American sub threads on all forums.

22-04-2021 4:22pm #1

One day this week there were four threads of no consequence to Ireland. Which is fine in some ways because some people clearly live and breathe American news. For the rest of us though the minutiae about what cop shot what person in what city 5,000 miles away is of no consequence. Politics has an American section, it’s time for Current Affairs to do so too.

And all the shootings should probably go into one thread.

ohnonotgmail · 22-04-2021 4:32pm

Perhaps just ignore the threads that don't interest you. let other people discuss what they wish to discuss. the current structure is fine.

MisterAnarchy · 22-04-2021 4:48pm

The idea by the OP is an excellent one.

22-04-2021 4:52pm

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

Perhaps just ignore the threads that don't interest you. let other people discuss what they wish to discuss. the current structure is fine.

A "hide thread" option might work as a future addition?

Timberrrrrrrr · 22-04-2021 4:53pm

[Deleted User] wrote: »

One day this week there were four threads of no consequence to Ireland. Which is fine in some ways because some people clearly live and breathe American news. For the rest of us though the minutiae about what cop shot what person in what city 5,000 miles away is of no consequence. Politics has an American section, it’s time for Current Affairs to do so too.

And all the shootings should probably go into one thread.

You do realise that not every poster on here lives in Ireland right?

You do realise that posters have interests outside of the island of Ireland right?

Many have family/friends in the US and therefore have a keen interest on what happens over there. Does anyone force you to open those threads and read them?

ohnonotgmail · 22-04-2021 4:53pm

Deleted User wrote: »

A "hide thread" option might work as a future addition?

or just don't click on one's you are not interested in.

22-04-2021 4:56pm

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

or just don't click on one's you are not interested in.

I think a block all assholes button would work.

Oh that's right, there is one.

22-04-2021 4:58pm

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

Perhaps just ignore the threads that don't interest you. let other people discuss what they wish to discuss. the current structure is fine.

We could have one big forum for all threads if that were the case.

Threads have consequences if they start to dominate. How many people go onto the second page if they are browsing current affairs? So if there are 5 threads about a different set of US shootings which are not amalgamated then 4 threads are pushed into page 2 on a mobile, and like google, page 2 no doubt sees a massive drop off of interest.

Timberrrrrrrr · 22-04-2021 5:02pm

[Deleted User] wrote: »

We could have one big forum for all threads if that were the case.

Threads have consequences if they start to dominate. How many people go onto the second page if they are browsing current affairs? So if there are 5 threads about a different set of US shootings which are not amalgamated then 4 threads are pushed into page 2 on a mobile, and like google, page 2 no doubt sees a massive drop off of interest.

I'm on mobile and the "latest" page shows 15 threads, your complaint is that you may have to scroll or click to page two? :rolleyes:

22-04-2021 5:05pm

Timberrrrrrrr wrote: »

You do realise that not every poster on here lives in Ireland right?

You do realise that posters have interests outside of the island of Ireland right?

Many have family/friends in the US and therefore have a keen interest on what happens over there. Does anyone force you to open those threads and read them?

The number of people these days with family over the is small. And they can still have their threads.

Nobody is forcing me into them but they pollute my experience.

The whole basis of current affairs to begin with was to move political subjects from AH, which has worked to a large extent. So what ever reason there was to do that could be given here. Just as political threads were considered to be overwhelming AH, then US centric threads are overwhelming CA.

The “you don’t have to click on threads” could have been given there and no doubt was, but it isn’t a sufficient reason to not create a subforum. Precedent has been set in politics.

22-04-2021 5:07pm

Timberrrrrrrr wrote: »

I'm on mobile and the "latest" page shows 15 threads, your complaint is that you may have to scroll or click to page two? :rolleyes:

I didn’t say anything about personally not scrolling to page two. Read it again. I talked in generalities.

MisterAnarchy · 22-04-2021 5:09pm

fvp4 wrote: »

We could have one big forum for all threads if that were the case.

Threads have consequences if they start to dominate. How many people go onto the second page if they are browsing current affairs? So if there are 5 threads about a different set of US shootings which are not amalgamated then 4 threads are pushed into page 2 on a mobile, and like google, page 2 no doubt sees a massive drop off of interest.

Across most of the US threads it seems to be a small core group of cantankerous posters trying to drive a very divisive and fervent ideology.

These threads are very hostile and heated, alot are echo chambers.

