Censoring Posts

I question wheither the moderators review posts for “merit.” God knows I’ve posted off topic or posts without content and I’ve never been stopped. : )

I believe this board was on the verge of being dumped. It wasn’t that we couldn’t stand differance of opinions, it was that some posters were impersonating other users, insulting each other, and spamming. This behavior needed to be stopped.

This board isn’t perfect. None are. As the “more info” part of this board says, this is a start.

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Pretty dang quick if you ask me!

I timed it. (I know, I know, it does sometimes take longer, especially on off hours)

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I have seen other boards go into full moderation mode and have seen them quickly die because of it. I have also seen boards go to full registration with open posting of valid email addresses as a prerequisite of posting and have watched them grind almost immediately to a halt.

I agree that the free exchange of information is better served by a completely open board. I understand that some people may and will abuse this privilege. We can scroll on by those posts which are clearly trolling for attention. Should someone persist, their ISP can be banned or their individual posts can be modified or deleted.

This has been a very good board over the 4 years I have been reading it. I would hate to see happen to it what I have seen happen to other boards.

I’m not wild about the delayed posting, but I don’t think legitimate posts have been prevented. I’m not sure that a fully moderated board was necessary though. It seems to me that there were a very few people who abused this community by attacking rather than merely expressing disagreement or by posting thinly-veiled advertisements for products or services. I think that a registration process in which LD Online would be able to verify the identity of the user (to at least a reasonable degree), coupled with clear and rigorously enforced posting guidlines would be as effective in weeding out the bad apples as a fully moderated board. One example of a thriving online community requiring registration is yahoogroups. I belong to a number of yahoo groups and registration has not brought communication to a halt. There is far less abuse, however. One thing that yahoo does is block the display of a registered user’s full email address unless the user has consented to showing the full address. That helps to deal with the concerns of those who wish to avoid being spammed. IVillage follows a similar approach with its message boards. Frankly, while I know there are good reasons for not including an email address when posting, I have always viewed the presence of that address as an additional indicator of the poster’s good faith. JMHO.

Andrea

Anitya, I agree with you 100% I don’t mind having people disagree with me and hope that sometimes I learn from other opinions. You and I have at times disagreed, but I respect you and your devotion to teaching.

I find the board vey hard to follow now everything says “new” and some is old. I don’t understand why some is black and some red.

Personally, I would like to thank the board moderators for restoring these discussion boards to their former supportive emotional climate.

Frankly, I was getting ready to abandon the boards on this site. It had become one kook’s private pulpit, and it was repulsive. He had completely taken over the Parenting an ADHD board, and was starting to work on this discussion board as well.

I need the supportive emotional climate more than I need the instant gratification of immediate posts. And I believe that new members to the boards need to see a supportive emotional climate when they get here. There are wonderfully knowledgeable, supportive posters here, but new members looking for support and advice would never have known it.

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Seems to me that if you’ve read a message, it is black (or dark), blue if you haven’t. The red “new” indicates that there is a new response to the old message. So far I haven’t had any trouble figuring out what I’ve read.

aj, I agree completely. Our personal SPED nightmares are thankfully all in the past— but LD Online was a lifesaver while we lived through them. I’d hate to lose that supportive environment. It wasn’t like everyone agreed all the time, but there was an atmosphere of respect for others’ points of view.

I DO agree with Anitya, but also with the opposite point of view — I don’t post my email because similar types have abused my personal email in threads past (not always from this site!) and I have trouble with that.

Although I know I’ll post less with the delay, I’d rather go this way, to avoid further damage to people who are in ‘dx mode’ which in my case meant much time unable to sleep, researching feverishly on the internet — that is when flames hurt horribly, since one is already near tears 24-7!

I wish there was a middle ground…but this seems least hurtful and most helpful…and I do like being able to read the thread without going back and forth — could never figure out how before!

