OFF TOPIC SECTION ... Time to rethink?

[Doc Holliday]

It's exceedingly rare (if ever?) for me to start a new topic and apologies to Head1, Admin and the Mods for raising this particular one, but is it time to think again about the future of this section?

There is talk in another thread about how the forum is a much better and less hostile place than it was. This is undoubtedly true and Head1 and his team have done well in recent times to change the ethos of such, especially IMO in terms of leaving the moderation to the moderators.

However it may first be useful to look at the history of this section in particular as some newer posters may not be aware.

When I first started contributing in 2019 Off Topic was in existence but was a truly hostile, toxic place with opposing factions, whose confrontation spread over other sections of the forum ... often just for the sake of it.

The previous owner removed and deleted it as it was largely uncontrollable (there were no moderators) I gather it had something of a chequered past prior to 2019?

In March 2020 when Covid hit the new owner brought it back to compensate for the lack of punting. It quite quickly became toxic again and in fact some of the culprits from 2019 returned to the forum to specifically post in just this section and renew old battles.

This meant within four months in July 2020 something had to be done and led to this 18 page thread and poll by Head1 https://www.ukpunting.com/index.php?topic=278605.850 As a result Politics was banned. Race and Religion had already been banned.

The very long Covid thread frequently became very confrontational with some political elements, but was allowed to continue. Quite a number of people were banned though.

Those old members who returned just to have a fight disappeared or were banned and things settled down.

Then in March 2022 Politics was allowed again, but only in a dedicated thread and not allowed anywhere else. https://www.ukpunting.com/index.php?topic=339931.0

At first and despite some hiccups, all seemed well and people behaved, but now another two years on that particular thread has just become a repetitive battlefield. In addition and despite the best efforts of the mods, Politics is a very broad categorisation and inevitably creeps into other threads including punting topics.

Off topic has some excellent long threads, which includes the largely untainted Movies TV etc and the Joke thread as well as useful other subjects, where politics of any description, is likely to play very little part in the discussion.

So in my opinion Off Topic itself is valuable for a section of members, although it is important to recognise that the majority of members only contribute to punting topics (as it should be)

As for Politics I'm not so sure and I feel we are back at the point of looking at the forum benefit/detriment ratio.

Thoughts?

[mh]

Thoughts?

It is working fine from my point of view.

[PepeMAGA]

It is working fine from my point of view.

Agree

[RedKettle]

Thoughts?

On the whole I think off topic is working well and as you say much better than the wild west years.

The politics thread is not great for in my opinion two reasons.  Firstly it has to deal with so many topics because they are all political and would be banned elsewhere.  That means unless you are constantly reading it you simply lose the thread and cannot get back in without research!  However that is simply a fact of life given I agree we should not allow politics into other threads.  (Although perhaps when  major topic comes up a separate thread could be authorised.)

The second reason is one member who dominates the thread with aggressive and repetitive posts.  I have him on ignore but it does not stop it making the thread unusable for its main purpose.

Personally I would be for leaving it alone unless the mods feel it is giving them too much work.

[scutty brown]

I never use the politics thread, I'd be happy to see it go.

Only other area of concern is the Ukrainian war thread where we have just one idiot doing his best to provide the Russian justification, in so doing saturating the thread with so much crap that no-one else ever bothers

[RedKettle]

Only other area of concern is the Ukrainian war thread where we have just one idiot doing his best to provide the Russian justification, in so doing saturating the thread with so much crap that no-one else ever bothers

Agreed

[catweazle]

Personally, I tend to ignore the Politics and Russian war threads, mainly due to  the antics  of a certain  individual.  Like many, I have him on "ignore" but some people rise to the bait and quote  him, so I see the drivel anyway.

I've been a member of other forums where they had, in one form or another  "off topic" sections.  The owners/mods ended up removing these sections, as several members tended to just sit in that section, and rarely - if ever - contributed to the main topics (whatever it is - holidays,  cars, TV etc. This unbalanced  the whole forum and used huge amounts of bandwidth.

