[Neal Probert]

I think the chit-chat and non-FIRST topic areas should be shut down. This is not censorship, but the real-world reality in the office workplace where professionalism is demanded of you. An outpouring of personal, private, political and religious sentiments is not acceptable professional behavior and is generally not welcome.

The technical reason for closing down the chit chat and non-FIRST topics are that it consumes resources. The legal reasons for closing that area down is that Chief Delphi is liable for damaging content (libel, slander, ...).

The main political reason for closing it down are that it has nothing to do with FIRST. Chief Delphi is a forum about FIRST and FIRST related topics. Period.

From a user perspective, when the signal to noise (chit-chat) ratio gets so bad, it's no longer worth listening in on. That is what happened to Usenet.

There are tons of other bulletin boards, chat rooms and forums out there for non-FIRST topics.