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I agree. My hope has been that the out-of-control poster would realize how his “messages” were being perceived, and change his tone so that even he could continue to post of these boards without censorship. After all, we are always free to ignore anything we don’t like, and his posts are so recognizable by his syntax, grammar, and style that it doesn’t matter what under which name he posts.

Perhaps our board names could be password protected.

The colors of the post titles are controlled by your default browser settings for visited links. One color for links you’ve clicked. The other color for links you haven’t clicked. If you are using the flat view to read the posts, you may have read it, but the post title will still be your “unvisited link” color.

As difficult as it may be, the best way to stop an “out of control” poster is by not responding. Then w/o the reinforcement, the individual’s posts grind gradually to a halt…or they change their tune a bit.

I was frustrated when I posted something and had to wait a day or so to see it on the boards. Censors cannot work 24/7 and we have different time zones and different schedules.

I really don’t think there is ever a situation that censorship ultimately becomes a win-win situation. This is why our Bill of Rights supposedly assures freedom of speech and press. Of course, people try to suppress what they don’t like.

I have learned a good bit being on a board that has not had the censorship. While I still make statements that some don’t agree with, I have learned, most of the time, to hold back, to moderate my words, etc. I have appreciated the experience. Plus, my point of view has been expanded for the better.

Yes, I still occasionally let a button get pushed, but I hope a bit less than a couple of years back.

The “new” function on this board quit working for me several weeks ago. I had complained about other things so I just forgot about it and started skimming dates. Works quite well.

Well, I don’t like having the wall up — it is a nuisance to have to keep signing in every time I switch topics, and a couple of times when I was going to drop a quick one-liner, the sign-in deterred me.

However, when you are being stalked, you have to put up the fence and lock the gate. A pity, but this is what happens.

Yes, the main problem person was highly recognizable and yes, it was best to ignore him. But it is very hard to simply blot the terrible taste out of your mouth. As Elizabeth points out, if you are already having problems, you simply do not need someone throwing more garbage at you. Some people were unnecessarily hurt. And some others were apparently badly misled by him.
He really was a stalker; he waited for someone to open up about a vulnerability and then he jumped in in the most hurtful way possible. Deliberate attackers like this do need to be restricted.

I think the delay in posting at night and on certain weekend days is very discouraging, especially sicne that is when many of us post. I have no problem with the boards being moderated so that offensive posts can be deleted. But doing it this way, I think may kill the boards. The conversation nature was one of the strong points. I feel as though I have friends here because of that. The posts aren’t even lined up correctly, so you don’t know which post a response belongs to, etc.

There could even be volunteer moderators like some boards use to cover times beyond regular weekday hours. This current situation is really an extreme step when there have only been a couple of unstable people on here. Surely there could be a way to moderate the boards without having the loooong delays in posting.

I, for one, will be very saddened to see this board die.

And one more thing, I find it highly aggravating to have to log in when I change to one of the other message board topics!

Janis

Well Anitya,

It has been a while, but I couldn’t agree with you more. Hopefully the censoring will not impact this bb negtively to the point of it’s demise.

I know you and I have landed on opposite sides of the fence more often than not, yet I think both have been able to respect each other’s opinions enough to not get nasty or hateful.

If everyone always agreed on everything, it would be a pretty boring world.

I prefer the “old days” where the posts would go up immediately, and then if you were checking in or posting others, there was time for quick responses and some meaningful dialogue to keep the misunderstandings to a minimum.

The new format will take some getting used to, but I suppose I’ll adjust…

Take care,

Andy

I love the board and cannot be offended. I taught bd, so any poster that chooses to display his/her handicapping condition will only get my prayers. I do agree our names should be protected. Get rich schemes should be censored as should offensive cursing. Two of my “d….n’s” were censored and I wasn’t using da.n as a adjective but as an exclammatory. I had lost a long thought out post and had to rewrite.

I agree with Anitya. Ken C

Tired Mom,

I think the names are password protected, if you register. Once a name is registered, no one can post using your name except you.