I see the use of off topic - I contribute there, and, indeed  started the "joke" thread - but  equally  I wouldn't really  miss it.

[JontyR]

There is an accessibility issue to some of these things. I have not engaged in the Hypersonics thread as it was just too long to catch up to speed.

Is there a case in the matters of issues which are more contentious, like politics, to take a similar attitude to the football thread and have them refreshed every year?

I think that the off topic boards serve a useful purpose in terms of showing what behaviours are generally acceptable on here, it makes it more of a community rather than a academic knowledge repository.

If there is an area where I think that the issues are a little bit blurred is when it comes to the joke thread. I think the facelessness of the forum means that whilst some jokes might be acceptable in the pub to your mates who you know and see, there are also folks on here that you don't know how they may be impacted by the humour. If we want the forum to be inclusive we may need to be a bit more midful in this regard.   

[PepeMAGA]

Is there a case in the matters of issues which are more contentious, like politics, to take a similar attitude to the football thread and have them refreshed every year?

Makes sense, not like a thread that has long term value in retaining

[timsussex]

Its fine as it is

judicious use of "ignore this user " is all that is required

It does give the opportunity to highlight something in the news which would otherwise fall foul of a total political ban

[Ghost89]

I personally enjoy the Off Topic thread. I’ve picked up lots of hints etc. as others have said I ignore anything political and just concentrate on the things that interest me.

[Adoniron]

I enjoy reading it. Some topics interest me and others don't, so I don't read every thread. Just keep politics and religion out of it and it will be fine.

[mills_and_bhuna]

In a nutshell.
We were having a great time in our little club spouting our opinions which by some miracle of fate seemed to converge.
However now and again our circle jerk is interrupted by this one person with an alternative point of view.
We've tried calling him a Putin fan, a useful idiot, debunking him with articles from the Atlantic and the Guardian AND the Telegraph who of course are totally unbiased.
We've even tried setting Webbie on him but nothing seems to work.
I'm thinking of joining not allowed. Please help me

[mh]

Here we go...

[mr.bluesky]

I never use the politics thread, I'd be happy to see it go.

Only other area of concern is the Ukrainian war thread where we have just one idiot doing his best to provide the Russian justification, in so doing saturating the thread with so much crap that no-one else ever bothers

I wonder who that could be  🤔 I think a lot of people have him on ignore now as they are fed up reading the same old nonsense he posts.
As for the Off topic thread I don't see any reason to get rid of it. 

[Thephoenix]

On the whole I think off topic is working well and as you say much better than the wild west years.

The politics thread is not great for in my opinion two reasons.  Firstly it has to deal with so many topics because they are all political and would be banned elsewhere.  That means unless you are constantly reading it you simply lose the thread and cannot get back in without research!  However that is simply a fact of life given I agree we should not allow politics into other threads.  (Although perhaps when  major topic comes up a separate thread could be authorised.)

The second reason is one member who dominates the thread with aggressive and repetitive posts.  I have him on ignore but it does not stop it making the thread unusable for its main purpose.

I agree.

The hypersonics and politics threads are generally the ones that by their nature tend to become confrontational.

That just becomes tiresome and I think turns many people off.
I don't readily recall an example of members being persuaded to change their views on these subjects after listening to balanced debate.
Rather it's the same biased entrenched views being trotted out often accompanied by insults.

Comments in the other subjects (even the football) generally remain civil and in good humour, and are often informative, useful or entertaining, but the discussions on politics and hypersonics often just involve the same few members spouting their tribal and dyed-in-the-wool views.

Many members have been here much longer than my 5 years, but even in my time I've noticed a change of atmosphere in the site, which I welcome.
I was a member on another site before and was glad to escape the sometimes toxic atmosphere.

