An International Forum

[mtm1963]

Do you support the idea of having an International Forum?

[Charles Stover]

All forums are for discussion of all countries, so not sure what an "International forum" would bring.

[angryamerican]

This is a International Forum....granted we tend to be a bit America heavy and most posts lean to America as what we do effects others Nations to a certain degree. I appreciate the thought but lets keep things the way they are for now.

[Rasselas]

One complaint lodged by non-Americans about forums like this is that Americans tend to dominate the discussion AND they tend to relate all the arguments back to the US. This skews the discussion toward domestic American politics even when the topic is quite divorced from American politics. I vote yes.

[Benjamin]

One complaint lodged by non-Americans about forums like this is that Americans tend to dominate the discussion AND they tend to relate all the arguments back to the US. This skews the discussion toward domestic American politics even when the topic is quite divorced from American politics. I vote yes.

So by international you mean not America and by not America you mean around 5% of the forum users?

[Rasselas]

So by international you mean not America and by not America you mean around 5% of the forum users?

Yes. I don't know how many non-US forum users we have, but I know the number of POTENTIAL users outside the US is greater than those inside the US.

If Political Forum wants to identify as an American political forum, that's fine. If it's interested in attracting an international membership, an international forum makes sense.

The single most rewarding aspect of my participation in forums like this one is the opportunity to hear the views of those outside the US--views that are rarely reported in the US media and often reveal the views of Americans as...narrow and self-centered. It's just that impression of narrow self-centeredness that turns off many international users--like one former moderator, as I recall, and another former moderator from a board now defunct but whose (US) membership has greatly enhanced Political Forum.

[Charles Stover]

The reason there is so much American discussion is because the vast majority of posters are American. An international forum would do nothing more than segregate the forum and scare off non-American guests from registering (why join a site that's all about America with one forum for other countries?). The international discussions would be roughly the same. The abortion argument in another country is the same as the abortion argument in America. The pros and cons of political actions are the same regardless of country. The only section that may be too America-heavy is "Political News."

I think it's great how it is, unlike the previous structure that was literally for America. All it needs is more foreign topics, which are mostly up to the foreign members to create.

[Rasselas]

The reason there is so much American discussion is because the vast majority of posters are American. An international forum would do nothing more than segregate the forum and scare off non-American guests from registering (why join a site that's all about America with one forum for other countries?).

You're assuming, of course, that these potential members are making their decisions based on the forum structure rather than the content of the posts. Does anyone do that?

An international forum would invite threads on international topics where undue recourse to American politics is inappropriate. American posters often do this because, frankly, they don't know enough about international affairs to make a comment otherwise. But international posters find this annoying because threads of that kind end up being hijacked by Americans who turn the thread into an American topic. I know this because I have seen them complain about this problem when I was a moderator and again at a different forum that has become an alternate haven for former Whistlestoppers who were initially turned off by Political Forum.

[Rasselas]

The reason there is so much American discussion is because the vast majority of posters are American. An international forum would do nothing more than segregate the forum and scare off non-American guests from registering (why join a site that's all about America with one forum for other countries?). The international discussions would be roughly the same. The abortion argument in another country is the same as the abortion argument in America. The pros and cons of political actions are the same regardless of country. The only section that may be too America-heavy is "Political News."

I think it's great how it is, unlike the previous structure that was literally for America. All it needs is more foreign topics, which are mostly up to the foreign members to create.

I would suggest that even the use of words like "foreign" to describe those not from the US reveals an assumption that this is an American board for Americans and that others are visitors who don't really fit like natives.

And no, abortion arguments in other countries are not the same as abortion arguments in America. Americans will discuss the SCOTUS and the Constitution, which are virtually irrelevant to discussions in other countries.

[GrumpyOM]

What exactly makes this an "American board" to start with? And what exactly would making it a so-called international board mean as far as layout, etc..?