Andrea

I have been on this board too since 99, I don’t have a problem with how the board works. It is actually the second time the format has been changed, I got used to the last change, I will get used to this one too.

Also, being overseas, the time lag doesn’t cause me a whole lot of grief anyway, I haven’t ever posted thinking I would get an immediate response from anyone.

I too was not coming here much when ball was trying his best to do damage. I figured at some point things would get better, there have been others like him although with less profanity and a bit less obsessive.

Personally I thank all the folks who have been here so long and been a great help to folks like myself, riding that ol’ special ed roller coaster.

Amyf

If that’s true, then the annoying poster found a way to get around the system because he was using other people’s names to post.

I would much rather take 5 seconds to enter a password to “speak” on the board than to wait several hours for posts to be displayed, particularly if the board itself is still accessible to be read by anyone at all times. The password feauture would only be necessary to make a post, not to read the board, which could still be read by anybody.

If “TiredMom” says anything asinine, I want to be the jerk responsible for saying it, and I want to held culpable as quickly as possible, by anyone who cares to comment.

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I miss the instant nature of the old bulletin board and the ability to have a “conversation” at any hour.

I don’t know if the problem was worth the cure.

Beth

I do most of my posting at night and have never hid my name nor reputation - I do my best - for some it could never be enough - but that’s the nature of free and open discourse. I am sorry some cannot take being hammered by someone out of control. I strongly agree they should have their droppings removed - I like the log in - if a post is well out of line, such an e-mail address should be permanently barred from posting. Sure, they’ll be free to offend again under another name - but that’s our cost of freedom - we should toughen up, put on our armor and open up the board, especially nights and weekends. Ken

I like night posting too. Good when I’m ill and can’t sleep, and when the phone line isn’t needed.

Perhaps the posts could go on the board at night and offensive stuff be deleted first thing in the morning before it causes too much trouble? This would be exactly the same amount of reading/work for the moderator.

I want the proper threads back, too.

I’ve bugged the board administrators a few too many times — why don’t you folks take over? Send these or similar suggestions by email. I use the “ask LDO” button and have gotten very positive, very nice responses.

I have found this board to be invaluable time and time again. I have learned a lot and found resources that have aided my child. I live in a small community and have been able to vent here when I had nowhere else. I found expertise here that was not available to me locally.

I would like others who need help to be able to find it here. I doubt new posters/lurkers could withstand the attacks that were being made in the past. Many veteran posters had stopped using these boards - just too awful.

For me, the problem of time lag is much smaller than losing a valued resource.

Just my opinion, but I prefer a slower, usable board to no board of value.

Personally the abuse is really unimportant. I have been abused by the best at school. The person on this board who liked to abuse parents didn’t even come close to what the school could do. Something of a hardened shell has developed.

I worry about those who may be in a more vulnerable position, who may just be starting out on this journey coming to this board for support and being met with a pie in the face.

(NT)

This board has been invaluable to me also - it’s been one of the important source of info. in the last three+ years of our “journey”. In fact, I remember it was Anitya’s suggestions that in retrospect were dead-on right that helped set us on the right path with dd. She probably doesn’t remember but I do.

This board has a distinct personality to it. It is a bit more liberal or tolerant, differences in opinion are usually civil discussions and the posters are typically thoughtful and/or provactive. There is energy, passion and conviction here - ultimately our mission is the same. And yes, I live in a major suburban area, but have found none so far who have grappled with the issues we have - unlike here. They may be out there, but I haven’t met them - so I don’t feel different and alone here. The posts give me new angles or thoughts to consider (even if I ultimately disagree with a POV, it offers food for thought). That is what I tell my dd education is about - not grades or what to think but exposure to new ideas, process/absorb them and learning how to think for herself.

I hope these posts are not censored for content and that this new system was the only practical way to eliminate a certain disruptive hateful scary board terrorist.

I have posted here many times in last minute “crises” mode and was given insights and advice freely. I hope that will continue for all, particularly newcomers.