I think part of the problem is that, at this point, that American political discussion has become so poisoned. You’ve had one party acting in extremely bad faith for a while, and with the 2016 election you’ve basically seen the broader left just go ‘fuck it’ wrt being considerate of conservative positions.
And it’s understandable why. I know, just from dealing with my family, that having a reasonable conversation about politics when they consider anyone who is non deferential to Trump a traitor is… night impossible.
And not all people of conservative inclination are like that. And like @RichVR says, I’ve got no problem talking with reasonable people, in fact I rather like having an honest conversation about things. Having conversations with someone coming from The American conservative, Federalist, or National Review perspective 4 years ago could be enlightening and enjoyable.
I just don’t feel that can really exist currently, not large scale.
Yeah, there are several people here of a conservative bent that I have great respect for. I enjoy discussing things with them and learning from them. Then there’s Malathor. Who I will avoid summoning here out of disgust.
I think it would help if the forum developed more of an aversion to pile-ons. It’s natural to want to respond if you feel you have something to say but if several people have already got there ahead of you, let them carry the battle flag. That sort of thing.
If you are one of the many responses in a pile-on, it may not feel like you are being harsh but it’s rough to be on the receiving end.
Trying for a sympathetic reading is another good habit, I think.
Yourself. Ask yourself, if someone else like you wasn’t feeling welcome, what would you change about yourself to make them feel more welcome. And then be that change.
I think most of that has to do with a persons way of posting. Some posters can disagree without being assholes, others find that hard to do.
Look at what happens when a new poster shows up and makes posts different from the left leaning norm, he/she is pretty much swarmed until their opinions are more fleshed out or until they give up.
I think strong reactions are common on the internet, there is little nuance and very few slow developing arguments, most tend to be explosive followed by more thoughtful posts, maybe.
That really depends on how they approach it right? The last one got… weird, like was removed from the site, made multiple new accounts, tried to stalk a few peeps…
None of that has to do with conservatives though and is more about whatever that was.
Going thru a few threads this morning I ran into a new conservative poster who seemed quite sane and with stood the abuse well. Actually, abuse is to strong a word.
If we have a new poster, please direct that person to the new member thread, and also the top 100 games thread. That’s right, I’m pimping that one hard.
I’d do it myself but I’m pretty much done with P&R. No offense to anyone who enjoys it there, but I’ve decided I need Qt3 to be a Trump-free zone for my mental wellbeing.
Tag the in the other topics, although they don’t have to post. I mean they made an account are in PR… don’t think that’s someone anyone has to convince to participate.
It’s not a bad idea to send out the welcome wagon explicitly for new users, particularly ones that spend some time here.
You can tell a user is new when they post, because their username will be in light grey. It’s pretty rare, but keep an eye out for that cue.
I don’t think there is a public-facing page for listing new users (should there be?) but for staff like @stusser and @telefrog they can visit https://forum.quartertothree.com/admin/users/list/new which does list all the recent new users.
Of particular note here is read time, posts read, topics viewed. Someone who is new, that reads a lot (even if they don’t post a single time) is arguably worth welcoming. I’d say any recent user with read time 20m or more, across 5 or more topics – there are only 3 in this list that I can see – is worth sending a personal PM to inviting them to post in the welcome topic.
This welcome message can also be automated, of course (and it is, sort of, in Discourse, but to all new users not just those that read a fair bit), but I think for the intent of this topic an actual personal message from staff would be better.
Actually now that I think about it, maybe this could be a feature, based on trust level transition from 0 to 1.
“Someone tag them so they know we’re talking about them.”
I don’t know why that’s so complicated. Are you just trying to be a jerk?
Edit: To be clear, usually people refer to things the way you did to point out how “difficult” it is to address transgender people. I’m asking that second question honestly, I don’t mean it like, “you are being a jerk” but in the form of a question.
@Gordon_Cameron used “just like a wop” in the gun control thread while (mis)quoting The Untouchables. @RichVR didn’t recognize it, and frankly neither did I, but before I could take any action GC clarified where his post was coming from.
Just an interesting example of how one person’s obvious movie quote joke, is another person’s inappropriate comment. Also, nicely defused by all before it got heated.
