Social Groups

[MagicRose99]

Why should WS be obligated to "host" a "private" party? If safety and "danger" is a concern, someone can form a Yahoo Group or some such to discuss "private" topics off of WS.

WS has rules and guidelines for a reason. If the owner/mods deem something is not working or has no place on WS then the posters should respect that and find alternate solutions to their dilemma.

 

[ArizonaGiGi]

Why should WS be obligated to "host" a "private" party? If safety and "danger" is a concern, someone can form a Yahoo Group or some such to discuss "private" topics off of WS.

WS has rules and guidelines for a reason. If the owner/mods deem something is not working or has no place on WS then the posters should respect that and find alternate solutions to their dilemma.

HUH? I think you missed the point. It is/was not a party. We were all working together to sleuth the crime at hand. People from all over the country. We all met and came together on WS over this crime so it was natural for us all to gravitate and do our work here. We didn't have much fun doing it. In other words it was not a party. It is offensive that you would even suggest such a thing. Two teens were murdered. Shame on you!

And like others have done, we will do our work elsewhere.

 

[DenVIP]

With that said, if there is a valid reason for having a group to discuss one of the cases that certain people are excluded from, we'd love to have it explained. We (the moderators) tossed it around for days and couldn't come up with anything, but we're open minded. However, simply not wanting to have your point of view challenged isn't a good reason, in fact, it's a very bad one. People don't learn and grow that way. I would have no interest in such a thing myself.

let me weigh in on this.....while I agree with your statements, in practice its not being allowed to happen......because the forums are truly open. There is way to much censorship by the mods based on complaints generated by opposition groups (its happened to me when I felt I had legit thoughts). What I believe needs to be done is that we need truly open forums where as long as you dont attack other users the mods need to stay out, the threads will straighten themselves out.....You guys/gals cant be blind to what the results are when you polarize a topic.....it dies, stagnates....it becomes a "cold case thread" because of the lack of debate.....As mods you cant let one side or another dictate policies.....and you cant base your sidings on the number of posts a user has made.....you could have 2000+ and not have an ounce to offer, and have 1 that may be the piece we had overlooked

You cant eliminate the fact there will be different social groups and sides taken. If that isn't the case you have no forum by definition.......I've seen the demise of good discussion already and the only loser is the case (person) that both side ultimately care about

Done rambling.....basically allow open forum......mods need to back down some....UNLESS there are attacks on other users, that should not be tolerated

 

[fortytwo]

let me weigh in on this.....while I agree with your statements, in practice its not being allowed to happen......because the forums are truly open. There is way to much censorship by the mods based on complaints generated by opposition groups (its happened to me when I felt I had legit thoughts). What I believe needs to be done is that we need truly open forums where as long as you dont attack other users the mods need to stay out, the threads will straighten themselves out.....You guys/gals cant be blind to what the results are when you polarize a topic.....it dies, stagnates....it becomes a "cold case thread" because of the lack of debate.....As mods you cant let one side or another dictate policies.....and you cant base your sidings on the number of posts a user has made.....you could have 2000+ and not have an ounce to offer, and have 1 that may be the piece we had overlooked

You cant eliminate the fact there will be different social groups and sides taken. If that isn't the case you have no forum by definition.......I've seen the demise of good discussion already and the only loser is the case (person) that both side ultimately care about

Done rambling.....basically allow open forum......mods need to back down some....UNLESS there are attacks on other users, that should not be tolerated

I followed the Haleigh rumor threads with a good deal of interest, probably from their inception. I have no clue what went on in the social groups, but I can imagine, and some of the images are not pretty.

I have to say that I feel the moderation of the RTs was above reproach. This is not the sort of thing I would normally say.

I saw no evidence of favoritism or other preferential treatment in the moderation there. I think that the posters aligned to either of the "sides" as well as those aligned to neither will support me when I say that I would have been quite sensitive to such prejudice.

The conversation in those threads was stopped at the brink of chaos (and occasionally beyond) more times than can be counted. The patience and forbearance which was shown in the moderation cannot be adequately praised.

Had any less been done the threads would have been absolutely useless. There are plenty of useless forums elsewhere on the net. I see no need for this to become one as well.

 

[DenVIP]

I followed the Haleigh rumor threads with a good deal of interest, probably from their inception. I have no clue what went on in the social groups, but I can imagine, and some of the images are not pretty.

I have to say that I feel the moderation of the RTs was above reproach. This is not the sort of thing I would normally say.

I saw no evidence of favoritism or other preferential treatment in the moderation there. I think that the posters aligned to either of the "sides" as well as those aligned to neither will support me when I say that I would have been quite sensitive to such prejudice.

The conversation in those threads was stopped at the brink of chaos (and occasionally beyond) more times than can be counted. The patience and forbearance which was shown in the moderation cannot be adequately praised.

