US Politics: Keep or Close Forum? IMPORTANT!

Black Swan · 23-10-2014 11:57am #1

There's been some talk in a recent Feedback thread that suggested the subforums under Politics should be discontinued. If this was to occur for all Politics subforums, the US Politics forum would disappear forever, and the OPs and posts here would be transferred to the generic main Politics forum. In like manner, new threads that pertained to US politics would have to be posted in the generic main Politics forum.

Just because other subforums may be consolidated into the generic main Politics forum someday, it does not mean that this has to happen to the US Politics forum. Do you think that we should keep the US Politics forum, or close it?

Brian? · 23-10-2014 12:27pm

Keep it open! I have a feeling that if it's closed we'll lose many regular posters on the forum.

BoJack Horseman · 23-10-2014 12:30pm

Moving to the main forum may well increase views & posts.

The quality may not increase though.

Brian? · 23-10-2014 12:38pm

BoJack Horseman wrote: »

Moving to the main forum may well increase views & posts.

The quality may not increase though.

Or moving to the main forum may well drown out the quality with noise.

Manach · 23-10-2014 12:44pm

Definitely keep it.

The main Politics thread is and rightly concentrated on general and Irish discussions. By maintaining subforums such as this allows a more focused set of opinions to be heard with the underlying context set to be relevant to the discussion : ie in this case not having to re-interpret different meanings of say Republicans (Irish vs US versions).

super_furry · 23-10-2014 12:46pm

It's a cyclical thing too. Interest will ramp up come the primaries and election time and while things might be quiet now, the forum will be needed then.

FreudianSlippers · 23-10-2014 1:21pm

I agree with the reasons above. Keep it - it may not be hugely popular, but it keeps the quality up. I also think if it was lumped in with the rest of Politics, topics would end up veering back to Irish politics.

Hold the Cheez Whiz · 23-10-2014 2:05pm

I agree with the above, and would add that given the early interest in the US presidential elections this doesn't seem like the best time to move the forum! Candidates should begin formally declaring in early 2015...

...and then it's on like Donkey Kong

Paleface · 23-10-2014 5:23pm

Please keep it seperate as US politics is quite important as a topic of political discussion. Mixing it in with the main politics forum may dilute the level of debate.

Amerika · 23-10-2014 5:52pm

I notice quite a few political ads from the United States when I come to the the US Politics sub-forum. Would moving it to the main forum possibly cause revenues to boards.ie from the states to drop off?

And on a personal note, moving it to the main forum and jumbling it all up would make me less likely to visit and contribute. Perhaps you chalk that up as a good thing?

InTheTrees · 23-10-2014 6:19pm

I can see why the "Politics" sub forums needs some reorganisation. There's a few that could plainly be merged together.

But I dont think "US Politics" is one on them.

I think the sub-forums should stay but maybe divided up regionally; Irish Politics, UK politics, Eu Politics, US politics? And "other"?

InTheTrees · 23-10-2014 6:21pm

Amerika wrote: »

I notice quite a few political ads from the United States when I come to the the US Politics sub-forum.

I think thats based on your cookies and internet history. Not everyone sees the same ads you know.

Black Swan · 24-10-2014 1:35am

Keep this forum. The content, context, dynamics, memes, and knowledge of US Politics are dramatically different from Irish politics. If this forum was closed, new US politics topic threads would be buried in the noise and clutter of the larger generic main Politics forum.

Certainly US Politics does not have the posting frequency and volume of the main generic Politics forum, but neither do most forums within boards.ie. If you get rid of US Politics because of this, then there are about 100 forums that should be closed too for the same reason.

US Politics has a major 4 year cycle not fully understood by all. Forum readers and posters know. Yes, it's driven by the 4-year presidential election cycle, but it's not an election forum. Remember the Ground Zero Mosque controversy? That raged for 1-year during 2012. It was fueled by the election, but also had a life of its own. Its context was that of US Politics, and the interpretation was very different from those other threads that appeared elsewhere on boards. This context would have been completely lost if buried in the larger, generic main Politics forum.

