# Know of any good places to post controversial topics, especially for anti-Pit people? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 24, 2021, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-of-any-good-places-to-post-controversial-topics-especially-for-anti-pit-people/947179 "2021-07-24T06:10:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-of-any-good-places-to-post-controversial-topics-especially-for-anti-pit-people/947179/41 "2021-07-24T20:23:29Z")
That is generally how it is used here at the Dope. You’ll occasionally see posters make an announcement about leaving and others will refer to it as a flounce. If you search on the word it should turn up dozens or more likely hundreds of hits. * * * > [@Franklymydear](#): > > How much input does/should the OP have in controlling a thread? What do you think this link is saying? ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-of-any-good-places-to-post-controversial-topics-especially-for-anti-pit-people/947179/42 "2021-07-24T20:35:32Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > How about something like: OK, done. Thanks for writing that out. > [@Other places to discuss politics and other controversial topics?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-places-to-discuss-politics-and-other-controversial-topics/947219): > > I am no longer comfortable discussing politics and other controversial subjects here, because discussions tend to get polarized and sometimes political discussions lead to posters calling each other names in the pit. Can you recommend other sites where I can engage in vigorous political discussions, with both liberals and conservatives, but where “pit-like” posting is forbidden (although swear words are ok with me)? I’m also interested in learning about other places that debate controversial to… > [@puzzlegal](#): > > Notice that i didn’t insult anyone, and i don’t even think i said anything controversial. I didn’t suggest anything about bigoted posters, nor accusations thereof. Could that op go off-topic? Sure. But it’s much less likely to, since it’s unlikely to piss off anyone To me, it adds more questions than answers, but I’m just looking for the places, so we’ll see how it goes. ---
**Author:** ![Franklymydear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a6a055/32.png) [@Franklymydear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Franklymydear)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-of-any-good-places-to-post-controversial-topics-especially-for-anti-pit-people/947179/43 "2021-07-24T21:13:26Z")
Like most things, there was no clear rule that came out of it. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-of-any-good-places-to-post-controversial-topics-especially-for-anti-pit-people/947179/44 "2021-07-24T21:23:06Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Thank you. Not a definition of “flounce” I’ve ever seen before. 50+ hits for “flounced” here, including at least one thread with it in the title: > [@Flouncers and Their Steeds](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flouncers-and-their-steeds/913521): > > I figured I’d go ahead and compile a list of flouncers as I come across them, just in case anyone wants to add them to their ignore list. Because they totally aren’t coming back, right? To be clear, this isn’t for people who just stop posting or people who have complaints, but specifically for those who state their intent to stop posting by… making another post. If you don’t like this forum, then by all means leave. Maybe I will join you some day. Nothing wrong with that. And who knows, maybe o… ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-of-any-good-places-to-post-controversial-topics-especially-for-anti-pit-people/947179/45 "2021-07-24T21:26:32Z")
A conversation about the Straight Dope a couple of years ago. Me: You might like this discussion (posts link to SDMB). Her: I joined there years and years ago, but I don’t think I ever posted. How’s the message board over there these days? Me: Honestly, it’s gotten a little too liberal, even for my liberal tastes. There aren’t any reasonable conservatives left to argue with. And that was true. Not because the board changed. Because conservatism has changed. There’s nothing reasonable about today’s conservatives. They’ve drunk the Kool-aid and jumped right in the deep end. Do they have a single talking point that doesn’t boil down to Those people are \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_? ---
