Quick reminder: I meant to write and post this MUCH earlier today, but my family kept pulling me away, so I’m going to consider myself... fashionably late to this topic.

I’m not usually one to come into conversations like this. When it comes to political talks on fs, I usually either tend to stay far out of the way, or to try and be an even middle ground for those who may need it. However, recently things have been heating up quite substantially, and I kind of just want to give my two cents on the matter. Honestly, I wanted to talk about this for a while, but I never had the words to ever come in and say anything worthwhile. Plus, you all know me, I’m AWFUL when it comes to debates. My sentences get all wrapped around themselves and my word choice is awful. But, I don’t want to sit around on this matter any longer, because I love this site and everyone on it, and if my words are able to do ANYTHING, then its worth it.

First of all, this is not going to be about politics themselves; this is about the political talk that’s been going on. Second, you know I respect you all a great amount, so in order to be as fair as possible, NO ONE is going to be singled out. If you’re reading this and thinking “hruggldy buggldy he’s referring to me!”, that is not the case. This has been going on for a while now (1 year? 2 years? I’ve lost count), with NUMEROUS users joining in on the fray on BOTH spectrums. No one is solely responsible, ESPECIALLY for their own political opinions. I am not going to be saying yes or no to anyone’s views on politics, because in all honestly, I have zero right to be discussing that heavy topic; I’m politically stupid. I have no idea what goes on over there in the official buildings, and honestly, I actively choose not to poke my head in, because from what I saw going on in the world in recent years, I think I’m better off staying politically stupid.

This may be an issue for some, and you know what? That’s absolutely fair. I’m going off on a tangent though, so imma reel this back to my main topic. So yeah, theres been a lot of political talk on fs going on. That much is obvious. If you guys really want my opinion on it, I can’t say I’m a fan of it. Talking about politics isn’t bad whatsoever, as I feel it’s a good way to discuss what could and couldn’t be bad for the world. However, there are many issues with the political talks on fs that leave me unhappy. Again, for what I am about to say, this is not directly pointing to anyone in particular or anyone’s viewpoints, this is just in general. First of all, the political talk, at least in my personal opinion, just isn’t very fun. I personally use fs to escape from the crap going on around me in the world and look at silly memes. Granted I do that with r/memes too, but I honestly prefer fs, ESPECIALLY with the amount of meme formats that get banned over there.

So when people start talking about politics on fs, it just kinda spoils the mood y’know? I feel as though, the best course of action to take for this, is to make a single, or perhaps even multiple, chats where different discussions can be talked about, instead of blowing up a comment section with arguments. I’ve had too many times to count where I commented on a post with something silly, and then had to turn off notifications for that post bc people were just constantly bickering about something the post included, like gun control or who the better president was or other topics I can’t even remember. Speaking of which, heres my second reason I’m not a fan of the political talk; its so freaking rowdy! So many times I have seen people full blown insulting, demeaning, and raging at one another during a debate.

Honestly, this is the reason I choose not to get into politics; no matter which side I choose, I’m pretty sure SOMEONE is gonna look at me like I’m an enemy to them. Not anyone on this site mind you, I have more faith in y’all than that, but I still know SOME people in the world are gonna feel that way. Theres also the debate that choosing not to be political will attract more upset people than being political, but at least I can stick to my personal morals that way. Anyways, I just feel as though, if there are going to be political talks on fs, they should be a lot more open and accepting, choosing not to slander and degrade, but to listen, see the other persons point of view, and then respond back with what you think on the matter. I can’t remember the last time I saw an argument end with an ‘agree to disagree’ scenario (though tbh I may not have looked in the right place to notice one like that), most just end with one either ignoring the other -[continued]

-or both just yelling until they get tired of yelling. And once again, I know I’ve said this a lot already, but this is NOT singling any particular user out, NOR any particular political standing. Left wing, Right wing, Conservative, Libertarian, both have had their fair share of mudslinging within fs debates, so please don’t tell me I’m being unfair, I’ve been on this site daily since mid 2016, I’ve seen these things happen too. Finally, my main reason for not liking the fs political talks is bc of how many users have left because of it. This is the part what worries me the most, because I’m going to be perfectly honest, I’m so freaking scared for the future of this site. I absolutely love this site to death, and I love everyone I’ve met on it too (save for a few, but they’ve all left by now, so I won’t complain), so seeing users leave due to circumstances completely avoidable worries me to no end.