They should be moved away from AH.

ohnonotgmail · 22-04-2021 5:09pm

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

Across most of the US threads it seems to be a small core group of posters trying to drive a very divisive and fervent ideology.

These threads are very hostile and heated, alot are echo chambers.

They should be moved away from AH.

you certainly have that right. but of course all of the threads that the OP refers to are in CA not AH.

osarusan · 22-04-2021 5:10pm

A 'hide thread' function was suggested recently.

I think it would be a great addition to the site, for all forums.

22-04-2021 5:12pm

Suggested a tag on threads to indicate where they were irrelevant to irish posters a few months back and it was implemented for a while

Also threads that are named obscurely to get clicks about things in other countries that really arent relevant should and often are renamed

I dont agree with the above that "this is relevant to ireland" tbh, but for irish ppl that are desperate to pretend that every story newsworthy in the states should get as much attention as actually important stuff here theres always twitter imo

22-04-2021 5:13pm

osarusan wrote: »

A 'hide thread' function was suggested recently.

I think it would be a great addition to the site, for all forums.

As long as it worked on mobile.

Being unable to hide posters is already enough of a handicap for those of use using the phone

22-04-2021 5:23pm

[Deleted User] wrote: »

As long as it worked on mobile.

Being unable to hide posters is already enough of a handicap for those of use using the phone

It's not that difficult on mobile, I use it all the time.

Overheal · 22-04-2021 5:31pm

“Let’s segregate the Americans?”

US specific forums, been tried been failed. The one the OP mentions in politics is archived and obsolete.

Unless I take your meaning to be you want thread tags enabled in CA/IMHO? Which I don’t see any conniptions about, works fine in Politics currently.

EmmetSpiceland · 22-04-2021 5:47pm

It’s not a bad suggestion. It’s a little weird, and unsettling, that some people have more interest in US “politics” than in our own.

Now, if all the US threads get moved where would the “Sweden” one go?

extra gravy · 22-04-2021 10:43pm

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

Across most of the US threads it seems to be a small core group of cantankerous posters trying to drive a very divisive and fervent ideology.

Oh no, not those evil leftists again! If the threads aren't right wing enough for you, there are other places on the internet where you can go that would suit your own "idealogy" better.

Overheal · 22-04-2021 10:48pm

EmmetSpiceland wrote: »

It’s not a bad suggestion. It’s a little weird, and unsettling, that some people have more interest in US “politics” than in our own.

Yet, they clearly have that superior interest for whatever reason. Perhaps that is a topic to bring up in politics or CA, raising interest in your own politics?

Quantum Erasure · 22-04-2021 11:15pm

EmmetSpiceland wrote: »

It’s not a bad suggestion. It’s a little weird, and unsettling, that some people have more interest in US “politics” than in our own.

Now, if all the US threads get moved where would the “Sweden” one go?

We could have an "Irish" main section, and a "not Irish" sub forum, ... but then if there's another case like the trial involving Belfast Rugby players, or the migrants found in a container, where does that leave us?

Leg End Reject · 22-04-2021 11:38pm

This is the fourth thread in a very short timeframe asking for certain opinions, posters or topics to be banned/hidden.

The American centric threads aren't of any interest to me but they're busy, so enough people are interested in discussing them. It's unfair to banish them to a dark corner where most won't realise they exist.

EmmetSpiceland · 22-04-2021 11:42pm

Quantum Erasure wrote: »

We could have an "Irish" main section, and a "not Irish" sub forum, ... but then if there's another case like the trial involving Belfast Rugby players, or the migrants found in a container, where does that leave us?

Good question, Q. Maybe a sub forum, within the “not Irish” sub forum, called ‘A.O.B. (Any Other Business)’?

23-04-2021 2:01am

Leg End Reject wrote: »

This is the fourth thread in a very short timeframe asking for certain opinions, posters or topics to be banned/hidden.

The American centric threads aren't of any interest to me but they're busy, so enough people are interested in discussing them. It's unfair to banish them to a dark corner where most won't realise they exist.

Nobody is banning anything. The soccer forum isn’t banned because it is in its own forum and not sports which is the parent forum. CA was itself initially calved off, but is under Social & Fun. Oddly you might think but that’s because of its origins in AH.

Last year with coronavirus taking off, a dedicated forum was created so the top level of CA wasn’t all coronavirus and that has definitely not stopped any coronavirus conversations.

