What's wrong with the VPT?

[stui magpie]

There's always been 2 topics of conversation guaranteed to get you into a fight in a pub. Politics and Religion.

Religion has waned, politics hasn't.

[Pi]

The problem is we cant fight about football because we all support the same team.

[eddiesmith]

I don't know, there is plenty of fighting over football with the optimists who think losing every week is acceptable and the realists who could see that the coach sucked years ago and it's taken the club way too long to sack him.

[think positive]

Maybe create a thread tag called something like 'PFFFT' (Politics-free Thread) would work. Then, casual visitors would know which threads to avoid and you get the best of all worlds. I think phpBB has a tagging option somewhere back there.

Nope the guys here could turn a dick pic into a political statement, there’s not a discussion on earth thus forum doesn’t make political! I’m jezza is sick of me checking if I’m left or right, but politics doesn’t bother me as much as being bitchy for the sake of it, and name calling, it’s just so not necessary

Assholes!

[Lazza]

Some posters need a thicker skin to absorb opinions that they don’t like or support. Like OP said, everyone has an opinion but some opinions are more correct than others in my opinion

[David]

It’s never been perfect, but I can’t point to any particular point in time when the VPT was clearly better than it is now. Yes, there are posters I miss and others who I wish would post more often, but it’s a natural facet of bulletin boards that people come and go, and I feel like we’ve had a number of quality posters become regulars in here over the last year or so. So I’m not sure I can agree with the premise of this thread that there’s something fundamentally "wrong" with the subforum.

[Jezza]

The place has deteriorated. Can’t say I have any regrets of reducing my posting here.

A lot of robust debate has morphed into nasty insults and fights. I’m not surprised many good posters have left over the years.

[stui magpie]

It’s never been perfect, but I can’t point to any particular point in time when the VPT was clearly better than it is now. Yes, there are posters I miss and others who I wish would post more often, but it’s a natural facet of bulletin boards that people come and go, and I feel like we’ve had a number of quality posters become regulars in here over the last year or so. So I’m not sure I can agree with the premise of this thread that there’s something fundamentally "wrong" with the subforum.

people have the option to say there's nothing wrong with it, Only 2 people so far have said that.

[think positive]

The place has deteriorated. Can’t say I have any regrets of reducing my posting here.

A lot of robust debate has morphed into nasty insults and fights. I’m not surprised many good posters have left over the years.

yep spot on

[doriswilgus]

It probably needs some new blood to express some different thoughts and opinions..Unfortunately Nicks has become a bit of a closed shop with very few new posters joining the site.Why is that,I wonder?Aren’t the public allowed to join this forum,or is it by invitation only?

[David]

It’s never been perfect, but I can’t point to any particular point in time when the VPT was clearly better than it is now. Yes, there are posters I miss and others who I wish would post more often, but it’s a natural facet of bulletin boards that people come and go, and I feel like we’ve had a number of quality posters become regulars in here over the last year or so. So I’m not sure I can agree with the premise of this thread that there’s something fundamentally "wrong" with the subforum.

people have the option to say there's nothing wrong with it, Only 2 people so far have said that.

It’s all about how the question is framed. Even though I chose that option, I could easily suggest areas in which this place is less than optimal and pick one if offered a list. If you ask people whether they generally enjoy the VPT and find it a worthwhile place to hang out, as opposed to currently feeling discontented with it (as I’m guessing you may be), you might get a very different breakdown of responses. It’s little more than a question of whether your glass is half empty or half full.

[stui magpie]

fair points but I won't be lectured by the poll butcherer on how to construct one.

I think I put all the background context in the OP.

[think positive]

It’s never been perfect, but I can’t point to any particular point in time when the VPT was clearly better than it is now. Yes, there are posters I miss and others who I wish would post more often, but it’s a natural facet of bulletin boards that people come and go, and I feel like we’ve had a number of quality posters become regulars in here over the last year or so. So I’m not sure I can agree with the premise of this thread that there’s something fundamentally "wrong" with the subforum.

people have the option to say there's nothing wrong with it, Only 2 people so far have said that.

It’s all about how the question is framed. Even though I chose that option, I could easily suggest areas in which this place is less than optimal and pick one if offered a list. If you ask people whether they generally enjoy the VPT and find it a worthwhile place to hang out, as opposed to currently feeling discontented with it (as I’m guessing you may be), you might get a very different breakdown of responses. It’s little more than a question of whether your glass is half empty or half full.

i used to really enjoy it, even when i was getting trolled relentlessly, and nothing was done about it, actually it was - i got told off for retaliating!!!!

go look at the happy thread, people used to say go you well done, more than just 1 or 2 people, now they dont. i dont post much here now at all, i used to share a lot, i no longer do. where are all the happy birthday posts? i look at the covid thread and literally look for Pies4shaws comments, i am so over the idiotic Scotty from marketing, the dan comments, its worse than fricken Karen! used to be we could disagree with each other without name calling, now its getting quite nasty at times.

[pietillidie]

Maybe create a thread tag called something like 'PFFFT' (Politics-free Thread) would work. Then, casual visitors would know which threads to avoid and you get the best of all worlds. I think phpBB has a tagging option somewhere back there.

Nope the guys here could turn a dick pic into a political statement, there’s not a discussion on earth thus forum doesn’t make political! I’m jezza is sick of me checking if I’m left or right, but politics doesn’t bother me as much as being bitchy for the sake of it, and name calling, it’s just so not necessary

Assholes!

You could do this really strictly, though. Any mention of politics gets deleted in those threads. Would that be roughly feasible David/P4S?

Then, people can blame themselves for getting involved if they wade into politics. Politics is ugly by definition and I don't think you can control it without turning it into the Oxford School of Whatever debate forum.

You might think name calling is a major problem, while others might think implied dehumanisation is a far bigger problem (e.g., an entire thread devoted to Muslim ills sitting at the top of the forum for what seemed like years), so you will never draw a line of acceptability for politics threads apart from the most egregious cases. The value systems and sensitivities of posters, often based on personal idiosyncrasies and unique histories, differ too much.

[think positive]

Attack the behaviour not the person, play the ball not the man, simple really, just be nice