Ignore Mod

[Starky]

I would like to say that I've seen many occasions when I've seen lengthy derails over a stupid post that could of easily been ignored, but weren't.

If this issue of filter bubbles is really that big of an issue (which I doubt because this is a forum about silly demake and contains very little of what I need to see), maybe the mod could be tweaked so it would not apply in in "serious" places like feature requests. Or maybe we could add a tight limit (say 5) to the people that could be added, that would encourage people to use this for a few village idiots rather than everyone they disagree with. There isn't really a lot of people I feel confident they will never say anything I would like to read, but they certainly exist.

Or maybe we should just see a little more disciplinary action toward these personal attack dog piles.     

[Machidro]

No one forces a response on any post, even if it is stupid. To quote Willy Wonka, "Or could you just not bear to look?"

The problem with the filter bubble is even slight filtration has a pretty noticeable effect. Our community is actually pretty small, with a core group of about 50 so continued posters. Even five people blocked could be 10% of the active community.

Ignores also create the issue of the split discussion. People miss a forumer they've blocked's post, other people respond, and suddenly it seems the conversation has randomly veered to the person blocking, while everyone else is talking constructively with the blockee. The only solution? Do what you should've done in the first place, read the post and evaluate the content yourself. Since ignores can't evaluate the constructiveness of any single post, and a forum's continual discussion relies on relevant content being read, giving people filters is only going to create more disjointed chat issues with people refusing to read blocked person's posts.

This issue doesn't exist without an ignore mod, if you don't think a post is constructive, you don't reply, it's as simple as that.

tl;dr, Content you're not interested in seeing can easily be ignored already, it's better for the forum at large for people to use basic self restraint with their responses rather then allow people to wall themselves off.

[Intel Guard]

I don't support adding this, it is not that difficult to scroll past posters you are not interested in reading.

Plus, this only supports the formation of filter bubbles, where people become less and less aware of their actual communities' contents and arguments in favor of self censorship so they can live in their own personal post bubble.

Basically, we don't need people walling themselves off, we have too many detached forumers already.

This is useless theorycrafting and will not have any such adverse effect on the community. Overanalyzation like this is worse for a community than "filter bubbles" which is a pretty dumb concept considering the nature of the internet. Detached forumers aren't any big loss either.

[MedO]

I think it might be worth a try, especially since it's built into SMF 2 which we will probably, eventually, switch to. Also it's easy to do, in contrast to many other requests here.

However, the opinions seem to be split. Maybe we should decide this by a poll?

[A Shogun Named Marcus]

To be honest, I think the only way to find out if this will be good is to test it out.

inb4 everyone hides my posts

[Machidro]

However, the opinions seem to be split. Maybe we should decide this by a poll?

This is a fair compromise, provided that its effects are monitored, carefully, and if those effects are negative, we redact it. Any sign of the split discussion problem would be a red flag of a problem with the system.

[Intel Guard]

However, the opinions seem to be split. Maybe we should decide this by a poll?

This is a fair compromise, provided that its effects are monitored, carefully, and if those effects are negative, we redact it. Any sign of the split discussion problem would be a red flag of a problem with the system.

That's okay because a) it probably won't happen, and b) if it does, it won't be as bad as you're making it out to be.

[Smokey Joe]

"I can't decide" should just be "Neutral"

It's not that I don't know, I just don't give enough of a shit to support or oppose it.

[TwilightSparkleburst]

Welp looks like we lose
Good show, chaps. Guess we'll have to satisfy our secret prejudices the old-fashioned way.

[Starky]

It's split.

Really, I don't think anything bad will happen for just giving it a test drive.

The problem with the filter bubble is even slight filtration has a pretty noticeable effect. Our community is actually pretty small, with a core group of about 50 so continued posters. Even five people blocked could be 10% of the active community.

Don't back up arguments with statistics you pulled out of your butt.

[TwilightSparkleburst]

oh daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang
It was 2 to 5 when I checked yesterday. I didn't know this many people would show up just to vote. I guess it's kind of a hassle to make a post and everything, but just voting is not too difficult.

You know, you could say, I guess, if you want to be really democratic, then let people choose for themselves whether they want to use the mod or not, eh? :3
But no, I'm fine with vox poll vox dei.

EDIT: 8 to 5. THRILLING

[Machidro]

The problem with the filter bubble is even slight filtration has a pretty noticeable effect. Our community is actually pretty small, with a core group of about 50 so continued posters. Even five people blocked could be 10% of the active community.

Don't back up arguments with statistics you pulled out of your butt

Sure. Here's the hard and solid proof on that average.

http://www.ganggarrison.com/forums/index.php?action=stats

Average online per day:    36.58

If anything, I was being generous with my stats.

[Starky]

Fair enough.

Still, I use this forum for the sake of enjoyment. There is nothing here I need to see. There is a big difference of the content of world news and the content of a small forum about a little indie game.

Why is it important that I know everything about this place? I already know a little more about this place than I'm comfortable with.

And the presence of the blocked users won't be completely gone. I can still see when they post and the responses to them. If I was really curious, I could just click on the blocked post to reveal it's content.

[TwilightSparkleburst]

Well, I guess I'll enter the fray again.

Filter bubbles are a really pressing issue when you have things like TV channels, radio, etc. that only cater to liberals or conservatives. But on a forum, the vast majority of stuff I'd want to block is not that kind of thing. I mean, am I really going to listen to someone saying "You're a bitch" and think, "You know, he's right after all, I am a bitch, I should be more open-minded?"

I would agree that if you block someone, you miss all their posts, and nearly everyone makes at least a few good posts once in a while along with the bad ones. But I don't think that missing these posts would be that harmful. I don't think anyone's going to lose an important source of new ideas and free thinking by not arguing with someone on an Internet forum (especially since that person, if (s)he was the kind of person to get ignored, was presumably not a calm, reasoned debater). If people are going to be swayed by informed, unbiased reporting, that's going to come from channels like television networks and news websites, not teenagers yelling their thoughts at everyone who will listen. And those channels are the ones where it's important to prevent filter bubbles.

Also, like Starky said, I don't think this really applies to the realm of filter bubbles. Most of the forum is just chatter, not political discussions or anything like that. If I only receive biased information about Obama's policies and how they'll affect the country, that's really bad; if I only receive biased information about whether sniper is OP, well, I'll take that risk. In addition, while it's easy not to watch Fox News if you hate Fox News, it's going to be difficult to resist clicking that spoiler button, especially if someone replies to that person, and if someone quotes that person, you'll see the message in the quote anyway. This mod should mostly affect single posts that nobody ever mentions or responds to - so it would target the kind of irritating, worthless posts that people don't care to see.

[[Royal Gay Penguin Nachos Ibarra Gordita Agave] LC]

Kind of torn here.  It's easy enough to ignore someone's post anyway, but it'd be nice for peoplle who have a penchant for posting annoying images or emotes or something. Plus you still have to block their avatar/signature with something else if that's annoying,right? Not that that's hard to do but yeah.