The only other pet dislike I have is when a thread just seems to become a member's personal record of how many days they haven't wanked.
However like everything else, I leave those decisions to the mods.

[RedKettle]

In a nutshell.
We were having a great time in our little club spouting our opinions which by some miracle of fate seemed to converge.
However now and again our circle jerk is interrupted by this one person with an alternative point of view.
We've tried calling him a Putin fan, a useful idiot, debunking him with articles from the Atlantic and the Guardian AND the Telegraph who of course are totally unbiased.
We've even tried setting Webbie on him but nothing seems to work.
I'm thinking of joining not allowed. Please help me

I made an exception and read this post. It is quite funny as it perfectly illustrates the issue, you have your view on why people are ignoring you and do not listen to the real reasons, which are nothing to do with you having a different viewpoint.  It is the way you conduct yourself and the obvious utter contempt you show for  others, which again is illustrated in that post.

[mills_and_bhuna]

I made an exception and read this post. It is quite funny as it perfectly illustrates the issue, you have your view on why people are ignoring you and do not listen to the real reasons, which are nothing to do with you having a different viewpoint.  It is the way you conduct yourself and the obvious utter contempt you show for  others, which again is illustrated in that post.

Good for you.
I'll leave you to it .
I'll avoid this therapy session of a thread

[Squire Haggard]

However now and again our circle jerk is interrupted by this one person with an alternative point of view.
We've tried calling him a Putin fan, a useful idiot, debunking him with articles from the Atlantic and the Guardian AND the Telegraph who of course are totally unbiased.

TRANSLATION :
A constant stream of repetitive ''alternative point of view''  posts that NEVER link to any source to back up the ''alternative point of view'', despite being asked on MANY occasions to back up his often absurd claims.
The main reason for this is because the links to any source to back up his frequently idiotic claims DONT exist. He is simply making things up, to troll and disrupt the threads.

[nuckingfuts]

It is the way you conduct yourself and the obvious utter contempt you show for  others

Everyone needs a hobby…🤷‍♂️

Thoughts?

Politics = Bad
Food = Good

Thanks for coming to my TEDtalk 🫡

[chrishornx]

It is working fine from my point of view.

yes agree

[WARSZAWA16]

Fine as it is. Have to confess I don't read every single post and topic and generally steer clear of the heavy political stuff.
However, if it ain't broke don't mend it. 

[lostandfound]

Allowing rambunctiousness combined with light touch moderation has IMO been a hallmark of UKP and set it apart from many other forums. If that may continue, in the form of Off Topic that would continue to be wonderful.

[dexpunt]

If you don't like a thread do like I do and don't read it......simple really. However, I would hate to lose some of the threads such as the Football and wordle etc

[mr.bluesky]

If you don't like a thread do like I do and don't read it......simple really. However, I would hate to lose some of the threads such as the Football and wordle etc

I would never get to know who's passed away recently  if it wasn't posted in the Obituary Rest in Peace off topic thread. 
I always read it about it  here first   

[puntingking]

I would never get to know who's passed away recently  if it wasn't posted in the Obituary Rest in Peace off topic thread. 
I always read it about it  here first   

your welcome 

[puntingking]

It's exceedingly rare (if ever?) for me to start a new topic and apologies to Head1, Admin and the Mods for raising this particular one, but is it time to think again about the future of this section?

There is talk in another thread about how the forum is a much better and less hostile place than it was. This is undoubtedly true and Head1 and his team have done well in recent times to change the ethos of such, especially IMO in terms of leaving the moderation to the moderators.

However it may first be useful to look at the history of this section in particular as some newer posters may not be aware.

When I first started contributing in 2019 Off Topic was in existence but was a truly hostile, toxic place with opposing factions, whose confrontation spread over other sections of the forum ... often just for the sake of it.

The previous owner removed and deleted it as it was largely uncontrollable (there were no moderators) I gather it had something of a chequered past prior to 2019?

