Quite a lot, actually. I’ve yet to hear a compelling reason for not changing “Elections” to “Politics”, frankly.
Not to mention it’s still going on.
There is the “Upsides to the Trump Presidency” the “Why do so many people vote republican…” and the “Annoyed at people…” threads.
These are directly related to election and the upcoming political atmosphere. Unless the goal of the poll/question is to specifically get the opinions of non-political opinion, I see no reason why these threads should exist in IMHO.
On a positive note: They have basically disappeared from MPSIMS.
It may not be compelling to any particular individual, but here’s my take:
It is important to have distinctions between different fora. The reason it is important is because it routes traffic allowing people to more easily read topics they are are interested in. This is a similar reason why descriptive thread titles are a good thing.
The current status quo recognized value in separating Elections from Great Debate. There is a lot of discussion to be had around particular elections and their machinations that aren’t quite debate topics, but are interesting none the less. That distinction seems pretty clear most of the time so delineating between these two fora is not that difficult.
If Elections were to be changed to the broader topic of Politics, then the line between Politics and Great Debates is less clear. In practice the name change could yield no substantive change and all topics could be routed as they currently are - I expect however with the name change posters would expect a change in the sorting of various threads. In that case, many topics in Great Debates could also be appropriately categorized as Politics. Less clear delineation is a bad thing.
The impact on other fora like IMHO and MPSIMS could also be non-existent. A general thread simply expressing opinions on a subject that tangentially related to politics would not have a clear home. The umbrella of Politics is so wide I think it would cause less clarity, not more. Folks may legitimately want to query other posters about what the White House pet will be, which outfit the First Couple wore best, or other topics that have a backdrop of politics, but not really being related primarily to political matters.
Lots of folks either aren’t interested in Politics, Elections, or other related topics either all the time or some of the time so it’s understandable to wish to segregate these topics into a forum so they can be out of sight. On balance I think doing so reduces clarity overall for the boards and because of that I would be opposed.
I don’t know, to be honest. Greate Debates doesn’t automatically include “Politics”, at least IMHO. “What if the Confederacy won the US Civil War?” is an example of a non-political Great Debates question (albeit a hackneyed one).
Categorising things so people can read topics of interest would surely indicate creating a “Politics” forum would be a good idea?
I honestly don’t think it would reduce board clarity at all - quite the opposite. You want to go on about how Senator Biscuitbarrel has done something you don’t like? Take it to the Pit or Politics. Want to ask why The Silly Party has lost its way and started becoming sensible? Take it to politics. Want to know who the first elected MP for the Standing At The Back Wearing A Silly Hat and Looking Silly Party was? That’s got a factual answer and can go to GQ.
I’m not sure folks from the US realise just how many political threads there can be on the boards because you guys are so used to it - politics certainly seems to be a bigger part of the “conversation” in the US than it does here, at least IME.
Frankly, the fact that the (not so terribly) suggested Trump forum was closed because “all it did was turn into Trump bashing” is all the more reason to sequester the political forums to just the Elections/Politics forum.
The mere hint at politics is like a damn secret CIA spy codeword that turn normal SDMBers into insane anti-Trump ramblers. So why let that seep into the other forums? Just keep it all in one and everyone can have their padded room to bounce around in and parrot “Tump” a thousand times.
Exactly.
Now, more than ever, I wish we had a Politics forum. I’m trying to keep up with everything going on right now in Washington, and I have to go back and forth between GQ, Elections, GD, IMHO, MPSIMS, The Pit, and sometimes even Cafe Society. I haven’t checked The Marketplace recently–are there Trump threads in there, too? 
Hey, if you want to get your haiku on, don’t forget Let’s do Trump haiku over in Thread Games. 
Pretty much how I’m feeling, minus the “trying to keep up with it”. I know the folks in charge usually say “It’s always like this after an election, give it a few weeks and it will settle down” but I think the Trump presidency will be a different kettle of fish.
