Is this Sandbox too political?

[HDGristle]

Being told that I'm straying off topic, so let's discuss.

Idea being that the drumbeat of daily political rancor is and has driven off or drowned out most other conversation.

Not looking for your politics, but for consensus or at least to get to a majority opinion on whether the shift to a politics heavy sandbox is good or bad.

Feel free to share. Agree. Disagree. Keep it civil. Don't use slurs or rude nicknames for opposing ideologies.

For those who haven't been vocal, this is an opportunity to weigh in

[winn dixie]

Folks are free to come up with their own topics for discussion. Theres also ignore features and restraint.
Kind of a free speech issue hey'?

[bambino]

Originally Posted by winn dixie

Folks are free to come up with their own topics for discussion. Theres also ignore features and restraint.
Kind of a free speech issue hey'?

Of course. Why bitch about things you have no control over. If Eccie management thought certain thread topics were detrimental to the site, they would stop it. Control things that you can. There are several threads in the SB that don’t discuss politics. Including several from the OP. Just open threads that interest you. It’s that easy.

I just checked, there are 4 thread topics that don’t have anything to do with politics on the 1st page of the SB. One by the OP, two by me and one by Salty. They’re there if you’re not too lazy to look.

[snoopy75]

I'm just happy that politics are being kept in the Sandbox only, for the most part. If they proliferated every environment I would be driven away from this site.

[Yssup Rider]

There is definitely more hyper partisan bile here than in any other forum on ECCIE.

That’s a simple observation that’s an incontrovertible truth.

[HDGristle]

Human attention span doesn't lend toward people digging 3 pages deep to wade through politics to find something else to talk about. We know people are lazy.

Restraint also works both ways, and politics often gets injected into threads where it's the OT item derailing shit.

The notion of "don't open it" doesn't mean it doesn't drown out other discussion or drive off people. Instead it seems to show the outsized impact of what may be a vocal minority.

Thoughts?

When 4 of 20 threads on page 1 are politics, I think the weight of discussion has shifted too far in one direction.

When 24 of the most recent 40 threads are political and posted by one person... that's showing an outsized impact.

The question isn't about restricting posting or discussion. It's really, is the politics stifling other discussions?

[HDGristle]

Originally Posted by snoopy75

I'm just happy that politics are being kept in the Sandbox only, for the most part. If they proliferated every environment I would be driven away from this site.

Interesting take. Do they drive you away from participating in the Sandbox more regularly?

[bambino]

Originally Posted by Yssup Rider

There is definitely more hyper partisan bile here than in any other forum on ECCIE.

That’s a simple observation that’s an incontrovertible truth.

No, it’s the Political Forum, where you spend most of your time. But thanks for the visit.

[berryberry]

Always love how people want to shut down discussions they disagree with.

The Sandbox is a collection of off-topic discussions.

Nothing wrong at all about talking about current events or political issues that impact us all. Nothing wrong with learning about different topics. bottom line, if the subjects interest you, chime in. If they don't, then ignore them.

No one is telling you what subjects you can post about. Why are you trying to tell others?

[HDGristle]

I'm not saying don't post political threads. We're having a different discussion, about whether the current imbalance is stifling other discussions.

Please stay on topic.

[AmishGangster]

Originally Posted by Yssup Rider

There is definitely more hyper partisan bile here than in any other forum on ECCIE.

That’s a simple observation that’s an incontrovertible truth.

It didn’t used to be called The Litterbox for nothing. Not sure who changed it back when they relaunched the site but it was a dumb decision

[AmishGangster]

Originally Posted by HDGristle

I'm not saying don't post political threads. We're having a different discussion, about whether the current imbalance is stifling other discussions.

Please stay on topic.

The answer to change the balance is simple, start more threads that arent political

[HDGristle]

Originally Posted by AmishGangster

The answer to change the balance is simple, start more threads that arent political

That is one solution. The obvious one. But why isn't it happening more? What's impacting the current mix and lack of new content generation?

[berryberry]

Originally Posted by HDGristle

I'm not saying don't post political threads. We're having a different discussion, about whether the current imbalance is stifling other discussions.

Please stay on topic.

No one is stopping you or anyone else from posting whatever other discussions you want. If people find them interesting, they will reply. If they don't find them interesting, they won't. So this whole thing is silly.

[HDGristle]

Thanks for your opinion, berry. So noted.