In March 2020 when Covid hit the new owner brought it back to compensate for the lack of punting. It quite quickly became toxic again and in fact some of the culprits from 2019 returned to the forum to specifically post in just this section and renew old battles.

This meant within four months in July 2020 something had to be done and led to this 18 page thread and poll by Head1 https://www.ukpunting.com/index.php?topic=278605.850 As a result Politics was banned. Race and Religion had already been banned.

The very long Covid thread frequently became very confrontational with some political elements, but was allowed to continue. Quite a number of people were banned though.

Those old members who returned just to have a fight disappeared or were banned and things settled down.

Then in March 2022 Politics was allowed again, but only in a dedicated thread and not allowed anywhere else. https://www.ukpunting.com/index.php?topic=339931.0

At first and despite some hiccups, all seemed well and people behaved, but now another two years on that particular thread has just become a repetitive battlefield. In addition and despite the best efforts of the mods, Politics is a very broad categorisation and inevitably creeps into other threads including punting topics.

Off topic has some excellent long threads, which includes the largely untainted Movies TV etc and the Joke thread as well as useful other subjects, where politics of any description, is likely to play very little part in the discussion.

So in my opinion Off Topic itself is valuable for a section of members, although it is important to recognise that the majority of members only contribute to punting topics (as it should be)

As for Politics I'm not so sure and I feel we are back at the point of looking at the forum benefit/detriment ratio.

Thoughts?

any member who gets heated in any discussion should be spoken to and be told to calm down & leave the discussion.

I am a very liberal person so I think anything and everything should be allowed and all opinions expressed but in a civil manner.

If someone wants to discuss a conspiracy theory that they have on a subject then they should be able to express their view.

I would love the politics and religion to be allowed in the off topic section entirely.

A person who sells cigarettes is not killing someone but a person why buys cigarettes is killing themselves. Meaning that just because some members cant behave, why punish the rest of us for a small minority? 

I believe the off topic section is doing alright. We should allow all opinions expressed but in a civil manner.

edit: this is just my opinion

[scutty brown]

any member who gets heated in any discussion should be spoken to and be told to calm down & leave the discussion.

I am a very liberal person so I think anything and everything should be allowed and all opinions expressed but in a civil manner.

If someone wants to discuss a conspiracy theory that they have on a subject then they should be able to express their view.

I would love the politics and religion to be allowed in the off topic section entirely.

A person who sells cigarettes is not killing someone but a person why buys cigarettes is killing themselves. Meaning that just because some members cant behave, why punish the rest of us for a small minority? 

I believe the off topic section is doing alright. We should allow all opinions expressed but in a civil manner.

edit: this is just my opinion

I totally disagree.
We got rid of religion and politics for a very specific reason (or reasons) and doing so worked: the disruptions and antagonisms stopped. We don't want that shit back. Do you really want NIK and his cronies back spouting their personalised brands of bile?
He and his pals may well have been the original architects of this site, along with its "robust" interchanges, but do you really want that level of offensiveness to return? Back then it operated on the intellectual level of Appalachian inbreds. We've got rid of that, don't let it return.

[Doc Holliday]

Thanks for the replies and input. I am clearly in a minority with my concerns.

An anecdote. Many years ago the owner of a forum I was a member of was fairly easy going with allowing banter and you needed a thick skin. However when he had had enough, and the thread was clearly going nowhere, it was moved to a separate section (Flaming) and to let those involved get on with it, so that others could just ignore it. The thread would then be deleted at a future date.

I am ashamed to say I recall ending up there more than once, with page after page of posts, sometimes well into the early hours, arguing with mostly one individual, not under any illusion I could change his/her stance, but in the naïve and mistaken belief that I could demonstrate to others that I was right and was 'winning'. I look back at that now and think what tossers we were.

