Goodbye Perhaps?

[RestlessSoul]

Haven’t read the whole thread. Would be a shame if @rocala left. I find him/her thoughtful, open to new ideas, capable of disagreeing without trying to score points. Would be missed.

 

[Rival]

That was helpful for me to understand your POV

I think that's a revelatory sentence because from an American context the crimes of Catholic priests, the alliance of Catholic Bishops with the political right, attacks by Christian fanatics on first abortion, then IVF and now no-fault divorce along with the "evil evil gays people" viewpoint leave many easily triggered as that thread illustrates.

In a way I find it ironic or something that RF is focused on the two topics people are told to avoid: religion and politics.

One final comment: I've never spent time on a single-focus forum from CompuServe to today's possibilities. I find them too limiting but a fast search tells me they still exist. For example Anglican Forums

Yes, I am on that forum.

 

[crossfire]

There is, but we could deal with that faster without the politics, which is not the main part of this forum, being taken up with it.

Staff would benefit from not having to deal with US elections every four years. Especially non-American staff.

You can always bring in staff who would be dedicated (officially or unofficially) political mods. Unofficial political mods would probably be easier for the admins.

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

One final comment: I've never spent time on a single-focus forum from CompuServe to today's possibilities. I find them too limiting but a fast search tells me they still exist. For example Anglican Forums

Something to notice about that single-focus forum (Anglican Forums): did you notice how dismally few posts there are? Fewer than 1/1000th of what is here. It's like nobody's really paying attention.

 

[Rival]

Something to notice about that single-focus forum (Anglican Forums): did you notice how dismally few posts there are? Fewer than 1/1000th of what is here. It's like nobody's really paying attention.

Fora have been dying as a medium for a long time. Many other fora are like this, it's more or less the norm. RF is very different in how active it is, I find. Many older style fora are niche and have a very targeted audience. I don't mind that as there's much less toxicity and more a family-like atmosphere. This is why I wouldn't mind a downsized RF.

I don't want fora to turn into social media sites like X and Instagram where there is no focus whatsoever and it's just soundbites.

 

[SalixIncendium]

Fora have been dying as a medium for a long time. Many other fora are like this, it's more or less the norm. RF is very different in how active it is, I find. Many older style fora are niche and have a very targeted audience. I don't mind that as there's much less toxicity and more a family-like atmosphere. This is why I wouldn't mind a downsized RF.

I don't want fora to turn into social media sites like X and Instagram where there is no focus whatsoever and it's just soundbites.

I'm glad I read this before I started a thread to post a picture of my lunch.

 

[Spice]

Maybe such issues exist in all populations but only those in wealthier countries are able to test for them and address them? I have friends with both such issues and if they accidentally eat the wrong thing I fully understand why one might "whine."

Absolutely, but the health problems are not the issue. Gratitude is.
As Bob Marley said, "Complaints are prayers to the Devil."

 

[Alien826]

I'm still trying to understand how religious threads are "swamped" by political threads. I'll try an example.

Remember "boom boxes"? You couldn't go to a public beach without being assailed by loud music that you didn't choose to listen to. Now that's being swamped. But an internet forum is not like that. You can read one thread at a time and nothing forces you to read any of them.

After reading the various replies, I think I understand that the objections are:

I don't like certain subjects so they shouldn't be here.

Political discussion disrupts the purity of this religious place (like shouting in church).

It's a pain to moderate all this stuff (which I understand).

I'll be interested to see how the mods decide to handle it.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

I don't like certain subjects so they shouldn't be here.

Political discussion disrupts the purity of this religious place (like shouting in church).

It's a pain to moderate all this stuff (which I understand).

I'll be interested to see how the mods decide to handle it.

In order:

1. I don't like certain subjects but that's on me.
2. Its more like walking out of the purity of church, repeatedly entering an establishment you don't like, and complaining that you don't like it.
3. Best I can tell, the moderators have a challenging job and do it well.
4. In general, moderators moderate and owners decide.

 

[Secret Chief]

In order:

1. I don't like certain subjects but that's on me.
2. Its more like walking out of the purity of church, repeatedly entering an establishment you don't like, and complaining that you don't like it.
3. Best I can tell, the moderators have a challenging job and do it well.
4. In general, moderators moderate and owners decide.

