people feel a need to have a crises in their lives, to feel, more alive?

3. Are we, that bored?

We all should be aware of world events and how they affect us. We should all be open to discussion of ideas and be civil in those discussions. I would like to think we have arrived in a time of our lives to be content with all our blessings, instead of trying to solve to world's problems.

I vote for being civil and nice to all people and long for the return of people who like to kid around, and be friends to everyone, but then it could be just me.

I must apologize in advance, for losing my head, and think this thread will resolve anything.

1. Bring back the political forum. Many people would like to think of TOTV as a positive site to enjoy sharing and hearing about all the happenings of this fun place. Rather than delete political posts the moderators could just move them. Also, we would never have to see "this is not political, but......"

2. A lot of people seem to need fear or create fear. It is a controlling factor.

3. I don't think it is boredom that drives the political tendencies of some posts. Agree or not, the dozen or so who comprise the majority of responses are passionate in their beliefs. Once again, a political forum would allow for unbridled discussions (within the boundaries of taste).

So no need to apologize, thanks for the opportunity.

[Mikeod]

IIRC, the demise of the political forum was caused by two things. One, the mods were inundated with complaints from participants who felt they were subjected to personal attacks by other posters. As a result, the mods were forced to spend too many hours devoted to only one aspect of TOTV.

Second, some of the vitriol from the political forum was spilling over into the main board. Personal attacks increased which caused more work for the volunteer mods.

As is common, a few malcontents managed to force closure of something others enjoyed.

[Madelaine Amee]

Originally Posted by 2BNTV

I have notice there has been a bump in posts that ask questions, that are borderline political, or trying to discuss topics that can be inflammatory?

This raises several questions:

1. Do we need to bring back the political forum?

2. Do most people feel a need to have a crises in their lives, to feel, more alive?

3. Are we, that bored?

We all should be aware of world events and how they affect us. We should all be open to discussion of ideas and be civil in those discussions. I would like to think we have arrived in a time of our lives to be content with all our blessings, instead of trying to solve to world's problems.

I vote for being civil and nice to all people and long for the return of people who like to kid around, and be friends to everyone, but then it could be just me.

I must apologize in advance, for losing my head, and think this thread will resolve anything.

No, it really won't, because people really like to argue; but you have reinforced that you are such a good and decent human being.

[mickey100]

Originally Posted by 2BNTV

I have notice there has been a bump in posts that ask questions, that are borderline political, or trying to discuss topics that can be inflammatory?

This raises several questions:

1. Do we need to bring back the political forum?

2. Do most people feel a need to have a crises in their lives, to feel, more alive?

3. Are we, that bored?

We all should be aware of world events and how they affect us. We should all be open to discussion of ideas and be civil in those discussions. I would like to think we have arrived in a time of our lives to be content with all our blessings, instead of trying to solve to world's problems.

I vote for being civil and nice to all people and long for the return of people who like to kid around, and be friends to everyone, but then it could be just me.

I must apologize in advance, for losing my head, and think this thread will resolve anything.

All of the above. Many people I know, have quit looking at TOTV for that reason. If people want to discuss political things, or are in crisis mentality, give them a political forum or some other place to post. Often its hard to tell from the thread description, and we end up reading stupid stuff that is just plain annoying.

[gomoho]

1) no
2) no
3) no

Guess that pretty much sums it up for me!

[rubicon]

Originally Posted by mikeod

IIRC, the demise of the political forum was caused by two things. One, the mods were inundated with complaints from participants who felt they were subjected to personal attacks by other posters. As a result, the mods were forced to spend too many hours devoted to only one aspect of TOTV.

Second, some of the vitriol from the political forum was spilling over into the main board. Personal attacks increased which caused more work for the volunteer mods.

As is common, a few malcontents managed to force closure of something others enjoyed.

It was a very very very very small number of recalcitrant and all they had to do was throw them off the forum.

Everyone refers to [it] as the political forum, but there is another way to express it. Some refer to it as current events and to me it is fresh information that can be dissected and discussed for people's views etc. I am how much can you say about dog poop threads, foodie fads formula's etc . I mean they all have been beat to death. You can actually see some posters desperate to inject some freshness into the forum struggling with topics

[Jaggy]

Originally Posted by rubicon

It was a very very very very small number of recalcitrant and all they had to do was throw them off the forum.

Everyone refers to [it] as the political forum, but there is another way to express it. Some refer to it as current events and to me it is fresh information that can be dissected and discussed for people's views etc. I am how much can you say about dog poop threads, foodie fads formula's etc . I mean they all have been beat to death. You can actually see some posters desperate to inject some freshness into the forum struggling with topics

[gomoho]

Originally Posted by 2BNTV

I have notice there has been a bump in posts that ask questions, that are borderline political, or trying to discuss topics that can be inflammatory?

This raises several questions:

1. Do we need to bring back the political forum?

2. Do most people feel a need to have a crises in their lives, to feel, more alive?

3. Are we, that bored?

We all should be aware of world events and how they affect us. We should all be open to discussion of ideas and be civil in those discussions. I would like to think we have arrived in a time of our lives to be content with all our blessings, instead of trying to solve to world's problems.

I vote for being civil and nice to all people and long for the return of people who like to kid around, and be friends to everyone, but then it could be just me.

I must apologize in advance, for losing my head, and think this thread will resolve anything.

I believe you are a kind and caring person, but yes there are at lot of us at this time of our lives that aren't content to "be content with our blessings."
We are trying desperately to understand what the hell has happened to our country and find it comforting and informative to discuss and sometimes argue with those of our own generation. I know in an earlier post I said "that sums it up" but I guess it really didn't. Maybe the fact we can communicate with each other is why we didn't have school shootings and people being radicalized so easily. We have each other to bounce idea off and share frustrations. Just a thought!

[mgjim]

I agree that something is different. When I first joined, it seemed like there were many, many more regular posters. As a Villages wannabe, I came here often to get information about the lifestyle, the social life, the restaurants, and the entertainment available in The Villages. But now it seems like there are fewer posts about the lifestyle and more posts about the world's problems and the number of people who post anything has shrunk to fairly small handful.

Maybe it's just that The Villages has gotten so big and is losing some of its charm. Maybe, as Rubicon posted, the same old subjects just aren't very interesting any more. Either way, there aren't many reasons to come back here the way I used to.