OK, check this out, in response to a thread closed a few weeks ago (the title of the thread, listed in bold):
Quote:
Re: Why does it matter?
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Hi folks,
SInce I can't say I've ever seen a political discussion in an aikido discussion group on the Internet not create divisive rifts among people, I'm going to close this thread before it goes that far.
-- Jun
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I'll grant you that Jun may have had good reason to close the discussion. It hadn't quite gotten to the point of acrimony, but it was about 2 posts away, from it.
Actually, tho: the acrimony pretty much came from one post-er.
So, here's my issue: Jun says that he's "never seen a political discussion" that doesn't "create divisive rifts." But if you look closely: it's not 10 ppl all quibbling, it's one or two bad-apples who refuse to practice good netiquette.
Sure, if Jun doesn't want to spend some of his time moderating the political discussions more carefully: that's his issue. Respectfully, however: it is an oversimplification to suggest that ALL political discussion results in rifts, to ALL parties involved. Personally, I've had discussions that were quite positive on this website, with ppl with whom I disagree.
Can't there be an alternative to simply allowing the trolls to "win" all the time, perhaps giving them a little private "encouragement" to stop their antics, rather than shutting down, wholesale, a topic under discussion?
(To me: this is equivalent to closing an Aikido dojo, because 2 or 3 ppl were abusive, in their training: it's overkill).
Just a thought...