This Forum. Has it changed? For the better or for the worse? Or not a at all?

ThomasCovenant

When I post I try to imagine that I am at a social gathering or sometimes in someone's house as a dinner guest. That way it is easier to follow the community guidelines and posting rules set out on the site at the bottom of the page. I wouldn't want to make a fool of myself in public. Who does?

But when I forget to imagine that scenario, and realise instead that I'm fairly anonymous behind a screen and armed only with my keyboard, it is easy to slip up.

''We're a global community of people from many different cultures and backgrounds. Not everyone is going to share the same beliefs or opinions but everyone has the right to feel comfortable using and visiting the site.

So please be polite and respectful in your interactions with other members. This includes the moderators who work hard to keep things on track.''

''Sometimes other people's opinions can be frustrating but venting your anger or ranting is not the answer. Take a deep breath and count to 10. This is not the venue for you to harass, abuse or intimidate others however much you may not like what they believe. Please be civil and don't be quick to respond to what may appear aggravating comments.''

''There are a very few cases where crude or profane language is really appropriate and will be tolerated. Please express your views in a manner that others won't find offensive.''

''No harassing or bullying content, or content that incites hatred or promotes violence against individuals or groups based on race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, veteran status, or sexual orientation/gender identity.''

LoveUniHateExams

I don't think this forum has changed, TBH.

You could make an argument that this forum used to be generally left-leaning but over the past few years the situation has swung so that it's generally right-leaning. However, this just mirrors the general zeitgeist in western countries.

The left was immensely popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Then came Bush's and Blair's bullshit, the dodgy dossiers, the highly dubious invasion of Iraq and the death of Dr Kelly. After that came the ridiculous censoriousness of colleges in America, Canada & UK. The left has become a bit of a joke, and seems incapable of learning or adapting.

I'm not sure why you quote the terms and conditions. Most posts and posters are polite; any posts that cross the line are removed after fair warning.

Xanthippe

Just a few posters seem to have become very angry and want to yell and swear at everyone. I get the impression it's not the particular topic that's annoyed them but perhaps things have suddenly gone wrong in their lives because they are spewing vitriol on all threads.

The intelligent, thoughtful, compassionate people are still around and they post occasionally but they seem to have retreated in the face of all the anger around. I miss them.

I expect to be abused because of this post and called a snowflake or other names but actually I don't care anymore, I have a life beyond the forum.

Unlearn

Worse.
The conservative/right-wing bent around here is as irritating & limiting as the JW garbage. Have to admit, it's kept me away from here.
But different strokes, and all that. My opinion is worth whatever you want to send to my Paypal account...

stan livedeath

a pity quite a few regulars have left or got themselves kicked out in recent months.

Anders Andersen

I wish I could set a filter here that would hide all the polarized left-right political ehm...conversations.

That's not what I'm here for. I'd go to a political forum if I wanted to read that.

For me all that is not related to JWism and recovery of that.

dozy

I don't think it is as good as it used to be , perhaps 10 years ago or so. Back then there were a lot of really good posters , many with years of experience in the Org. Most ( understandably ) have moved on.

That isn't any criticism of an excellent forum that has really helped me & educated me over the years- it is just that times have changed & I guess the make-up of posters has changed as well.

The politics & off-topic posts do annoy me. I'm not interested in threads promoting "Tommy Robinson" , for example. Nothing to do with JWism.

Twitch

I'd say it has definitely changed and become more conservative overall.

MeanMrMustard

I have a life beyond the forum.

Now THAT is a healthy statement. +1000.

It also allows you to relax and enjoy the banter, if any.

Simon

There are lots of people who cannot tolerate opinions counter to their own and don't know how to think logically or conduct a proper debate. It's straight to the straw-man or mischaracterizing other people's views or the new favourite - you're an alt-right nazi.

Opinions are fine as long as people know thats what they are. When people try to dogmatically assert that their opinions are facts is where things go wrong. Then they don't just want to share their opinion or take part in a discussion - they want to advertise their facts. Enter political propaganda mode - whoever can shout loudest and longest is "right".

When the facts come out, and they always do, the people who were wrong and didn't leave themselves a way out declare everything unfair, the forum "right wing" (or left wing, depending on the issue) and not a place they can stand to be any longer. Any excuse to cut and run rather to hold up their hands and say "gee, I was wrong, they had me fooled".

It happened with WoMD, Trayvon Martin, the Hands-up-don't-shoot guy, and now Trump / Russian Collusion. It'll happen again with something else.

People don't seem able to separate the notion of having a viewpoint that doesn't contradict known facts with a judgement on the facts when they come out. For example, whether Trump colluded with Russia wasn't know as a fact, so the correct position was to be undecided. Some people were certain he had. I was more convinced he probably hadn't based on where the information came from and why and as time went on and leaks happened and we learnt more about the FBI and the actors involved it became more and more apparent that it was more political shenanigans rather than real national security concerns.

If Mueller had come out and said he had colluded with Russia, it would not have been the end of the world for my position because my position didn't contradict the facts - it was "we have not been shown any evidence of collusion so far" which isn't the same as "there can't be any, ever".

But I was right. Again.

BTW: if anyone is keeping score - I've been on the correct side of all the issues listed above. People may not like that, but they can't deny it. I have a higher than average ability to asses information that may not be immediately apparent but is there if you think about things. I did a test once years ago todo with deductive reasoning and apparently scored in the top 1% - the guy doing the test said they'd never had anyone score that high. I can't remember what it was called but it was used in some legal settings.

This Forum. Has it changed? For the better or for the worse? Or not a at all?

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