Does the forum need so much politics?

[EarnOnVictor]

[OPEN] Kamala 2024 (unofficial) Signature Campaign
[OPEN] Trump 2024 (unofficial) Signature Campaign
(Both campaigns should be moved to offtopic or politics & society, they certainly have no place in the services section where services are offered with payment in Bitcoin.)

They were both moved to Off Topic. I thought they were pretty funny though.

Oh, that is nice, I didn't even check since a while ago, they are the main reason for this thread was created and it's so relieving to see them moved to where they belong.

What an intoxication, I can't decipher the main justification for the creation of such threads in the service section of the forum. People will always go both ways when it comes to politics I wonder how the section would be messed up if the opposition decides to pay back kindly.

[Smartvirus]

Clearly not!
The Americans might not have a local board here to channel all that polls, Biden, Trump, Kamala thing but, I think the way it’s turned out about the America to the polls thing has been more of an abuse of the system. Been seeing these free signatures been pulled up here and there and I clearly don’t see the need why!

Ok, the elections are in the US, but certainly, this is not primarily a forum only for US people ^{or maybe I'm wrong}, I even think that they are in the minority here.

One user has opened two voluntary signature campaigns, one for Trump and one for Kamala. I would say that this is the lowest point of this forum.
If it is a joke, it is very bad and someone without a sense of humour should not engage in it.

[OPEN] Kamala 2024 (unofficial) Signature Campaign
[OPEN] Trump 2024 (unofficial) Signature Campaign
(Both campaigns should be moved to offtopic or politics & society, they certainly have no place in the services section where services are offered with payment in Bitcoin.)

One or two threads might be okay, having it in politics and society, off topic, serious discussions and boards that don’t call for much than, having to plaster it all over the forum and even with a signature. It doesn’t add nothing to the cryptocurrency community.

We’ve seen free projects been lunched and most times, the significance to the cryptocurrency community is ineminent. Icopress have a couple of them free signature campaigns on the service board and you can tell it’s usefulness to the cryptocurrency community. Not this polls thing, it just doesn’t go and your sure it would be abused by people in the days to come.

[legiteum]

I would love to see an outright ban on partisan politics in the main forum. (For the P&S forum, well, that's what it's for). I know I posted a few that could be construed as being partisan, and they were moved over to P&S. I am fine with that.

But there are still out-and-out partisan threads on the main forum that are almost entirely about promoting one of the candidates either directly or indirectly. And these threads are, predictably, filled with a bunch of graphics and memes meant to crap on one of the candidates running for president in the US, and are generally a food fight over the usual political battle lines.

I started a thread in the main forum about political policy that we felt was good for Bitcoin and our broader industry, and that went.... pretty well. I laid out the guidelines in that thread in the OP that we wouldn't talk about parties, people or candidates, only policies. It worked, and the conversation stayed pretty rational and civil, too. (I personally think it's rather silly to talk about officials in particular since they are usually just following the laws that Congress passes and they really don't matter in the long run--policy does).

Hence I would like to propose those guidelines for the main forum: only talk about politics that relate to Bitcoin (obviously), and no talking about specific parties or candidates, and no public personas that are obvious stand-ins for one of the US candidates, e.g. a campaign surrogate, a candidate's hire, etc. In other words, if the post has any of: Republican, Democrat, Trump, Biden, Harris, RFK, Vance, Walz, Musk, Soros, Gensler, or anybody of their ilk, then... it belongs in P&S.

As I have also written, I think associating Bitcoin and our business generally with one side or another of US partisan politics is a very bad thing for our business. US politics is extremely polarized today, and smart businesses and industries are staying out of that fight because nobody wants to cut their market in half by only appealing to one half of US citizens while making mortal enemies out of the other half.

[LoyceV]

I would love to see an outright ban on partisan politics in the main forum. (For the P&S forum, well, that's what it's for).

I don't think that's necessary. If it's off-topic, you can already report it and it gets removed. If it's on the wrong board, report it and it gets moved.

[Reid]

Hence I would like to propose those guidelines for the main forum: only talk about politics that relate to Bitcoin (obviously), and no talking about specific parties or candidates, and no public personas that are obvious stand-ins for one of the US candidates, e.g. a campaign surrogate, a candidate's hire, etc. In other words, if the post has any of: Republican, Democrat, Trump, Biden, Harris, RFK, Vance, Walz, Musk, Soros, Gensler, or anybody of their ilk, then... it belongs in P&S.

