Remove Politics

[Castanza]

As a new member of this site I was pretty excited to have a place to come to talk about value investing. There aren't many places on the web with a good gathering of people who put effort into their posts like they do here. However, I'm sure we can all agree that the "political" posts have been far outnumbering "investing posts" or simply garnering more attention. I'm not sure how long most of you have been members but I can tell its beginning to bring "divisiveness and division" to members here. As someone else pointed out it's beginning to spill over into other threads as well.

 

Now, I am just as guilty as most and can't pass on the temptation to take a jab etc. But I think to keep that sanctity of this forum and have one place untainted by politics we should remove the political section and just refrain from posting political posts. Forums really aren't conducive for political discussion anyways. Not sure what type of moderating there is on here but I would be more than happy to help with this. Or if you think there is someone better because I'm new that's understandable.

 

Undoubtedly there are some posts which will involve politics and investing. Fed Rate hikes, taxes, etc. Those are unavoidable and should be discussed as they are important. But we should do our best to stay on topic and discuss the situation instead of the political opinions behind the situation. 

 

So again, I apologize for my conduct and involvement in the overbearing political posts.

 

Regards,

Castanza

[Liberty]

Here, I fixed it for you:

 

 

And just don't click on it.

[merkhet]

The politics board exists because otherwise that crap spills over to the main board. Think of it like a quarantine area. Also, as Liberty pointed out, it makes it easier to ignore. Literally.

[Rod]

The politics board exists because otherwise that crap spills over to the main board. Think of it like a quarantine area. Also, as Liberty pointed out, it makes it easier to ignore. Literally.

 

Agreed. It's easier to get rid of if there's a place to banish it to.

[Castanza]

The politics board exists because otherwise that crap spills over to the main board. Think of it like a quarantine area. Also, as Liberty pointed out, it makes it easier to ignore. Literally.

 

I get that, but do you feel it takes away from content? As in people are only coming here for political discussion instead of discussing investing? Just ignoring it doesn't necessarily fix the issue. I get your point though, I can see how it prevents spill over.

[oddballstocks]

I blocked it when it came out.  Don't even know it's available here.

[StubbleJumper]

I never click on the Politics Board.  Internet politics is the same boring BS pretty much everywhere. 

 

But, it's good that there's a contained area for it because it can badly contaminate other more thoughtful discussion areas.

 

 

 

SJ

[Castanza]

I appreciate the feedback.

 

Does anyone think a moderation tool would be useful?

 

Example: I alter the discussion of a thread by bringing up politics. Someone reports my comment which sends it for a vote to be removed for politics. If say 5 other members vote yes then the comment is removed from the thread.

 

Or is that just too much work? I know there are some threads that have been going for a long time and it can be frustrating to see them hijacked by politics.

 

Or is self accountability just a better option. I'm happy with whatever. I just noticed a "pushback" recently regarding politics.

[rkbabang]

Also, one thing to consider is that sometimes politics does have an effect on the market and therefore you could make the argument that it has a place on an investment board.

 

You mentioned that you are fairly new to the board, so you may not understand the reason the politics section was created in the first place.  Political discussions were happening in the investment threads all over the place and especially in the general category.  Pushing it into its own section has cleared up most of that.  It is now (for the most part) all in one place and can easily be ignored if one wishes.  The other thing to consider is that ignoring it doesn't have to be permanent or all or nothing.  I go back and forth between ignoring it and reading/participating depending on the mood I'm in.

 

[DooDiligence]

It exists so we don't have to do this.

 

http://uglymule.com/images/fingers-in-ears.gif

[Packer16]

I think what Sanjeev did here is great.  I provides an outlet for some folks & for the most part self-policing works.  I like this better than some boards where a moderator says what is or is not politics or acceptable.  Sanjeev has chased away the really bad offenders (who probably would cause most of the issues anyway). 

 

Packer

[Parsad]

I appreciate the feedback.

 

Does anyone think a moderation tool would be useful?

 

Example: I alter the discussion of a thread by bringing up politics. Someone reports my comment which sends it for a vote to be removed for politics. If say 5 other members vote yes then the comment is removed from the thread.

 

Or is that just too much work? I know there are some threads that have been going for a long time and it can be frustrating to see them hijacked by politics.

 

Or is self accountability just a better option. I'm happy with whatever. I just noticed a "pushback" recently regarding politics.

 

We already have that in place.  If I get even one complaint of politics entering into a non-politic board/thread, I investigate.  If it is something blatant, then it is removed (not moved).  If it is something that is mentioned in passing, then I leave it.  So the more complaints I get about a post, the more likely it will be removed. 

 

Politics should stay in the Politics section, and those that don't want to waste time with politics, always have the option (which is very easy to do and works extremely effectively) to ignore the Politics board altogether. 

