NOTE: Politics, History, and Current Events

[Dreamer]

With politics becoming more passionate and current events becoming more complicated, the modstaff have decided to lay out some extended rules for participation in this subforum in an effort to steer activity in the Politics subforum back on track in a more respectful and constructive direction that fosters meaningful exchange of views on the topics discussed.

-By posting in the politics subforum, you are agreeing to abide by forum rules and their enforcement as described below. Anyone who proves unable to behave with civility can expect to be banned from the affected threads, or from the subforum entirely.

1. Off Topic posting
Repeatedly making off topic posts is already against the rules, but there will be less tolerance for it than before. When you respond to a thread, your post should relate to the topic at hand. It should not be quick insulting quips about the other users rather than their argument, unintelligible jokes with no surface level connection to any topic, or rude dismissals of the subject matter or the posting member. This sort of thing will be removed from discussion threads in the interests of fostering respectful discussion of the topic. However, if a post of yours has substance related to the topic but also violates these rules, and if it is removed as a result, you may repost the same thoughts in a way that is in accordance with the rules.

2. Hostility
In the past, there was effective leeway regarding hostility in this subforum, given that politics can bring out the worst in everyone. This leeway will shrink substantially if not vanish. No matter how much you disagree with someone, you are expected to remain civil. Please review Rule 5 for more details, as our moderation regarding it will become stricter. There is no political perspective, or criticism of a perspective, that cannot be delivered with civility, reason, and at least an attempt at providing substantive support. Additionally, responding to hostile posts in kind will not be tolerated. "He/she started it" is not an excuse for violating the rules yourself. The best way to handle these posts is to report them.

3. Unrest
While the moderators strongly encourage expression of diverse perspectives and viewpoints outside the mainstream, this does not include posts and threads that veer toward hate speech. Hate speech is speech which attacks a person or group on the basis of attributes such as race, religion, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, or gender. You are still allowed to critique such groups and their behavior, but you are not allowed to slander, or to encourage violence against any person or group.


The descent over the past year into thoughtless aggression has effectively driven many members from the subforum: members who have their own perspectives to contribute, and should feel welcome to do so. This must come to an end, and as such, the above will be implemented and maintained immediately.

Typology Central is first and foremost a forum dedicated to the discussion of typology. Other hobbies and topics as found in other subforums are included as added bonuses. If you post primarily within this subforum, we strongly encourage you to explore more of the site.

Thank you,

~The Moderation team of Typology Central

 

[Hermit of the Forest]

New Feedback Policy

We are instating a new policy on member feedback/criticism regarding specific mod actions or specific moderators. From now on, all such criticism must be made in private, either in a private feedback thread, report, or PM. The first two options are preferable, unless the issue involves misconduct by or sensitive information about a specific moderator. Discussion of general forum policy or procedures may continue to occur in public feedback. To illustrate the difference: asking "Why did I get a tempban" would need to be private, but suggesting "I would like to see more detail in tempban announcements" could be public as long as it remained general, without discussion of specific cases ("when Billy Bob was banned, all it said was _____.")

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Politics, History, and Current Events subforum temporary closure

Discussion in this subforum has remained strongly polarized, generating far more heat than light. Incendiary one-liners and interpersonal sniping or bickering work to crowd out more thoughtful and substantive commentary on current events. Threads whose OP is a link or video that focuses on extreme political views or behavior are little more than bait, encouraging more of the same. The ability to disagree without being disagreeable is becoming a lost art, perhaps because the effort to present a coherent case for one's point of view is more often met with nitpicking, strawmanning, ad hominems, and playing fast and loose with generally established facts, rather than with a similarly coherent argument or question from a different perspective. Yes, misstating the facts isn't against the rules, but it does frustrate constructive discussion, especially when efforts to call it out are met with one of the above "tactics".

We have therefore decided, as we begin a New Year, to close the Politics subforum temporarily, to give it and its participants a rest. We hope our established members as well as curious newcomers will take the opportunity to explore other parts of the forum, keeping in mind that our focus here is typology and personality topics, with Politics, History, and Current Events being just one of several sidelines.

Be forewarned that taking political discussions to other parts of the forum will result in removal of those threads/posts. If you are interested in discussing political topics while the subforum is closed, there are plenty of online spaces dedicated to that pursuit.

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Name Changing Rule Change

Instead of the previous one name change per year rule, you may now change your name every six months. Kindly note, name changing is a privilege — don’t abuse it. Rules now relaxed can once again be tightened. Have fun, and Happy New Year!

— The Moderation Team

 

[Lexicon]

All right friends, neighbors, lurkers, strangers, and strange acquaintances alike: in the spirit of the UN’s holiday today, the International Day of Friendship, we’re reopening the Politcs subforum.

Despite its somewhat saccharine name, this particular day is not to force people to become best pals regardless of their fundamental differences. It’s more of a day to focus on fostering “a culture of peace, which consists of values, attitudes, and behaviors that reflect and inspire social interaction and sharing based on the principles of freedom, justice, and democracy, all human rights, tolerance, and solidarity, that reject violence and endeavor to resolve and prevent conflicts by tackling their root causes to solve problems through dialogue and negotiation and that guarantee the full exercise of all rights and the means to participate fully in the development process of their society.”


Rest assured— we do not expect you guys to hold hands, sing Kumbaya & make s’mores.
Politics is an inherently controversial topic. We do get it. It’s bound to become emotionally charged at times. However, you are solely responsible for how you choose to react to your environment, and how you choose to express those reactions here.


What we do expect of you has been clear from the start. If there’s an issue, report it. Don’t exacerbate it with unproductive sniping, baiting, distortion campaigns, or other forms of trolling, gaslighting, etc. You know this. This is TypoC Newbie 101 material. Support your opinions. Ask questions of yourself, of one another. Consider your intentions. Ask about theirs. Did someone strike a nerve? Did you pick up on some sort of inconsistency? Ask questions. Compare notes.



The purpose of human language is communication. This subforum was put on a break due to persistent, irreparable breakdowns in communication. This isn’t solely steeped in differences in communication styles. It’s easy to fall back on that, particularly because this forum’s primary focus is personality types. We’ve no interest in censoring personal expression. However, communication itself- as a skill- is also a factor here, independent of MBTI type or identity. Know your audience, and actually make an effort to connect, lest you end up talking to yourselves.




We’re not interested in creating a sterile atmosphere or padded saferoom. You don’t have to be friends. You don’t have to agree. You’re entitled to your personal thoughts and feelings about the world we live in. You’re allowed question another’s reasoning or values. But criticize the idea or position without attacking the person. Recall that there is an actual human being on the other side of the screen.

It’s not that difficult, guys.

Consider your intentions.

The world can be a senselessly hostile place, and we needn’t add to it.






All that said, we hope you’ll take this opportunity to incorporate these simple goals (inspired by this UN day) into your future interactions here, and beyond:

• advance mutual understanding, tolerance and solidarity
• support participatory communication and the free flow of information and knowledge
• promote respect for all human rights

We’ve cleaned up the old threads to give you guys a clean slate to work with. Please, make the most of this new start.



Thank you.
— Moderation Team