#1 ·
Daklen, the moderators were busy cleaning house again today—it looks like quite a few posts have been wiped out...
Now, let’s be clear, I know things drifted off-topic. But the real issue is that there’s almost always more side-tracking going on than actual discussion over there—it’s just a fact.
When it comes to actual insults or rule-breaking, I won't weigh in on that.
I’m talking about those regular discussions that occasionally—😁—start up and can actually be pretty interesting, even if they are completely off-topic. For instance, take the debate about state seals (boring to me personally, but from what I saw, it held some substance) or today’s talk regarding presidential succession (which I think we handled well). All of that gets deleted, which is honestly such a shame. I even put together a really smart, insightful post today—🙏—but now it's just gone, along with a whole bunch of solid conversation.
My suggestion? Maybe open a dedicated "Close Politics" thread on the forum specifically for moving these off-topic tangents from the main thread. Of course, this would only apply to civil discussions—not the kind of posts that deserve a ban, but rather the parts of a debate where people actually dive deep and put in the effort.
Call it whatever you want; just give it a home so we can redirect everyone involved. Once a thread like that exists, it shouldn't be much work—we could just move the content that currently gets deleted over to the new spot.
If there’s a worry that these threads might spiral out of control, there’s an easy fix—the mods can always step in if a discussion starts dragging on too long or getting pushed too hard (though I doubt that'll be an issue since the main thread generates at least one tangent every single day... 🤣).
Oh, and by the way, I know we could just start entirely new threads, but that doesn't feel quite right. This approach preserves the continuity—that sense of connection. Besides, I’m not sure many of these side-topics would even gain traction as standalone threads; they tend to veer off in a different direction almost immediately.
Anyway, just something to consider... let me know what you think. 🙏
Now, let’s be clear, I know things drifted off-topic. But the real issue is that there’s almost always more side-tracking going on than actual discussion over there—it’s just a fact.
When it comes to actual insults or rule-breaking, I won't weigh in on that.
I’m talking about those regular discussions that occasionally—😁—start up and can actually be pretty interesting, even if they are completely off-topic. For instance, take the debate about state seals (boring to me personally, but from what I saw, it held some substance) or today’s talk regarding presidential succession (which I think we handled well). All of that gets deleted, which is honestly such a shame. I even put together a really smart, insightful post today—🙏—but now it's just gone, along with a whole bunch of solid conversation.
My suggestion? Maybe open a dedicated "Close Politics" thread on the forum specifically for moving these off-topic tangents from the main thread. Of course, this would only apply to civil discussions—not the kind of posts that deserve a ban, but rather the parts of a debate where people actually dive deep and put in the effort.
Call it whatever you want; just give it a home so we can redirect everyone involved. Once a thread like that exists, it shouldn't be much work—we could just move the content that currently gets deleted over to the new spot.
If there’s a worry that these threads might spiral out of control, there’s an easy fix—the mods can always step in if a discussion starts dragging on too long or getting pushed too hard (though I doubt that'll be an issue since the main thread generates at least one tangent every single day... 🤣).
Oh, and by the way, I know we could just start entirely new threads, but that doesn't feel quite right. This approach preserves the continuity—that sense of connection. Besides, I’m not sure many of these side-topics would even gain traction as standalone threads; they tend to veer off in a different direction almost immediately.
Anyway, just something to consider... let me know what you think. 🙏