The SDMB has been polarized before, but this is, frankly, getting creepy.
I am deeply concerned about divisiveness tearing this Board apart.
I’ve been a member since 1999, & have a long-term, vested concern with the SDMB.
I am not trying to tell the Mods & Admins their jobs.
I am not trying to tell others what their opinion should be.
I am not trying to stifle debate.
But this Board is tense!
Perhaps cooling off time is needed.
Perhaps you should shut off the Location function.Because it has ceased to be used for its intended function, & is being transformed into a Party identification badge.
Hmmm. I guess I haven’t seen this happening, would you please cite a few instances? I’m assuming it’s happening enough that you have this understandable concern, that it’s not just a once or twice occurrence?
We’ll discuss this amongst the mods, but it seems to me on the surface:
We do have non-US members (many) who don’t get all heated about the US election (actually, we have US members who don’t get heated about an election, as well, but you know what I mean.)
Stereotyping based on geography is damn silly (“Oh, you’re from Texas, you must be a red-necked evangelical gun-toting lying Republican.” “Ha, you’re from Massachusetts, yhou must be pinko commie child-murdering spendthrift Democrat.”) Arguably, such stereotyping amounts to “hate speech” directed against people because of geography, and is reportable as an offense against our rules?
The board is kinda tense, but the Obama location thing seems to be pretty lighthearted and hasn’t made anybody snap as far as I know. As for McCain locations, I haven’t even seen one.
I thought it was just cute and funny. (On both sides.) The board is tense? I hadn’t personally noticed. But then, I tend to avoid the political debate threads. Shrug.
In a light-hearted sense, I see no problems. There have always been humorous entries in ‘Location’.
In a serious sense, Bush and the Republicans have made the World a more dangerous place (particularly to the British soldiers who are being killed in Iraq and Afghanistan), as well as smearing the good name of the US.
I read a lot of the political threads, and have reasonably strong political opinions of my own – but I don’t get tense by reading or hearing competing political opinions.
It’s inevitable that during a US presidential campaign there will be strong opinions on each side – and some will believe that the opposition represents the very bottom of the pit of depravity. And this campaign has already been going on a long time, and has nearly 5 months still to go.
But if people get tense over a little thing like the Obama location, I think the problem lies inside themselves, and they might need to just ignore that little annoyance.
(Though I will resist the temptation to change my location to “Central Ohiobama”).
I don’t see the harm, but as an Obama supporter, I’m concerned with the inevitable backlash to Obamamania coming to a peak just in time for the election.
I wish some of his more strident supporters (not just here) would tone down the rhetoric because you are NOT going to win people over with that shit, ever, and it’s more important for the man to get elected than for anybody, online or otherwise, to get their nyah-nyahs out…
I, for one, have always found witty and/or ambiguous location markers rather tiresome. A lot of times, an idea of a poster’s location adds some context to a post.
I see it as the equivalent of a yard sign or a lapel button – an indication of political support without the intent of picking a fight. Read it or ignore it, your choice.
As a Mod in GD, I would have to say that I would only number fewer than a dozen posters–mixed among Obama lovers, Obama haters (divided among the Clinton supporters and the Obama is too liberal camps)–as anything resembling rabid. (And no one is really passionate about McCain.) I really don’t think we are going to see a board divided against itself failing to stand. A few of the more excitable posters are liable to indulge themselves in the hyperbolic remarks that have always characterized their participation, but I do not see that spilling over into the larger membership.
I find it interesting that the “Change your location to Obama Country” thread has been up for 10 days, and no one’s been concerned, but the “Change your location to something other than Obama Country” thread has been up for a mere 12 hours and already someone is complaining.