Ain't that what is happening. Moderators would need to see that your thread is related to Bitcoin if you post it in Bitcoin discussion even though there's politics included like what is happening now where the US presidential candidates are also talking about Bitcoin and other things.

Now, if it's pure politics, it goes to another board, and if its sways to non politics it goes to off topic.
I won't worry about this because this forum had been running for a long time and I think they are cleaning it as much as they possibly can so that everything is in their appropriate boards.

What you are saying is we cannot put names? I think that will be difficult especially if the one telling the idea about cryptocurrency or Bitcoin is a politician. It's better if it's detailed, right? It's a thread, if something pops out about Bitcoin and a politician said it, it can also be shared in Bitcoin discussion especially if there's one already available to share it instead of creating another.

[legiteum]

I would love to see an outright ban on partisan politics in the main forum. (For the P&S forum, well, that's what it's for).

I don't think that's necessary. If it's off-topic, you can already report it and it gets removed. If it's on the wrong board, report it and it gets moved.

Clearly it's not consistent since there are several pro-Trump, anti-Harris threads on the main forum right now.

Ain't that what is happening. Moderators would need to see that your thread is related to Bitcoin if you post it in Bitcoin discussion even though there's politics included like what is happening now where the US presidential candidates are also talking about Bitcoin and other things.

You can, using one connection or another, connect US partisan politics to any conversation and it's very easy to simply use Bitcoin as a gateway to talk about your favorite candidate.

And all you have to do is watch how a thread devolves: it quickly starts throwing around the usual partisan insults, e.g. "commie" or "nazi" or whatever.

Now, if it's pure politics, it goes to another board, and if its sways to non politics it goes to off topic.
I won't worry about this because this forum had been running for a long time and I think they are cleaning it as much as they possibly can so that everything is in their appropriate boards.

I probably should have prefaced my post here by saying that, generally speaking, this is one of the best-run forums I've ever seen. No moderation is perfect, but it runs really well overall. I am certainly talking about fine-tuning here.

What you are saying is we cannot put names? I think that will be difficult especially if the one telling the idea about cryptocurrency or Bitcoin is a politician. It's better if it's detailed, right? It's a thread, if something pops out about Bitcoin and a politician said it, it can also be shared in Bitcoin discussion especially if there's one already available to share it instead of creating another.

There's news, and there's editorial. "Trump attends Bitcoin conference" is obviously news, but the responses to that news are... editorial. In other words, some people's conclusions are going to be, "...and so you should support Trump in the next US election!", at which point the conversation is about who should win the next US election, and therefore how life in the US should change or not change for every American.

Indeed, I think some outside of the US don't care about absolutely anything except one particular policy and they perceive (wrongly) that changing one of our politicians will change that policy. Then they look up how you are supposed to advocate for that politician, and viola, they are repeating the politician's party line and every aspect of it.

This can be illustrated by how some of the "big boys" (and yes, they are all boys ) of crypto are advocating for Trump: they are giving him millions so he can buy advertising to broadcast his talking points that have nothing to do with Bitcoin. There is no significant "Bitcoin vote" and they know that. They do what any industry lobby does.

So while I think it's theoretically possible to have non-political Bitcoin-related announcement thread that includes a politician or political surrogate, that's not, in practicality, what happens.

[LoyceV]

I would love to see an outright ban on partisan politics in the main forum. (For the P&S forum, well, that's what it's for).

I don't think that's necessary. If it's off-topic, you can already report it and it gets removed. If it's on the wrong board, report it and it gets moved.

Clearly it's not consistent since there are several pro-Trump, anti-Harris threads on the main forum right now.

Have you reported them? And can you post some links to those threads?

I probably should have prefaced my post here by saying that, generally speaking, this is one of the best-run forums I've ever seen. No moderation is perfect, but it runs really well overall. I am certainly talking about fine-tuning here.

Agreed. Theymos has the right mindset to stay cool about anything.

[legiteum]

I would love to see an outright ban on partisan politics in the main forum. (For the P&S forum, well, that's what it's for).

