Politics, Religion, Social Issues Forum Closed (July 2021)

[BoxerGT2.5]

Sad to see it go, I really enjoyed reading and interacting with others who shared different points of view. I guess its closing is just another shining example of the fact that we live in a world where people simply can't respect one another and can't stomach reading opposing viewpoints. In turn, it made too much work for the moderators in a section that really shouldn't be moderated at all.

 

[Madhatter32]

I think it is unfortunate that MacRumors has decided to close the PRSI section. I nevertheless think its a wise decision and credit them for taking decisive action to address the issues there.

It was an interesting place for sure. It was unlike many political forums elsewhere because of the sheer size of the community (with its ideological diversity) and it gave people the opportunity to discuss issues with long-form interactive arguments -- complete with citations to a variety of interesting source material. Its demise is a shame because I think that a loud and vocal minority of posters incapable of respecting different points of view essentially ruined the forum for rest of the community, making participation in an otherwise interesting forum quite a negative experience for not only other posters but apparently the moderators at well.

 

[raqball]

We are closing the Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum, effective immediately.

For regulars of the PRSI forums, I apologize. We've long kept a politics forum on this site in order to allow users to discuss practically any topic beyond just Apple and Tech. And that's the reason I've defended keeping it over the years. However, due to a number of issues, it seems the best course of action now is to close the PRSI forum indefinitely.

Complaints about political discussion have been around since near the beginning of the site. In 2002, there were complaints about political discussion taking over the site - As a result we opened a politics subform to contain that conversation. That didn't last very long and required us to close the politics forum in 2003. We reopened them with stricter rules shortly after.

At this point we are going to prohibit all political and social issue discussions from the site with the exception of News stories that are categorized under Political News. We will also continue to post some news stories related to politics and social issues without comment threads. Over time, we will re-evaluate the need for political discussion in news stories at all.

Good call!

I asked for and received permission to have my access to PRSI voluntarily removed over a year ago.. It was pretty toxic in there and it was the same people debating the same general issues over and over and over again...

I've noticed since I no longer argue debate users on the other side of the political spectrum in PRSI, that we actually have a lot in common when posting in other areas of MR..

Anyway, I have not missed it one bit and MR will be a better place without it..

 

[DakotaGuy]

Hey, I made it all these years without getting suspended or banned. A few minor warnings for sure, but never banned.

Wonder what thread was the straw. Some newer ones were getting out of hand. Guess I should change my Signature and Avatar now.

Same. I got a couple warning messages over the years, but never suspended or banned. I will miss it, but understand the reasons and time consumed moderating it.

 

[bradl]

Politics is just the "P" in PRSI

We also lost Religion and Social Issues in the great MacRumors forum purge of 2021

Ketchup: The second biggest polarizing issue ever in PRSI. ?

And we never got into the biggest polarizing issue, and I'm afraid to: we might end up shutting down the entire site:

Brussel Sprouts. ??

BL.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Ketchup: The second biggest polarizing issue ever in PRSI. ?

And we never got into the biggest polarizing issue, and I'm afraid to: we might end up shutting down the entire site:

Brussel Sprouts. ??

BL.

The topic of BS produces a lot of angst and resentment in some people like myself, which is due to childhood PTSD at the kitchen table. I consider BS fightin' words.

 

[Herdfan]

Ketchup: The second biggest polarizing issue ever in PRSI. ?

And we never got into the biggest polarizing issue, and I'm afraid to: we might end up shutting down the entire site:

Brussel Sprouts. ??

BL.

Not even close. It was BBQ Sauce.

Mustard based, vinegar based or tomato based.

? ? ?

I like spicy tomato based, but will eat almost any BBQ. Don't really like ribs though. Wife thinks this is weird.

 

[Clix Pix]

....But WAIT! I thought it was also about "Tomayto" vs "Tomahto" when there were those discussions of Ketchup vs Catsup!!

 

[obeygiant]

See ya PRSI. Had some epic debates on there.

 

[LizKat]

I think it is unfortunate that MacRumors has decided to close the PRSI section. I nevertheless think its a wise decision and credit them for taking decisive action to address the issues there.