**Author:** ![Franklymydear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a6a055/32.png) [@Franklymydear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Franklymydear)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-of-any-good-places-to-post-controversial-topics-especially-for-anti-pit-people/947179/46 "2021-07-24T21:27:05Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > Frankly, my dear, you seem to have some strong opinions about the place for someone who just got here a few days ago. > > How about you fuck off (again) sock? i realize this is the pit, but really? ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-of-any-good-places-to-post-controversial-topics-especially-for-anti-pit-people/947179/47 "2021-07-24T22:47:01Z")
That last post is pretty ironic, given the BANNED: SOCK note next to that poster now. Anyway, we have had multiple threads on, for example, trans athletes that went along pretty smoothly for a while, starting several years ago. I learned tons about the rules and regulations regarding transwomen who want to compete alongside cis-women. Those threads go off the rails when posters start fretting about cis-men pretending to be transwomen to out-compete women. That’s when the underlying transphobia becomes apparent and that’s when those threads go off the rails. I’m really getting sick of racists and sexists posting anti-woman and racist threads and questions, and when called on it, complaining about anti-conservative bias. It’s just such a self-own also – “hey, that’s racist!” Conservatives: “yo, I resemble that remark”. Racism, homophobia, and sexism isn’t (or shouldn’t be) a core value of conservatism. Anyway, whatever. We’ll continue to lose “conservatives” as the conservative movement continues to go backwards when it comes to human rights. This place may get more boring, but it’s not everyone else’s fault that conservatives have decided to go full caveman. When they’ve lost enough of the electorate and decide to rejoin everyone else in the 21st century and get back to genuinely worrying about the debt, tax levels, a strong foreign policy, etc., maybe they will have something interesting to say again. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-of-any-good-places-to-post-controversial-topics-especially-for-anti-pit-people/947179/48 "2021-07-24T23:02:28Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > That last post is pretty ironic, given the BANNED: SOCK note next to that poster now. I think the first post is even more ironic. The poster wrote a pit-worthy rant wrapped around a question, and, when i asked why she’d phrased it so divisively, she replied > [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#): > > There’s no OP that makes sense without the background. If I asked for places to post controversial topics, I’d get people saying, ‘why can’t you post here?’. If I asked for places to post controversial topics that aren’t here, I’d get people asking, ‘why do you need to go somewhere else?’. It might also seem a little disingenuous to ask without mentioning why I’m asking. > > If you have suggestions on how to rephrase what I’m asking, I’m open to it. And when i suggested a milder way to ask the same question without insulting other posters, her reply was > [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#): > > To me, it adds more questions than answers, but I’m just looking for the places, so we’ll see how it goes. And this is the poster who wonders why others, with different hot spots from hers, want to keep the pit. Now, I’ve never actually felt the need to call out other posters in a way that has to be in the pit. Again, ironically, the closest I’ve come to that is when this poster somehow felt it was appropriate to turn my rather innocent rant about triple A into a referendum on the pit, itself. But i think it’s a little funny that she feels it’s easier to explain her point in the pit, but doesn’t want anyone else to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-of-any-good-places-to-post-controversial-topics-especially-for-anti-pit-people/947179/49 "2021-07-24T23:26:53Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > And this is the poster who wonders why others, with different hot spots from hers, want to keep the pit. Between 2007-2008, I was a Pit denizen. It was my only online home. I have more posts in the Pit than I do anywhere else except MPSIMS because I was also a member of the MMP at one time. I’m not wondering why people want to keep the Pit. I haven’t even posted that I wanted to get rid of it. I’m seeing the ways that it’s affecting the wider board and wondering if that is helping to grow or shrink the membership. Having seen some of the arguments, I think it’s shrinking the membership. I’m wondering what can be done about that. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > Now, I’ve never actually felt the need to call out other posters in a way that has to be in the pit. Again, ironically, the closest I’ve come to that is when this poster somehow felt it was appropriate to turn my rather innocent rant about triple A into a referendum on the pit, itself. But i think it’s a little funny that she feels it’s easier to explain her point in the pit, but doesn’t want anyone else to do so. Wow, this is confusing. First, I didn’t put this in the Pit. It was moved to the Pit. I was hoping to have this thread’s discussion in IMHO. So no, I didn’t think it was easier to post my point in the Pit, but this thread is already here. I could have easily have posted anything that I’ve posted here in IMHO, I think. As far as your AAA thread, there used to be a time when rants used to go in MPSIMS unless they were really horrible and was going to get people upset enough to get riled up. Maybe the rules/culture have changed since then. I was just saying that your rant wasn’t really that horrible. I apologize if you thought I was trying to say something else. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-of-any-good-places-to-post-controversial-topics-especially-for-anti-pit-people/947179/50 "2021-07-25T00:38:25Z")
