Politics forum moderation

With a few fresh faces here in the Politics forum, now is a good time to reiterate that the forum rules here are more relaxed than in other areas of the message board.

As I'm sure you all know, discussing sensitive issues such as religion or politics can cause intense disagreements and emotions. I would strongly encourage anyone that is getting upset or angry to walk away before posting things that might cause more tension. If necessary, write a response but don't post it, then wait a few hours and decide if the post is a good idea.

Try to remember that discourse is very important, and though we might not agree with what we read on the board, we should be respectful of other's views (even if they're wrong! :-))

I fully expect issues to arise in this part of the boards, and I fully expect a few verbal brawls. All we ask is to keep it "above the belt".

Thank you.

-Fred
SETI Forums Admin
setiforums at ssl.berkeley.edu

Fred, thank you very much for reminding everyone of the ground rules here. As you rightly say, we have a few new faces in the politics forum, and I believe this will have been helpful to them.

My own view has always been that we may have our own firmly held opinions, but "let's agree to disagree". That seems to me to be a sensible and responsible way to behave.

As you will know yourself, we have a damn good Mod team at present, who are adept at keeping a benign eye upon us all, and only rapping our knuckles when really necessary. We can help them in that task by treating each other with basic respect.


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Damsel Rescuer, Kitty Patron, Raccoon Friend, Uli Fan,
Julie Supporter, ES99 Admirer, PETA Member, 1st Childhood

I speak only for myself. Thank you to Fred and Chris.
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Pluto will always be a planet to me.

Cash Donation Specialist

As a reminder, racially offensive words are not allowed on these forums, even in Politics. Posts containing racially offensive words will be removed.

Thank you for your cooperation.

-Fred
SETI Forums Admin
setiforums at ssl.berkeley.edu

I agree Fred, there's better ways to make your point than to use certain offensive words.

There are some subjects on these boards and forums that are always going to end up in tears before bedtime. With people getting hot under the collar, losing their temper, and either getting banned, or the threads being closed. One is religion, and another is racism.

The fact that we have a politics board at all in a scientific project like Seti, is by the generosity of the Admins. If some people here wish to discuss these subjects in a no holds barred environment, then they are perfectly at liberty to start up their own bulletin board somewhere else, where there are no limitations upon what is said.

In the meantime, the Seti boards are open for the general public to view, without needing a login or password, or indeed being a cruncher at all. And, most importantly, without restrictions upon age. Therefore posts HAVE to be kid friendly, and need to be moderated to ensure that the necessary rules are complied with.

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Damsel Rescuer, Kitty Patron, Raccoon Friend, Uli Fan,
Julie Supporter, ES99 Admirer, PETA Member, 1st Childhood

Regarding off-topic posts, I have instructed my moderators to allow conversations to wander like all good conversations do. If a thread owner does not wish to see off-topic posts, please state the rules for the thread in the opening post. Note that if a subject is mentioned by the thread originator and someone else comments on it, this is then considered "on topic".

Complaining in threads that posts are off topic only serves to further drag the conversation off topic. Please Red-X any posts that may be off topic for consideration, and if found off topic (as stated in the opening post's rules), it will be removed.

-Fred
SETI Forums Admin

Hi Fred,

+1 Seems a quite sensible approach to me.