It was an interesting place for sure. It was unlike many political forums elsewhere because of the sheer size of the community (with its ideological diversity) and it gave people the opportunity to discuss issues with long-form interactive arguments -- complete with citations to a variety of interesting source material. Its demise is a shame because I think that a loud and vocal minority of posters incapable of respecting different points of view essentially ruined the forum for rest of the community, making participation in an otherwise interesting forum quite a negative experience for not only other posters but apparently the moderators at well.

Heh, my like on that post was for the second para... As for the first paragraph, I was unhappy that PRSI was initially even closed off to any new members, although I could understand that decision, all things considered.

I do definitely understand the hassle the mods were put to as time went on while American politics became more polarized, but in some cases I believe the mods have may caused some of the escalating ill feeling that kept spilling over into fresh threads being debated as new topics were presented. Still, the mods are not paid, so there could certainly be a limit to what they and arn finally figure they should have to deal with, regardless of how the community regards outcomes of moderation and application of guidelines.

 

[LizKat]

See ya PRSI. Had some epic debates on there.

I remember getting schooled by you once or twice for sure. Good times...

 

[LizKat]

PRSI became my biggest reason for coming here, especially during COVID. I had become so bored with anything Apple over the last year that PRSI was often times the only forum I visited many days.

I didn't participate a lot but I learned a lot. I'll miss it.

I will miss it too. OK so maybe I was inattentive sometimes to some of the chaos others have complained about as things became more heated and some of the moderation seemed to get less than evenhanded (although I suppose if both "sides" complain about that then they must have been doing something right "on balance").

But for a long time I just scrolled past the stuff that seemed to be descending into going-nowhere, except if I was in a mood that amounted to being wlling to stand around watching a street fight over a parking space. Eventually though as I have said elsewhere, I got wary of ending up banned or suspended and started self-censoring my own participation to a point where I didn't like either the process or the result.

Doesn't mean I won't miss that venue though. It was great for as long as it could be, I guess. Sad to see it go.

 

[TonyC28]

Even with PRSI gone bans are still in place preventing some users from commenting on Apple-related news that has a political aspect?

 

[ForkHandles]

Political forums are full of people giving their hard opinions, not one post has ever affected a reader to change their own mind.
The only thing we learn from political forums is that some people have very whacky views of how the world should work.
PRSI - you were useless but you will be missed.

 

[SactoGuy18]

I also think it shows the effects of (in my opinion!) things like how social media affects people's opinions. As such, it made it nearly impossible for PRSI to continue in a civilized manner.

 

[John-F]

Regarding the moderation, I think the mods as volunteers are good, sincere people, but I think their keeping things on such a short leash created more work for themselves. As a moderator on another forum and a participant on several, I understand the need for rules and their enforcement, but I think there is a balance between anything goes and heavy moderation. I got the impression that the rules here and the enforcement details were as complicated as case-law in the judicial system. I understand that spelling things out keeps things objective rather than subjective, but still there is a balance.

One experience I had: I agree on the need for providing sources, especially when challenged. As was pointed out somewhere else, saying "just find it on google" is dismissive, disrespectful, and against the rules. At one point, I was challenged, so I used google to find specific links. Instead of posting several links, I thought it would just be easier to respond with "Use google with the following search parameters A, B, C, D, and the first 4 links will back up what I stated." Well there was a complaint and I was formally warned. If I were a moderator, I might have said, "Hey we prefer you to post actual links" and left it at that instead of a formal warning. You can be so afraid of things getting out of hand that you maintain an overly strict forum.

 

[FrankieTDouglas]

So, I guess the pro-censorship crowd ultimately got their wish. Moderated completely out of existence, ironically on the day that Americans celebrate freedom and independence.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

So, I guess the pro-censorship crowd ultimately got their wish. Moderated completely out of existence, ironically on the day that Americans celebrate freedom and independence.

That’s just one country out of so many represented here and think the decision was perhaps based on how much work the forum generated more than anything else.

