Anyone else think it's bizarre to have a Middle East forum

[MsAmerica]

when there is no forum for, for instance, international politics?

Oh, and perhaps I should have added: when all the forums that might be of serious topical interest are all tucked away so that they are invisible to anyone looking at the main forum list?

I personally am not up to date with the Middle East but am sure there are people on MN who really need to chat . Absolutely not a problem.

This one is reasonably new! MNHQ created it shortly after 7 Oct last year because Chat and AIBU posters felt upset about the lot of us [regardless of affiliations] harping on about "upsetting stuff".

You could say that this is the "quarantine space" for people who care about any of this!

You make a very good point. It is strange when you put it like that.

I assume it’s come about as a knee jerk to hide threads from main boards for various reasons.

I would say this topic is an example of a new board coming into existence in response to a pressing news story that elicits a lot of interest and strong feeling.

It seems to me like a wise move to give such topics their own space.

Boards get created when either MNHQ realises one would be helpful or when one is requested and gets enough support

They are hidden form the main boards to give them some protection, when the time is right.

The Middle East one was created after 7/10 & the main boards were full of threads re the situation. People didn't want to be faced with them when they came for a bit of a chat/entertainment/to take their mind off of it, plus it's easier to find existing threads this way.

New boards appear to come about in a reactive rather than planned manner in 2 main ways

Either someone starts a thread in Site Stuff requesting one and depending on the support expressed there MNHQ will set one up or not eg most recently Muslim Mumsnetters

Or as in the case of the Middle East Conflict board in response to posters complaining to MNHQ about Active being 'flooded' with material they don't want to see so the new board quarantines away all the unpleasant/boringly repetitive/anxiety-provoking thread titles - exactly the same happened with the pandemic resulting in the Covid Board

All rather mundane and not really 'bizarre' at all

Some people got fed up with it being discussed elsewhere so shoved it out the way. Like with covid

Much more concise

Ditto Climate. I'm not in favour of cordoning off contentious or difficult topics, away from general view. As a result, the Climate board languishes in a backwater, hardly visited, when it is one of the most pressing political concerns of our time.

I'm glad they created a specific board for this discussion, because whenever I looked at threads on this topic they were very far removed from 'normal' discussions of international politics. They seemed to be tribal, polemic, very much influenced by the horrible dynamics of online talk, rather than by the usual principles of analysis.
I guess that's why a lot of posters wanted them placed in a silo, apart from other talk. There were sooo many threads on the topic, often so inflammatory. Perhaps discussion has normalised a bit, and the topic could be taken out of its silo? But I don't feel terribly optimistic about that.

Having its own topic doesn't take a discussion out of Active Convos, BTW (except in a couple of cases where mnhq has does that in special cases to protect people from hostile intrusion).
It doesn't make these topics into backwaters, It just makes it marginally easier for people to scroll past topics in Active Convos that they don't want to engage in.
So I don't get the 'languishing in a backwater' concern.

I'm glad that I found this board. DD lives in a ME country and recently told me that tensions have been high there since October with locals very concerned that if war breaks out SA will try to "take" over the country. It's not just the Israel/Palestine conflict but the fallout affecting other ME countries.

If people post on threads then they come up in active. If there is enough interest, then threads stay in active.

@GoodOldEmmaNess if all the threads are in one place it makes it easier to avoid because you can hide the whole board

But yes threads still appear in Active if not hidden

What do you want to get out of this thread @MsAmerica ? Get rid of it ? Or create similar ones people keen on as well?
if so you can use the site stuff board to request it to mnhq

Also there is this board which seems to have threads about international politics
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/politics

This.

All threads together rather than scattered wherever someone pops them eg aibu, chat, etc. It makes sense.

They are.

People who really want to chat about the conflict in the Middle East can find threads all together. There are hundreds and hundreds of them, many very similar. Many dominated by a few individuals with very polarised views. People should be able ao avoid if they want to or find easily if they want to. Makes sense.

(You also get some pretty vile comments, denying rape of Jewish women, (when their stories are shared) lots of anti semitism.) People can avoid this if they wish.

I think it’s good it has its own board and not strange at all.

There are a lot of big and unsettling issues in this world, and nobody has enough time or the mental capacity, to take a deep interest in all of them.

It makes sense to me that those who want to discuss this particular one know where to go, and those who would rather focus on others things can stay away.

I don’t think it would be fair for other people to be confronted with such unsettling topics on a daily basis, when they are looking for a lighter way to pass their time at that moment.

I'm not sure 'care' is the word I'd pick having read some of the threads recently. Polarised views. Entrenched views. Whataboutery. Going back in time as an excuse for heinous acts.

Having visited I feel I will revert to mainstream mn and give the threads in this area a miss from now on. Reading people, possibly women, minimising rape of women or excusing it because of context, history, invading land grab, blah blah, isn't a great look. I'll happily join the hide from view majority in future. Disgust is my overriding thought of these particular threads.

It doesn't seem bizarre to me. The conflict in the Middle East is of relevance to a lot of people around the world, and a lot of people want a space to discuss these, whether to share news, ask questions or seek support from others worrying about similar issues.

Having separate boards for separate broad topics makes it easier to find threads or to avoid topics that people might not want to read.

But isn't it the case that people can choose to hide topics they feel uncomfortable with, and so will not see them in Active? I think quite a few people hide Climate, just like many chose to hide Covid related threads?

Yes, that's why it's good that there are separate sections so you can hide if uninterested. It would be annoying if active was clogged up with things you had no interest in!

@Kalevala, you're nicer than me. I think people ought to engage with things of national and global importance (such as the climate emergency) and not get an easy 'out' of being able to literally hide from reality ‐I definitely recognise my inner tyrant there and don't necessarily think I'm right.