[SailinAway]

A problem when a thread goes off course is that the original poster may not get a full answer to a question. My question indeed was practical, not political. I did get some good answers, but then the topic was lost in the political discussion. When that happens, a topic that started out politically neutral and cooperative can become hostile. Then the original cooperative tone of sharing information and suggestions is lost.

It is clear (to me) that many people in this forum would like to have a venue where local people can discuss a variety of issues. It is often said here that "there are other places where you can go to discuss that," but I haven't found that to be true and people haven't specified these other places.

Any forum by definition is a place where people gather. What's different in an online forum (as compared to, say, a bar) is that the site owner gets to decide what can be discussed and in what tone. That's fine; moderation is needed in online forums to maintain civility. If a bunch of people gather in your living room you want to have a say in what goes on there. On the other hand, it's helpful when a forum can respond to the needs expressed by members, if those seem reasonable, implying that a forum might change over time.

There are some very knowledgeable people at this website. I learn a lot from their answers to my questions, but also by following their debates. I found the discussion of Northern Pass and the cost of energy here interesting. That's an issue that directly impacted the Lakes Region---the last proposed Northern Pass line would have been visible from my property and probably would have affected my property value. But that discussion didn't belong in a thread about "How can I save electricity at home?" So where does it belong? Either (a) in a subforum that isn't currently offered at this site or (b) it doesn't belong on this site at all.

I'm in favor of (a), a new subforum, because the Winnipesaukee Forum is an important gathering place for local people. It could be called something like What's On Your Mind? It would need to be moderated to avoid excessive hostility and false information, both of which are harmful to a civil democratic society.

I have asked twice for a new subforum where people could request and offer assistance with whatever they need. A What's On Your Mind subforum could encompass that need. A disabled member recently posted about the difficulty of finding help with home maintenance. Perhaps there are people here, including myself, who would be glad to help this member and others. We often lament the lack of civility here. One of the best ways to encourage civility is to get people together to help one another.

I suggest that someone post a poll in a new thread asking, "Are you in favor of a subforum called What's On Your Mind" to discuss various issues?" It's a simple yes/no question.

If moderation of such a forum is too onerous for the site owner, another moderator could be found. Moderators could be rotated, as happens in other forums.

We can each avoid interrupting a thread with an off-topic discussion. Open another thread for your new topic. What is happening now is that people are slipping topics that aren't allowed at the forum into threads that are allowed, just waiting for the site owner to detect the off-topic posts and close the thread. Often people object to these closings. The solution is to not let discussions veer off course.

However, many forums delete off-topic and offensive posts instead of closing the entire thread. That would be a simple solution too. My thread was good and is very valid right now. Unitil just announced a large rate increase, meaning that thousands more people need to know how to lower their electric bill by using less electricity. Surely the site owner has the ability to delete the offending posts without shutting off the discussion about this important topic? And as someone else said, a warning to the offenders would help keep people on track.