 

[raqball]

Same. I got a couple warning messages over the years, but never suspended or banned. I will miss it, but understand the reasons and time consumed moderating it.

I spent a fair amount of time in MR PRSI jail.. Not really proud of that but I am very blunt and as a matter of fact'ish so I think that combo caused me some problems... LOL

I finally just asked for my access to that area to be revoked and they granted it.. Like I said before, it was pretty much the same people arguing debating the same general issues and topics over and over anyways...

The moderators are probably happy as I bet that area took up a lot of their time...

 

[ericgtr12]

I spent a fair amount of time in MR PRSI jail.. Not really proud of that but I am very blunt and as a matter of fact'ish so I think that combo caused me some problems... LOL

I finally just asked for my access to that area to be revoked and they granted it.. Like I said before, it was pretty much the same people arguing debating the same general issues and topics over and over anyways...

The moderators are probably happy as I bet that area took up a lot of their time...

I had the same issues and had been jailed as well, in the end I opted out in my preferences (though I think that's more of a newer feature but I could be wrong). Eventually, it lost its appeal to me as well and it eventually lost a lot of decent posters anyway. To the credit of MR they realized this as well and started implementing the PRSI only ban, IMO it was a sensible change as many of us get along just fine in other areas of the site.

 

[raqball]

I had the same issues and had been jailed as well, in the end I opted out in my preferences (though I think that's more of a newer feature but I could be wrong). Eventually, it lost its appeal to me as well and it eventually lost a lot of decent posters anyway. To the credit of MR they realized this as well and started implementing the PRSI only ban, IMO it was a sensible change as many of us get along just fine in other areas of the site.

I've honestly noticed that since I no longer argue debate with users in that area who are on the other side of the political spectrum than I, that I have a lot more in common with them than I thought I did.

There were several users that I had heated debates with, and who I thought I didn't like, but away from that area and seeing their posts in the traditional areas of this forum has given me a different and new perspective of them...

 

[Huntn]

Getting the lay of the land for @arn
OK the new Mac Rumors forums, have the site mangers posted a concise statement about what kind of discussions are no longer allowed? If so please point me at it.

Example, I want to post a thread Humanity Calamity discussing uncontrolled development across the United States, then I want to talk about the heat wave the country is currently experiencing with an eye to both climate change and the Community Forum. It is a current event. Can it be discussed without talking about climate change, like oh boy it’s been hot, I can’t imagine why?

What would happen to these threads? Locked? Would I get moderated? Could I get banned?

 

[ericgtr12]

I've honestly noticed that since I no longer argue debate with users in that area who are on the other side of the political spectrum than I, that I have a lot more in common with them than I thought I did.

There were several users that I had heated debates with, and who I thought I didn't like, but away from that area and seeing their posts in the traditional areas of this forum has given me a different and new perspective of them...

And your point couldn’t be made any better here. Who would’ve ever thought they you and I could ever agreed on something? Yet here we are. ?

 

[hulugu]

Getting a lay of the land for @arn
OK the new Mac Rumors forums, have the site mangers posted a concise statement about what kind of discussions are no longer allowed? If so please point me at it.

Example, I want to post a thread Humanity Calamity discussing uncontrolled development across the United States, then I want to talk about the heat wave the country is currently experiencing with an eye to both climate change and the Community Forum. It is a current event. Can it be discussed without talking about climate change, like oh boy it’s been hot, I can’t imagine why? What would happen to these threads? Locked? Would I get moderated? Could I get banned?

I have the same question. Can we talk about climate change? Where?

Apple has made great strides when it comes to minimizing e-waste, but is that the only place?

The Apple Store in town opened up, can we talk about how COVID-19 changed the store? Or, is that political?

 

[Huntn]

I have the same question. Can we talk about climate change? Where?

Apple has made great strides when it comes to minimizing e-waste, but is that the only place?

The Apple Store in town opened up, can we talk about how COVID-19 changed the store? Or, is that political?

IMO this is a messy situation, unless MRs just wants us to talk tech with zero reference to anything going on in the world. Please limit all talk to the Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple devices…