Suggestion Exclude World News and Politics from the "All" Tab in Front-Page "Recent Content" Feed

[IncredulousP]

This is primarily a gaming site filled with gaming discussion. While there is a politics-specific forum, I don't believe it should be included in the "All" category of the "Recent Content" feed.

Many users wish to keep their political ideas separate from their hobbies, and others wish to ignore politics altogether. Also, gaming provides a means of escapism for many from the stressors of real life and politics, and I'm sure they wouldn't want to be reminded of current affairs.

Lastly, there are often explicit or troubling topics that may offend or cause discomfort to users, and their inclusion in the front-page "All" tab is in display to all users (many of whom are children).

 

[Kioku]

I've only suggested something like this since the area was introduced. It has no place on the front page.

 

[Reynardine]

Which is ironic because you had to visit a post about "excluding world news and politics from the all tab". Maybe if we keep this as the top post at all times, it will demystify any and all confusion.

I think the more important issue at hand is how can we make this place more like reddit. Why specialize in one thing when we can specialize in everything?

That's why an opt-in would be preferable to an opt-out, but who am I to judge?

Reddit being what it is is the main reason I visit this place instead.

 

[ThoD]

Didn't have the section. Had plenty of topics that would make up the section, which was part of the reason for the section's creation. Do we have to do one of my lists?

"think of the children" you say... we have long had discussions on things that some would say children should not see. That said since when are children not supposed to come into contact with politics? The sex and drugs and rock and roll (linky) thing I don't necessarily agree with but has some established stuff. Indeed politics is broadcast all day long, during peak TV hours, is available on every newspaper...

So some people are only here for hacks and games. So be it. They can disable sections if they are so inclined, or go to another site discussing hacks and games if it is so distressing. By similar token do we have to block people with an abysmal understanding of intellectual property law (or just an opinion that does not resemble the law -- see all the fan game smackdown threads), that opt to use cheats on their games (or indeed consider using cheats as a bad thing)?

Sure, there were some few threads here and there but only after the section was made the whole thing turned into a complete mess with morons attacking each other instead of having civil conversations.

And don't twist what I said to fit your agenda, that's just pathetic. I never said "think of the children" or any of what you implied and neither did I say to not allow children to come in contact with politics. The politics section is a MESS because of idiots fighting over the dumbest of things and is literally the most cancerous part of the entire temp, all while being terribly moderated (but this is more because of users reporting opposing opinions, not the staff's fault). I'm not saying children shouldn't be involved or come into contact with politics, but that you shouldn't force people into that mess that makes up the subforum just because YOU want to have it in the front page. If anything, it's a terrible first impression for new members as well joining a GAMING-related community and having half the recent content be nothing EVEN REMOTELY RELEVANT to video games.

As for the "go find another community" attitude of yours, is that really the sort of thing a STAFF member should really say? That's the sort of attitude that ruins communities in all honestly. GBAtemp is one of the biggest communities for homebrew/CFW/exploit development out there and you are actually telling people who are here FOR that to find some other place just because you want to push the politics section on everyone instead of simply having it there as an opt-in for those who WANT it? It's next to no effort to implement such a thing, so the whole defending how the default settings are is pointless.

 

[DANTENDO]

Why specialize in one thing when we can specialize in everything?

If in say 50 years time gbatemp is the most visited site in the world then you will go down in history as the comment tht started it

 

[tabzer]

That's it. We all must leave, now.

 

[FAST6191]

Sure, there were some few threads here and there but only after the section was made the whole thing turned into a complete mess with morons attacking each other instead of having civil conversations.

And don't twist what I said to fit your agenda, that's just pathetic. I never said "think of the children" or any of what you implied and neither did I say to not allow children to come in contact with politics. The politics section is a MESS because of idiots fighting over the dumbest of things and is literally the most cancerous part of the entire temp, all while being terribly moderated (but this is more because of users reporting opposing opinions, not the staff's fault). I'm not saying children shouldn't be involved or come into contact with politics, but that you shouldn't force people into that mess that makes up the subforum just because YOU want to have it in the front page. If anything, it's a terrible first impression for new members as well joining a GAMING-related community and having half the recent content be nothing EVEN REMOTELY RELEVANT to video games.

