Hyperpolarization and internet forum behavior

[TwitchKitty]

http://www.iidb.org/vbb/showthread.php?t=206469

This is borrowed from another forum because I like what it says:

Effective immediately, the Political Discussions forum will be closed to all new threads and posts for a period of one week.

Few things in life are ever black and white. However, if one formed their impressions about our planet from this Political Discussions forum, they might be led to such a conclusion.

I've posted here in PD for close to three years now, and lurked here some while longer. I've been at various times a PD moderator as well as the administrator 'responsible' for PD. During my tenure here, I've seen and have participated in my share of arguments, and I can attribute many of my currently held positions to their effects.

With that said, I must share that my fellow administrators and I have observed a disturbing and disappointing trend develop over the last year or so: Hyperpolarization.

PD has long been known for its (at times a little too) spirited debates and strongly held viewpoints, but in recent times the forum has evolved from generally benign and innocent debates on subjects to outright hyperpolarized shout-fests.

It seems like every viewpoint these days is presented as indisputable fact and anyone who differs from said viewpoint is part of 'the enemy' and is an open target to be vilified, slandered, or put down.

This is most obvious in subjects such as liberal versus conservative and socialist versus capitalist, but the extent to which the hyperpolarization lies is so deep it is manifested in nearly every thread in this forum.

There appears to be no middle ground in this never ending warring of the extremities; the lack of such defines PD as hollow and empty.

Due to this, my fellow administrators and I have elected to shut down PD for one week, so that its users can step back from the constant bickering and find said perspective.

We will be sorting through the top several pages of threads and locking any discussions that don't live up to our standards. Upon reopening, we will do a better job at trying to uphold the standards for discussion found in other forums here at IIDB.

This decision does not come lightly on our parts; holding PD to a higher standard is a requisite for staying true to our mission.


A discussion thread regarding this closure can be found here: link.

Thank you for your understanding,

IIDB Administrators.