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super_etecoon on 28 January 2020
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Bandorr said:
super_etecoon said:

You're kind of being pouty for no reason.  He was just giving an example.  The fact is, we want new users to come here, and the "default" forum choices will showcase a much different complexion of VGChartz than what the average user who has learned this trick currently see.  I for one, since I started doing this over a year ago, have forgotten mostly about the politics aspect of this site.  But I forget that for any new visitors that come to check out the numbers or an article will instantly be given a snapshot of our community that is oftentimes toxic, whichever persuasion they may be.  and that's all well in good if you have come to VIDEO GAME CHARTZ for your political venting, but that subset of forum goers is miniscule and any positive traffic numbers the site receives from it are quickly negated by the overwhelming number of visitors who just don't need that in their life.  

I disagree. The example of "I don't want to see politics on the front page" is not the same as "I don't want politics on the website at all".

If the issue is them finding the political threads, reading them, then fleeing then the only solution would be to remove the entire forum. Because even if they aren't on the front page - they aren't hard to find. So if them even existing is an issue that is a whole different problem.

If the issue is a video game forum having politics on the front page - then hiding them is a fix.

Being as they radically changed their opinion from "I leave when I see them on the front page" to them even exisiting - I find them disingenuous. I am suspicious of their intent, and question if their complaint isn't simply because their arguments go over poorly in the political threads.  There is a disconnect between "Couldn't count the amount of times I've come on this site only to instantly hop onto another as soon as I see Trump/Democrat threads." while at the same time participating IN those threads.

I just think they should be an "opt-in" and not an "opt-out."  The politics pages aren't VGC's best look, and in fact I feel they don't represent the best users in the best light. 

Not that I think that hiding or removing the politics forum from this site will drastically change viewership.  The fact is, and I have stated this several times in this thread, it isn't 2006, 2007, or 2008 anymore.  We live in a post-smartphone saturation society and that is probably the biggest activity killer on this site...and I'm not even referring to mobile optimization.  The fact is that from the years 1995-2010 one of the main ways we all got on the internet was through a PC or laptop.  Those days are long gone and so are the insane traffic numbers from that era.  Couple this with the fact that there really isn't a "competition" or "console war" going on at the moment, the numbers aren't posted for software, and NPD is getting stricter and stricter and there really just isn't a way to ever get back to those numbers.  At the very least we could make this place inviting, though.