Reorganising, consolidating some boards

Harry_Powell

Hi, I know this was mooted a few months back and was put on the backburner, but I'd like to raise it again. Namely, can the "Discuss Economy, recession and house prices" board be moved into Discussion time?

I feel that this would allow discussion with a much wider spectrum of contributors and would enhance what is fast becoming a board dominated by a few contributors who express the same view ad infinitum. Discussions become staid and soon fall into mindless off-topic arguments.

It would also reduce the amount of replication, where often the same economic issues are discussed in both the economic boards and discussion time, though by different people because members seem to stick to certain boards on the forum and rerely venure elsewhere.

The Economy board is now invisible to non-members (as is Discussion time) but unlike DT its contributors is 'withering on the vine'. I think it'd be a real asset to both DT and to the economy board if they were combined, perhaps by having the economy board as a sub-board?

Cheers,
Harry.

morag1202

I don't post much, but I do read a lot in both Debate and Discussion Time. I've learned a lot in Debate and enjoy most of the banter. Moving it to DT would change its nature and probably result in a lot of the regulars going elsewhere. It would thus lose its usefullness to me.

Debate serves a purpose and does what it says on the tin. Please leave it alone and where it is.

LydiaJ

I too have learned a lot from the Debate board and wouldn't want to see it merged with DT. DT covers everything and anything, and I wouldn't want to lose the specific economic emphasis of Debate. I'd prefer it to stay where it is, but wouldn't be that bothered if it retained its identity but moved to a different slot in the list - eg a sub-board of DT.

Davesnave

This is supposed to be a money-saving forum, so Debate Housing & Economy is far too important an area to be dissipated within the general melee of DT. So long as it may be picked out as a separate entity, I don't think it matters which slot it's in.

Reminding people it exists, by placing it closer to the heavier traffic in DT, might be helpful, but I don't believe it can be made 'popular.' On its own, the subject matter is pretty dry, hence the amount of off-topic stuff and @rsing-around. It's just like most of the classrooms I've ever been in: swots at the front, the majority paying various levels of attention in between, and a few at the back with their own agendas!:rotfl:

The down side of moving might be that most of the House Buying, Renting & Selling people might never look in. Even if they don't contribute or stay long, you can bet they peek!

....And looking in is important. I'm pretty sure I'd be somewhere else altogether if I hadn't!:D

chucky

Davesnave wrote: »

The down side of moving might be that most of the House Buying, Renting & Selling people might never look in. Even if they don't contribute or stay long, you can bet they peek!

Harry you make a good point, but what David is saying is true - DT may not be the answer but the Debate board is needed as it's best that the nutters on this board are kept away from the real world where people actually go on to the Housing board for genuine advice.

carolt

He didn't want to move it into the Housing section chucky - I don't think that was the issue.

He wanted to move it into general Discussion Time, which I think would be a mistake, as it's rather more specific.

chucky

carolt wrote: »

He didn't want to move it into the Housing section chucky - I don't think that was the issue.

He wanted to move it into general Discussion Time, which I think would be a mistake, as it's rather more specific.

you need to re-read my post it never said that.

DT isn't the answer.

Harry_Powell

I was thinking that as the Economy board is now a discussion board, that it should be grouped with the other discussion boards so that it would open up to a wider audience. As I have said in my OP and a few times on the Economy board itself, it seems that the economy board has a dwindling population and a lot of people have entrenched views, which means that the same discussions have the same people holding the same viewpoints. It gets a tad boring TBH.

I know the economy board was borne from a house price discussion, but it has moved on and covers a much wider arena. I just think it would enhance the board if it was moved to an area where there are a lot more people who could contribute a great deal to the debate.

I also don't believe that it needs to be next door to the housing boards, which are factual boards, because most of the views on house prices consist of vested interest, guess work and wishful thinking. I remember when I joined MSE and was looking for a house, I was even more confused by the discussion, arguments and TBH downright hostilities of people in the Economy board. In the end I just ignored the board and did my own thing, bought my house and have been really chuffed about my decision.

Just because some people think that house prices are going to fall (or more likely they want/need them to fall) doesn't mean that when they state "NO, don't buy a house, you'll end up in the debtors courts" they're being factual, truthful or that it counts as advice (this also applies to the counter argument about price rises).

If people want to discuss whether they think house prices will rise/fall or that the economy will rise/fall or that the recession is over/just starting, then where better to do this than in a discussion area (Discussion Time), where a much wider range of viewpoints, financial backgrounds, life experiences are available?

People should not be basing their house purchasing decisions on the views of 10 or so regular (and prolific) posters in the current format. Apart from anything else, keeping the Economy board in "Pure Money", where the other boards are more factual, could mislead newbies into thinking the Economy board is more factual rather than just the opinions of a few regular posters (regardless of whether the Economy board has the word "Discuss" at the start of it's name and regardless of whether it is invisible to non-members).

Mary_Hartnell

Let us keep Economics out of the general discussions.
You can get a Nobel prize for Economics!

Quasar

The houses/economy debate board is directly related to money matters, while DT is the place to go to talk about everything under the sun. DT was created precisely to keep the money boards free of irrelevant material.

Placing the economy debate in DT would yes open it up to a wider audience, but its threads would be taken off topic and crammed with trivial banter. Trust me, I'm a regular in DT, and I do believe the economy board belongs where people go specifically to share information about this subject. DT would be the wrong place for it, although of course from time to time users may well discuss aspects of it.