Should The Political Discussion Board Remain?

[Angelus]

Nuking the political boards hardly seems like much of a solution. It won't prevent people from making politically charged posts somewhere on the site, whether they're in specifically dedicated threads or not. Especially in today's climate, where almost everything seems to spiral into politics of some kind sooner or later, do you really want the extra work of finding that fine line in every argument, and going about the business of keeping the entire site free of whatever is deemed to be crossing that line? I sincerely doubt it, and it's not a good idea in the first place.

I really think the answer here is simply a few mods who are really dedicated to focusing on the political boards, and approach it with a firm, consistent hand. Pick some people you trust are up to the job, and just empower them to deal with the issue on their terms. Maybe I'm speaking a bit out of place here, but imho, from my somewhat brief time with the mod team, I felt like things often got too bogged down in deliberation. Like, there seems to sometimes be such a hesitancy to act for fear of making a wrong decision, that either things take a bit too long, or a half measure is agreed upon. It's ok to make mistakes. They can be undone, and apologized for if/when they occur...but it's important that whatever moderators you hire are capable and willing of moderating on their own terms, without resorting to group think for every issue that comes up. Teamwork and deliberation is great, and the mod team should absolutely be accountable to each other, but again….once you hire somebody, and they know the ropes, you have to empower them to actually be independently capable doing the job. Everything doesn't always need a second, third, or fourth opinion. It's counterproductive. I won't presume to speak for anyone, but generally, people don't love being constantly micromanaged, and it leads to less than optimal productivity.