In my defence though I was generally very civil and did not accuse my foe of being lacking in brain cells. In fact one of my regular adversaries was a highly intelligent individual (and civil also)

My perception is this type of behaviour is becoming more commonplace. Opinions presented as facts, everything black and white with no grey areas or common ground. Personal abuse of those who don’t share your opinion. Deliberate confrontation as a primary motive, rather than an open discussion, but above all repeated over and over again.

Much of this centres around topics with a political element and which is not confined to the dedicated thread. It spreads to other threads.

This morning the Tate topic has been resurrected and once again will just be an aggressive stalemate as the previous one was. This was actually the trigger for me starting this thread.
Then we have ridiculously heated and confrontational posts in a discussion about smart meters (also discussed before) Smart meters FFS.

Anyway as I say, it seems others do not share my concerns and cannot see the increasing direction of travel this hostility is taking. It seems some are also happy to continue posting in ever decreasing circles where stalemate has long since been reached.

On a personal level I think I have probably finally reached the totally jaded stage, so need to just leave you all to it 

Good luck.

Edit .. just to clarify I am not advocating a flaming section, it was just to demonstrate the point.

Also the ignore function is not the answer.

[JontyR]

Then we have ridiculously heated and confrontational posts in a discussion about smart meters (also discussed before) Smart meters FFS.

What have you got against smart meters Doc? Eh? Eh? 

[Doc Holliday]

What have you got against smart meters Doc? Eh? Eh? 

Nothing any more. Since reading the thread I have smashed mine with a hammer to ensure my safety. Unfortunately it now means I am typing this in the cold and by candlelight. My laptop battery is about to

[cunningman]

Nothing any more. Since reading the thread I have smashed mine with a hammer to ensure my safety. Unfortunately it now means I am typing this in the cold and by candlelight. My laptop battery is about to

+1 Brilliant.

[cunningman]

Edit .. just to clarify I am not advocating a flaming section, it was just to demonstrate the point.

Maybe we can have 'Conspiracy Corner' where the threads can be moved (or started even) and we can go when feeling pugilistic, but otherwise let the fuckwits get on with it.

It does concern me that politics is so heavily banned because it (or the results of decisions made by it, eventually) impacts on all of us and it impedes discussions about health care, international relations, trade, legality (and even debanking/taxation/support) of prostitution - which is somewhat on-topic.  It is hard to have a conversation about trafficking without politics, or even 'enablement/organising' where all the participants are eyes wide open and consenting.

I feel some of these things should be topics on here.  As indeed porn, which we have.  It disturbs me that we can't talk about dogging or some of the other ways we might seek thrills out of normal coupled relationships: it seems a bit weird, but its the rules.

It also disturbs me that I could review a guy with false tits that cross dresses but not a guy that is less feminine but more aligned to the experimentation I want.  Plenty of TS reviews are focussed on the cock and anal rather than the fake tits and femininity.  I don't think we should shut down TS reviews, and I understand why it might be necessary to defend against becoming a gay shag review site.  However it does seem like a double standard and clearly there are people who are experimental or into swinging both ways.

I do value 'Off Topic' but I also think sometimes there is 'not on here' rather than 'only in off topic'.  I think the distinction is sensible, but there is inconsistency in 'the rules' and what we allow.  We can all skip threads.  I'd like a site option to permanenty skip a thread so it doesn't show as new content but I understand it may not be a board feature.

[Blackpool Rock]

I wonder who that could be  🤔 I think a lot of people have him on ignore now as they are fed up reading the same old nonsense he posts.
As for the Off topic thread I don't see any reason to get rid of it. 

As per posts from about a week ago Daviemac wishes he could have him on ignore but at least we know he's on the radar so to speak

Agreed I don't see any issue with the OT section in general and opening up a dedicated Politics thread means there is somewhere dedicated to post / vent about this stuff.
IMO when it does spill over into another thread it quickly gets shut down either by the Mods or a comment from another member about how the thread is straying into politics or getting off topic etc, AIR the politics thread was partly started to avoid other threads getting derailed and IMO it's been largely successful

[Blackpool Rock]

Maybe we can have 'Conspiracy Corner' where the threads can be moved (or started even) and we can go when feeling pugilistic, but otherwise let the fuckwits get on with it.

