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Is Boards representative of society in Ireland?

steddyeddy

Well is it? Personally I wonder is it at all. The large number of dole threads and threads aimed at poorer section of society can't be Representative of the population. I don't hear conversations like this in real life from people from any section of society. Then again I may be wrong and people might keep their thoughts to themselves on the issue. So I'm wondering are the threads on Boards representative of the feelings of society on all issues or do we make up a small part of society?

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krudler

newmug wrote: »

Yea lads, yiz are getting upset. Enough with the personal jibes, I didn't insult you's. It seems like I hit a nerve. But if I offended, I apologise. I'm only passing on what I see in daily life, not saying I agree with it.

But look, you have to take this on board. The consensus of the thread is that NO, boards does NOT represent irish society - except when it comes to homosexuality? Eh, no. And the more you argue, the more you're proving my point.

Do this quick little test. Of all the pubs in Ireland, how many are gay pubs? In your average dunes or penny's, there's a men's section and a women's section. Where's the T section? Of any parents here, honest answer, would you leave your kids with a gay babysitter?

I'm not condoning these views, I'm merely answering the question and pointing these things out. Once again, I'm not agreeing with these views, I'm just highlighting them. I think everyone should be treated equally, and with respect. I'm just saying that the mood towards SF, atheism, LGBT, computer nerds and abortion are the polar opposite on boards than I have experienced them in real life.

I'll do my best to wade through this ocean of bullsh1t.

Gay pubs, I'm from Limerick, there's a big gay pride festival every summer, plenty of pubs are/have been gay orientated over the years. And just because a pub isn't a gay bar, does that mean gay people don't go in there? loads of bars have gay people in them, they don't need their own specific pubs to go, they're just people. That doesn't make them weirdos.

What's a T section? Transgender? you said yourself there's a men and women's section, that would pretty much fit then, or do you think T is some sort of plant/human hybrid here to suck out our nutrients and feast on our gooey insides?

Would I leave my kids with a gay babysitter? long as he/she did the job properly then why not. Or do you take all gay people for sexual deviants?

If that's the polar opposite of everyday thinking all I can say is thank fcuk I'm not friends with absolute morons.

Tony EH

newmug wrote: »

Of any parents here, honest answer, would you leave your kids with a gay babysitter?

Why? What do you think might happen?

shruikan2553

Not of the general population but gets closer when you consider people under the age of 35. There are also a few more extreme people of both sides like those who think they are an oppressed majority, we can just point to certain people who think there is something we need to worry about when it comes to gay babysitters for that.

oppenheimer1

It's obvious that boards.ie doesn't even come close to being a representation of Irish society. If we were to believe the last general election poll we would have a very different government to the one we have now. Only one small section is represented really. Tech literate males under 30.

Polls on social issues that concern homosexuality, religion, abortion bring out zelots from both sides and if you were to believe boards you'd think the country is consumed by those issues. It's not because most people don't care. The reality is that most people fall in the apathetic centre, voting for fianna fail or fine Gael on issues that affect them.

steddyeddy

losthorizon wrote: »

Its definitely not. Its mainly right wing, under 30s as far as I can see.

Ironically the football forum is populated by by people who dont go to Football games. I reckon AH is populated by students who have never paid taxes or worked (nothing wrong with that of course - its just not representative).

But all forums on here are mainly male.

I think I generally agree with that tbh.

Barely There

There is truly nothing more amusing than a poster who quotes the result of an AH poll in support of their point.

[Deleted User]

Afterhours is only one section of boards if you looked at other section for example parenting do you think its mostly male, student and under 30 or do you think the Irish economy section is populated mostly by male students under 30, even on afterhours it depends on the topic different topics will bring different posters of different ages and stages of life.

As for the liberal agenda its a matter of great indifference to the vast majority of the Irish population the one that make me laugh on boards about this,are those on either the right or left who believe in media conspiracies theories, depending on who you listen to the media has either a secret liberal agenda or a secret conservative agenda....ye cant both be right!

Annasopra

steddyeddy wrote: »

Well is it? Personally I wonder is it at all. The large number of dole threads and threads aimed at poorer section of society can't be Representative of the population. I don't hear conversations like this in real life from people from any section of society. Then again I may be wrong and people might keep their thoughts to themselves on the issue. So I'm wondering are the threads on Boards representative of the feelings of society on all issues or do we make up a small part of society?

You're assuming that AH=Boards

Annasopra

Stainless_Steel wrote: »

It's not representative at all IMO.

Boards people are pro same sex marriage, and far from homophobic.

I dont agree. I regularly come across homophobia and transphobia here.

Frank Lee Midere

It probably represents a good portion of the 20-35 male opinion. This is liberal on social issues, centrist on economics, anti-religious, and tough on crime and some welfare ism.