Had any less been done the threads would have been absolutely useless. There are plenty of useless forums elsewhere on the net. I see no need for this to become one as well.

well I was going to steer clear of the specific Haleigh forum issue, but its brought up so here goes....there are 2 sides now ones who think Ron & Misty are behind it and others who say Crystal....
I too have followed it for a very long time and saw the divide and issues in the forums and for the most part it was just disagreement n theorries.....SO WHAT..... thats what open forum is suppose to be and do.....cause people to think........that is now gone, go to the threads, a handfull of people and posts, you knowwhy because there is no real debating going because certain groups hit the alert button every time someone disagrees with them. I know it happened to me I would welcome the mods to post what they PM'ed me with......I got labeled and in my opinion unjustly, this was done because I disagreed with the line of thought and group....so they alert the mod....Users on the other side know me and know I respect there posts, there are others that are just there to argue.....I have never bashed a user for there opinion......I know mods have a job, but to stunt the ability to post freely is absurd and counter productive to the BB as a whole.....Just because I wont hit the alert and become part of the sill, and I do mean silly game being played, I got labeled.....its sad that this is a new happening and only Haleigh suffers
You tell me if the censorship has helped? I remember when we'd have 20 to 30 people talking......now your lucky to get 6.......and its not because we have forgotten Haleigh Cummings

 

[Animal04216]

This thread is not about forum moderation. Why is it that every time admin asks for input some posters inevitably start on the too much moderation and i was given a TO for no reason kick. One thing I can assure you of is if I personally gave you a time out it was deserved. I rarely post on the forums I moderate just for this reason,,,,if I posted there and had to give someone time to cool off they would say I "took sides" or "was biased" Bottom line is Tricia owns the forum, moderators will not go away, and EVERY part of the forum will follow TOS.

 

[MagicRose99]

HUH? I think you missed the point. It is/was not a party. We were all working together to sleuth the crime at hand. People from all over the country. We all met and came together on WS over this crime so it was natural for us all to gravitate and do our work here. We didn't have much fun doing it. In other words it was not a party. It is offensive that you would even suggest such a thing. Two teens were murdered. Shame on you!

And like others have done, we will do our work elsewhere.

Don't twist words... Geesh! Party or group it's the same dang thing...

You want a private "group" rolleyes hosted by WS. MY point is, is that WS is not obligated to give you space for a "private" group. If you want a private group then go form a Yahoo group or open your own forum.

WS is for the public to come together in an open forum and discuss crime cases not give people a place to host private parties - oh, pardon me... GROUPS. If safety is a concern then discuss with owner/mod OR open your own group on another site.

 

[DenVIP]

This thread is not about forum moderation. Why is it that every time admin asks for input some posters inevitably start on the too much moderation and i was given a TO for no reason kick. One thing I can assure you of is if I personally gave you a time out it was deserved. I rarely post on the forums I moderate just for this reason,,,,if I posted there and had to give someone time to cool off they would say I "took sides" or "was biased" Bottom line is Tricia owns the forum, moderators will not go away, and EVERY part of the forum will follow TOS.

Well to answer your question the two issues go hand in hand. When you have a forum you will ultimately have social groups who take sides......all I said is that it is possible to have a spirited discussion without the need for mods stepping in at the whim of some users....as for terms of service, you, mods as a group need to get clear cut definitions on certain issues so that they are handled in a uniformed manner. If any mod or admin would like clarification feel free to email

 

[JBean]

Well to answer your question the two issues go hand in hand. When you have a forum you will ultimately have social groups who take sides......all I said is that it is possible to have a spirited discussion without the need for mods stepping in at the whim of some users....as for terms of service, you, mods as a group need to get clear cut definitions on certain issues so that they are handled in a uniformed manner. If any mod or admin would like clarification feel free to email

The basic TOS/Rules/Etiquette are the same throughout the forum. But different forums may have different guidelines that are specific to each depending on circumstance, LE involvement, posting membership and other variables. It doesn't take long to get with the program and figure out what is going on. 99% of our posters get along fine and have no problems.
It really comes to down to this:
1. be respectful and don't attack, bully insult, or belittle one another or their posts. Not in SG's, not on the board, not on profile messages.
2.be responsible in your posting especially when it comes to revealing personal information about innocent people or starting rumors.
3. Check and see if the forum you are in has any forum specific rules and follow them.Forum specific rules can change at any time as more information is revealed.
4. site your sources if it is being presented as fact, or clarify it is opinion
5.if someone attacks you, just report the post,scroll post it and don't respond. I know sometimes the need to respond is too big to ignore. In those cases, feel free to respond, but anticipate a TO. Might be worth it to ya, up to you.
6. Debate is one thing, trolling, contrary argumentativeness is something else.
7. If a moderator asks you not to do something, don't do it
8. If you have a complaint about moderation, shoot any one of us a note. Complaining on the board is not the best course of action.
That is pretty much it and it applies to all moderated areas of the board; which would be everywhere except pm's.

