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Forum: Site Announcements
Thread (Discussion): Announcement - user behavior on forums, on rules and changes
Message 134653
Posted by steve
on May 24, 2004 02:20 PM | Also by steve
| Gender: Male,
Age Bracket: 30 - 39,
State: Virginia,
Country: United States |
As many of you have noticed, things have gotten pretty heated on the forums the last several weeks. Most troubling was the number and form of personal attacks and behavior that contributed to making the forums a hostile and uncomfortable place for sex crime victims and their relatives to participate. Though this has been a constant problem the last few years, I was able to keep it mostly in check by moderating the forums and addressing issues via the forums and private message as they arose. As an experiment, except for a couple of warnings about potential changes, I did no moderation over the last week or so and hoped that the users would follow the rules and would police themselves. The results were mostly disappointing.
I want to continue to allow for those from all walks of life to participate in the SexCriminals.com forums, but I've decided that the needs and interests of those the site was designed to serve are no longer being met on the forums so change is necessary. When I started the site in 1998 it was meant to serve sex crime victims, their relatives and friends and those interested in protecting themselves and their loved ones from sex crimes and sex offenders.
Allowing sex offenders and deviants to post here has been a double-edged sword. It has given such people a place to share their thoughts and experiences, has allowed others to learn from them and has allowed people that would probably normally never sit down in a room together to discuss and debate relevant issues, to do so safely and anonymously. But it's also prevented many people from participating at all, has caused people to stop participating and has had a negative effect on SexCriminals.com and me personally in numerous ways. I have decided that I need to reverse this trend.
What does this mean? Plain and simple it means there will be changes. Some of the changes will be effective immediately, some will be implemented later and some aren't definitive at this stage. Starting now I am going to resume enforcement of the forums' rules. I will be leaning towards doing what's in the best interests of the intended audience of the site. That might mean those from the other side of the fence find some decisions to be unfair. I don't envision the result being unbearable, but anyone who questions my decisions is welcome to contact me privately to discuss and is of course welcome to cease participating here. I will probably be adding a new forum for offenders and deviants which will be the equivalent of the Victims' Corner - a safe place to discuss pertinent issues, where those allowed to participate will be limited and what's tolerated will be more restrictive. I will also be clarifying the forums' rules, adding more detail about the purpose of each forum and posting examples of rule violations and how to state things in a way that will be allowed.
And let me emphasize that poor behavior over the last month hasn't been limited to offenders and deviants. Do not interpret this post as meaning anything goes for victims, their relatives and victim advocates. But since this is who the site serves and the topics discussed can result in extreme emotions and negative feelings, I will use my discretion when deciding what is allowed and what is not.
I will be sharing other changes, either while they're being considered or before they're implemented. As always, if you have comments, suggestions or criticims, feel free to contact me by private message. These aren't just empty words - I want to hear from the site's users so I can take what they have to say into account.
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134653, steve, May 24, 2004 02:20 PM
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