The concept of right and left wing is greatly different between Irish and US Politics. The distinction and differences would be completely lost if submerged in the generic main Politics forum that is largely dominated by the context and content of Irish politics. And just think of the confusion between the meaning of Republican on both sides of the pond? Or when the "Party of No" may change sides (as it has in history) from Republicans to Democrats if the Republicans maintain their majority in the House and win a majority in the Senate next month. Or the major differences between bi-partisan and parliamentary governments, which some of us just love to hate.

I'm born Galway and Irish, but crossed the pond to attend university for several years. US Politics was one of the first forums I read and posted to about 8 years ago. That was way before I changed my user name from Blue_Lagoon to Black Swan. I had been originally recruited years ago by the Cmods to mod Politics because I had a better understanding of US Politics than the other Politics mods.

It's up to you readers and posters if you want to keep the US Politics forum. But you must make your voice heard now, or others will make that decision for you.

Hold the Cheez Whiz · 24-10-2014 2:56am

Well I see that merging the forum has come up in the thread on the Politics Cafe in Feedback - so maybe a merger is something that needs a standalone thread in Feedback or within the Politics forum?

Black Swan · 24-10-2014 3:08am

Hold the Cheez Whiz wrote: »

Well I see that merging the forum has come up in the thread on the Politics Cafe in Feedback - so maybe a merger is something that needs a standalone thread in Feedback or within the Politics forum?

There may be some merit to this observation, but I would recommend that the community of readers and posters that often visit US Politics take time to comment here in this forum thread, before throwing it out to a general audience that may or may not understand the issues that specifically pertain to US Politics, as opposed to the main generic Politics forum in general.

Rest assured that other posters are now reading this thread, including mods, Cmods, and Admins, and if the US Politics forum readers and posters want to keep the US Politics forum in existence, this thread will have strong impact.

eire4 · 24-10-2014 8:20am

For me I would say we should keep the US Politics forum. I say so for a number of reasons. In a general sense the US like it or not is a masssive player in the world and what goes on in America does affect us in Ireland. Never mind the fact they are a major trading partner for us.

I have been very critcial of the current US political system in a number of threads. This also I believe can have resonance for Ireland as we have major structural issues in our current sytem albeit different ones. So the ability to look at and discuss their syetem is very relevant at a time when we have such deep structural issues of our own.

When you add in the strong family and social ties between Ireland and the US it makes what happens in the US politically something of real relevance and interest for many in Ireland.

Manic Moran · 24-10-2014 5:54pm

Manach wrote: »

Definitely keep it.

The main Politics thread is and rightly concentrated on general and Irish discussions. By maintaining subforums such as this allows a more focused set of opinions to be heard with the underlying context set to be relevant to the discussion : ie in this case not having to re-interpret different meanings of say Republicans (Irish vs US versions).

I am inclined to agree with this. Ultimately, this is an Irish board, and the priority of focus should be Irish politics.

Overheal · 27-10-2014 2:37pm

Keep this forum. I know Im not here a lot and most of the volume we experience in previous years were soapboxers for the most part, but its a niche that cant be served in the main forum.

Amerika · 27-10-2014 2:48pm

I can only comment on personal experience. My landing page on boards.ie is the US Politics subforum. From there I often venture to other forums in order to read, but admittedly rarely post. Without the US Politics subforum, I doubt I will continue to visit boards.ie on a regular basis.

I find it a tad odd that its elimination and move into the regular politics forum is being considered. US Politics is unique in that what happens in US politics often has influences upon the rest of the word... for better or worse. Jumbling it up with the rest of politics would cause it to get lost in the woods for someone like me, which would cause me to lose interest and not contribute. As I stated I am only commenting personally, and wonder if losing unique and differing perspectives from average US citizens on their politics would be beneficial?

Keep this forum!

27-10-2014 4:04pm

Keep it. It doesn't fit into the general politics forum. I know I'd be less inclined to click any thread with "Republican" in the title on the the main forum. :P

Permabear · 27-10-2014 5:15pm

This post has been deleted.

US Politics: Keep or Close Forum? IMPORTANT!

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