I'm not going to post here again until everyone becomes a vegan Buddhist. People just don't seem to get it.

 

[Twilight Hue]

You can always bring in staff who would be dedicated (officially or unofficially) political mods. Unofficial political mods would probably be easier for the admins.

Imagine putting a Democrat mod in overseeing the Conservative forum?

What could possibly go wrong?

 

[Secret Chief]

Imagine putting a Democrat mod in overseeing the Conservative forum?

What could possibly go wrong?

Maybe match the mod to the forum?

 

[JustGeorge]

I'm not going to post here again until everyone becomes a vegan Buddhist. People just don't seem to get it.

I said to a friend yesterday "life is telling me to become Buddhist, because it does nothing but give me opportunities to practice my Buddhism."

If you can convince the rest of the family to go vegan, I'll go for it. I just can't support the price of separate diets(its why I ended my 7 years of veganism in my 20s).

 

[Debater Slayer]

For the last few weeks I have been getting a strong urge to say my goodbyes to the people of RF. This is not meant as disrespect to them but more out of a feeling of loss.

When I joined ten years ago, the debate was at times exhilarating. Biblical knowledge was superb. There were Buddhists and Pagans too, who really knew there stuff. The downside was a fair number who seemed to be here simply to mock
I recall when (in my opinion) the best Buddhist announced his departure, he was asked "why" and he replied, "have you looked around this place".

Well I don't expect great Buddhism, but I am sick to the back teeth of Biden and Trump. Sick sick sick.

Of course, not all members are too concerned about those gentlemen, many in fact choose to spend their time in Games pics and jokes. Well it has been said that I have a good sense of humour but **** me what is the appeal of that pile of *****.

Anyway, that is how I am feeling right now. The pro's are, and they are quite strong, that I have been a member for ten years, and I do not easily walk out on old friends.
Secondly, there are people here who I respect and like. I like to be able to drop a hint of that now and again. It must be said, that there are more sighs than smiles.

I hope for some response, I am genuinely interested.

Sorry to read that you're so strongly considering leaving, @rocala. I appreciate your forum presence and would be sad to see you go.

The staff are aware that a subset of the membership have concerns about the ratio of political threads to religious ones, and we are looking into potential solutions that would accommodate members whose primary interest is in either subject without compromising or negatively affecting the experience of members interested in the other subject.

The main challenge we are facing is that such a solution may require the addition of interface changes, such as bringing back the "New Threads" list or having separate lists for new posts or threads according to the forums in which the threads are posted, effectively allowing us to offer members the ability to look for new posts exclusively made in a religious section or a political one. We are currently discussing contacting the owners about it once again and relaying the urgency with which we need tech assistance in this specific area.

I have fully read this thread, and I believe it may be useful to note a few points raised or touched on in subsequent posts in the thread:

• There are a significant subset of members who are interested in discussing or debating religious topics, and there are another significant subset who are interested in discussing or debating political topics. Both subsets are a valuable, active component of the RF community, and any solution will have to accommodate both and not compromise their forum experience.

• The staff are aware that RF would benefit from more diversity among the religious demographics of its membership. How to best achieve this and maintain it over the long term is an ongoing topic of discussion in the staff forums and has come up multiple times for at least a few years.

• As staff members, our job is not to tell members which subjects they should or should not be interested in but to accommodate the interests they demonstrate—akin to a free market, so to speak. I believe that attempting to micromanage which subjects are talked about, aside from general moderation per the boundaries of the RF rules, may only serve to drive members away and reduce forum activity. It would not be in the best interests of the forum, its long-term prospects, or its revenue, and the last one in particular is not for the volunteer staff to risk, because the revenue is the owners' money, not ours.

• The political forums may need a new sub-section for election seasons so as to contain threads in one place similarly to how the COVID-19 forum functions. However, deleting the political forums or making them private is off the table due to the damage it would almost certainly cause to member interest, activity, and registration. Many members join upon reading threads in public forums and becoming interested whether in the community or thread topics, and making a subset of forums as active as the political ones private would be completely counterproductive to this.

