The usual suspects - closed thread(s) that is

I got an idea. Retain non-boating topics, but disable the ability of anyone to register complaints about any of the content therein, in other words enter at your own risk. Seems feasible to me.

 

Then you have the problem that non-relevant political or religious arguments confront people who visit the site to enjoy boat design, boatbuidling, and boating. Other members who come to share the common interest in boat design and boating are offended by some political and religious threads, and in a worst case, are turned away from the site.

It's better to have such non-informational (when considered on the basis of the purpose of the site: to share information on boat design, boatbuilding, and boats) political and religious topics on a different site. There are plenty of forums where such discussions would be at home and of interest, and not spill over or offend those who visit this site for all things boats and boating, not politics or religion.

 

...minding your manners and thinking before you speak is the best .

The internet is a funny place. People are free to throw eye pokes and generally cause trouble.

In real life people mind their manners for fear of a rubber hose upside the head.

The only way a forum can work is with an aggresive moderator who weilds a rubber hose and pulls a thread when he feels its not in the best interest.

Religon ? Politics ? who knows ?...moderators call.

 

My experience with internet forums is that proprietors err on the side of tolerance because they think that will keep traffic up, and maximise revenue, is there something untoward happened here lately that has caused a drop-off in patronage ?

 

A few members such as Frosty have been pushing hard to have political and other off-topic topics remain open and have objected to them being closed when other members reported posts and found them offensive, for example the thread originally titled "Religious wailings of Isreal". The great majority of complaints recently have involved topics related to politics or religion, and not of informational value to boat design or boatbuilding. When political or religious topics cause offense to those who come here to focus on boat design and boats, they become counterproductive to the core purpose of the site.

The purpose of this site was never to provide a platform for political or religious preaching, for or against.

The purpose of the site is to provide a place where everyone can enjoy coming to share a common interest in boat design, boatbuilding, and all things boats and boating, no matter what their diverse background.

Therefore, for political and religious arguments, please find a good forum that welcomes political and religious arguments; there are hundreds of forums which not only welcome but are built around politics or religion. This way, your political or religious arguments will remain open and unrestricted on whatever other site you choose, and won't spill over to offend naval architects, boatbuilders, or boaters here. With a modern web browser, there is no problem keeping multiple sites open in tabs or bookmarked, and so there is no need for this site to provide a political or religious platform.

Here is a list of other forums where political topics would be welcome:
https://www.google.com/search?q=politics forum

Here is a list of other forums where religious topics would be welcome:
https://www.google.com/search?q=religion forum

 

When I joined 7 years ago, the forum was strictly about boats and members would police each other. It attracted a lot of members.

I guess over the years, members have become friends and comfortable with each other and felt free to discuss anything they like.

I agree with Jeff.

Would you go to Starbucks to order a meal?
When building a boat and you hurt yourself, would you go to the lumberyard to seek medical treatment?
Would you go to church to discuss politics?

 

OK, couldn't be clearer, it just surprises me that people on the forum are so censorious of each other, must be more touchy types here than I imagined ! I guess the old story never discuss religion or politics at the barbecue still applies !

 

politics and boat building ? The present depression like conditions in my area ,with the shipyard empty and contractors going belly up every week, is the result of politics.

The new berth tax in Italy ? Politics.... that could cripple or change the way the Italian marine industry operates.

Greece is a favorite destination for my clients. Big political, social problems in Greece may change the itinerary for many yachts.

 

Quite agree. I recommended the forum to a Marine Engineer praising how great it is. But when he perused the site, he was quite surprised other topics are being discussed. He told me " I thought this is a boat forum?". He did not register.

 

Well...when you read THE ECONOMIST magazine it is not only about economics ?