The funny thing is the ones that complain about the moderation the most, are the ones that are always asking us to help with another poster that is bothering them. So, I guess moderation is ok as long as we are not the ones being moderated. LOL.

 

[JBean]

I am posting before reading the entire thread. Perhaps someone else has brought this up. The purpose of the private group that I belonged to was safety. ANY yay-hoo can read the things that are posted on the general threads without ever even joining WS. That includes the murderers. It was necessary to have a private place to post because some of our members were locals from a very small town and it had put them in danger to post on the main threads WHERE JUST ANY OLE BODY CAN READ. This was brought to the attention of mods/owner.

I am really disappointed in this decision by WS to remove the private rooms. I feel like I am in 2nd grade again. The whole class is being punished because two kids talked out loud. The whole class is having to skip recess because of only 2 kids. I'm not sure what is going on behind the scenes but it seems something is amiss besides some people talking about a mod or other members.

In one SG another member was actually threatened by another member. "We know who you are, we will find you out" that kind of stuff.
Just to clarify, it wasn't one or two kids, as you should know by reading this thread, it was several SG's.

 

[Snick1946]

Why should WS be obligated to "host" a "private" party? If safety and "danger" is a concern, someone can form a Yahoo Group or some such to discuss "private" topics off of WS.

WS has rules and guidelines for a reason. If the owner/mods deem something is not working or has no place on WS then the posters should respect that and find alternate solutions to their dilemma.

Well thank you for a great idea- I think I will open a Yahoo restricted membership group to discuss the case that we had our SG for.
No, WS isn't obligated to offer anyone discussion space, that is not the problem as I see it. What continues to astound me is that seemingly the majority of persons on this discussion cannot seem to grasp that there might be circumstances in which members might feel it dangerous to post in public.
I started a thread on a murder almost a year ago- I and at least one other participant have had attempted hackings on our computers. Two other persons stopped posting as they felt they were endangering themselves. Our SG provided a safe haven for them.


Life goes on and the SGs are gone. I just wish some people would put a little effort into seeing why some of them played a useful role.

 

[OrdinaryLife]

Well thank you for a great idea- I think I will open a Yahoo restricted membership group to discuss the case that we had our SG for.
No, WS isn't obligated to offer anyone discussion space, that is not the problem as I see it. What continues to astound me is that seemingly the majority of persons on this discussion cannot seem to grasp that there might be circumstances in which members might feel it dangerous to post in public.
I started a thread on a murder almost a year ago- I and at least one other participant have had attempted hackings on our computers. Two other persons stopped posting as they felt they were endangering themselves. Our SG provided a safe haven for them.


Life goes on and the SGs are gone. I just wish some people would put a little effort into seeing why some of them played a useful role.

I have to ask. How do you know who is safe even in a SG forum? It comes down to trusting a poster that you really don't know save for what they decide to share, right? It's still very much a gamble whether any poster posts on any forum or if it was in a SG. With great respect, I ask. How was having a SG more protective for those who are anxious to post on a particular thread that brought them here and who chooses *who* is a "safe" member to be invited to a SG??? How do you even know the other afraid poster is legit??? Honestly, I'm confused here.

If there are posters who are involved personally in any case, then when they become members here I humbly suggest that they let the powers that be here know that. So that Tricia or a Mod(s) are aware of them and help guide them through what they should or should not share for protection of themselves.

I don't get it. Truly, I don't. Please, enlighten me and what I may be missing. FWIW, the Mods/Administration here are amazing. I find it troubling that regarding this particular topic that it is being challenged as to why they do what they do. A member requested to be a poster here and was accepted. What does WS's owe anyone other than what has already been given to a member? A free membership to an amazing sleuthing site where you can toss out thoughts, opinions, and theories unlike many, many other sites out there.

imvho

 

[Kimster]

It's late and I'm feeling like going out on a limb - so here goes!

I'm deeply involved in a missing persons case. I met the mother of the missing persons here on WS. We started discussing the case and we felt our sleuthing was being monitored by a "person of interest". I didn't even think of starting a social group. We opened a private, secured chat room off the board where we discuss confidential matters regarding the case. We have no problem asking WS members to join us, just as long as they understand that we will be sleuthing them to make sure they are "genuine". I can't even imagine doing that as part of this community. If we offended someone with our concerns to join the group, it could be taken personally and then the Mods would have to get involved. That would be an awful lot of moderating for one case, IMO.

Please do not think I'm trying to get people to leave WS! The few of us who meet in the secure chat room are still active members here and love our WS home more than anything! :blowkiss: Making the room was purely from necessity to keep some of our sleuthing confidential.

