Close all the threads...

[Zeb_Carter]

Wow...now they close threads that don't blast anyone. There goes freedom of speech...right down the fucking drain.

 

[Sammael Bard]

Private Website, dude.

First Fucking Amendment is subject to revision in places like these.

 

[someoneyouknow]

Private Website, dude.

First Fucking Amendment is subject to revision in places like these.

The First Amendment applies to the government prohibiting speech. Private companies, or web sites, are free to restrict speech all they want, no revision needed.

 

[legerdemer]

The First Amendment applies to the government prohibiting speech. Private companies, or web sites, are free to restrict speech all they want, no revision needed.

That's how I understood Bard's comment: "Private Website, dude. First Fucking Amendment is subject to revision in places like these."

>That this is a private website and first amendment need not apply.

 

[lovecraft68]

Yet this would never be done in lit's haven for cyber bullying, the general board. Oh wait I forgot, its funny when they stalk flame harrass and drive people away.

I know who this is about and its not pilot which is most people's guess.

 

[SikFuk]

Wow...now they close threads that don't blast anyone. There goes freedom of speech...right down the fucking drain.

Where are all these closed threads? I don't see any on the front page. Is there a "closed" icon I should be looking for?

 

[sr71plt]

Where are all these closed threads? I don't see any on the front page. Is there a "closed" icon I should be looking for?

Two threads were closed (look at the envelope column to the left of the thread title). Both obviously were meant as personal attacks (although, as LC notes, one of them probably misfired), and so ho hum.

 

[SikFuk]

Two threads were closed (look at the envelope column to the left of the thread title). Both obviously were meant as personal attacks (although, as LC notes, one of them probably misfired), and so ho hum.

Aha! The tiny little lock in the middle of the envelope. I think I need to dust my screen - or put on higher powered glasses.

I hope this new policy doesn't shut down JBJ's masterful use of language. His comical insults are the work of a true genius.

 

[sr71plt]

I hope this new policy doesn't shut down JBJ's masterful use of language. His comical insults are the work of a true genius.

It helps to enjoy them when they aren't targeted at you and you can just stand on the sidelines, right?

 

[SikFuk]

It helps to enjoy them when they aren't targeted at you and you can just stand on the sidelines, right?

I separate the masterful use of language from the insult. Insults are demeaning to both parties. I don't enjoy that aspect of the exchange.

 

[Misshotndeep]

Actually I think it has a lot to do with the moderators. This part of the forum has one that works. Where as the GB has Mods that cheer on the bad behavior. Shrugs

 

[_Lynn_]

Actually I think it has a lot to do with the moderators. This part of the forum has one that works. Where as the GB has Mods that cheer on the bad behavior. Shrugs

The AH doesn't have a mod.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Actually I think it has a lot to do with the moderators. This part of the forum has one that works. Where as the GB has Mods that cheer on the bad behavior. Shrugs

The AH doesn't have moderators...at least it didn't until someone got their feelings hurt.

This place is getting as bad as New York City. Bunch of babies.

 

[sr71plt]

Actually I think it has a lot to do with the moderators. This part of the forum has one that works. Where as the GB has Mods that cheer on the bad behavior. Shrugs

Neither the AH nor the GB have moderators. Whatever stripping that is done on either board is done by Laurel directly. And she's been doing stripping and even banning on the GB of late.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I've been on boards since 1997 and banned from almost all of them. Troll is in the eye of the beholder. The first occasion was after I suggested Gore voters needed to apply VOTAGRA to their limp vote card punchers, to make them hard and penetrate better. Democrats/liberals have no sense of humor.

What the average Democrat/liberal means by FREE SPEECH is: YOU WILL SUFFER THE PSYCHOTIC AND ASSININE NONSENSE MY FRIENDS BLABBER ABOUT.

Every board that banned me since 1997 no longer exists. Without exception, when site owners start deleting and banning stuff, the end is near. Board contumely is entertainment most people love. Its the reason Trump kicks his opponents asses. Bush is as boring as cookies and milk. When Carly Fiorina launched her I AM WOMAN ad I mused, ITS THE END FOR HER CAMPAIGN. How long would WWE wrestling last if its players got on tv and threatened each other with hugs.

 

[oggbashan]

You can still read a closed thread. You can't reply to it.

It doesn't seem like a massive attack on the AH, just some mild tinkering.

 

[lovecraft68]

If this was site wide, I would be fine with this, things do get out of hand.

But by targeting this forum and leaving the GB, the boards equivalent the loving wives category, the free for all it always has been, its hardly fair. But the GB is the favorite child here which is sad when you see what goes on there as in abuse, sexism, racism, homophobia stalking an bullying, but that will be left as is....so lit is 'freedom of speech' by their own claim...unless ....

The famous 'its their site' statement makes everything okay to some, but it leads to things be run by whim and favor rather than any type of rules.