 

There are plenty of sites where people post anything and everything; for example, facebook is a site where people post whatever pops into their mind without regard to any specific subject. And then there are innumerable sites on any and every topic. This site is fundamentally a site about boat design, boatbuilding, and all things boats and boating. Some will see it as censorious to be asked to take the political and religious arguments elsewhere; another way to look at it is the freedom of others who come here to enjoy a common interest in boats not to have political and religious arguments thrust in their face. When you go to the marina, do you want to find a political rally? Or when you want ideas on a boat you are working on, do you want people to come up and start talking politics all the time? This thread began because a few members wanted their political, religious, or otherwise way-off-topic threads to remain open that had been closed because other members had reported the off-topic threads as offensive. The response is that they have the freedom to continue any conversation they want, but it shouldn't be on this site which focuses on boat design, boatbuilding, and boats, when the off-topic threads begin to offend other members who come here to enjoy boats, not be confronted by religion or politics. The place for political and religious topics to go unrestricted by any other concern is on a political or religious forum. There are plenty.

Coming full circle, the idea was proposed of providing a separate area so one person's freedom to argue over politics didn't confront others' freedom to focus on boats without the politics being an offensive thorn in their side or sliver under their skin when they visit a site about boats. However, looking at how this would work and the advantages and disadvantages, it makes more sense for those interested in politics and religion to utilize one of the hundreds of separate sites which already exists for the very purpose of political and religious debate and argument.

Here is a list of other forums where political topics would be welcome:
https://www.google.com/search?q=politics forum

Here is a list of other forums where religious topics would be welcome:
https://www.google.com/search?q=religion forum

 

What a small minded person that was, in fact, many of us do not miss him...

I can mention two very well known Steel Building Boating sites where your marine engineer would have been content with or in fact, be in heaven for whats its worth, where only boating topics are allowed and an innocent joke treated as the biggest sin (being a victim of this) known to mankind and not to mention the flack that follows upon you when you have sinned....
To make it worse it is not that easy to to become a member and has to be approved by the moderator(s).

Now you will say that is a good boat site and you may be correct, BUT, patronage is far and few between, mostly the handful of current members there batting the innings, some forums have no posts for years
No surprise then, if you clampdown a site to be pure and strictly related to specifics, its only a matter of time before it kills itself like the two sites I mentioned.
One used to be the site to go for for steel boat building only a few years ago and a very sad place now. Even have to register before you can enter the site for casual browsing and that registration takes a few days. No wonder people turn away.

As a side note; life is to serious to go without humor and jesting - smile and the world smiles with you.

 

I propose that if you feel it would be good to have unrestricted threads on politics and religion, you should create a forum under your http://5psi.net site. It can be linked from this thread for other boat people who do enjoy heated political and religious arguments and debates.

This sub-forum of the boat design net site, All Things Boats and Boating, will remain a place for more general topics on "All Things Boats and Boating" which are somewhat related to the common interest in boats which draws everyone here and do not cause such frequent problems and offense of other members as religious or political arguments. Creative building, engineering, science and technology threads; threads on trips, ports, races, and destinations; threads on ships and shipwrecks; threads on boating regulations, docking and marinas, trailering and transportation; threads on equipment and gear, living, camping, and cooking onboard; threads on the boating industry; and topics loosely related to boats or boating which everyone enjoys are great for this "All Things Boats and Boating" forum and have historically not caused problems requiring threads to be closed or other members to be offended.

In the meantime, for religion and politics, people can visit
https://www.google.com/search?q=politics forum
https://www.google.com/search?q=religion forum

 

Man, is our moderator patient!

I can't say I'd be as patient in the same situation.

 

Thanks. Unfortunately, sometimes everyone's requests can not be accommodated, as sometimes the desires of some members conflict with those of others or the core goal of the site. Fundamentally, the purpose of the site is to provide a place where everyone can enjoy visiting to learn and share the common interest in boat design, boatbuilding, and all things boats and boating. Providing a place for unrestricted political and religious threads is beyond the scope of this site.

It makes the most sense for those interested in heated political / nationalistic or religious arguments to take part in one of the many existing forums that exist for that very purpose. Or if people feel there is an unmet need, they are free to take the opportunity to create a politics and ships or boats and religion site.