Should the Politics channel be near the top? (1 Viewer)

Should the Politics channel be near the top?

  • Yes - I like to argue with my frenemies

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • No - There is already enough division in society

    Votes: 6 66.7%
  • I'm a fence sitter

    Votes: 3 33.3%

  • Total voters
    9

Jon

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It seems that there is much chatter going on in the Politics channel. It is way down there at the bottom of the forum, but should it be? Do you think moving it to just below The Watercooler would be a better placement?
 

deletedT

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Why in an Access forum, Politic should be in top?
If it was me I would take Watercoolder down.
 
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Gasman

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Why in an Access forum, Politic should be in top?
If it was me I would take Watercoolder down.
I think Jon is looking at it from an 'activity' point of view?
The Jo Biden one (that you started :D) has over 300 posts and 3000+ views.?
The Off Topic has pretty much the same stats.?

All good for the site?

Technical posts are generally not going to get to many in number, even when the O/P does not want to do any work.?
 

Jon

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@Tera For the convenience of members, saving them from having to scroll so far. It is a community and the community itself decides where they want to post. I am just here to provide a structure that facilitates what members want.
 

Isaac

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While the Politics forum may be very active, I think many members (possibly not the ones who participate in P. discussions, but still) would view it as inappropriate to move it to the top. AWF walks a fine line in allowing P. discussions, which is 100% fine with me, but I wouldn't push the envelope too far, as it may distance members who want nothing to do with P. Whatever is best for the site is fine with me. My totally uneducated "guess" would be that it would not be in the best interests of the site to increase its prominence.

I myself participate in a lot of politics discussions, (and yes--I do use the End key alot to scroll to it!) but I support whatever is best for the site as a whole.

I would feel differently about the Watercooler, (and I think it's more acceptable for it to be at the top), because "watercooler" is such a widely used phrase that means innocent chat inevitably engaged in and accepted by, all business people. I actually think it's a brilliantly selected term for that forum, it gives it a sense of being acceptable in the context of the site. Whether that term exists in other parts of the world, I have no idea.

Random thought ... if we did something in "Politics" other than bashing America specifically, who knows--it may appeal to people from elsewhere. I am quite sure that politics matters to people around the world, only more likely within their own sphere of influence.
 
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Jon

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@Isaac I am inclined to agree with nearly everything you said there. But just because I think something, it doesn't mean that it is "true" from other users perspectives. That is why I like to ask lots of questions and do polls. Maybe its a case that a smaller number of users frequent the Politics forum, but that they make far more posts there because it is a passionate topic. Consequently, it gives a distorted perspective from what the majority are interested in.

I have The Watercooler near the top because I want to create a sense of community here that goes above and beyond just technical discussion. I think it brings people closer together. Politics is likely to polarise. I know other competing forums have their off-topic discussion near the bottom of the site, so you can say they perhaps have a purer focus on the tech. There is opportunity cost either way you do it.
 

moke123

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Eliminate it. It has driven members away from AWF.
 

Micron

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Eliminate it. It has driven members away from AWF.
Are you referring to the water cooler stuff as well? Regardless, can you explain why you say that? I'm not challenging - I'm curious. I start and then delete a lot more water cooler stuff than I let go to post. It's cathartic in a way, but most of it I just ignore. In fact, there's a few for whom I just navigate to the post long enough to get it off of my New Posts list. Sometimes the page doesn't even get a chance to load!
 

moke123

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No just the politics. I too delete more than I actually post.
 

MajP

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The political crap may have a lot of activity but it is the same ten people posting to it. Those people are already here so those threads are not growing the forum. Personally I would get rid of all that garbage and focus on Access. I think that stuff is going to kill this forum in the long run. Now it is getting to the point you have to wade through that dribble in order to find a thread to respond to. If I was a new member, I would find that discouraging. I can go to ten million forums to argue politics, but not many left focusing on Access. Just my opinion. If politics are the new focus, I will take my talent and efforts somewhere else.
 

deletedT

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@Tera For the convenience of members, saving them from having to scroll so far. It is a community and the community itself decides where they want to post. I am just here to provide a structure that facilitates what members want.
@Jon, I know about your concern and how you're thinking about the convenience of the members. But that shouldn't get in your way to focus on what this forum is meant to be. How many members are posting in Politic? 5 or 6? and all of them are vips.
I suggest you take Politic to vip section. It's more convenient for them (I suppose). Members come here to learn about access, but get distracted by un-technical subjects.

I'm a good example. I never thought about politic in my life. Never have voted either. I'm a member of a lot of forums more than I can count and never took part in non-technical conversations. But since I'm here, I post in Off Topic, Politic, watercooler more than in Access sections. To be true, I'm fighting with myself at present to access AWF less. Because clicking new post link above each page, brings more non-technical posts than access questions. And it takes a lot of my time. politic is like religion. If you're in, you get infected. or is it like drugs? Use them once and you're addicted. It takes a long time to get ride of it.
 
