Your Choice, your Vote

[Hawthorne]

I've been around on this forum for a lot of years now. I think it should be strictly about cpap and sleep apnea but I see no way to stop people posting about other topics without getting into a lot of stuff that is "off topic".

It has been encouraged, over the years, that people mark anything as "off topic", if it is not about the intended purpose of this forum.

When people oblige, by noting their thread as "off topic", I just don't read it. If it is not marked "off topic", I fume a little when I begin to read and then just leave the thread.

[Kohkie]

Wow those of you attacking Gazhacks, sort of make his point. He only made a survey, didn't even voice his opinion. I have to say I come here for CPAP talk, not politics or religion. If I want that I will go somewhere else.

[Gazhacks]

This is a question like, which machine do you like best? or maybe "Are you mad" Im a newbie did you state about O/T to all the newbies? and also where does it state its my forum? A post came up that I saw today and immediatly people started shouting and yet again its politics (Your not the only forum) So I thought it would be good to have a poll on the topic, as this is a forum for different opinions is it not!

This post will self-destruct in 5 minutes

[Gazhacks]

Wow those of you attacking Gazhacks, sort of make his point. He only made a survey, didn't even voice his opinion. I have to say I come here for CPAP talk, not politics or religion. If I want that I will go somewhere else.

Thank you, its seems some people understand me

[Cotay]

An outright ban would be inadvisable and nearly impossible to enforce. Tell me how exactly one would define where the boundary between political/religious and secular topics actually lies. There is too much subjectivity in application at the margins...the better solution would be to create a separate sub-forum for OT posts...call it "The Kitchen Sink".

[Corkster52]

I am a newbie too, but I do feel there is a certain amount of "higher power" things that have effected my life. Flagging things with an OT in the subject should be reasonable enough so that those who do not want to see it don't have to open it.

[chunkyfrog]

I'd call it the "junk drawer"

[redjoe]

Kohkie,

I'm guessing you haven't seen Gazhacks' posts on a thread labeled as OT about Boehner. Four minutes prior to starting this thread, he wrote "...WAR, POLITICS, and RELIGN [sic] and should be banned. I would like to be the first to propose a ban on such topics."

I hadn't looked at the thread before, but did so to see if that might have been where Gazhacks was coming from and I found the above post. If one looked at only this current thread, it may appear that Gazhacks was neutral, but he is not an innocent babe, at least in this case. (Some of what other people wrote was nasty and less than appropriate, which is why I so seldom look at such posts).

As I said before, the Goodmans (our hosts) have chosen to ban very little on this forum and, while I sometimes don't like what other people say, I think they've made a good choice.

[NateS]

An outright ban would be inadvisable and nearly impossible to enforce. Tell me how exactly one would define where the boundary between political/religious and secular topics actually lies. There is too much subjectivity in application at the margins...the better solution would be to create a separate sub-forum for OT posts...call it "The Kitchen Sink".

That's perfect!

I've been trying to remember examples of what other boards call the off-topic area and "Kitchen Sink" is one I've seen used.

I'd also like to say that those who say "If you don't like it - don't read it!" are missing the whole point.

Of course, if someone clicks on the political headline, then they have chosen to read its contents. No one if forcing them to read its contents. But the gist of the complaint is that one has to read the often screaming or sarcastic headline in order to know it is not about sleep apnea or cpap. That is unavoidable as long as posters can insert these headlines right into the middle of the cpaptalk forum, and that is what I contend is upsetting and oft-putting to members coming here for relevant cpap information and support, and discouraging to potential new members who are looking in to see if this is a forum they want to join for help.

Just consider these political headlines alone - would you continue to attend meetings of an apnea/cpap group if about every five minutes during the meeting someone jumped up and yelled out just the words of one of these headlines? Most wouldn't come back to such meetings.

In fact, I think most people are too intimidated to even post a comment here opposing these political insertions! - which is what they are.

[Vader]

Should Politics and religion be a banned subject on the forum?

What part of

IT'S NOT YOUR FORUM TO ASK/DECIDE THIS QUESTION

do you not understand?

The premise of this poll is totally bogus. This forum belongs to the Goodman family and they ultimately decide how it will be run.

Also, if you want to be picky, this poll should also have been labeled "OT".

This forum is not necessarily "moderated" and has been pretty much a free exchange of ideas on various topics for seven and a half years. If you WANT to be part of a moderated forum, there are a number of others to choose from, but people won't find real help with this therapy there. This is by far the most helpful forum in this category on the Internet BECAUSE it is so open.

I've always been one who looked at the "subject" (title) and decided whether I wanted to read/follow the thread or not.

If people don't respond to the threads/posts, they won't survive very long.

Get over it!!! You're not the "Decider-in-Chief"


.

It couldn't be said better, Wulfman!

100% spot on!!!

[Gazhacks]

I didnt realise I had to be the owner to post a question! I find incredable that a poll like this could cause so much crap being thrown.

[xenablue]

Gazhacks - I agree with others - you just asked the question, without spouting off about your own opinions on the question asked - a smart thing to do when asking for opinions.

I'm on several forums for different things and they all (because I tend to like liberal forums) have OT threads at times. As long as the OP (Original Poster) makes it quite clear that the topic IS OT and exactly what it's about, I don't see why it should be banned. Firstly, if it gets totally out of hand, the thread will be locked. Secondly, if people aren't interested in that topic, they have the option to not read it. If NO ONE's interested the post will die and fall off the page, just like some of the spam.

I don't even read ON topic posts that I have no knowledge about or has no relevance to me - let alone OT posts I don't care about.

Cheers,
xena

[BlackSpinner]

I don't think either should be banned because for one religion/spirituality are very useful for healing purposes for those that believe they need such things. For another the medical equipment industry is political and the lobbying and posturing of the big names needs to be addressed.

Besides that those threads on American politics are a lot like watching a Monty Python skit or the Goon show, hysterically funny watching people shoot themselves in the foot or hitting themselves on the head with bats. They make me feel so intelligent and calm and superior and they make my politicians sound like they have brains.

[chunkyfrog]

Well put, Blackspinner.

[jnk]

Discussing the pros and cons of censorship/banning IS a political/religious discussion, isn't it?

And for any binding decisions to be made about what was political or religious, there would have to be an official appointment of a religious/political censor/potentate, wouldn't there be?

Some "political" posts/threads are actually sleep-related. Even though I am not political myself, those posts don't so much bother me, since where else would those subjects be discussed as freely as here? I seem to recall Johnny himself making one or two posts that some could consider as reflecting a certain "political" view on business. His right.

On the other hand, I admit that I find general (non-sleep) political threads here to be especially irritating. Just not quite as irritating as it would be to me if those threads were banned from being here.

Political people have OSA. Religious people have OSA. Atheists have OSA. I would hope that all of them are welcome here as long as they aren't disruptive. After all, it doesn't hurt for newbies coming to this forum to see that it is filled with a bunch of regular people, not just CPAP activists and CPAP evangelists. If a newbie sees that political zealots and political neutrals alike are tolerated here, maybe the newbie will figure he or she will be welcome here too.

Although I consider myself a very religious person, I prefer having those discussions face-to-face so I can have some idea whether the other person(s) actually welcome(s) the discussion. I do not consider this forum to be the place for that sort of thing--it would feel out of place. A forum called CPAPtalk is a place where people might go to talk about sleep-related problems, not so much religious ones or political ones, unless those problems are related to sleep somehow.

But hey, that's just how I see it.