In fact that’s the best example. There was one thread, on the virus, to begin with, in CA. If I recall it was the fastest moving in the history of the site. Then different threads started on different virus related topics and threatened to overwhelm Current Affairs and they were moved to a subforum where they are wildly popular. No banning. No hiding.

The problem with the American threads isn’t the one Biden presidency thread - if that was it and there was one thread on US policing that would be fine. Every damn killing gets a thread. US police kill 1000 people a year, 30% are black. That’s one a day. Many are shootings of armed suspects so don’t make the news here or there, but there’s still a lot of reporting. One thread on all shootings or it’s own forum would suffice.

Tokyo · 23-04-2021 3:16am

fvp4 wrote: »

In fact that’s the best example. There was one thread, on the virus, to begin with, in CA. If I recall it was the fastest moving in the history of the site. Then different threads started on different virus related topics and threatened to overwhelm Current Affairs and they were moved to a subforum where they are wildly popular. No banning. No hiding.

That's a poor comparison. Coronavirus is probably one the most all encompassing things in most people's lifetimes here - it's not just *a* current affair, it's *the* current affair, and considering the breadth of discussion to be had under the umbrella of COVID19, it makes perfect sense for it to have its own subform.

What you are effectively asking is "I don't want to see more America-centric threads - put them in a subform so I don't have to." While I can see a potential benefit of thread tags perhaps, I'm not seeing any benefit of more subforms, other than to curate the content to your specific requirements. I can see plenty of disadvantages however, namely that posters will have to bounce in and out of forums all the time to access different content.

Part of taking part in any online discussion forum is that there will be topics that interest you, and topics that don't. Click on the topics that interest you. Ignore the ones that don't.

ohnonotgmail · 23-04-2021 9:03am

fvp4 wrote: »

Nobody is banning anything. The soccer forum isn’t banned because it is in its own forum and not sports which is the parent forum. CA was itself initially calved off, but is under Social & Fun. Oddly you might think but that’s because of its origins in AH.

Last year with coronavirus taking off, a dedicated forum was created so the top level of CA wasn’t all coronavirus and that has definitely not stopped any coronavirus conversations.

In fact that’s the best example. There was one thread, on the virus, to begin with, in CA. If I recall it was the fastest moving in the history of the site. Then different threads started on different virus related topics and threatened to overwhelm Current Affairs and they were moved to a subforum where they are wildly popular. No banning. No hiding.

The problem with the American threads isn’t the one Biden presidency thread - if that was it and there was one thread on US policing that would be fine. Every damn killing gets a thread. US police kill 1000 people a year, 30% are black. That’s one a day. Many are shootings of armed suspects so don’t make the news here or there, but there’s still a lot of reporting. One thread on all shootings or it’s own forum would suffice.

you want all discussions you disagree with to be shunted off to its own ghetto. am I quoting you correctly on that?

Mickeroo · 23-04-2021 9:31am

Moved to help desk as this relates to a specific forum.

osarusan · 23-04-2021 9:37am

As it stands, every user of CA sees the same list of threads on the first page, which is determined by the most recent post in each thread. Naturally, there will be threads on the list that many posters have no interest in reading or posting in. Just looking at the first page of CA threads, I can see some that I know I am never going to comment on: Gangland thread, Harry and Meghan, The Healy Raes, Sinn Fein.

If I had the option to 'hide' those threads, and doing that would bring up 4 more threads that are currenlty at the top of the second page of threads in CA...and those might be threads that I might have commented in/have interest in commenting in.

By allowing users to curate their own viewing of the the CA homepage in this way, they are more likely to populate the list with threads that they do have an interest in reading and posting in. Isn't that something Boards would benefit from?

Tork · 23-04-2021 9:53am

I would love the option to hide threads in every forum. There are many that don't interest me at all and they clog up space when I look at boards on me phone.

It'd be a simpler solution than moving the American threads elsewhere. Boards's layout is cumbersome enough as it is without overcomplicating things.

Overheal · 23-04-2021 4:05pm

FWIW Ignoring threads has been on a feature wish list for years but from my understanding it’s one of those items difficult to implement in practice because of how boards is setup on its own custom branch of vBulletin, making it among the things only likely to change if Boards/Daft goes through the serious pain of creating a new branch that implements features found in much newer iterations of vBulletin, etc.

American sub threads on all forums.

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