That sound like a great idea or a dedicated conspiracy thread where only M&B can post, set it up so that some AI Bots can also post bollocks both in favour and against him and he can have hours of fun every day arguing with himself 

Though in fairness that's pretty much what the politics and Hypersonics threads already are as so many people have him on ignore   

[puntingking]

I totally disagree.
We got rid of religion and politics for a very specific reason (or reasons) and doing so worked: the disruptions and antagonisms stopped. We don't want that shit back. Do you really want NIK and his cronies back spouting their personalised brands of bile?
He and his pals may well have been the original architects of this site, along with its "robust" interchanges, but do you really want that level of offensiveness to return? Back then it operated on the intellectual level of Appalachian inbreds. We've got rid of that, don't let it return.

i'll be alright with anyone spouting any opinions or beliefs that they hold. I don't care and I would not care if I agree or disagree with their beliefs that they would share. British people are meant to be tolerant and respectful towards others views and beliefs. 

At the end of the day, it is not up to us to advocate for changes in ukp rules. Thankfully I don't have to make such decisions.
Also, I still wouldn't care if the off topic section went away or remain even though I contribute to this section quite regularly.

[lewisjones23]

I found the forum a much more amusing place when it was a bear pit, always used to make me laugh that people took offence and got their knickers in a twist to what a complete stranger said on the internet.

That said, theres not much I can do about it so have had to tone down my interactions on the forum a bit.

[puntingking]

I found the forum a much more amusing place when it was a bear pit, always used to make me laugh that people took offence and got their knickers in a twist to what a complete stranger said on the internet.

That said, theres not much I can do about it so have had to tone down my interactions on the forum a bit.

I agree 

[daviemac]

I agree 

Were you here prior to 2019, the time  lewisjones23 is referring to?   

[puntingking]

Were you here prior to 2019, the time  lewisjones23 is referring to?   

No, I came to this forum early 2019.
But I understand where he was coming from.
I am not in Ukraine but I can have an opinion about the war in Ukraine, right? 

Besides since I joined there have been heated discussions so I understood his sentiment. 

[mills_and_bhuna]

That sound like a great idea or a dedicated conspiracy thread where only M&B can post, set it up so that some AI Bots can also post bollocks both in favour and against him and he can have hours of fun every day arguing with himself 

Though in fairness that's pretty much what the politics and Hypersonics threads already are as so many people have him on ignore   

You sound like you'd be a great fan of BBC Verify

[finn5555]

Off topic has some pretty boring threads but equally some amusing.
It does make me laugh with what some people ask via off topic on a punting forum 😂🤦🏼‍♂️

[RedKettle]

I found the forum a much more amusing place when it was a bear pit, always used to make me laugh that people took offence and got their knickers in a twist to what a complete stranger said on the internet.

That said, theres not much I can do about it so have had to tone down my interactions on the forum a bit.

But that atmosphere was not restricted to Off Topic it infected everywhere.  In my opinion it put people off reviewing and posting about punting and we lost some good members either because they were hounded out and said fuck it and left or they over reacted and did something that got them banned. 

It was fine in for example the Brexit threads where as one of the few remainers to post I got regularly battered by the gang, including NIC, JRC and James999.  I was not bothered and kicked back.  But not in the punting sections where I remember a review I did being classed as an advert by someone who had a grudge because we crossed swords elsewhere.

[lewisjones23]

No, I came to this forum early 2019.
But I understand where he was coming from.
I am not in Ukraine but I can have an opinion about the war in Ukraine, right? 

Besides since I joined there have been heated discussions so I understood his sentiment. 

There used to be some real meltdowns, usually instigated by James999 or a few others.