• In my opinion, it is perfectly understandable that a subset of members are primarily or strongly interested in religious topics, and it is also perfectly understandable that another subset are primarily or strongly interested in various political affairs that they perceive to be of great consequence to their respective countries, future, or other aspects of their lives. As I said above, both forms of participation are important for the forum and constitute a valuable part of it. The staff intend to keep all forum participation in line with the forum rules, but it is not our job to dictate which type of participation a member may prefer.

Finally, member feedback is an integral part of reviewing any solutions we (the staff) decide to consider implementing, so I would like to thank everyone who has given their thoughts in this thread.

 

[Debater Slayer]

It wasn’t enlightening in a good way. I’m actually feeling quite sad at the moment. I don’t feel welcome here, but at least it’s clear to me why. I can move on from that now that I know. Wishing you all the best. Everyone who thanked all the posts with your general message, all the best to you too.

I'm really sorry to read the above, @anna.. It would be quite sad to see you go. I have never had any negative interaction with you, and I appreciate your contributions to the forum. I know I'm not alone in this, either.

 

[Alien826]

Sorry to read that you're so strongly considering leaving, @rocala. I appreciate your forum presence and would be sad to see you go.

The staff are aware that a subset of the membership have concerns about the ratio of political threads to religious ones, and we are looking into potential solutions that would accommodate members whose primary interest is in either subject without compromising or negatively affecting the experience of members interested in the other subject.

The main challenge we are facing is that such a solution may require the addition of interface changes, such as bringing back the "New Threads" list or having separate lists for new posts or threads according to the forums in which the threads are posted, effectively allowing us to offer members the ability to look for new posts exclusively made in a religious section or a political one. We are currently discussing contacting the owners about it once again and relaying the urgency with which we need tech assistance in this specific area.

I have fully read this thread, and I believe it mat be useful to note a few points raised or touched on in subsequent posts in the thread:

• There are a significant subset of members who are interested in discussing or debating religious topics, and there are another significant subset who are interested in discussing or debating political topics. Both subsets are a valuable, active component of the RF community, and any solution will have to accomodate both and not compromise their forum experience.

• The staff are aware that RF would benefit from more diversity among the religious demographics of its membership. How to best achieve this and maintain it over the long term is an ongoing topic of discussion in the staff forums and has come up multiple times for at least a few years.

• As staff members, our job is not to tell members which subjects they should or should not be interested in but to accommodate the interests they demonstrate—akin to a free market, so to speak. I believe that attempting to micromanage which subjects are talked about, aside from general moderation per the boundaries of the RF rules, may only serve to drive members away and reduce forum activity. It would not be in the best interests of the forum, its long-term prospects, or its revenue, and the last one in particular is not for the volunteer staff to risk, because the revenue is the owners' money, not ours.

• The political forums may need a new sub-section for election seasons so as to contain threads in one place similarly to how the COVID-19 forum functions. However, deleting the political forums or making them private is off the table due to the damage it would almost certainly cause to member interest, activity, and registration. Many members join upon reading threads in public forums and becoming interested whether in the community or thread topics, and making a subset of forums as active as the political ones private would be completely counterproductive to this.

• In my opinion, it is perfectly understandable that a subset of members are primarily or strongly interested in religious topics, and it is also perfectly understandable that another subset are primarily or strongly interested in various political affairs that they perceive to be of great consequence to their respective countries, future, or other aspects of their lives. As I said above, both forms of participation are important for the forum and constitute a valuable part of it. The staff intend to keep all forum participation in line with the forum rules, but it is not our job to dictate which type of participation a member may prefer.

Finally, member feedback is an integral part of reviewing any solutions we (the staff) decide to consider implementing, so I would like to thank everyone who has given their thoughts in this thread.

That is excellent. I feel greatly reassured. Thank you.

I have bolded parts that I feel are particularly relevant.

 

[Eddi]

Sorry to read that you're so strongly considering leaving, @rocala. I appreciate your forum presence and would be sad to see you go.

The staff are aware that a subset of the membership have concerns about the ratio of political threads to religious ones, and we are looking into potential solutions that would accommodate members whose primary interest is in either subject without compromising or negatively affecting the experience of members interested in the other subject.