> [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#): > > First, I didn’t put this in the Pit. It was moved to the Pit. Yes, but that’s because it seemed (to the mods) like it was inappropriate for IMHO and belonged in the pit, due to being aggressive towards other posters. > [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#): > > I was just saying that your rant wasn’t really that horrible. I apologize if you thought I was trying to say something else. I put it in the pit because i wanted to rant and rage, and i wanted everyone who opened the thread to understand that was my mood. But there had been something like 7 threads that day about the pit, and… Let’s just say they require some moderation. I don’t even feel all that strongly about the pit, but i was pretty weary about the topic. So when you popped up in my rant - a rant which i knew was fairly innocent - and suggested i “didn’t need to put it in the pit” it felt to me like you were trying to make it into yet another thread about the pit, a topic that i really really didn’t have the emotional energy to deal with at just that moment. As you may recall, it was the wee hours of the morning and I was waiting to hear from triple A. I think that’s the angriest I’ve ever been posting on the SDMB. No doubt it was mostly anger at triple A being displaced. But that wasn’t the post i needed to read right then. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-of-any-good-places-to-post-controversial-topics-especially-for-anti-pit-people/947179/51 "2021-07-25T01:19:36Z")
> [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#): > > There’s a small group of people telling everyone that some of what goes on here is bigoted, racist, sexist. etc. and that the people espousing those views need to go, with a few mods agreeing. > > … What’s your favorite place to post about controversial topics? I really thought the OP was advocating for the people espousing “those views”, and I just quoted “bigoted, racist, sexist. etc.” But I see that she could mean someone who “espouses” those views _but_ in this case the person advocating those views isn’t really bigoted themselves, it’s just that the rest of the board leaps to that conclusion. (I’m sorry, I’m from a far right-wing family that will advocate for views like separating children at the border and withholding food and medicine from them, and then say “What? Can’t I even discuss my views here?” And I’ve had five years of this and I’m so tired of it…) Heffalump, if you aren’t espousing bigoted views, then I owe you a big apology for misunderstanding, and everyone else here for poisoning the discussion. So, please, carry on the discussion as if I hadn’t jumped to conclusions. (Wow, we’re over 50 posts. I started this apology right away, it’s taken a while… now I’ll go back and read the whole thread.) . eta: OK, I caught up. And saw this: > [@What\_Exit](#): > > @digs in the future please don’t rise to the bait of threads like this and report them. Good advice. And maybe I’ll stay out of potential trainwrecks at first so I don’t make them worse. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-of-any-good-places-to-post-controversial-topics-especially-for-anti-pit-people/947179/52 "2021-07-25T01:53:55Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I think that’s the angriest I’ve ever been posting on the SDMB. No doubt it was mostly anger at triple A being displaced. But that wasn’t the post i needed to read right then. Sorry to hear it. Believe it or not, I posted that partly for your sake By all rights, you could have gotten flamed or people could have argued with you for hours that night. No one has the right to courtesy in the Pit, and I’ve seen some stuff that hasn’t gone down very nicely. Luckily it went ok (except for my post it seems), but that could partly be because you’re a mod. It’s also another reason why I was advocating for a Safe Zone forum. When people are having a bad night, like you were having that night, it might be nice to have a place to go where people can’t flame you at a vulnerable time. > [@digs](#): > > (I’m sorry, I’m from a far right-wing family that will advocate for views like separating children at the border and withholding food and medicine from them, and then say “What? Can’t I even discuss my views here?” And I’ve had five years of this and I’m so tired of it…) > > Heffalump, if you aren’t espousing bigoted views, then I owe you a big apology for misunderstanding, and everyone else here for poisoning the discussion. Thanks so much! I really appreciate this. 🙂 Hugs, bud. Sorry to hear about the conflict with your family. I can’t even imagine. My head would be spinning. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-of-any-good-places-to-post-controversial-topics-especially-for-anti-pit-people/947179/53 "2021-07-25T02:04:51Z")
