Suggestion for moderating political content

[CANtalk]

I hope we don't have to re-post this every two or three pages. 3 of the previous 5 posts are political. While politics might be "interesting news" to some, not everyone agrees. I have said many times in various threads that FC is a cannabis vaping forum, and if you want to discuss politics there are plenty of other forums dedicated to that. As a guideline, before you comment consider whether what you are about to say is even vaguely political. If it is, don't post.

There are a lot of political related posts on FC, some are allowed & others not and here's a few thoughts on how all the great FC mods could look at moderating politics. I'd kindly/humbly suggest that news posts about politics aren't the problem, but instead look for any significant added personal discussion around political news as the trigger for what should not be allowed and lead to deletions. The thread is about sharing interesting news, articles & stuff,... and it's not about discussing political newsReasonable political news is not the issue, it's any significant discussion around it that is the problem. Political news can be interesting, but the commentary needs to be saved for political forums and should not be on FC. As for the "reasonable" caveat, there's a lot of garbage out there on the internet, so any political news links shared on FC should only be allowed if they're from a reasonable source (be it mainstream left or right media, or comedy / satire stuff), and this will keep out the conspiracy / crazy stuff that is most definitely not allowed on FC. Together, it sounds like a good line to draw at FC and easy to consistently enforce. All this just me high & riffing deep sativa thoughts . And fwiw, I don't think "all" commentary on political posts is bad, open ended statements like "this is wild" or "crazy" shared with articles are neutral enough on a so called political spectrum.

 

[pakalolo]

First, you should know that we have a rule:

• Public discussions of staff decisions are not permitted on the site. If you have any concerns or queries relating to a staff decision please take it up in private with a staff member.

We do, however, allow suggestions like this in the proper forum, so I separated your idea and moved it here.

It might not be obvious but this is actually how we do it, more or less. We don't necessarily try to judge the source but it sometimes enters into the decision. The key word here is "judge". We don't have the time to investigate every source, nor do we want to. From a moderator's point of view we can avoid being put in this position if people simply avoid making posts about politics. Of course, there is a fuzzy line and almost anything can be turned into political debate, or often a flamefest. Nevertheless, I repeat: think about what you are about to post and if it is even remotely political, don't do it.

 

[FlyingLow]

The first rule of Fight Club is: you do not talk about Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club is: you DO NOT talk about Fight Club.

 

[Relaxed]

I disagree, it's the actual posting of political news that has zero relevance to the focus of this forum. I frequent this forum strictly for vaping info, if I want politics I'll go elsewhere. In my opinion, if the political post has nothing to do with vaping it shouldn't be posted.

I'll add that what is reasonable news vs conspiracy news to you might not be to others, and having a moderator decide what is reasonable and what isn't leads to personal bias.

 

[howie105]

But I got all these one-liners I haven't used yet.

Inhale deeply, and carry a small vape
The only thing we have to fear is combustion itself.
The vape stops here.
Are you now or have you ever vaped at a party?
I know it when I hit it.
Let us Americans vape again!
I'm from the government, and I'm here to help.

Oh, well.

 

[Madtater]

I disagree, it's the actual posting of political news that has zero relevance to the focus of this forum. I frequent this forum strictly for vaping info, if I want politics I'll go elsewhere. In my opinion, if the political post has nothing to do with vaping it shouldn't be posted.

I'll add that what is reasonable news vs conspiracy news to you might not be to others, and having a moderator decide what is reasonable and what isn't leads to personal bias.

Exactly. If i want to talk politics, i will head to my cigar lounge.

It is only a handful of people on here, and honestly, i have only been here for a couple months but already my ignore list is growing.

I have zero patience for people who talk politics, bash people in politics, or act political to troll people in places that politics has no business.

Guess this forum is no different than any other forum i belong to as far as politics are concerned.

 

[DaVapeGuy]

I guess political news doesn't belong in interesting news? Odd

Anyway where does it say you can't talk politics in the rules?

I can't seem to find it.

I disagree, it's the actual posting of political news that has zero relevance to the focus of this forum.

To be fair, the off topic "interesting news" and "meme" threads have zero relevance to this forum as well, but they exist nonetheless.

If you aren't here for those threads don't browse them?

 

[Knewt]

Most of us are here because of a passion for cannibals and vaping. Both of these things are illegal in many countries. They are illegal because of political bullshit. Millions of people have suffered because of this. I think it should be very important for everyone here to be made aware of cannabis legislation and the political parties involved.

 

[Shit Snacks]

Most of us are here because of a passion for cannibals and vaping

First they came for our vapes, then they came for our cannibals... When will it end?

 

[Robert-in-YEG]

There does seem to be some favoritism here. There is some political content, not much, but there is some.

I'm certainly here for cannibals, cannabis, and vaping.

Let's stay focused on the primary matters and fully exclude political content. It is nice to take a break from the world.

Robert-in-YEG

Cannatonic Weed Strain

A powerfully relaxing strain, Cannatonic is very uplifts and focuses the mind. These effects are slightly overshadowed by the strong warming and numbing sensations that flow over the body.

www.wikileaf.com

 

[CANtalk]

Just saw this move @Stu, ur post makes sense and all you mods are awesome & thx .




