[quote]Edit: Well this thread is moot now. Ya'll can check out Foman's post and ignore this one. Cheers.[/quote]We have the power to mute people, and we have the power to hide people. I've muted many people, but I only mute when I genuinely believe the person has no real chance of ever contributing to my Bungie.net experience in a positive manner. No, what I do much more often... is report.
Back with Bnet, we would always say 'report and move on' (before most of us ignored our own advice). But reporting seemed meaningless. And now when our tools feel more powerful... the rules have slackened to where reporting just isn't as common, I feel. So a couple weeks ago I decided I don't like that new direction of Bnext. So I started something very simple: I report every political/ religious thread I see.
I report the threads, generally for 'offensive content' (since they are nearly all attempts to anger people). Now Bnet, here's what I'm thinking. I liked the rules in those regards before- not allowing those threads at all- and I feel Bnet was a better place with them. But WE make the rules, now. So I report those threads- note I said report, not reply to, folks- with the realization that I am changing my experience, but my experience alone. This isn't some stupid spam-fest forum like 4chan and the likes, so we don't need that kind of discussion here. If more of you believe these threads bring nothing but hurt feelings and people being upset, then more of you will report the thread and the person will be banned. I report those threads often even knowing a few aren't all that bad, because I know my one report (and I assume generally I'm the only one, anyway) will have no effect so it doesn't hurt.
Very few people here seem to actually WANT those threads here. And if we get to decide what threads are and aren't allowed on Bnet, why not just get rid of those entirely? Instead of replying to them, instead of saying 'ur dum reported,' why not just... report the threads? Get rid of them- period.
So. Why did I make this thread? I want to honestly convince some of you that we should just essentially boycott those threads. Report the posts, stop the repetitive 'lol i r troll cuz u dum libral, 'lolgaymarriage,' and 'lolgodizdum' threads,' and get back to discussion on more interesting things... like our favorite pizza toppings (Jalapenos). Report every stupid political/ religious thread you see, whether for 'no reason' or 'offensive content' and we could get rid of them. I mean, brand new people aren't coming to this site to discuss that kind of thing anyway. It is just the same few idiotic semi-new kids on different accounts making them because ya'll keep replying to them. So let's stop it.
Until I get the option to block any thread with certain keywords or tags from my view, I just report those threads to get rid of them. And I think Bnet is a better place without those discussions anyway. If folks don't agree, well, to each their own. That's the beauty- we can each personalize our own Bnet. But I can't help but feel I'm not alone in these thoughts, and it'd be a good thing to help out the entire community.
ZE END.
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I've read this and some of the comments here. I've been pondering. I really do see both sides of the debate. Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm not sure of my opinion.
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People are generally far too dense to do such a thing. It would be cool to see a collaborative effort by the community to boycott the threads, sure. But by banning said threads, we essentially have created a new taboo for this site. We, as a community, need to push for higher standards with political threads and their subsequent discussions. There are a lot of stupid political threads, agreed, but there are also a few gems of insightful conversation. Let's not get rid of those gems because "we" don't want to sift through them. We have a pretty cool system to utilize that allows us to really take control of our forum experience. It would be a shame to use that to black out a certain topic category that does have some potential.
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Edited by FoMan123: 7/2/2013 5:58:59 AMReporting in these circumstances is less effective than muting or hiding. Political threads; even ones designed to rile people up, are not a violation of the CoC. Even if a lot of people report these threads, they'll come into our queue and we'll determine that they are not a violation, at which point the thread will remain hidden for you but not affecting anyone else. I think things have gotten a little twisted; you can certainly define the rules and parameters of your own forum experience, but the community does not "make the rules" for other people, even if a large number of users decide to report a certain kind of thread. All it really does is make more work for Forum Ninjas because we have to keep saying "not a violation" over and over again. I certainly understand the mentality of "if I don't want to see it, NOBODY should want to see it." This has been an ongoing theme and, frankly, an ongoing problem with Bungie.next. Many users are hesitant to mute or hide because they think nobody else is doing it and they don't want something happening that they're not a part of (or can't see). On the flip side, many users will post things like "I'm muting you" or "everyone should hide this," which kind of defeats the purpose when dealing with trolls but reinforces that idea of "if I don't want to see this user/post, nobody should." But really, hiding and muting on an individual basis, once you learn to stop caring that other people are free to continue that discussion, are much more effective than trying to organize a group boycott. Please leave the reporting for actual violations of the CoC.
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[url=https://www.bungie.net/7_Ignore-Tags/en-us/Groups/Post?id=60381319&groupId=39966#referred-]Just saying there is a script for ignoring tags.[/url]
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I haven't noticed many political threads since muting camnator.
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I really should report those threads more often...
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I'm reporting/muting as much as I can. Those threads have really turned that forum into a more hateful place than it's ever been while I've been around..
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I remember someone saying that the ban on political threads was removed because Bungie wanted their community to discuss more serious topics at their will. Obviously people have abused that, but for those who want to discuss it in a peaceful manner won't be punished for it. I think I'll just report and ignore the threads which are outright attacking certain opinions.