Never been hugged by a Heffalump… ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-of-any-good-places-to-post-controversial-topics-especially-for-anti-pit-people/947179/54 "2021-07-25T02:12:41Z")
> [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#): > > Believe it or not, I posted that partly for your sake By all rights, you could have gotten flamed or people could have argued with you for hours that night. No one has the right to courtesy in the Pit, and I’ve seen some stuff that hasn’t gone down very nicely. Huh. Well, apology accepted. I wasn’t worried about being flamed, and not because I’m a mod. That’s really not the sort of thing people get flamed for, here, or anywhere I’ve posted. “I just had this freakishly bad customer service experience” doesn’t tend to rile people up. I did expect some people to tell me about their good experiences with triple A (and their bad ones, of course) but that might have made me feel better, and certainly wasn’t going to cause me any problems. And a message board wasn’t going to keep me awake. It’s not like there’s any requirement to answer right now! ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-of-any-good-places-to-post-controversial-topics-especially-for-anti-pit-people/947179/55 "2021-07-25T02:14:35Z")
I mean, when my car was broken into and a suitcase stolen, all the New Yorkers i spoke with said, “you left a car on the street with stuff visible inside it!” (Everyone else said, “oh how horrible”.) But that’s hardly being flamed. That’s about the worst i could image my thread going. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-of-any-good-places-to-post-controversial-topics-especially-for-anti-pit-people/947179/56 "2021-07-25T04:07:22Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Likewise, **Shodan** was interesting when he posted in Cafe Society. I never found him especially trollish, even when he posted about politics, for that matter; even if I completely disagreed with his opinions. Oh, man, Shodan was the worst. I think he’s the first person I ever pitted, due to his dishonest paraphrasing of things I’d said (ironically, in an effort to call me a liar for paraphrasing the Contract with America). Over and over his posts were in the zostersandstorm mode of misrepresenting what his political opponents said and then sneering at them for holding the stupid views he’d invented. That shit is toxic, but generally gets (got?) a pass in Great Debates–and as I’ve said elsewhere, that pass is a big part of why the Pit is important. As for Sam, he’s been complaining about how this place is a liberal cesspool (paraphrase alert!) for well over a decade, so I’m not sure what he imagines the good old days were. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-of-any-good-places-to-post-controversial-topics-especially-for-anti-pit-people/947179/57 "2021-07-25T10:02:16Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > I do understand that there’s a number of posters here who react to certain subjects on an emotional level rather than a logical one You say this like it’s a bad thing. I would damn well hope posters have an emotional reaction to racism, misogyny, homophobia etc. Preferably a negative one, but we all know that’s not the case for all posters here. If I wanted to talk to emotionless robots, I’d post on ELIZA sites instead. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-of-any-good-places-to-post-controversial-topics-especially-for-anti-pit-people/947179/58 "2021-07-25T10:09:55Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Clothy was a pretty good guy to hang out with outside of politics. Does his casual use of ethnic slurs count as “politics” to you? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-of-any-good-places-to-post-controversial-topics-especially-for-anti-pit-people/947179/59 "2021-07-25T10:57:22Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > If I wanted to talk to emotionless robots, I’d post on ELIZA sites instead. Can you elaborate on that? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-of-any-good-places-to-post-controversial-topics-especially-for-anti-pit-people/947179/60 "2021-07-25T11:13:39Z")
Don’t know what you’re talking about and I don’t really care at this point. He’s banned anyway. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-of-any-good-places-to-post-controversial-topics-especially-for-anti-pit-people/947179.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-of-any-good-places-to-post-controversial-topics-especially-for-anti-pit-people/947179.md?page=4)