 

[believe09]

I think this is an interesting dilemna for those who are actively sleuthing cases-on the one hand there is a certain amount of warieness of their fellow posters so they do not feel comfortable exchanging email addresses. On the other, there is the determination to research and sleuth cases that may have theories that are of interest to those who may have participated in the crime.

I have never used the SG feature and I am embarrassed to say that I had no idea they existed until recently. :crazy: FWIW, PM and email has worked fine for me to date for those who need an alternative-if the PM function is not working for you yet, you can always approach a mod with your circumstances...:blowkiss:

 

[Snick1946]

Respectfully snipped from OrdinaryLife:

I have to ask. How do you know who is safe even in a SG forum? It comes down to trusting a poster that you really don't know save for what they decide to share, right? It's still very much a gamble whether any poster posts on any forum or if it was in a SG. With great respect, I ask. How was having a SG more protective for those who are anxious to post on a particular thread that brought them here and who chooses *who* is a "safe" member to be invited to a SG??? How do you even know the other afraid poster is legit??? Honestly, I'm confused here.

You make a good point. In the case of our group I limited it to people who'd been active for awhile on the open thread, also to people who joined BEFORE the crime. We had some issues on the thread with people who just joined and jumped in with allegations, etc. Those people never got to know about the SG. In the end it's a crap shoot- you have to use your instincts, etc.
BTW I wasn't being sarcastic earlier- I really am thinking of setting up a Yahoo group for discussion on the case, we can all then pretty much do our own thing there!

 

[bulletgirl2002]

What blows my mind is that I've been here for 5 years and I didn't even know what the Social Groups were until this morning.

I was wondering if I was the only one wondering what they were talking about

 

[suepersleuth]

Dear Members:

We have shut down the social groups. They intent was for them to be available for off topic chit chat. Instead, there was a lot of case discussion going on, along with attacks on other posters, staff members and the owner of the board, which is just wrong and something we don't do here. And while we are always open to suggestion on how to improve the board, it gets tiresome to read comments that just complain over and over. Nobody has to read or post here, after all.

The groups are still there, just not accessible right now while we decide what to do. One thing is for sure, there will not be "private" social groups ever again, based on what was going on in some of them. If we do reopen the social groups it will be strictly for topics not related to crime, the missing or the unidentified - that's what the main board is for.

Please feel free to comment below. Thank you, the WS staff.

Whatever.....I'm not going to lose any of my precious sleep or time worrying about the politics of WS when there are crimes to be solved.

Please advise when I am allowed access back into the big social group.

 

[Montana]

I have never understood why it is necessary to punish everyone based on the actions of a few individuals. The answer is simple, get rid of the people who are causing problems.

I was very disappointed that the Haleigh rumor thread was closed because the locals stopped posting. Creating a place where people who have direct knowledge of a case feel comfortable posting elevates this forum to a whole new level. The fact that we failed in the Haleigh Cummings case makes my heart sad.

As for having social groups, what is the point? We are here to support victims. Why should that take place in private? This is a place where we all come together to do what we can to help victims, their families and their friends. This is a selfless effort that should be free of the baggage that we all carry.

Regards,

Montana

 

[songline]

I have never understood why it is necessary to punish everyone based on the actions of a few individuals. The answer is simple, get rid of the people who are causing problems.

I was very disappointed that the Haleigh rumor thread was closed because the locals stopped posting. Creating a place where people who have direct knowledge of a case feel comfortable posting elevates this forum to a whole new level. The fact that we failed in the Haleigh Cummings case makes my heart sad.

As for having social groups, what is the point? We are here to support victims. Why should that take place in private? This is a place where we all come together to do what we can to help victims, their families and their friends. This is a selfless effort that should be free of the baggage that we all carry.

Regards,

Montana

SEEMS TO ME that I still get personal e-mails at home from people who were in this privet group (I was not) who are very upset that they cant have that thread, they felt they were doing good work and WS should not have closed down that thread.
I TOLD THEM - SUMMER IS SLOW the courts and lawyers do much vacationing and the thread will be active after the summer.
But they still want that privet group threat.
IMHO it was not that the thread was closed down but that it was a "Privet Club", it may give some a feeling of being "special" who knows?

I have seen many threads close when they got heated.
Since this thread got very heated,
Why would it be different then any thread that get closed down because it is too heated?????

 

[little726]

Respectfully snipped from OrdinaryLife:


You make a good point. In the case of our group I limited it to people who'd been active for awhile on the open thread, also to people who joined BEFORE the crime. We had some issues on the thread with people who just joined and jumped in with allegations, etc. Those people never got to know about the SG. In the end it's a crap shoot- you have to use your instincts, etc.
BTW I wasn't being sarcastic earlier- I really am thinking of setting up a Yahoo group for discussion on the case, we can all then pretty much do our own thing there!

Yep...look at the timestamp.The mod. was there in less than 5 min.