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AccessBlaster

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Under the heading of Politics & Current Events, the caption reads Chat, debate, argue your point. Or don't, most choose not too. Hundreds have contributed since 2005.

American (Republican) Presidents hold a special fascination with this forum, it fuels the conversation on both sides of the pond. I joined in 2010 to scrap with Col and Brianwarnock not for Access. I have learned a lot about Access during my stay, and about people. I carry no animosity towards Col or Brian they have their opinions i'm cool with that.
 
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Micron

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But that shouldn't get in your way to focus on what this forum is meant to be.
Well put. If you're not an Access guy (@Jon, I think you admitted as much in the past) then I think it's easy to lose sight of what a forum purports to be. Five or six people making 600 posts on politics is not better than 600 posts related to what a forum says it is there to support. If AWF is destined to be the soapbox for political discourse, then it may be well on it's way. MajP said it succinctly and wisely as I think he usually does - assuming the focus is supposed to be Access and related topics.

So Jon, if you want to turn AWF into an forum for politics, opinions, rants, conspiracy theories, etc, that is your right. You might find that a significant portion of your regular posters are here just for that reason, and if you dropped the politics, they might leave. It would be your decision as to whether or not losing their input detracts from the focus, whatever that should be. Just don't expect those who want to focus on Access to play along, and I think you have to decide which fork in the road you're going to take. While some might think that it's easy enough to bypass all the noise, my guess is that those are the ones who like the political stuff so it's easy for them to engage. The rest of us have to filter out the noise to get to the reason why we're here...for now.
 

Jon

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It seems like the politics forum is very polarising, both in content and whether or not it should be here. I will leave it in its current location since the feedback is pretty overwhelming in that it should not be given placement higher up. I brought the topic up because it is getting a lot of posting, so I just wanted to explore the option of making it a little easier to get to.

Someone asked a while back if there were any options for hiding the posts from a particular forum section. That would be the ideal solution because then both parties are catered for. You can come to the forum politics free, and those who want the politics can get their cake and eat it too.

I will have another look into this.
 

Jon

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If you're not an Access guy (@Jon, I think you admitted as much in the past)
@Micron It depends on what you mean by not being an Access guy. I was a pro Access developer for many years, but my last piece of consultancy was 5 years ago, and I was rusty then too. I started this forum because I was an Access guy, right from Access 1.0. That aside, as creator I define what the forum is meant to be. My set of criteria differs from each individuals. As an individual, you have your own needs and wants. As someone who has to manage different and sometimes competing sets of interests, my goals are different.

So Jon, if you want to turn AWF into an forum for politics, opinions, rants, conspiracy theories, etc, that is your right
I don't turn the forum into anything. The users decide on what they want to talk about. The politics forum has been here for 15 years now, so I am not suddenly trying to socially engineer it into a forum predominantly about politics. The Excel forum has moved higher up in the ranks because it was getting a reasonable number of posts. The same with the repositioning of the VBA forum. It is just applying the same rational towards the politics section.

Just don't expect those who want to focus on Access to play along, and I think you have to decide which fork in the road you're going to take.
There is no fork in the road. If there was, it started 15 years ago when the politics forum was created. People come here with their own focus, and your focus may not be someone elses focus. If the decisions I have made regarding this site are so bad, why is it the most popular forum for Access with the most users? You can look at the two main competing forums and both have their Watercooler equivalent near the bottom of their sites. I am not saying there is a direct cause-and-effect relationship between their decision and the one taken here, but maybe it helps. I do a lot of research into this sort of stuff, so although you may not agree with my thinking, I have good reasons for my decision making process.

In any case, you need not worry about any of the above. I have a solution I am working on that should suit all.
 
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NauticalGent

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I don't care where it is as long as it is not above anything to do with Access. This is a site for Access matters not bloody Face Book.

Agreed...however, the conversations on those topics are much more intellectual her than on FB. I cannot contribute too much anymore on the Access issues because those much smarter than me have already engaged and taken care of the issue leaving the WC as my only source of entertainment as I have ceased all FB activity.

It appears that Jon has added an ignore feature for the rubber-neckers, so that should help.
 
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Isaac

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Agreed...however, the conversations on those topics are much more intellectual her than on FB. ..... It appears that Jon has added an ignore feature for the rubber-neckers, so that should help.
Very well said.
Additionally, I always chuckle when I hear people say they are never interested in any politics. A person may think that, but it's never true IMO. If you are interested in any aspect of your daily life at all, you're interested in politics. They are one and the same. One drives the other and affects everything about our lives. Period.
 

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