As for the "go find another community" attitude of yours, is that really the sort of thing a STAFF member should really say? That's the sort of attitude that ruins communities in all honestly. GBAtemp is one of the biggest communities for homebrew/CFW/exploit development out there and you are actually telling people who are here FOR that to find some other place just because you want to push the politics section on everyone instead of simply having it there as an opt-in for those who WANT it? It's next to no effort to implement such a thing, so the whole defending how the default settings are is pointless.

People have always attacked each other. We try to contain it and get things on topic, or cut it off when it can. Don't see any differences here.

I resent the accusation that I was twisting words and would maintain that is the logical following of your reasoning. Nobody is forced to go there just like nobody is forced to click on anything. Similarly is it terribly moderated? I go through most topics there, see histories and deleted posts. Does pretty well really.

I don't want to push the politics section. I just think having it be opt in sets a bad precedent and is pretty harmless to boot.

Also yes I will double down. If you are a spineless cunt and can't handle a politics thread topic appearing in your new topics or front page feed and don't care to block it then so be it, if you don't want to join the site after visiting as a guest then your absence will not be missed. So it is a big site. It is part of the site. There are others.

 

[IncredulousP]

That's why an opt-in would be preferable to an opt-out, but who am I to judge?

Reddit being what it is is the main reason I visit this place instead.

Ha I came here from Reddit too. It's nothing but polarizing echo chambers, censorship, and propaganda, if you don't count the innocuous yet mindlessly reposted content on the front pages.

 

[WeedZ]

Frankly I don't see what this has to do with the presence of political content in the "All" tab of the "Recent Content" feed. Additionally, the use of the word 'could' hints at some sort of blame or finger pointing, quite unbefitting of a mod if you ask me. Plus it doesn't make much sense; if someone posted on politics, then they wouldn't be "keeping their gaming hobbies separate from politics."

I'm not blaming anyone for anything. If someone wants to use the section, that's what it's there for. But for someone to use it frequently and then complain about what a nuisance it is, is something else. Clearly you know who I'm talking about.

 

[tabzer]

I just think having it be opt in sets a bad precedent and is pretty harmless to boot.

Idk. I think recruitment threads for antifa on the front page might be setting a bad precedent. But maybe we need to encourage kids who can't vote to get involved in politics somehow...

 

[FAST6191]

Idk. I think recruitment threads for antifa on the front page might be setting a bad precedent. But maybe we need to encourage kids who can't vote to get involved in politics somehow...

Did I miss something? I recall a discussion about the group (or whatever they get categorised as -- them borrowing from the playbook of anonymous and all that, or to hear some tell it "it is an action you do") a while back but missed the recruitment drive.

 

[IncredulousP]

I'm not blaming anyone for anything. If someone wants to use the section, that's what it's there for. But for someone to use it frequently and then complain about what a nuisance it is, is something else. Clearly you know who I'm talking about.

I had a hunch you were talking about me but I didn't want to make assumptions, nor did I want to believe that the mods here could be so partial.

First of all, nowhere did I say it was a nuisance, nor that I myself don't want to see it in the all tab on my page, nor did I lodge a complaint, but if that's what you got out of my posts then it's no surprise that the politics forum is perceived to be so inefficiently moderated.

I'm sure it's in your and the rest of the staff's best interest to continuously improve the site. I am aware that policies are in place to make the site friendly to its well-known population of child users, so I took it upon myself to suggest an improvement that would make the front page friendlier for the general user.

As you can gather by the poll, I am nowhere near alone in this rationale, and find it appalling to receive such pushback from none other than staff, especially in the form of blame and finger pointing. And you didn't even refer to me directly, I assume to maintain your plausable deniability in case you were called out.

I digress, I wish not for this thread to degrade into chaos, rather that it stand as a transparent observation and suggestion for improving the site.

 

[Kwyjor]

I am pleased to learn of this "Exclude from New Content" feature.

I am also baffled as to why anyone would come to a gaming forum to spout their political opinions. Are the people here supposed to have some kind of unique and profound perspective on the issues of the day? The best explanation I can think of is that there are things one might be able to get away with saying here that would be swiftly and decisively shouted down by much more well-informed people on other forums where one could easily go if one actually wanted to learn something.

 

[tabzer]

Did I miss something? I recall a discussion about the group (or whatever they get categorised as -- them borrowing from the playbook of anonymous and all that, or to hear some tell it "it is an action you do") a while back but missed the recruitment drive.

I was being facetious. I didn't think it really was the case.

