I love participating in the fun and mirth of the forums, but lately there isn't much fun ... or much mirth ... so I find myself away from the forums alot.
The problem ... as I see it ... is far more strong-minded people on the forums. If you post anything contrary to what they believe you aren't wrong or mistaken - you're made out to be an idiot. And if you politely try to bow out you're a coward. And if you hold your ground and back up what you said you are spreading meaningless nonsense or oppressing their opinion.
Quite often I used to like to bring up a topic for debate and it was interesting to hear the responses. I expressed my opinions, heard the opinions of others, and always learned something in the process. It wasn't about who was wrong or who was right - it was sharing what we all believed in and taking away something new from the discussion. Anymore, people have their posts torn apart line by line and are made out to be fools for ever posting on the forums.
As for me ... I will just post in the humorous threads (other than this one) and will not post elsewhere. And should they become testy as well I'll just stop posting alltogether.
And this would be the reason Hubpages is now policing the forums ... The 'nice people' (99% of the populous here) are being pushed away by all of the fighting, and newbies that show up for some info believe the site is about nothing other than wars. Over time, without putting this in check, the community would erode away.
Do we really want new members to come here and see the hubpages forums as a place where people squabble all of the time? I know I don't. Had I seen this my first day I never would have joined Hubpages, as I spent my first day looking through the forums to get my bearings on what Hubpages was all about.
I know another site that was overrun by radicals. For a while the older members left and new memberships slowed down. The staff got miffed and finally banned all of the radicals permanently, without any warning *poof*.
Many got nervous after that and a few left angered over the incident, but the community bounced back afterwards and became stronger than it ever was before.
I'm not recommending this ... I'm just saying that what can happen on one site could happen elsewhere.
What happens when everyone pushes the fighting too far? Do they do a mass-banning of people or do they just close the forums?
It's something we should all deeply consider, as it takes many staff hours to keep policing the forums and every new member that refuses to join because of the anger in the forums is lost revenue for HP. How much would they be willing to lose before taking stronger action?
The current bannings (which almost never occurred when I first joined) are an indicator to me that HP is taking this issue very seriously and they will have peace in the forums - one way or another.
Maybe it's time we all stopped, took a deep breath, and relaxed a bit - so as not to force the battle any further. Trust me ... if we keep pushing on this we one we will most definitely lose.
Coming from someone who has moderated forums like this in the past I can tell you with all honesty ... fighting and bickering is not something someone wants to see in their forums - and freedom of speech does not apply in a private area such as this, because we all agree to live by the rules of the forum.
This isn't about fighting for one's private rights ... this is about respecting someone else's property and using it as they ask.
Give peace a chance ...