I don't think that's necessary. If it's off-topic, you can already report it and it gets removed. If it's on the wrong board, report it and it gets moved.

Clearly it's not consistent since there are several pro-Trump, anti-Harris threads on the main forum right now.

Have you reported them? And can you post some links to those threads?

Yes, I reported them, and they are still there. If you want to learn who you should vote for in the US presidential election, there are several topics with a bunch of posts on the main forum right now that will spend a ton of time making the case for a candidate. I don't know how this could not be considered politics, but I guess the mods have their reasons.

And as for calling out specific threads, well, I'd rather not. I'm not interested in getting into any personal flame wars here .

[LoyceV]

If you want to learn who you should vote for in the US presidential election

I'm not voting for Biden nor Trump.

And as for calling out specific threads, well, I'd rather not. I'm not interested in getting into any personal flame wars here .

This is Meta. It should be about the forum, not personal flames. You're now saying there's a problem without saying where the problem is.

[mindrust]

If you want to learn who you should vote for in the US presidential election

I'm not voting for Biden nor Trump.

Why? Are you playing Switzerland imma taking no sides chaotic neutral shiet again?

Legiteum might be a little demo*rat shit nugget but credit is where credit goes.

She has a legitimate concern here. You must pick a side.

[LoyceV]

I'm not voting for Biden nor Trump.

Why? Are you playing Switzerland imma taking no sides chaotic neutral shiet again?

No, I live in the Netherlands. Lol.

[Finestream]

All purely political topics should be moved to Politics & Society, even if the discussion doesn't really concern politics moreso the society at all. At least, it keeps everything organized in a forum sense.

As for the signature campaign, it would be best to leave it there. It's up to the nut jobs to join the campaign if they'd like to. If their comments on certain topics become directed towards personally attacking someone, one can always report them and they'd be dealt directly.

That's the proper thing to do. There is an appropriate board for political issues or hot news so they should only be discussed there, not in the bitcoin discussion or anywhere but in Politics and Society only. At least, we don't have to worry that the threads we have commented will suddenly turn into off-topic. That saves our time also.

[OgNasty]

We gotta have something to discuss here.  There aren't exactly new Bitcoin products and services popping up to discuss like there used to be.  I also think it's somewhat useful to know what a person's political views are so that you know why they're here.  For example, I noticed that early on this forum was basically 99% conservative and people cared about creating new things and advancing the freedom aspects of Bitcoin.  As the price rose though, we saw liberals creep in and slowly the forum wasn't about freedom and building things, it was about ways to get money and lashing out at those who were viewed as successful.  So I like to know people's motivation for being here and I think their political views are the most basic and simple way I've observed to pinpoint that.

[legiteum]

We gotta have something to discuss here.  There aren't exactly new Bitcoin products and services popping up to discuss like there used to be.  I also think it's somewhat useful to know what a person's political views are so that you know why they're here.  For example, I noticed that early on this forum was basically 99% conservative and people cared about creating new things and advancing the freedom aspects of Bitcoin.  As the price rose though, we saw liberals creep in and slowly the forum wasn't about freedom and building things, it was about ways to get money and lashing out at those who were viewed as successful.  So I like to know people's motivation for being here and I think their political views are the most basic and simple way I've observed to pinpoint that.

I agree that the site should hold politics discussions, but all we're really discussing here is whether they should be in the main forum or not. I don't think anybody is debating whether there should be politics in the politics forum.

(And maybe a lot of those conservatives, like me, no longer vote Republican because we think the party is no longer conservative, not because there are more "liberals" here ).

[Maslate]

First thing I will say is the forum is very large to enough to actually accommodate everything and everyone as long as the forum rules aren’t broken, someone can even go ahead and make it a payment campaign No problem

These things have nothing to do with cryptocurrencies or Bitcoin. The fact that someone said a word or two about it (exclusively for personal benefit) does not mean that everyone should be obsessed with it.

I will say this, this is one thing that have actually this period have make me wonder why should this even be hype this much, I will say this is exactly where Trump want the cryptocurrency space to be, people have started getting behind him due to his juicy promises about the crypto space in the US should he win and this is definitely going to make People takes his side. One thing is no politician or government wants a thing that they can control that’s my advice for both sides

This is not surprising actually because we all know this is going to be a hype if Trump continues to attach bitcoin in his campaign. But no worries with that, it will only take a short time and then it’s gone. However, if in the future discussion politics will be rampant again, maybe we can consider it posting in its right board, that is Politics and Society. Maybe this hype is only good for the past days but eventually it will cool off just like now.

