I have no doubts that many members have made some really close cyber friends and possibly some real face to face friends on here over the years.
My personal favourite thread is Lifestyle and Travel, because once the stock market day is done, it's a great place to relax and chat about anything.
We formed the book club in there, thanks to golden6, and there are some really interesting topics. I spent hours reading about some of them.
I was in the upbringing of not discussing politics and religion so personally dislike those threads, but thankfully HotCopper allows you to set preferences, so the things you don't want to read you don't have to. That is probably pertinent for your gripe too IM. Don't blame faceless TOUers, as very often it's straight from the moderators room. They don't have to wait for TOU's to know that a thread is going to be trouble, and incite religious or racial hatred. Those threads just cannot go in 'general' as so many of us don't want to read about it. We prefer to read about more 'general things in general!
I do believe our site is now broken up into manageable forums, so the great debaters have their places to go and bash their heads against brick walls, or nut it out with each other, and we have the calm places for those that want them too. Choose the form to suit your mood on the day.
I'd rather discuss the next holiday location and its pros and cons than who is killing who in Kings Cross, and that might be a personality flaw that I prefer to not watch the news too often either, but so be it. We're all unique little beings on this earth, and we're not here for very long, so let's enjoy the time we're given.
