Site is a graveyard - How can boards save itself? [Threadbanned users in 1st post]

I think the person in question is rather odd but so are many people - it's a diverse world.

What I'm surprised to see is moderators on this site engaging in what in my view anyway, is hate speech.

I might expect to see a bit of that from regular posters. But honestly I'm very struck to see those who are supposed to be moderating these forums using language like I noted. And it's not just you.

I didn't write nasty derogatory terms, so why are you trying to deflect? Most sensible people would just advise that you should apologise for using that sort of description. We all make mistakes etc. That's what I'd do.

Soapboxing - can we please get some definition of this term, when it applies and where it applies?

To my mind, soapboxing is when a poster raises matters on a thread that are either quite irrelevant to that thread. And who continues to raise them when clearly the points they raise should be on another thread.

Threads are full of posters and posts who make repeated points about the question at hand. Every discussion thread is full of posters making repeated points. Is this soapboxing? I don't think so - or every thread would rapidly grind to a halt.

So under what criteria is it decided by a moderator when a series of posts relating to the same issues is soapboxing? Why are some points of view considered fine to be repeated ad nauseum but others should be censured for soapboxing?

But surely you can see that this definition is entirely subjective. You can't read my mind or that of any other poster. In this case and I'm mindful of not referring to individual cases, I have absolutely posted in good faith and the issues/ questions I raised were not all answered. Nobody has explained anything other that the background to the referendum and why it might benefit some Irish businesses. But that's not what I asked!!

So clearly you're projecting some notion of 'soapboxing' onto what are valid discussion points. I might ask where in the general guidelines to posting on boards is soapboxing defined?

It's a Politics forum & thread!! Politics.

It is well understood in this country that referendums are tricky matters. That quite often, referendums become about a whole range of other issues and not the topic that is to be voted on. I presume most people would agree with this.

Therefore it follows that no government engages in a referendum without good strong reasons. I simply asked in a Politics forum what these strong reasons might be and who might have been pushing for it. No one has answered this, that's why I politely asked again. If that can't be seen that this is a reasonable question, we may as well give up. Baffling degree of what is censorship by moderation.

Current Affairs is not full of 'nuts'. It's populated by a whole range of posters who dip in and out, with their opinions on well 'current affairs'. Indeed there's many moderators here who engage in discussion in CA, some might be 'nuts' but hardly all. I have no doubt but that you yourself sometimes contribute your thoughts to CA threads?

From a site point of view, activity is essential and one way of driving activity is to have a good healthy level of debate. Not least in attracting advertising and creating value etc.

So if the site wants people to engage then it has to facilitate healthy and perhaps sometimes spicy debate. Just as long as posters don't endanger the site with loose language.