The Social Media Right-On crowd are inundating all my social media feeds with wall-to-wall Trump Hating, outrage, Calls To Action, phone numbers for counselling hotlines, digital group hugs, and name-calling of anyone without the approved opinions.
I’ve never seen anything like it before and I don’t think it’s going to calm down anytime soon, so I agree it’s really time to create a “Politics” or “Trump” forum so the rest of us can have the messageboard back.
I think you’re right, it won’t settle down, and I speak as someone who’s started his fair share and more of Trump threads lately. I intend to throttle down on that, it gets one into such venomous exchanges that it’s starting to sour the whole board for me, but clearly the Trump topics will continue. And it’s right they should. Love him or loathe him this man was an extraordinarily different candidate and will be an equally extraordinary President.
Confining Trump matters to one forum sounds good, leaving the rest of the board a haven from such concerns, but I’m not sure it can be done. He’s the President and as such affects all areas of life: news, politics, arts, commerce, sport, health, etc. It’s inevitable his name will crop up in CS, IMHO, MPSIMS and even GQ. I think we’re going to have to live with it.
So the board is restricted to the number of fora it can have? Would it be possible to add two political areas, one in the Pit for the hard core ranters and one outside of it for more genteel folks? Concentrate on dumping the threads that meander into general politics there.
President for sale. Slightly used. Cheap. Free. WE’LL PAY YOU TO TAKE HIM!!!
I’ll chip in a few bucks!
I think there’s a huge difference between “As president, Mr Trump is tangentially relevant to a discussion topic” (which is fine and not a problem) and “I CAN’T BELIEVE THE PRESIDENT DID [SOMETHING]! WHO WANTS TO BE ANGRY WITH ME???” or “Everyone who supports President Trump is an awful, puppy-kicking Nazi who should apologise for existing”, which is basically what The Pit has become.
I absolutely think it’s possible to separate the two out. If it’s ranty, accusatory or combatitive and it involves President Trump, it goes to the Soundproof Forum.
I see the distinction you’re making. That would indeed work and be of benefit to the board.
Came in to say this. Makes perfect sense.
mmm
We don’t need a Politics forum; we need a Trump forum. Any OP that mentions Trump, or anything Trump did, or anything that Trump said, or anything about why he was elected, or anything about anyone who voted for him - goes automatically to the new forum.
I was going to suggest suspension for anyone who started more than one thread a week there, but we would lose half our membership within a month.
Regards,
Shodan
Please, please, pretty please, create at either one or two Trump fora so that I can never go there. Either that or type all thread titles related to Trump in Orange as a warning. Either way.
I’m neutral on renaming Elections to Politics but I’m really not convinced over a new forum. I have a feeling that as time passes the flood will become more like the regular flow we saw over President Obama the last eight years. Maybe a little higher volume (most of us were pro-Obama and its usually a negative reaction that provokes an OP) but nothing the Mods can’t handle. Heck, they are doing pretty good now.
As the one who started this thread in the first place, and who has been absolutely fighting on bringing it back to life…I can get behind this too. It might even be a better option than just renaming “Elections” to “Politics”.
I completely disagree with this. These threads will not stop. I’ve been trying to be patient in the past couple weeks because the inauguration just happened, but a lot of the threads aren’t even talking about something, or asking a real question. They’re just the classic “Let me be oh so funny and make an anti-Trump thread! lololololol.” Ones that come to mind are “Stop using his name” and “I was wrong about Trump he’s rational…” If you want to make these kind of “ironic” posts then the link to the Buzzfeed Community is right over there.
On the other hand, there are certain kinds of posts that work. “What will you do if the ACA is repealed” is an actual question with actual answers. More or less, it has a REAL point.
These threads aren’t going to stop and I don’t want to succumb myself to just living in The Game Room (although it popped in there too) and Cafe Society (again, it’s reared its ugly head a few times) because the other forums have divulged into “lol my joke on Trump everyone come agree with me!”