The ' report posts ' used to be visible so you'd get people crying to Admin about the most ridiculous stuff, which then they'd openly be called out on as they didn't realise their report would be seen by others.

Then there would be English Rebecca and her ever changing stories. The best for me was the downfall of Paris B who got caught out helping wives on MN catch their punting husbands, her ridiculous story about her ' sister ' posting was an example of stop digging.

Amusing times, for me anyway, but the world moves on

[lewisjones23]

But that atmosphere was not restricted to Off Topic it infected everywhere.  In my opinion it put people off reviewing and posting about punting and we lost some good members either because they were hounded out and said fuck it and left or they over reacted and did something that got them banned. 

It was fine in for example the Brexit threads where as one of the few remainers to post I got regularly battered by the gang, including NIC, JRC and James999.  I was not bothered and kicked back.  But not in the punting sections where I remember a review I did being classed as an advert by someone who had a grudge because we crossed swords elsewhere.

Yeah you're probably right all things considered 🤷🏻‍♂️

[VolapUK]

I am clearly in a minority with my concerns.

Or maybe not, Doc - unfortunately, that's always been the case with OT boards, since the Internet forum was invented.

IMHO I always considered the OT board a bad idea. In such a board people argue, quarrel, eventually become biased against this or that member for reasons not related to the main subject of the forum, etc.

In an OT board people also talk about themselves - this is risky in a forum about a hobby where anonymity is gold. One punter could use biographical information against the other, some seedy journalist could gather information about us, and so on. (Call me paranoid if you wish, I probably am but...)

And the worst of it is, OT boards are dangerously addictive. I always visit the UKP one even if I know I'll regret visiting the Politics Thread   

[David1970]

I never use the politics thread, I'd be happy to see it go.

Only other area of concern is the Ukrainian war thread where we have just one idiot doing his best to provide the Russian justification, in so doing saturating the thread with so much crap that no-one else ever bothers

Off topic is good, I just ignore what does not interest me, it is the best policy.

Got to agree with Scutty, I have Putins puppet on ignore because he has filled the topic with crap, he is just looking for an argument.
I just wish people would not quote him.

[webpunter]

IMO hypersonics & politics serve a useful purpose
Certain UKPers mostly inactive [when it comes to punting] concentrate their time & effort on these threads
& are rarely seen elsewhere
Phew TFFT
As often tiresome fucktards at the best of times

If UKP wants to insulate itself as best it can from parties who would seek to get the forum banned IMO it would be best to remove anything to do with war, race, immigration, religion, gender & politics

[mills_and_bhuna]

If UKP wants to insulate itself as best it can from parties who would seek to get the forum banned IMO it would be best to remove anything to do with war, race, immigration, religion, gender & politics

Who are these people seeking to get it banned?
And how are they distinct from those who would seek to ban it for perceived misogyny or promotion of a pastime which let's face it is hardly dinner table chat friendly?

[hullad]

But that atmosphere was not restricted to Off Topic it infected everywhere.  In my opinion it put people off reviewing and posting about punting and we lost some good members either because they were hounded out and said fuck it and left or they over reacted and did something that got them banned. 

It was fine in for example the Brexit threads where as one of the few remainers to post I got regularly battered by the gang, including NIC, JRC and James999.  I was not bothered and kicked back.  But not in the punting sections where I remember a review I did being classed as an advert by someone who had a grudge because we crossed swords elsewhere.

100% agree hits the major points

I remember James999 coming onto a punting thread I had a comment on and basically was his usual bombastic self. I don't mind criticism, indeed wanted it at times but this guy never put on a review and was allowed to roam the boards spouting his vile outpourings.

Now cabman and me where opposing ends of the political spectrum, but it was never personal. I was going to meet him on a trip down to London for a drink alas he vanished.

The boards are a lot less aggressive these days ok one or two overstep at tomes but if hundreds are enjoying and exchanging info, knowledge and opinions against a couple of twats spouting shite.

I can put up with the shite