Outright bans are not simple things. I really enjoy relatively mainstream political humor from both the left & right, & it's essentially current news as well. And So called political posts and humor are everywhere all the time on FC, from the pictures thread to the memes, gifs, jokes and 10X other threads. The laugh & mainstream left / right news are welcome.

Just my . Cheers & have a great weekend

 

[pakalolo]

Anyway where does it say you can't talk politics in the rules?

• All members must be treated in a respectful and adult manner. All members should respect and adhere to the promotion of harmony within the community. Do not attempt to disrupt the community in any way.
• No trolling. Please do not post any content that disrupts the peace and harmony of this board. Don’t post for or the purpose of starting a dispute.
• Rules are interpreted and applied at staff discretion.

We do not forbid political posts per se. We discourage them and we will delete posts that result in conflict. Politics often results in flames. Some topics are even worse and we will delete them on sight. Abortion and gun control come to mind.

There does seem to be some favoritism here. There is some political content, not much, but there is some.

We're human. There is no way to avoid bias completely although I try, and so do the other moderators as far as I know.

I disagree, it's the actual posting of political news that has zero relevance to the focus of this forum. I frequent this forum strictly for vaping info, if I want politics I'll go elsewhere. In my opinion, if the political post has nothing to do with vaping it shouldn't be posted.

I'll add that what is reasonable news vs conspiracy news to you might not be to others, and having a moderator decide what is reasonable and what isn't leads to personal bias.

I don't think I've ever read a forum that didn't have a section for off-topic posts. Members get to know each other and want to talk about things that are not the subject of the forum. Anyone who has moderated a forum knows that if you don't provide a place for off-topic discussions then you will spend considerable time cleaning up threads.

Re your second point: no matter how hard you try, someone will interpret your actions as biased. As I already stated, it's difficult to avoid in the first place.

 

[Abele Rizieri Ferrari]

mainstream left / right

Exclusively allowing mainstream left/right articles and as a result mainstream left/right perspective would mean the mod team takes a strict and narrow political point of view and enforces that on the user base. It's basically a somewhat broad margin centrist status quo monopoly on political perspective you're suggesting.

Just because a mainstream centrist status quo perspective is popular doesn't mean other perspectives should be disregarded. Also there's plenty investigative journalism done by indie media that have other than centrist political viewpoints and that have a better track record of journalistic integrity than some of the mainstream left/right media outlets.

 

[Relaxed]

I don't think I've ever read a forum that didn't have a section for off-topic posts. Members get to know each other and want to talk about things that are not the subject of the forum. Anyone who has moderated a forum knows that if you don't provide a place for off-topic discussions then you will spend considerable time cleaning up threads.

Re your second point: no matter how hard you try, someone will interpret your actions as biased. As I already stated, it's difficult to avoid in the first place.

Several forums I'm on have a specific section for "political posts" only, and they are not allowed outside of that area.

 

[Madtater]

Several forums I'm on have a specific section for "political posts" only, and they are not allowed outside of that area.

One of the lawncare forums i belong to has a dedicated political area that members have to opt into in order to see any of the posts or post in.

 

[florduh]

Is this whole discussion simply about the existence of The Vapor Lounge and Cannabis News/Activism forums? I don't think I've ever seen a post in the TinyMight thread like "My TM used to work so much better before that FUCKING JoeBrandon/DonaldRUMP was elected!"

 

[Grass Yes]

Is this whole discussion simply about the existence of The Vapor Lounge and Cannabis News/Activism forums? I don't think I've ever seen a post in the TinyMight thread like "My TM used to work so much better before that FUCKING JoeBrandon/DonaldRUMP was elected!"

I see it all the time. They usually get removed quickly but right now there is someone complaining about "wokeism" on the AVLP thread. That same person came to the Halo thread to complain about the price and say transphobic stuff. So maybe it is just a few bad apples.

Anyway, I think it is wild that this thread exists and kind of cool. In my opinion, nothing wrong with political posts just don't post hate. Racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, islamophobia, etc are all not allowed. Seems pretty easy to avoid and yet I see it often here, before it is removed by mods.

 

[florduh]

I see it all the time. They usually get removed quickly but right now there is someone complaining about "wokeism" on the AVLP thread. That same person came to the Halo thread to complain about the price and say transphobic stuff. So maybe it is just a few bad apples.

Anyway, I think it is wild that this thread exists and kind of cool. In my opinion, nothing wrong with political posts just don't post hate. Racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, islamophobia, etc are all not allowed. Seems pretty easy to avoid and yet I see it often here, before it is removed by mods.

My mistake. I guess I'm a big dummy cuz I couldn't really imagine how to shoehorn that shit into an discussion about a fuckin vaporizer. At least non-ironically.

 

[Timps27]

 

[Grass Yes]

My mistake. I guess I'm a big dummy cuz I couldn't really imagine how to shoehorn that shit into an discussion about a fuckin vaporizer. At least non-ironically.

I honestly would never have imagined that either. I guess FC has opened my eyes to our big world lol.

 

[pakalolo]

Several forums I'm on have a specific section for "political posts" only, and they are not allowed outside of that area.

This has been suggested for us. My response is that no two people will ever agree on which posts are political. Sure, many are obvious, but many are ambiguous too. A politics-only section won't solve this, but it would make moderation a bigger headache than it already is.