That's lovely of you. But I spend hardly any time in Natter as is;

It was just an example, sweet Fay.

And really, I'm just being perverse here talktalktalking about it. If there were smaller threads dedicated to things I'm interested in - as with dueSouth, and Smallville, and Precious, then I'd probably frequent them and have conversations there (which I shan't have in Natter) about things on those themes, as I do with these existing smaller threads.

But it's cool not to have such smaller threads if that's going to have a negative impact on the community. I'm easy.

Fay is me. Again.

Ah! I'm reading along catching and going "Oh, yeah, I'm against thread proliferation". And then two posts later thinking "No, we should totally have a thread for that, you're so RIGHT!".

Sigh.

I admit, it really pains me, all the skipping that makes natter less like a long conversation and more like a chatroom where you don't even know what came before.

FTR, I do really think that a politics thread might just be too much. I know I"d be scared to go in there. And I fear what it might become...

But here's my thought: if someone heard about a specific thread, and came here to read that, and felt like they fit in, or found a community in that thread, would that feeling still apply when they started nosing around the rest of Buffista-dom? I mean, sure, you might come here looking for Firefly and not especially be interested in Smallville or even Buffy, but...the general sense. I guess I feel like music is something that if someone came and was reading what Hec and Hayden had to say, they would still be someone buffistaish. If someone got into the Due South thread, they would still feel how we are. I'm scared a politics thread wouldn't be like that. Even if it was a fairly polite politics thread. Does that make any sense? (If not, please ignore--I'm not very good at articulating my feelings normally anyway, and it's been a very rough day).

I'm with Meara on the Politics thread idea. I feel gun shy about that one. It's SUCH a hot potato - I mean, I know music is too, but in a much less life-and-death fashion.

No separate politics thread. No separate religion thread, no separate sex thread (Bitches can handle that on our own, thanks). The topics come up in various places and get dealt with, but having one concentrated area of potential controversy makes me nervous.

And the thing is, I don't think we are going to stop snarking at Julia Roberts or George Bush or Carrot Top; and it will include things we would never say about someone registered on the board.

Yes, but Julia Roberts isn't just someone not registered on the board; she's a public figure, and therefore legally (am I right?) available for snarkage.

I don't wanna hang onto this very much farther, as we've obviously got different points of view and I can't trot out any more or different arguments to compel you, I've got no chance of making you change your mind.

I just want to say I'm really, really against the bit "our policy is based on the idea that there should be no personal attacks on any poster here. people who are not Buffistas are fair game" going into any official, FAQ-type document. Please.

Politics, like Religion, is often based on faith and passion. While it is possible to discuss such things politely, it is extremely difficult to actually make "progress" in such discussions with strangers. The urge to be "right" and to win people over to your way of thinking dominates the wary and unwary alike.

This is why I can't discuss literature online any more.

(That was a joke.) (But it is actually, pathetically, true.)

I'm rather behind Allyson re. thread-proliferation, here. I don't want to become a TT, where the structure was a thread for every topic; I'd rather have our threads be differing zones of discussion. I'm being a little crazy, probably, certainly, but it's really felt to me like that's a much richer earth for discussion. Maybe, it's more suggestive/nurturing of communityhood. There's less disassociation; less congenital split; more freedom to reference past discussions on other topics in greater detail (because it happened in the same thread and same area, of course).

I may be insane. But that's how I see it.

(Funny... this is Natter about Natter)

Well, actually, Darrien, it's on-topic for both the thread and the discussion, so, I wouldn't call it natter at all....

having one concentrated area of potential controversy

Yes. That's a very good point.

I'm really, really against the bit "our policy is based on the idea that there should be no personal attacks on any poster here. people who are not Buffistas are fair game" going into any official, FAQ-type document. Please.

To the best of my knowledge, no one has suggested that. We've always said we don't want to be too specific.

No separate politics thread. No separate religion thread, no separate sex thread (Bitches can handle that on our own, thanks). The topics come up in various places and get dealt with, but having one concentrated area of potential controversy makes me nervous.

wrod. Especially on that last sentence.

The topics come up in various places and get dealt with, but having one concentrated area of potential controversy makes me nervous.

It's the topics popping up all over the place in Natter that I like so much. I may not have woken up wanting to discuss mating habits of Australian mammals, but I think it's nifty when that's what ends up happening.

I also like discussing politics in natter becasue it seems that people less interested, or not arguing act as a buffer.