Metropol

DS forums are nothing but a haven for cranks and fruitcakes, and that's been the case for a long time. Channel 5 seems to attract the most inflammatory discussions there, weirdly enough. To be honest I'm surprised the forums weren't shut down years ago.

Left Hand Man wrote: Sun 26 Jan, 2025 14.26 DS forums are nothing but a haven for cranks and fruitcakes, and that's been the case for a long time. Channel 5 seems to attract the most inflammatory discussions there, weirdly enough. To be honest I'm surprised the forums weren't shut down years ago.

General Discussion was shut down. The real reason was political discourse.

Left Hand Man wrote: Sun 26 Jan, 2025 14.26 DS forums are nothing but a haven for cranks and fruitcakes, and that's been the case for a long time. Channel 5 seems to attract the most inflammatory discussions there, weirdly enough. To be honest I'm surprised the forums weren't shut down years ago.

I Don't know about "cranks and fruitcakes" but there are some "sad-fishers" and those who use the advice forum as an alternative for professional therapy.

That US election thread seriously needs shut down. It hasn’t been about broadcasting in months. The politics board closed for a reason.

Issaknife wrote: Thu 13 Feb, 2025 05.12 That US election thread seriously needs shut down. It hasn’t been about broadcasting in months. The politics board closed for a reason.

The politics board closed, I think, because there was some harassment going on. Think it might have been something to do with the Labour antisemitism scandal. The political threads seem to be a way of keeping that discussion from spilling elsewhere.

If by "harrassment" you mean stalking and doxxing, then yes, there was plenty of that going on. Nothing to do with the Labour antisemitism scandal, it started well before then. It's incredibly disturbing to find a bunch of people had a forum where they were following DSers around the internet (myself included) and documenting everything they could find out about them- including where they lived. The people from said forum had countless sleeper accounts that sprang into life regularly, usually to attack certain users or post what personal information they'd discovered about them, it's hardly suprising the admins had enough.

A few months back, someone DMd me to say that they'd finally had enough (after having abuse spammed on their LinkedIn page and their workplace being contacted) and they'd hired a private investigator to find the people behind said forum... it abruptly went offline not long after that, a co-incidence I'm sure.

And remember this was all because these people either disliked people not sharing their politics, or they blamed other people for them getting banned from DS, so they decided stalking, doxxing and harrassment was a suitable reaction.

Another politics thread in Broadcasting!! 🙄

Nobody's making any of the complainers read any of them. The admins have repeatedly said it's fine despite how much it seems to get some people's backs up.

Generally the people who get so upset by political discussions are only upset because said political discussions don't align with their politics.

There are one or two people on there who do nothing but big up Channel 5 and it really winds me up. I don't understand how anyone can act so fanatically over a not-very-good TV channel.

Left Hand Man wrote: Fri 21 Mar, 2025 10.52 There are one or two people on there who do nothing but big up Channel 5 and it really winds me up. I don't understand how anyone can act so fanatically over a not-very-good TV channel.

I'll grant you that Channel 5 has its hits and misses but so does every station. To me its come on in leaps and bounds since its first "three F's" incarnation of the late 1990's