This thread is political in my opinion.
Give me a list of political threads that didn't escalate to some extend. They're rare. So I voted for stricter enforcement for established rules, simply because it would make our work easier.
An alternative for me would be a seperate subforum with the conditions to discuss political topics peacefully and respectfully and with regards to the rules.
Banning it entirely would be a last resort option for me but it would make moderation of this forum much more comfortable and relax the atmosphere in the forum in general... political differences caused a lot of division in the community in the past. And I'm not gonna lie - heated political arguments cause by far the most work for staff.
Let's keep in mind, this isn't a political forum and the question we should ask ourselves: is this the right place to express political opinions? This is a very vulnerable enviroment and not the right place to express possibly harmful and discriminatory views in my opinion. This isn't just a regular forum after all.
Well I believe I made a few such threads that didn't escalate (unless by escalation you mean me getting angry because no one replied) but it's maybe because I didn't touch directly the American subjects (I'm not American even).
I'm pro making a subforum on the very bottom of this site so few people would see or it would be hidden so we would have two "secret" subforums. We should make a big big trigger warning that this section wouldn't be for sensitive people. Or ban some late topics like we could ban talking about what happened a few (idk) days ago in USA but allow to talk about things that happened 2 years ago. We would avoid things highly disturbing without banning everything. Just a few of my ideas.
You know I love writing political threads (and have tons of new ideas) because a) we have here freedom of speech b) I don't need to have followers in order to get some replies. I mean you're absolutely right that this isn't a right place to talk about such things but I do believe it would be bad if we didn't use the very little freedom of speech we have.
The freedom to speak so freely about a topic such as suicide is what makes this site so rare and a lifeline for people like us. Censoring something like politics would change a lot.
Yeah that's what I mean. If we allow censorship it will change too much. :(
Well I can't speak on racism caused by political discussions 'cause I'm white coming from a place where almost everybody (not everybody but the vast majority) is white so I don't know what you guys feel when you're discriminated because of skin color.
I really try my best to avoid political discussions at this point. Everyone is so assured in their opinions (myself included) that there are rarely any meaningful discussions unless with someone who is prone to agree with you already, regardless of view. I've also noticed some can take very ahistorical positions or some just descend into petty name calling or worse and I find these interactions equally pointless.
I don't think banning any speech is the right approach (aside from the hateful, abusive or threatening) nor do I think any meaningful political discussions are possible on this site or the internet for that matter. I didn't vote for anything, whatever is the least work for mods because I will continue to try my best to just avoid these discussions going forward, even tho I still fail at this occasionally. But maybe I'm just too cynical at this point so this is probably more a me problem. I guess just go with what the majority thinks is best and we can go from there.
Yeah that's what drives me crazy. People that always stick to their opinions whatever they hear. I'm the complete opposite which isn't smart either but I'm unstable and my views change radically within months...
The problem is that we ban it once it will be easier next time to ban something else.
I don't think its fair to say that politics have nothing to do with a suicide forum.
I think its kinda ignorant and speaks from a place of privilege. (Which isnt a bad thing just something to reflect on.
Yes I wanted to say so but I didn't know how to word it thanks :)
Politics are connected to suicide and vice versa. Yeah saying "those two things are unrelated" is a sign of being privileged. For example in an atheist community you wouldn't have to worry about how your relatives will be treated after your suicide. On the other hand in my catholic community if I committed suicide I would be considered a sinner along with my relatives. Or I don't know maybe you live in a country where euthanasia is something allowed and I don't.
I voted for "contain political discussions to a mega thread in offtopic" as I believe that offtopic is for other topics as well and that having a mega thread means that all the discussions are contained there. I could see the problem in having a subforum like @CoalmineCanary said. Then again, with the stricter enforcement even in the mega thread, it would keep things under control, much like what @RainAndSadness said.
I believe that making one big thread would make people less willing to talk about politics as it would be more wearing. So if you want to reduce amounts of political discussion it's the best option. So furthermore it would make moderating easier I guess and there would be less hate as fewer people would talk. However I believe you can talk about politics without hurting everybody around you and that's why I disagree despite you being completely right.
I don't have a problem with political discussions as long as opinions are based on facts and absent of personal attacks.
Absolutely agree.
Banning political discussion entirely would be silly. On a forum about fishing or weightlifting, certainly, but on a forum about suicide... Especially now that everything and everyone is being censored left and right, SS feels like one of the few websites where you can talk about taboo topics.
Yes agreed. Freedom of speech is why I love SS and why I feel free here.
Why not talk about politics on a political forum? Or create your own blog?
Please recommend me such forum but a good one. Not like "you're right or you're hated" or the opposite "you're left or you're hated" because I know a few of such.
Elevated moderation. No banning of discussion and no separate subforum or thread. Politics pops up in the middle of other topics because politics has an immense presence in and influence on other things and it would imo be limiting to ban the discussion of it. I think a separate subforum would turn into a war zone because that's what politics is expanded. It is inherently polarizing because one person's wealth is another's immiseration. My predictions for how a megathread would turn out is even less optimistic.
You're right but I disagree politics should have its own space or nothing at all because off topic is mostly forum games only. Off topic is defined as a place to relax so basically today we have no space for politics on SS... Idk if we can elevate moderation. Mods are humans. They have their limits too which is shown by this thread.
I hate politics. So in a suicide forum where people are about to end their lives, why do they still think about superficial and absurd stuff like herd mentalities. If someone is suffering or about to die, does superficial stuff like skin, ethnicity, nationality or anything else really mean anything? Their lives would be gone but nobody would care, because humans just want to continue their silly political games.
Everyone should get support regardless of political and personal details. I hope people understand how superficial is politics, how the reality is more complex and atrocious than that, how humans and biological creatures suffer and they need to help each other and not discriminate, hurt or increase their suffering.
Strong disagree with first paragraph and strong agree with the second. It's not like I made this account yesterday so I'm committing suicide tomorrow. Not everything I do is a preparation for suicide. SS is basically like Facebook for "normal" people.
But yup people don't understand things. They think it's all simple and it's not. And really being a minority doesn't make you worse. We all need support!!
One question about having either a subforum or megathread is what happens if politics gets brought up outside of those place? Like to what extent is that allowed? Just a mention is okay or not?
Like what is considered political? Because a lot of things could be considered a political issue. Economics, social causes, race, gender etc.
These are very important questions so I'm bumping this.
And now that we are talking about containing posts, can we please do something about the game threads? I have nothing against them, it's just that they completely drown other threads and the offtopic section is becoming hard to use because of them. Opening a new sub-forum for them would be great for the people who use these threads.
Yes yes yes strong agree.
I like the idea of a subform. I feel as if in a megathread everyone will lose track of who's responding to what and when the topic changes. I also think it'd be great to have a subform so there's a place people can either go to on purpose to discuss things or avoid on purpose if they're not super politically-minded.
Yup good points. We need a very clear warning "this is a political discussion don't go near if you don't feel you can remain calm".
^ I'm asking for clarification because I'm genuinely confused about your point.
I'm also confused.
