Should DU Abolish The General Discussion Groups?

The point of any message board is, hopefully, to concentrate those interested in a specific topic in a single, easy-to-find place. It's in such an environment that information can most efficiently be exchanged and synergy between members can best occur.

The problem with the GD groups is that they create a dynamic is destructive to the above goals. They pull traffic from topical groups because members know the GD forums are where the action is... even if there are 10 simultaneous threads on the same topic. It defeats the whole point of having the topical forums to begin with. It creates problems with members having to shout above the noise to get heard because in 5-10 minutes the thread is off the front page... or to keep repeating the same comments in all the threads. The GD database is so large it has caused problems with the performance of the site: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x129940

So what's the solution? Should the mods move threads? Should GD forums be closed down for a while until we all get in the habit of posting to the topic forums and turn GD into a forum for issues not covered in other forums? Or Should we leave bad enough alone? If the latter... why?

Posts regarding DU policy belong in the Ask the Admins forum.

Thanks.