 

If we don't have the "Politics" board, then I will be constantly getting complaints about politics in the Investment sections.  The manpower needed to monitor that on a free site would no longer make the site free.  Cheers!

[Castanza]

I appreciate the feedback.

 

Does anyone think a moderation tool would be useful?

 

Example: I alter the discussion of a thread by bringing up politics. Someone reports my comment which sends it for a vote to be removed for politics. If say 5 other members vote yes then the comment is removed from the thread.

 

Or is that just too much work? I know there are some threads that have been going for a long time and it can be frustrating to see them hijacked by politics.

 

Or is self accountability just a better option. I'm happy with whatever. I just noticed a "pushback" recently regarding politics.

 

 

 

We already have that in place.  If I get even one complaint of politics entering into a non-politic board/thread, I investigate.  If it is something blatant, then it is removed (not moved).  If it is something that is mentioned in passing, then I leave it.  So the more complaints I get about a post, the more likely it will be removed. 

 

Politics should stay in the Politics section, and those that don't want to waste time with politics, always have the option (which is very easy to do and works extremely effectively) to ignore the Politics board altogether. 

 

If we don't have the "Politics" board, then I will be constantly getting complaints about politics in the Investment sections.  The manpower needed to monitor that on a free site would no longer make the site free.  Cheers!

 

Thanks for the insight!

[LC]

As usual, we do not deserve Sanjeev  ;D ;D

[KFRCanuk]

As usual, we do not deserve Sanjeev  ;D ;D

Can politics be removed from the Recent Posts on the main page?

[John Hjorth]

Can politics be removed from the Recent Posts on the main page?

 

Yes.

[Spekulatius]

It exists so we don't have to do this.

 

http://uglymule.com/images/fingers-in-ears.gif

 

Exactly. It’s a rubber cell in the asylum that prevents the inmates from running over the rest of this place. I kind of regret my occasional visits there.  ::)

[alpha]

Logged in users can ignore the politics section easily however potential future members visiting the site still see the recent posts list containing all the political junk. Some days it is hard to tell it is an investing forum by looking at that list, I hope it does not scare away potential new members.

[DooDiligence]

Twitter has been getting jammed up with poli-nonsense for a while now too.

 

I recently discovered that you can mute keywords.

 

A few choices that have done a lot to clean up my feed:

 

Politics

Political

Republican(s)

Democrat(s)

Congress

Senate

SCOTUS

Trump

 

+ I'm quick to block just about anyone who regularly posts poli-BS.

[Cevian]

I've recently gone ahead and changed the settings to ignore politics. It makes a big difference to the message board and even cleans up the recent posts.

 

I'm still seeing this thread though since it has been posted in the General Category.

[writser]

Yeah, put the politics board on the ignore list and the people posting there as well. Problem solved.

[longlake95]

I have, and continue to receive significant value from the investment discussions on this board. It’s truly one of a kind. However, I’m not a fan of the political threads - and that’s putting it mildly. Let’s keep it investment related. If you’re that passionate about politics, write on a political message board.

 

My 1 cent

 

LL

 

[DooDiligence]

I have, and continue to receive significant value from the investment discussions on this board. It’s truly one of a kind. However, I’m not a fan of the political threads - and that’s putting it mildly. Let’s keep it investment related. If you’re that passionate about politics, write on a political message board.

 

My 1 cent

 

LL

 

I'll toss another penny in to make more cents.

[no_free_lunch]

My 3 cents is we don't need it and it degrades this site.  I know people can ignore it but there are newcomers to this site and it has to be a turn off when they see half the posts are political rants with clickbait titles.  Really, this site is attractive because of the insights into investment ideas, the politics are a waste.

 

I have heard the argument that political discussion will happen regardless so we need to segregate it but is that true?  I don't remember reading a lot of politics before that section started.  It seems people are pretty good at self-moderating the threads.  Even if some occasionally do slip into politics you didn't have such huge posting volume.  I mean look at some of those threads, they are longer than most of the investing ones.  I think it encourages politics by having it available as an option.

[Castanza]

My 3 cents is we don't need it and it degrades this site.  I know people can ignore it but there are newcomers to this site and it has to be a turn off when they see half the posts are political rants with clickbait titles.  Really, this site is attractive because of the insights into investment ideas, the politics are a waste.

 

I have heard the argument that political discussion will happen regardless so we need to segregate it but is that true?  I don't remember reading a lot of politics before that section started.  It seems people are pretty good at self-moderating the threads.  Even if some occasionally do slip into politics you didn't have such huge posting volume.  I mean look at some of those threads, they are longer than most of the investing ones.  I think it encourages politics by having it available as an option.

 

That was my thought at first as well. And politics is easy to get sucked into. I think having the thread kind of pulls you in. But I wasn't here before so I cant really say and I trust what others say about it being better now.

 

I think at the  very least the "Political Section" should be hidden from view as a default.