This is in tune with that generation. The OP seems like a differerent generation where the "poor" were in fact poor. Now with €200 dole, housing, all kinds of supplements there isn't much difference between the poor and the middle income. This hasn't stopped the bottom 5% from their anti social behaviour. Understandably a new generation , brought up into over expensive housing, then a bust, now a bust and expensive housing is going to resent this.

Barely There

newmug wrote: »

Of any parents here, honest answer, would you leave your kids with a gay babysitter?

No.
I just think the risk of them turning my children gay is too great.

steddyeddy

How did this turn into a gay babysitter debate :S

Links234

Tony EH wrote: »

Why? What do you think might happen?

The kid gets a better sense of style? :pac:

efb

Shiraz 4.99 wrote: »

It over represents the following groups:

Shinners
Atheists
LBGT Supporters
Computer Nerds

Every poll is skewed massively against the normal population

Nearly got the full house! If only I voted SF...

Annasopra

Barely There wrote: »

No.
I just think the risk of them turning my children gay is too great.

https://gspottt.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/homophobes.jpg

ruthloss

c_man wrote: »

No. I mean first off, there's only like two women around here. And they're most likely men.

Feck Off!!:(

loh_oro

I'm glad I don't know ignorant people like yourself in the real world. Why would you not want someone to babysit your child just because there gay ? Is that the only attribute that makes us who we are ?

gladrags

steddyeddy wrote: »

How did this turn into a gay babysitter debate :S

You could call it the right to express your opinion.

By the way,would you leave your poor gay babysitter with your kids?

Annasopra

gladrags wrote: »

You could call it the right to express your opinion.

Indeed and equally others have the right to express the opinion that thinking that leaving your children with gay babysitters is dangerous is a stupid and bigoted opinion.

PopePalpatine

I think newmug might be quite happy in Putin's Russia. It's got repression of LGBT people, a controlled media (that means no dastardly LIBRULS!) and blasphemy laws that are actually used!

Czarcasm

Joeytheparrot wrote: »

I dont agree. I regularly come across homophobia and transphobia here.

Seek and ye shall find, as they say.

Tbh I'd largely agree with newmug's chronically badly worded post (sorry newmug, you're in front of the firing squad on your own for that one!

), but the reason I say that is because Ireland is still as conservative, and as liberal (don't fall off your chairs just yet!) as it always was! You're always going to graduate towards those people who share your point of view, and by that same token, you're always going to be surrounded by those that don't. That's why "keep your opinions to yourself" used be such a powerful way to silence people before the prevalence of the Internet in our lives - It means that nowadays, nobody has to keep their opinions to themselves. In some ways that's a good thing, in some ways that's a fcuking tragedy :pac:

Depends on your perspective.

Anyway, with regard to the whole "previous generation=conservative, blah blah", David Norris was fighting for LGBT Rights in this country before some people's arse were as big as a shirt button. How old is he now? (Granted not the best example given how he's lost his way somewhat in the last couple of years, the irony that this fellow was giving out about Tallafornia in the Senad, when only a couple of decades earlier, HE was the bright young thing campaigning against homosexuality being viewed as immoral behaviour!).

One of the other big game changers from forty years ago? How quickly we forget " the contraceptive train" -

http://www.rte.ie/archives/exhibitions/1666-women-and-society/370226-contraceptive-train/

Changed the public and political perception of women in this country massively, no longer comely maidens dancing at the crossroads, or getting married and then being tied to the kitchen sink, they were no longer just a useful commodity for bearing children while the menfolk went to work. Now women were allowed work too, and not just in War Time any more (before then if they worked in the public sector, they had to give up work when they got married).

We also joined the EEC forty years ago -

http://ec.europa.eu/ireland/ireland_in_the_eu/impact_of_membership_on_ireland/index_en.htm

Changed the face of industry, agriculture, fisheries and education in this country (some for the better, some for the worst, depending again on your perspective).

Eesh, I could go on all day, but in summary, to blithely come out with "Wait till the conservative old farts in this country die off, then we'll see real change", is massively ignorant of the swathes of historic social changes those same "conservative old farts" brought about in this country that we now happily take for granted today.

Anyone watching the Rose of Tralee last night, my wife commented "Does anyone really watch this any more?", right before the Kentucky Rose came on, introducing us to the " Biggest Catholic Church in America", and her Catholic University (accepting students of all faiths and none, but still Catholic ethos), and of course I think the most commonly uttered phrase of the night was "The bigger the hair, the closer to Jesus!" :pac:

You're damn right people still watch it, and it'll be the highest rating TV viewing in the TAM ratings this week. The Late Late Show hosted by Gay Byrne was never off the top of the TAM ratings for nearly 30 years, and UTV Ireland yesterday were practically beside themselves with glee announcing that the epitome of Conservative Ireland himself, Mr. Pat Kenny, would be hosting a prime time spot on their new TV channel soon to be launched in the Republic of Ireland.