For a while now I’ve kinda felt like fs has been on life support, like so many people have left, I don’t remember if new users are being allowed to join, and the memes have become scarcer and scarcer. It worries me to no end seeing the site like this, and to see people leave because of stuff like this worries me that this may cause the site to just crash. Do I think it will happen like that? Like, probably not, but I’m still paranoid nonetheless. Maybe my fears are just all in my head and it will all be fine, but idk, I can’t shake the feeling nonetheless.

So yeah, those are my thoughts. Personally, I am not a fan of the political talk. Does this mean I want it all to stop? Not really. I mean, I think less would always be better, but that’s just my bias talking, and theres no realistic way to just... stop the politics. Just saying “stop it!” won’t work, and as we all learned from youtube in the past few months, NOTHING good comes from directly silencing the people. If you want my opinion, I think the best course of action is to make separate chat rooms for these topics. If you want to comment on it, maybe tell me your opinions, your thoughts, or maybe to tell me I’m a big stinky who shouldn’t be talking, go on ahead, I’m all ears.

If I can go off tangent for a minute though, I do wanna talk about something else. Xvarnah (yes I know I said I wouldn’t target individuals, but this is about something different, more positive) raised a good point recently, saying that if people want less politics on fs, then people should be posting more memes. And you know what? Not only is she absolutely correct, but it also kinda worries me too. I’ve been on this site for about 5 years now, and I only ever post when I feel like it. I’ve only ever been a commentor. Granted, I think I have had SOME influence on the site in some fashion, but I can’t shake the feeling that I’m not doing enough. I barely ever post memes, and even when I try to make a commitment to post often, I can never do so, be it depression, laziness, or just general forgetfulness.

Does this mean I’m bad for the site? That I’m enabling the very thing I’m ranting about because I’m not participating in posting? Idk, but I wanted to bring this up because, if someone wanted to use this against me for my previous words then... I can’t help but think you’re absolutely right. Maybe I am nothing more than an enabler. Maybe I SHOULD stay away from these topics because my words might mean nothing. I’m not trying to say this to gain popularity or to have attention, I’m just worried about everything. The site, the users, the friends I’ve made, the memories I’ve shared... I don’t want to lose all that. I don’t know. I just don’t know.

Anyways, enough of me acting like a sorry baby for myself, what do you guys think? Have I missed any important details? Am I sorely wrong about something? Please, let me know if you have any thoughts, I really hope I haven’t upset anyone though.

You're good, doc.

This site is full of Fun substances. It's really the only site I look at on the internet and it's the only site I've found in this format. It is cool place with cool people. Even if we disagree on thing's. Things we probably shouldn't talk about. It's still a great site we all share here.
I always have a tab open of the old posts. Currently I found a gem of 9 years ago, Christmas time actually.

I didn't read everything you wrote as of yet, but appreciate your input nonetheless.
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You don't need to walk on eggshells (at least not with me anyway) - I know you're not coming from a place of malice with all of this
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that said, I'm not sure if making seperate chats is a viable option. At least for me, at any rate. I personally make a point not to tag people I have More heated discussions with to other places, and considering the behavior and accusations of some of the people I've had disagreements with, I can't see me changing this policy unfortunately

As for not posting more - it's not an easy thing to do. Or even something viable for a lot of people, especially on a regular basis.
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You contribute quite a bit to the website either way, and always have. I don't want anyone to end up STRESSED over trying to post for the website
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But anything you CAN do is helpful.
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Awhile back I almost considered starting some kind of meme-tag to get more people involved, where one person posts a meme and tags a person, then the tagged person has to find a meme to post in response and tag another person, etc etc etc, but I wasn't fully sure how it would work out

@xvarnah yo I think the meme tag sounds kinda fun actually :D

Heyo so I've been quite inactive here in the past months but I do visit from time to time, so I've obviously missed the current political debate issue. Just wanted to say you worded that beautifully and maybe add that whenever I've seen political debates in the past it's almost always about US politics too and we aren't even all americans, I'm just an outsider to all of this anyway PLUS trying to stay out of politics too so it's even twice as uninteresting and unappealing to me as to others (i know your a moose-maple leaf-sorry-eh, doc, but since you're neighbours, it affects you a tad bit more maybe). So yeah. I see how you can't say "STOP IT" but I think the "agree to disagree" route should be opted for more often too.

So all in all - i support everything you said. And I'm also worried about this site. Bc i think regarding the quantity of memes (and active users?) it's at an all time low. Might be one of the reasons i stopped visiting daily, idk. But I will try to start popping in more often and @xvarnah the meme tag might be a good idea. Maybe even tagging 3 people at once? Might increase the meme postings...idk