Bodhi
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2009
- Messages
- 1,084
- Reaction score
- 4,509
I appreciate tlcya's excellent explanation of why discussing FB or SM posts is not allowed here. I can give you my firsthand experience with a newsworthy event involving a family member. A close member of my family was on the tall ship HMS Bounty that sunk off North Carolina in Hurricane Sandy last October. My relative and 13 others were rescued due to the heroic efforts of the Coast Guard. The body of one was recovered later that day and the captain's body was never found.
Family members of all those involved turned to the web during the horrifying hours for information and support and for weeks and months afterward to figure out what happened and why. The ship's web page was being updated by someone in the Midwest, a father of a crew member, who was not part of the Bounty organization, although the site read as the official organization site. Misinformation on the Bounty's page and on the various "support" pages was rampant. Posters built on unsubstantiated statements as if they were fact and used the conclusions they drew to blast other posters. Posters vilified each other personally. People were banned from pages by those they disagreed with. It was a free-for-all and very counterproductive.
On a scary note, my siblings and I attracted the attention of some very unstable people--people obsessed about the Bounty sinking. One in particular who lived in Manitoba and had no connection to the event, not even a love of sailing or the ocean, frightened us so much that we backed off any public social media discussions.
On the plus side, the social media sites gave me the opportunity to link with family members of others involved. I had the opportunity to personally thank several Coast Guard members who'd been on the C-130 who had circled overhead all night and threw the life raft canisters. I "met" and talked to many lovely people around the US and Canada.
SM definitely has its plusses. But you have to know it's limitations too. If you feel you must discuss things that are not allowed under WS's TOS, there are other forums that do not have the same standards that can supplement this one. But be aware: you have to consider the source of information before you accept it as fact.
Family members of all those involved turned to the web during the horrifying hours for information and support and for weeks and months afterward to figure out what happened and why. The ship's web page was being updated by someone in the Midwest, a father of a crew member, who was not part of the Bounty organization, although the site read as the official organization site. Misinformation on the Bounty's page and on the various "support" pages was rampant. Posters built on unsubstantiated statements as if they were fact and used the conclusions they drew to blast other posters. Posters vilified each other personally. People were banned from pages by those they disagreed with. It was a free-for-all and very counterproductive.
On a scary note, my siblings and I attracted the attention of some very unstable people--people obsessed about the Bounty sinking. One in particular who lived in Manitoba and had no connection to the event, not even a love of sailing or the ocean, frightened us so much that we backed off any public social media discussions.
On the plus side, the social media sites gave me the opportunity to link with family members of others involved. I had the opportunity to personally thank several Coast Guard members who'd been on the C-130 who had circled overhead all night and threw the life raft canisters. I "met" and talked to many lovely people around the US and Canada.
SM definitely has its plusses. But you have to know it's limitations too. If you feel you must discuss things that are not allowed under WS's TOS, there are other forums that do not have the same standards that can supplement this one. But be aware: you have to consider the source of information before you accept it as fact.