For anyone that thinks Ireland has become more liberal over the last 40 years I would say stop kidding yourselves. All that's changed is that the people in power have gotten better at hiding their conservative ideology, and the easiest scapegoat has become the RCC (not least of course through their own fault), but if politicians really, I mean REALLY wanted social and political change in this country in the morning, they could have it. Why don't they want it? Because the people don't want it (not badly enough at least, nor not nearly enough people want change), and politicians know which side their bread is buttered (apart from the odd one or two character politicians that will never have any effect on the balance of power anyway, looking at you Ming), and they're not going to bite the hand that feeds them, which is an overwhelming conservative majority in this country. Same-sex marriage? Pfft, that's small fry stuff, scraps off the table, you're not getting it because you fought for it, you're getting it because they're giving it to you, to distract you while they shaft this country royally to our European Overlords, who themselves are quite the conservative bunch.

Liberal ideology is great in theory, but it has no power. So is Boards representative of Irish society? On the whole, with over a thousand public forums, and nearly as many private forums, groups, agendas, etc, going on in the background; Boards is definitely representative of Irish society, and After Hours is only representative of a tiny minority of that society, the outspoken liberal minority that are all bark and no bite.

robbiezero

How much manipulation goes on in the background in boards though which would skew any comparison between boards and real-life?
I mean how often do people with a similar viewpoint or people of a similar grouping private message each other to get stuck in on a certain topic or thread.
For example on a thread on "Life after death" in AH a heavy hitter from presumably the Atheism forum posted that he/she had been PM'ed to provide input to the thread. If this is being done for such a pointless and boring topic, I imagine that it is being done on a fair larger scale for important current issues i.e. the current abortion issues, SSM etc.

FloatingVoter

Its a pointless talking shop which achieves nothing and is mainly ignored by anybody who makes decisions in the world. As for Boards.ie being representative of that, it probably is. The younger, liberal thing is crap. I've seen opinions on here that would make Hitler blush. Posted by kids dossing off school.
The age thing is certainly true - I'm hitting 40 this year (oh joy) and would be one of the older posters. The fact that with a few exceptions our oldest regular posters would be in their early 50s has to do with the age of the Internet itself. Its 23 years old or thereabouts. So we'll have been net-aware since our early twenties.

steddyeddy

robbiezero wrote: »

How much manipulation goes on in the background in boards though which would skew any comparison between boards and real-life?
I mean how often do people with a similar viewpoint or people of a similar grouping private message each other to get stuck in on a certain topic or thread.
For example on a thread on "Life after death" in AH a heavy hitter from presumably the Atheism forum posted that he/she had been PM'ed to provide input to the thread. If this is being done for such a pointless and boring topic, I imagine that it is being done on a fair larger scale for important current issues i.e. the current abortion issues, SSM etc.

Good point. Everytime animal rights comes up the hunting forum pm each other and flood in.

Czarcasm

FloatingVoter wrote: »

Its a pointless talking shop which achieves nothing and is mainly ignored by anybody who makes decisions in the world. As for Boards.ie being representative of that, it probably is. The younger, liberal thing is crap. I've seen opinions on here that would make Hitler blush. Posted by kids dossing off school.
The age thing is certainly true - I'm hitting 40 this year (oh joy) and would be one of the older posters. The fact that with a few exceptions our oldest regular posters would be in their early 50s has to do with the age of the Internet itself. Its 23 years old or thereabouts. So we'll have been net-aware since our early twenties.

Godwin, never gets old, but funny because at least in this context, it's absolutely true!

Aongus Von Bismarck

Absolutely unrepresentative of the greater Irish population.

Not even close.

As a few people have pointed out, its definitely heavily skewed to the younger male, lower income, worker-drone IT class.

Few outliers obviously, but in the main your average boards user is Male, Atheist (and will point this out at all opportunities), left-wing, socially stunted, late 20s to early 30s, lower-middle to low income, interested in video games/comics/quirky sub-culture etc. , probabaly has bad facial hair and tattoos.

Barely There

steddyeddy wrote: »

Good point. Everytime animal rights comes up the hunting forum pm each other and flood in.

There's only about half a dozen Shinnerbots on Boards, but's it's amazing how they'll all turn up in certain threads and engage in a big circle-jerk of thanking each other's posts.

FloatingVoter

So if we start a thread about which hunting rifle is best for shooting Atheist Shinners, we can trick them all into shooting each other.

Fuzzytrooper

Atari Jaguar?

Davarus Walrus

Barely There wrote: »

There's only about half a dozen Shinnerbots on Boards, but's it's amazing how they'll all turn up in certain threads and engage in a big circle-jerk of thanking each other's posts.

I have this image of one of them sitting in his bedsit in Rathmines looking up his SF supplied list of approved arguments. Printed on laminate. 'Whataboutery, how to accuse others of revisionism, how to avoid being accused of revisionism yourself, how to deal with blueshirt Free Staters'.