Should anything be done about this?

[heatcharger]

Dire stuff:



I've noticed a greater and greater share of threads revolving around these kinds of posters and their vacuous arguments.

It's Atlas, so there will obviously be a place for pointless debates, but the members of this clique are making the 2020 Presidential Election board even less readable. I'm not too big on active moderation, but usually mods take action to stop flamewars. I'm not really seeing how posts loaded with sarcasm and irony are much better.

[Rules for me, but not for thee]

Welcome to Atlas, a microcosm of the greater political conversation at large.

[Free Bird]

Welcome to Atlas, a microcosm of the greater political conversation at large.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Cut off their heads (normal).

[Virginiá]

If the user has a habit of getting into arguments and/or constantly argues incessantly with the same person in many threads, I would say yes.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

The most annoying thing about these "debates" is they tend to consist mostly of just hurling strawmen at each other. It's weird seeing a "debate" where both sides are attacking something no one unironically ever claimed.

[lfromnj]

I fail to see why electionsguy is there. If anything I should be there.

[AtorBoltox]

Yes, this is the problem with Atlas moderation. Not the refusal to ban neo-nazis, this

[junior chįmp]

dude....nobody cares

[jamestroll]

Aww..

MT Treasuer is literally the best of the best on Atlas.

[YE]

Old Atlas has bigger problems, such as the presence of a rape apologist and a raging anti-Semite, than this. 

[Badger]

Old Atlas has bigger problems, such as the presence of a rape apologist and a raging anti-Semite, than this. 

Several, actually.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Old Atlas has bigger problems, such as the presence of a rape apologist and a raging anti-Semite, than this. 

Several, actually.

As vile as those posters are they can easily be put on ignore. This nonsense derails threads, clogs up discussion and makes discussion of certain topics almost impossible. For example it should be possible to discuss how a traditionally Democratic rural county that voted for Trump narrowly is likely to vote in 2020 without it being bogged down by endless "HAR HAR #POPULISM" meming.

[morgankingsley]

As vile as those posters are they can easily be put on ignore. This nonsense derails threads, clogs up discussion and makes discussion of certain topics almost impossible. For example it should be possible to discuss how a traditionally Democratic rural county that voted for Trump narrowly is likely to vote in 2020 without it being bogged down by endless "HAR HAR #POPULISM" meming.

Despite the fact that you and I disagree with a wide array of things, I am 100 percent on your side on this one

[RINO Tom]

Avatar Absolutism™ would be ideal ... stick with your username, have the avatar of your actual preferred party and state you identify with.

[ElectionsGuy]

OF COURSE, I start making fun of certain politicians with my name about a week ago and the OP slaps me in there. Come on dude, get over yourself. This is a discussion board that we use in our spare time, not some elite club with strict rules about how we can/can't express ourselves. It's very easy to tell if people are sh**tposting or using sarcasm. If you don't like, put them on ignore. I understand the concern about stating opinions as fact and agree that it's annoying, but if you think it's bad now, wait until 2020 when the real trash-tier posts and posters come in.

[HillGoose]

nah man who cares let them do their thing

[Skunk]

The only one that's really annoying is Politician since he changes it like every other week and gets super butthurt whenever you suggest that Arizona is more likely to flip than Ohio or whatever.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I get too the names aren't really the main problem but I don't understand what the hell the point of them is. It seems someone adopted one to make a point and then a big meme bandwagon developed and whatever that point is became completely obscure.

And yes I know I like to change my name but its always clear who I am, I've never been "Tina Smith/Doug Wardlow Voter" or "CO more Democratic than PA".

[Xing]

If my username "offends" people, I'll change it, fine. In the thread the OP posted, I gave my opinion in a pretty reasonable way, even if some disagreed with it. I've pretty much always responded to serious threads seriously. When my post does seem to use "strawmen," however, I'm citing actual arguments people have made, so perhaps people could get annoyed by the arguments themselves as well. I haven't even posted all that much in that particular board lately, since finishing the primary prediction threads (big time spam, I know.)

Either way, the presidential board has always been terrible. I can guarantee you that if the four of us were banned from the board, the quality wouldn't improve at all. If the quality were higher to begin with, maybe more posters would take it seriously, but come on. We're election nerds talking about a primary that is 8 months away and an election that is almost a year and a half away. Even seemingly good analysis based in data often ages very poorly and very quickly.

Cut off their heads (normal).

Well, at least I'd be able to give my answer in this thread

[S019]

This is a dumb thread, because these posters help to add meaningful debate and energy to Atlas


Voted No (sane, normal)

[RINO Tom]

This is a dumb thread, because these posters help to add meaningful debate and energy to Atlas


Voted No (sane, normal)

Uh, not really??  Haha

[Senator Incitatus]

We should definitely ban sarcasm from Atlas.

[heatcharger]

I can guarantee you that if the four of us were banned from the board, the quality wouldn't improve at all.

See this is sort of an example of what I'm talking about. Nowhere in my post or in any of the posts in this thread did anyone call for you to be banned. At best, my poll implied that mods should take action regarding usernames and preventing flamewars. But you've grown so accustomed to responding to and responding with excessive hyperbole that you're arguing against the extreme -- something no one is calling for.

Take a step back and try to appreciate nuance.

[Xing]

I can guarantee you that if the four of us were banned from the board, the quality wouldn't improve at all.

See this is sort of an example of what I'm talking about. Nowhere in my post or in any of the posts in this thread did anyone call for you to be banned. At best, my poll implied that mods should take action regarding usernames and preventing flamewars. But you've grown so accustomed to responding to and responding with excessive hyperbole that you're arguing against the extreme -- something no one is calling for.

Take a step back and try to appreciate nuance.

I meant to write "even if", but my point was that even going to the extreme wouldn't change the quality of the board. So a less extreme approach like a warning or banning the use of certain usernames certainly isn't going to change the quality of the board either. How will simply using our registered usernames change the quality of a board that's been terrible since before I was even a member?