Negativity / positivity in threads

Hi everybody,
we have removed a couple of threads lately, since they weren't compatible with our board rules. I understand that we all occasionally need to vent/rant, but at the same time - we'd like this place to be a forum that people will want to come back to, and when there's a lot of focus on anger/hate/unfriendliness (especially towards people that can be identified), we'll continue to remove posts or threads.

I'm 100% sure some of you will think that this is 'over-moderating'. I see it as a way to let this forum keep having a positive energy - if we can help people feel good/feel better, that's great, because we don't really want to dive into the forum and come out feeling bad because of others use of the site as to burst out negativity.

This doesn't mean that we assume or suggest that any of us are going to feel terrific all the time. It's more about the intension of this forum. The way democracy works on internet, everybody can't get all they want from all sites/forums, which is why I think it's important to have a profile, a definition of what you can expect from a forum like this.

From our FAQ/guidelines:

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Consider this forum a friendly dinner party where peaceful and polite people who are into veganism are invited.

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Please offer others the same understanding and kindness you would like to receive instead of fighting back (by insulting others/accusing others for being rude, idiots, sick etc) if you are verbally attacked by others. This also applies to discussing people outside the forum: please don't use the site to post people-hating posts or personal info about others. In other words, no personal attacks on celebrities, ex-wives or anyone else that can be identified, please!

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If you're not happy with our guidelines, that's fine (but then this site isn't really what you're looking for). If you are happy with being a part of the kind of internet community we describe, that's even better, because then you have come to the right place and probably won't have a problem at all with our profile and moderating (in terms of removing threads/posts that aren't compatible with out guidelines).

It's sometimes easy to forget that this is an internet forum, and maybe to get lost in focus on negative stuff, and again - we don't expect anyone to be totally blissed out 24/7. Please don't just use the site as a substitute for whatever you need to do in order sort out real life difficulties you have friends/partners/family/people you work with/yourself! :)

Thanks,
K.


PS - just to avoid potential discussions about our policy in this area: like it or not, but it isn't really up for discussion... so: take it or leave it! :) I know that a lot/most of you are absolutely OK with this policy, and also know that a few of our dear members have stopped using the site in the past due to too much focus on negativity, so if we would change our policy/profile in the future, it will not be in a more 'negativity/anger-friendly' direction...

I know it's not up for discussion but I just wanted to say I think this sort of moderation is a GOOD thing. Sometimes this place goes from being a happy little sanctuary to an all-out miserable black hole :(. Personally I would like to concentrate on the positive side of veganism and maybe keep the moaning/depression in one or two small sections of the forum so people can use them as a safety valve.

I moan sometimes, sometimes i say very depressing things, and i know for a fact that when there's a lot of this sort of stuff going on here it makes me more depressed and then i add to the dark atmosphere at times (guilty!). I'm coming to the conclusion that personal support is probably best kept more to PMs and i for one am actually positively avoiding posting when i feel really bad from now on :bigsmile:.

fair enough korn.

i guess there are the 'how do you feel today' and 'what are you thinking now' threads amongst others to express personal feelings we may need support with :)

I'm happy with that Korn! :)

I would definitely agree with that, this forum has always been one of the most pleasant places to be. I have been on other forums where I've only lasted a day or two because I can't stand the general open warfare. We know when we come here it feels like we are among friends:)

I'm glad I missed the drama, but I say WELL DONE!

This is the ONLY vegan/health/raw food type community I truly enjoy. It always sucks when people get out of line and start with put-downs and judging (or acting holier than thou) ... but I've never witnessed that here.

Thanks for making this place so wonderful and enjoyable (not to mention educational!)

I have seen self-righteousness here and it's argumentative. I don't feel it's a friendly place and I don't feel unwelcome but then I don't feel welcome.

But obviously I like coming on here a bit or I wouldn't do it, and maybe it's just me so no one get annoyed by what I'm saying

You fascistic dictator, Korn!


We love you :D

I feel like you are all my friends...kinda confusing when I try to explain threads to people on the outside world...

I've said it before and I'll say it again, thank you for making this place so wonderful Korn. And thank you to everyone for being so sweet all the time. <3

Korn - I've been away from the forum and seem to have missed all this. For the benefit of following these guidelines which were the problem threads?

I was wondering that, too. I hope I was not TOO negative, athough sometimes I do say depressing things, I feel terribly about them later. I hope the thread issues are sorted out now. [Although not sure which ones...]