The main challenge we are facing is that such a solution may require the addition of interface changes, such as bringing back the "New Threads" list or having separate lists for new posts or threads according to the forums in which the threads are posted, effectively allowing us to offer members the ability to look for new posts exclusively made in a religious section or a political one. We are currently discussing contacting the owners about it once again and relaying the urgency with which we need tech assistance in this specific area.

I have fully read this thread, and I believe it may be useful to note a few points raised or touched on in subsequent posts in the thread:

• There are a significant subset of members who are interested in discussing or debating religious topics, and there are another significant subset who are interested in discussing or debating political topics. Both subsets are a valuable, active component of the RF community, and any solution will have to accomodate both and not compromise their forum experience.

• The staff are aware that RF would benefit from more diversity among the religious demographics of its membership. How to best achieve this and maintain it over the long term is an ongoing topic of discussion in the staff forums and has come up multiple times for at least a few years.

• As staff members, our job is not to tell members which subjects they should or should not be interested in but to accommodate the interests they demonstrate—akin to a free market, so to speak. I believe that attempting to micromanage which subjects are talked about, aside from general moderation per the boundaries of the RF rules, may only serve to drive members away and reduce forum activity. It would not be in the best interests of the forum, its long-term prospects, or its revenue, and the last one in particular is not for the volunteer staff to risk, because the revenue is the owners' money, not ours.

• The political forums may need a new sub-section for election seasons so as to contain threads in one place similarly to how the COVID-19 forum functions. However, deleting the political forums or making them private is off the table due to the damage it would almost certainly cause to member interest, activity, and registration. Many members join upon reading threads in public forums and becoming interested whether in the community or thread topics, and making a subset of forums as active as the political ones private would be completely counterproductive to this.

• In my opinion, it is perfectly understandable that a subset of members are primarily or strongly interested in religious topics, and it is also perfectly understandable that another subset are primarily or strongly interested in various political affairs that they perceive to be of great consequence to their respective countries, future, or other aspects of their lives. As I said above, both forms of participation are important for the forum and constitute a valuable part of it. The staff intend to keep all forum participation in line with the forum rules, but it is not our job to dictate which type of participation a member may prefer.

Finally, member feedback is an integral part of reviewing any solutions we (the staff) decide to consider implementing, so I would like to thank everyone who has given their thoughts in this thread.

The existence of this post is evidence that RF is well run

 

[shunyadragon]

For the last few weeks I have been getting a strong urge to say my goodbyes to the people of RF. This is not meant as disrespect to them but more out of a feeling of loss.

When I joined ten years ago, the debate was at times exhilarating. Biblical knowledge was superb. There were Buddhists and Pagans too, who really knew there stuff. The downside was a fair number who seemed to be here simply to mock
I recall when (in my opinion) the best Buddhist announced his departure, he was asked "why" and he replied, "have you looked around this place".

Well I don't expect great Buddhism, but I am sick to the back teeth of Biden and Trump. Sick sick sick.

Of course, not all members are too concerned about those gentlemen, many in fact choose to spend their time in Games pics and jokes. Well it has been said that I have a good sense of humour but **** me what is the appeal of that pile of *****.

Anyway, that is how I am feeling right now. The pro's are, and they are quite strong, that I have been a member for ten years, and I do not easily walk out on old friends.
Secondly, there are people here who I respect and like. I like to be able to drop a hint of that now and again. It must be said, that there are more sighs than smiles.

I hope for some response, I am genuinely interested.

I believe your expectations of nostalgia of the good old days is idealistic and unreal.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

I believe your expectations of nostalgia of the good old days is idealistic and unreal.

Unfortunately, it does seem unrealistic to ever expect RF to be as good of a board as it once was. This place will probably be dead in a few years if it stays on its current course or doubles down on it. Many people have left and the site traffic has gone down over the years. Funny how they want to keep the political toxicity for the sake of keeping site revenue up (because that's what it comes down to - money), but don't mind loss of revenue from people leaving and reduced traffic.

 

[Debater Slayer]

I believe your expectations of nostalgia of the good old days is idealistic and unreal.

I see nothing idealistic or unrealistic about desiring high-quality religious discussion and debate on a forum titled Religious Forums. More than one member has had similar concerns to the OP's in the last few years, and it is crucial that the staff remain acquainted with feedback like his so that we can take it into account.