 

[seany1990]

Not even sure why politics is even allowed
Why would you come to a homebrew forum just to get your bigoted opinion on transsexuals and nationalism out to people who aren't even interested

 

[FAST6191]

I am also baffled as to why anyone would come to a gaming forum to spout their political opinions. Are the people here supposed to have some kind of unique and profound perspective on the issues of the day? The best explanation I can think of is that there are things one might be able to get away with saying here that would be swiftly and decisively shouted down by much more well-informed people on other forums where one could easily go if one actually wanted to learn something.

In times past it was noted people simply used the forum they were active on, regardless of its potential suitability for the subject of discussion (I think my favourite was some analysis I once heard of someone in a hydroponics forum having some issues getting something with minecraft working). Some reckoned this was supposed to stop with the introduction of universal but splintered forums like facebook and reddit, or maybe their predecessors (digg, fark, slashdot to an extent, don't know what we will do about usenet) but as some forums keep on keeping on despite their now being dinosaurs...
That said this politics should be separate from games (or whatever the forum "purpose" might be) discussion thing is not new per se as there have always been places where it was noted political discussions can go awry so skip them in favour of staying "on topic" as it were. It did however get a bit of a boost a couple of years back for various reasons (I did have a thread around here somewhere pondering the concept, 15) on https://forum.doom9.org/forum-rules.htm being a nice old example) and we find ourselves here today. That said it has never been the case for here as long as I have been here or otherwise lurking (and from what I can see was not the case the few years before that) so I find the think of the children or hypothetical new users stuff people seem to be spouting here quite baffling.

I was being facetious. I didn't think it really was the case.

If we are worried about potential problems that are unlikely to happen then nothing would ever get done, especially not any hacking discussion.

Edit

Not even sure why politics is even allowed
Why would you come to a homebrew forum just to get your bigoted opinion on transsexuals and nationalism out to people who aren't even interested

Because this is a forum with free discussion as a guiding principle and dismissing such things (never mind things so nebulous as what is politics, or maybe leaving it in if it is directly games related). Similarly we seem to have plenty long threads on such topics, and people engaged with the ideas presented.

 

[tabzer]

If we are worried about potential problems that are unlikely to happen then nothing would ever get done, especially not any hacking discussion.

Hah. I thought you were being serious about that cryptic post.

 

[Chary]

How about the fact temp has existed for over a decade just fine without that section whatsoever?

Because it used to clog up the user-submitted news section. General offtopic, too. That's why it exists. Keep the content in quarantine.

People are going to want to talk about politics. No matter what you do, political hot takes are going to find a home somewhere in the forum because people can't resist talking about what Trump ate for breakfast, or 18 Reasons Why My Politics > Yours. Despite the flak, most political threads are incredibly popular here for whatever reason. Killing off the section would just either stunt discussion, or make it leak all over into other subforums.

As to whether it should appear in recent content or not, it should be on by default, but the join message that TempBOT sends new users should be edited to have a line that says what @Seriel did earlier--If you don't wish to see politics, you can get rid of it by going to settings.

 

[Kwyjor]

People are going to want to talk about politics. No matter what you do, political hot takes are going to find a home somewhere in the forum because people can't resist talking about what Trump ate for breakfast, or 18 Reasons Why My Politics > Yours.

Some people are going to want to talk about politics. Lots more people are probably largely indifferent but cannot resist the siren call of someone being wrong on the Internet. (And if the threads are popular, I reckon it's because people are curious to see what moronic political opinion someone decided had a place on a gaming forum today.)

It is tempting to suggest that political threads get flat-out locked as soon as they get started, or alternatively lumped into one big, awful "General Politics Thread" that everyone can ignore except for the handful of people who can't resist sniping at each other. "But that thread would quickly get confusing and repetitive!" you may reply. In that regard it would not be greatly distinguished from any other political thread.

 

[notimp]

I've no opinion on the matter. Less influx (posting frequency) is fine. More visibility is ok as well. The (/my) tone will be different.

Its interesting to see, that it was made 'a thing' in the first place, because people would clog the news section with those topics. (Began as a mitigation strategy. )

 

[Deleted User]

I think @Chary 's suggestion is the best one.
I think a good thing would be if user's had a profile setting to opt in/out of political threads, but I realize forums are hard to run, and fix and add new features so I think the Tempbot is the best thing to do.

Also, the forum's policies of non-censorship/neutrality are very commendable, and to be quite honest I've met some really interesting people arguing in the politics section :0
Even made some friends