Weird to see major dramatic Trump threads show up in Chat, instead of here

[MsAmerica]

I know I'm being cranky, but "Chat" sounds like where you'd post about quibbling with your neighbor, or asking advice about how to decorate for a party.

Not a big discussion about Trump threatening to wipe out Iran.

It's important news. Weird to think women wouldn't want to talk about it in general chat.

It is something people are chatting about.

Isn't EVERYTHING on here really chat? Whether you're chatting about your puppy or a recipe you tried or financial worries, it's all chat! And there's a News forum. And there's an Other forum, too!
Just makes sense to post in the most closely relevant, doesn't it? So if someone wants to dive into an upsetting political development, she knows where to go.

I get your point. Most of my posting is in the "specialized" areas you mention. But It seems not many folk post in many of them. Maybe a bit niche for many ? The general areas are much more rapid fire with lots of posters and opinions.

I am still genuinely wondering if I hallucinated Trump and the Easter Bunny and the Whitehouse... or was it AI? Did he really do that? Or is the bunny puppeteering him at this point.

I think the more people that see it, the better, to be honest. When a mad man is threatening annihilation, I think we’re a bit past quibbling which forum of a chat room it’s in.

Ok, I guess. I don’t think it’s weird but everyone is different.

I think it's reasonable for Trump's behaviour to be in Chat as it's having such an impact on daily life for many people around the world

Politics, IMO, is more about party politics, legislation, elections, etc

If people don't normally post about politics, they might not even know the niche boards exist. There are so many on MN and some of them don't get much traffic. Most people don't go seeking out a niche board they have never used before they post. But Trump is sufficiently general interest and concern at the moment that it spills into the generic boards anyway.

I agree that in general, it's better to keep to topic boards but I think major world concern is lot different to the US mid terms, or what's gone on in PMQ this week.

Chat is a generic topic for people to talk about whatever they like. That includes politics. If every thread in "chat" was posted under the relevant specialist topic, there probably wouldn't be anything left.

Trump's behaviour is a major talking point right now, even for a lot of people who might not ordinarily engage in political discussion or debate. I don't think we need to police where people post about it.

I don’t suppose people starting those threads even know this board exists.

Chat gets more traffic. A lot of people won't know this topic is here.

Also, what's it to you? This is a chat forum. People can and will post anywhere. If you want gravity, try a dedicated political forum. This isn't it.

Lots of people just consume MN through the Active Conversations list, and don't really pay overwhelming attention to the topic choice.

If someone wants to post about something niche, then it makes sense to choose a specialist topic, but something that is fully of general interest fits quite naturally in 'chat'.

It doesn't diminish the weight of the discussion. ALL threads on politics are just 'chat' because this is a chat forum. In fact, I'm more concerned by how frothy and righteous people get when they take their posting too seriously. They lose sight of the fact that they are just chatting, and they start to feel it is somehow important to make incredibly harsh and polemic posts because they are Really Doing Politics.

Perhaps it would be better to have topic titles that remind people they are just using atrocity chat as a way of passing the time.

I would guess a lot of MNs don't even know that the Politics board exists because they never go there.

Chat is more accessible to people who don't normally engage in discussions about politics.

OP, it's a losing battle trying to get people to post on the "correct" board. Some people are just totally blind to the idea of specific discussion topics in specific sections. You just have to let it wash over you.
Half the posts here are put in AIBU "for traffic".

Uh-huh. Since this thread's about incorrect posting choices ... shouldn't you have put it in Site Stuff? 😜

Do you mean the Trump threads that have a number at the end (the current one is #160)? These threads have been running since Trump’s first term, if not before. They did start out in AIBU for the traffic. They have been immensely popular and, particularly in the early years, the format really helped others source content from a variety of sources rather than rely on one or two.

Or you could look at it the other way and ask 'why have dedicated boards at all?

Most traffic is on AIBU or Chat, with much lower levels on other topics.

They could make Mumsnet like Singletrackworld, which is like a male dominated version of Mumsnet, where there's two boards 'bikes' (mostly mountain biking but sometimes other versions) and 'chat' which is similar to chat/AIBU on here.

So seeing as Mumsnet is parenting focused there could be two boards, parenting and everything else. Which might lead to a reduction in the contrived AIBU posts such as AIBU to ask which laptop to buy or AIBU to think Trump is a lunatic because they haven't realised or not been arsed to look for more appropriate topic.

It is indeed all Chat. Mumsnet has so many areas it's quite bewildering, and if you start a thread in some sections it will never be seen or replied to.

I wouldn’t know enough about the actual policies and politics and so it seems more chat to me to say I think he’s a terrible human people with issues that needs to be thrown out!!!

Exactly.

I think politics in general has become inaccessible and fatiguing to many. This means that vast swathes of people don’t really pay attention to what’s going on and just rely on the headlines or biased reporting.

And that is why Trump got a second term. Not enough people understood just how appalling he really was.

I agree with you that generally I’d prefer to see things on their relative boards - mainly because I tend to miss things in the Chat or AIBU categories. However on this occasion if it helps more people engage with politics I think it can only be a good thing

I think the opposite also applies at the same time. Social media allowed him to reach vast swathes of people that wouldn’t usually vote and sweep them along with him in his appallingness.

Yes, I agree with you there.

It’s a tricky one. Too many people don’t take voting seriously enough because they’re not interested in politics - and then complain when the person/party they voted in does exactly what they said they would.

On one hand I’d hope that more sunlight would allow people to view things more accurately before casting their vote but as you say, it could just scoop up more casual voters who still just go along with headlines.

I think the only reasonable outcome is for voters to have to pass a test about the party manifesto at the polling booth 😂

Yes! Exactly the problem! People don't gravitate to the right forums. It's an ongoing irritation about the way that the site boosts the most trafficked posts, which I think just sends everyone down the same worn paths, and the forum list doesn't even show all the forums at once.