[PowerGlove]

So I like to know people's motivation for being here and I think their political views are the most basic and simple way I've observed to pinpoint that.

Just be aware that that's a very unreliable heuristic, particularly when used on people of unknown origin. I can't think of a subject that interests me less than politics. I'd literally rather read a 1000-page treatise on the history of underpants than watch a 10-minute political video. So, saying that you believe you can semi-accurately discover my intentions based on just my political views, is like saying that you believe you can do the same based on the answers I give to you about catfish noodling.

(I mean, you could argue that I must have political views, whether I let them surface or not, but, even then, how useful are answers when they're concerning a subject that I never pay any real attention to, and just fundamentally don't care about? Trump vs. Harris? I don't know... either one will probably do more harm than good, just in different ways, and if there's more total harm than good each cycle, then I'm not interested in what kind of harm it is, because, in the limit, that trend line will eventually affect everyone.)

[JiiBs]

I would love to see an outright ban on partisan politics in the main forum. (For the P&S forum, well, that's what it's for).

I don't think that's necessary. If it's off-topic, you can already report it and it gets removed. If it's on the wrong board, report it and it gets moved.

There is a function like that as I see it, the report to moderator key note but most times, for user that have clicked and didn’t get the reports handled as they would have hoped, a ban of such habit seems the likely means to an effect.

Well, I think the pathway to having reports handled is effective reporting by stating reasons clearly and on point. It wouldn’t be difficult for a moderator to evaluate and decide on what to do. Eventually, that’s all they’ve been doing with the reports.


For politics, I don’t see how it has helped so much and I don’t see a reason why it ought to be all that should be campaigned about on the forum. It can take a late seat somewhere at the back.

[Alpha Marine]

I don't think this should be a problem. The problem should arise when these political topics are not posted in the appropriate forum and when the topics are just low-quality posts. Other than that I see no problem in people discussing what they want about elections and other political discussions.
There was a time when the bitcoin board was filled with Trump-related topics and it was exhausting to me too but a few of them were bitcoin-related so I couldn't complain.

Politics affect economies and economies affect bitcoin, especially US politics, so there is a relation. As I said easier, except the topic is a low-quality post, I don't see a problem. Also, some of the posts are just repeated posts in different words, which I have an issue with.

[DireWolfM14]

(Both campaigns should be moved to offtopic or politics & society, they certainly have no place in the services section where services are offered with payment in Bitcoin.)

I agree that mindrust shouldn't have posted them in the services section.  Despite the obvious bias, I don't mind injecting humor into political discussions on the forum.  Trolling is part of forum culture and no forum is immune, nor should they be.  It's going to happen in ways that humor you and ways that offend you.  All is fair game, in my opinion.

Anyway, the mods did move both threads to the Off-Topic board, where they belong.

[Stablexcoin]

It's better if the forum avoids anything to do with the US election and each candidate's political ambition. It could look good in the eyes of people but the press getting aware that the Bitcoin forum is supporting campaigns and picking a side could be risky. I want the forum to be excluded from any government affairs, especially the electoral movements.

We gotta have something to discuss here.  There aren't exactly new Bitcoin products and services popping up to discuss like there used to be.  I also think it's somewhat useful to know what a person's political views are so that you know why they're here.  For example, I noticed that early on this forum was basically 99% conservative and people cared about creating new things and advancing the freedom aspects of Bitcoin.  As the price rose though, we saw liberals creep in and slowly the forum wasn't about freedom and building things, it was about ways to get money and lashing out at those who were viewed as successful.  So I like to know people's motivation for being here and I think their political views are the most basic and simple way I've observed to pinpoint that.

Your right political discussion is allowed here and can be made and truly I don't see anything wrong with having those campaigns in the politics and society thread. Mindrust only created the topic on the wrong board. However, i still feel the idea of involving in the US electoral campaigns should be avoided. Discussion can be made regarding the election, not a campaign so that it wont attract the wrong eye to the forum.