Respectful Request to MODS

[2DogsFarm]

I miss Off Topic

Is there a possibility of reopening the forum and banning any & all political threads/posts?
Chicken BB That-Shall-Not-Be-Named, that I used for a while, sent warnings to members who got nasty & if ignored resulted in first a Timeout from posting, then permanent Ban.
If COTH has the same policy I am not aware of it (having never been warned off)
Or is it Just.Too.Much.Work?

I loved reading of horsepeoples’ lives outside of horses: gardening, cooking, decorating, affaires du coeur… etc
I miss having the sort of kaffe klatch atmosphere OT provided to members.
How will I ever know if any future Chicken escaped the Oven?
Or get a new recipe to bring to a potluck?
Or go green with envy over a COTH garden?

[beowulf]

@2DogsFarm

I miss Off Topic

Is there a possibility of reopening the forum and banning any & all political threads/posts?
Chicken BB That-Shall-Not-Be-Named, that I used for a while, sent warnings to members who got nasty & if ignored resulted in first a Timeout from posting, then permanent Ban.
If COTH has the same policy I am not aware of it (having never been warned off)
Or is it Just.Too.Much.Work?

I loved reading of horsepeoples’ lives outside of horses: gardening, cooking, decorating, affaires du coeur… etc
I miss having the sort of kaffe klatch atmosphere OT provided to members.
How will I ever know if any future Chicken escaped the Oven?
Or get a new recipe to bring to a potluck?
Or go green with envy over a COTH garden?

I am with you. I understand why it was done away with but boy do I miss my eye-opening, experience-sharing, advice-giving, recipe sharing people!! COTH is my community and I love reading all of the collective wisdom, especially this time of year, where the holidays come up.

plus, it’s about that time of year where SO ruins the turkey by brining it for a week, and I kvetch about it on COTH!

[cayuse]

I miss it too. It would be nice the mods would reconsider. I wouldn’t even care if they had a political thread and just let it rip as long as the political stuff stayed where it belonged.

[trubandloki]

@cayuse

I miss it too. It would be nice the mods would reconsider. I wouldn’t even care if they had a plotical thread and just let it rip as long as the political stuff stayed where it belonged.

The problem is, it does not stay where it belongs which the last thread asking about off topic proved.

[Bluey]

I expect the powers that be are every day reconsidering this same question.

They know everyone is hunting that forum first thing every day, hoping …

They also know, “why keep repeating the same and expect a different results”?

I would say that may be what is in their minds, if to try again and please many and how, so it is not the same result as several times have shown them that is how it ends, given the still out of hand divisive situation in real life.

[cayuse]

@trubandloki

The problem is, it does not stay where it belongs which the last thread asking about off topic proved.

Well I guess that was wishful thinking on my part :lol:. Human nature being what it is, I shoulda known better!

[Jackie_amp_Starlette]

I have been thinking the same thing …I miss off topic. I have updates. I don’t like to search the internet for individual groups. I respect what people have to say even if I don’t agree. And we all love horses!

Can’t there be a block of those who ruin it for others? I think when OT first started I believe I had to be approved to join? I can’t remember it’s been so long.

I so miss the variety and the information from OT.

[Simkie]

Fwiw, off topic was restricted to non political posts. We couldn’t handle that. Then they allowed one political thread. We couldn’t handle that. When it was closed, people brought the politics HERE, to help.

As a community, we’ve proven repeatedly to not be able to handle off topic without it devolving into a political cluster eff.

Unless the mods are willing to walk softly and carry a big banning stick, it’s not going to work. There’s a heavy handful that’s all too willing to ignore the rules. And what’s the threat of banning really mean when you can just sign up with another user name?

[danacat]

None of us posts political issues in any of the other forums because they are named: Hunter/Jumper, Racing, Dressage, etc. So why not get rid of Off Topic altogether and then add a new forum called Community Connections (or some similar title) with a tag line that pointedly steers the conversations to be about cooking/decorating/relationships/gardening etc – all things non-political?

[2DogsFarm]

Good to know I am not alone in missing OT.

I understand some folks Just.Cannot.Leave.Politics.OUT!, but just as IRL, I tune out those whose opinions differ from mine.I do not always have to convert or convince others their thinking is (IMHO) in error.

Some close friends think in a way 180 degrees from me, but they have other qualities that keep me wanting to converse & hang out, leaving the controversy out of it.
I’ve gotten pretty good at tongue-biting as I get older.

Even if it sets my teeth on edge or raises my hackles, they can have their stance, I can have mine & after all, horses - or recipes or what-ever - bring us together, right?

[Where_sMyWhite]

I think the challenge/problem for the Mods is that while most of us can tune the blather out, not everyone can and that, along with just flat out having to monitor the children’s language and tone just make it more of a headache for the Mods and COTH.

As always IMO

[Moderator_1]

Thanks for the thoughtful feedback everyone. We were planning to reopen at least for the long weekend, so get those topics ready.

@danacat I’m thinking a return to the no-politics rule is in order, and I’m liking your idea of renaming/refocusing that forum so it’s more narrow in scope and just takes that dynamic out of the equation…so it’s not just “anything else goes.” And if ya want to get more into current events and politics, you can pick another place that offers that. I’ve at least refreshed my well of patience enough to try! :winkgrin:

I think I’ll start a thread with name/guideline suggestions when we reopen for the weekend.

[Bluey]

@Moderator 1

Thanks for the thoughtful feedback everyone. We were planning to reopen at least for the long weekend, so get those topics ready.

@danacat I’m thinking a return to the no-politics rule is in order, and I’m liking your idea of renaming/refocusing that forum so it’s more narrow in scope and just takes that dynamic out of the equation…so it’s not just “anything else goes.” And if ya want to get more into current events and politics, you can pick another place that offers that. I’ve at least refreshed my well of patience enough to try! :winkgrin:

I think I’ll start a thread with name/guideline suggestions when we reopen for the weekend.

How 'bout that!

Maybe we can all contribute to that patience bucket by being extra careful with our words?

Genius moderating!
Thank you very much!

[Where_sMyWhite]

:love-struck: I think I’ve expressed this before

[Sswor]

I want to talk politics with horse people.

No one on the political thread got as nasty as they get elsewhere on this BB. COTH has a reputation for being extremely nasty and cutthroat in horse related discussions. The political thread was the most civil banter on the entire board. They’re meaner on Menagerie and that’s not horse related at all.

[peedin]

I don’t miss it. This is first and foremost a horse board. There are plenty of general boards in the ether that have lively political and other non-horse related conversations. Check out the Straight Dope or Giraffe.

[Jackie_amp_Starlette]

Happy Dance! I"m so glad. I run a Turboford car group (long story) on FaceBook with almost 7,000 members…and no politics allowed. Funny how well behaved these guys (mostly) are since I have that rule. It allows them to be focused on what they are interested in - 2.3 Ford motors - and I’ve only had to ban one or two from the list.

[Sswor]

Never mind, it’s not that important.

[Moderator_1]

Can you see/post in OT now? I was having some trouble accessing it with a non-mod account, but I saw someone else has posted in it.

I’m also having to phone-mod without wifi this weekend, so… :o

Thanks!

[Bluey]

OT seems fully functional, thank you!