Hi,

Please don't worry about having posted overly negative stuff in the past!

Life has it's ups and downs, and we aren't trying to change this by preventing people from writing about whatever it is that bothers them.

With 7000 members, I often don't remember who wrote what in which thread, so - in terms who questions about who it was who wrote what, and when - I can't help you much anyway! :)

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Korn - I've been away from the forum and seem to have missed all this

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I was wondering that, too. I hope I was not TOO negative, athough sometimes I do say depressing things, I feel terribly about them later.

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Aubergine and Ellaminnowpea, I can't remember if any of you ever wrote something negative, and again, we're not meant to be excessively positive all the time either. It's just that a forum like this isn't a good place to get stuck in negativity, because too much of it just triggers more moaning from others - who may visit the forum to communicate with others without having to deal with too many threads/posts with a strong negative focus.

Maybe I'm naive, but I see this site as a potentially useful place for people who want to communicate and support each other, but not as useful for people who want to get together and basically agree that life generally stinks - because 'the only constant is change'.

One of the threads that were removed (How do you feel today?) have already been discussed in the Moan Zone, and the other one was about someone posting negative stuff of their father (it's normally a bad sign when names of one or more body parts are used when describing others!), but I wrote the poster (which didn't have a problem with having the thread removed) about why we removed that thread.

Hint: The (subforum and User Group called) Moan Zone is a good place to hang out if you want to moan. :)

thank you, korn!:D

We can all get down sometimes, and it's nice to have the support of our friends here. I think it's a good idea to keep things more positive than negative though :)

agreed Roxy.

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It's just that a forum like this isn't a good place to get stuck in negativity, because too much of it just triggers more moaning from others

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YES

Online cycles of MISERY DEPENDENCE are an all-too real internets phenomena ... *faith in VF is restored*

Sorry I missed all the drama :( but I agree with the SENTIMENTS expressed in the original post .. I believe there's a balance to be struck, on ALL forums, between the freedom to post whatever people want, and when it starts to affect the forum as a whole (for the worse) ..

(I stumbledupon this because I was looking for away to youtube ...)

I agree, this place should be a happy sanctuary. However I think people's lives go up and down, and it can be a real help to chat to people about the up's and downs in life, so people should still feel able to have a rant or moan sometimes, it's heathy. Lately though there seems to have been a lot of negativity in threads, maybe it's the time of the year, is May a miserable month? lol.
But anyway Korn, you are a great moderator and thanks for this thread, think it puts things out in the open a little.

oh i read this just now..

this explains why my marilyn manson thread was removed i guess...
... well, i simply am a pessimistic person after all, there's no way i could change this.
and even though i always felt pretty out of place here, and decided to leave for good several times already. i kinda got drawn back to see how everyone is these days.
i think i'm gonna visit this forum only every once in a while as i did before, without posting and spreading my negativity too much :)

btw: i can't access and user groups anymore. i can see the threads, but once i click on them, i get this message:

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Dear alleen, for some reason, you don't have permission to access this page (yet). But don't worry! This could be due to one of several reasons:
Your account may be awaiting activation, which may take up to circa 48 hours.
In short periods, usually towards the end of a month, some sections are only fully available for paying subscribers.
Maybe you have not joined the so called 'User Group' that this subforum you tried to access belongs to yet? Hint: In order to join our User Groups, you need to go to User Control Panel, and look for Group Memberships.
If you told us in the registration process that you are not a vegan yet, you currently only have posting abilities in the Not A Vegan-section. NB: 'Not Currently A Vegan'-accounts are always moderated, meaning that there will a delay before posts sent from such accounts become visible. Please also note that since these accounts are for questions only, other functions (control panel access etc) are also restricted.
If you are not a member, you may have tried to read a thread that has been moved to the part of this forum that's only available to registered users.
Your account type may for some other reason not have sufficient privileges to access this page (a couple of functions are only available for admins). Please contacts us if you have any questions!
Still confused? If you think we can improve the content of this message, please send an email to webmaster (at) veganforum (dot) com. Thanks in advance!

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can someone please tell me why that is? have i been banned from there? :confused: :(

Dear Alleen,

your account is totally fine, your Marilyn Manson thread is in the animal cruelty section...

:)

Please have a look here:
http://www.veganforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19846

okay, thanks korn.