I have no doubt was caused by the issues in the contest thread with the 'group'. I am sure one or all complained they were being unjustly 'attacked'

They now have what they want, they can cheat and troll and bomb with impunity and no one can call them out on it.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

If this was site wide, I would be fine with this, things do get out of hand.

But by targeting this forum and leaving the GB, the boards equivalent the loving wives category, the free for all it always has been, its hardly fair. But the GB is the favorite child here which is sad when you see what goes on there as in abuse, sexism, racism, homophobia stalking an bullying, but that will be left as is....so lit is 'freedom of speech' by their own claim...unless ....

The famous 'its their site' statement makes everything okay to some, but it leads to things be run by whim and favor rather than any type of rules.

I have no doubt was caused by the issues in the contest thread with the 'group'. I am sure one or all complained they were being unjustly 'attacked'

They now have what they want, they can cheat and troll and bomb with impunity and no one can call them out on it.

No group hug for you, mister!

 

[lovecraft68]

No group hug for you, mister!

That's okay. You and I will always have our bromance.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

That's okay. You and I will always have our bromance.

I getting aboard the Soul Train. Starting today if you submit your story to my Group Hug Thread you get a guaranteed high five!

 

[HandsInTheDark]

I have no doubt was caused by the issues in the contest thread with the 'group'. I am sure one or all complained they were being unjustly 'attacked'

They now have what they want, they can cheat and troll and bomb with impunity and no one can call them out on it.

Ok, so, I'm ignorant. I vaguely get that there's vote rigging going on, but how can it possibly be to Lit's advantage to coddle and encourage it by defending people who do it? I don't see how this makes sense. Lit looks better if it appears to be fair. Voting blocks being exposed works to Lit's advantage. I don't see this as a believable claim, is there reason to know that I'm wrong?

I'll offer this insight. When I first landed in AH I asked one of the forbidden questions - why can't characters be 17, and given the age of Sexting isn't it time to reconsider. Shit got hostile fast and 2 or 3 folk started applying a term to me, the echo chamber effect kicked in and the term got repeated enough times that I decided I needed to ask Laurel to remove the thread (my thinking was that I was considering publishing for real and any publisher I approached would do some checking to see how I'd affect their brand - and see several people making a claim like that, and drop me.)

What came out of that was a brief exchange with Laurel, in which she warned me that the level hostility in AH had been climbing for some time and I'd have to watch my step. It was clearly a ongoing concern to her, but she clearly preferred to avoid doing anything about it, and despite the fact that I actually had a legal footing under US law (yes boys and girls, there are a very few cases where it really isn't legal to make unverifiable accusations), she wasn't overjoyed at deleting the thread in question. (Which speaks well of her; trying to maintain a light touch on conversations is the way to go for any site.)

Since then I've watched other people get slapped around, and did a post on it recently. I'm not talking about JBJ's "zinger" style - his insults amount to an artform, pretty much anyone can be a target and they mean as much as morning dew on grass. It's comic. But there are folk here who take everything personally, and others who make everything personal.

AH is an unusual forum. It's a collection of people who can directly affect Lit as an economic entity; if it gets out that the management is hostile to authors, authors will walk and not be quickly replaced. You can see why no one's been in a hurry to moderate or intervene here; it's one thing for authors to piss each other off; another for Lit itself to do it.

But from what I see, a handful of people just don't get when it's time to shove a sock in their mouths and walk away. Maybe it just got to the point where the Management decided Lit needed to defend their own reputation.

There's an easy fix. Shut your mouth when you get angry. Attack ideas freely, but never persons. There's a world of difference between "your idea sucks and here's why" and "you suck, you're a fat ignorant cow with daddy issues."

tl;dr: this is a problem with an easy fix that we can all apply. Y'all should know the definition of and hominem. Treat it as the sin that it is. Yeah, I know, it means less local color and wouldn't we all miss certain people, etc. But seriously, some folk need to get a grip.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Private Website, dude.

First Fucking Amendment is subject to revision in places like these.

The First Amendment applies to the government prohibiting speech. Private companies, or web sites, are free to restrict speech all they want, no revision needed.

Yeah, I know all that. It's just this site proclaims to be a supporter of free speech and then starts locking threads on an unmoderated forum. Oh hum.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Ok, so, I'm ignorant. I vaguely get that there's vote rigging going on, but how can it possibly be to Lit's advantage to coddle and encourage it by defending people who do it? I don't see how this makes sense. Lit looks better if it appears to be fair. Voting blocks being exposed works to Lit's advantage. I don't see this as a believable claim, is there reason to know that I'm wrong?

I'll offer this insight. When I first landed in AH I asked one of the forbidden questions - why can't characters be 17, and given the age of Sexting isn't it time to reconsider. Shit got hostile fast and 2 or 3 folk started applying a term to me, the echo chamber effect kicked in and the term got repeated enough times that I decided I needed to ask Laurel to remove the thread (my thinking was that I was considering publishing for real and any publisher I approached would do some checking to see how I'd affect their brand - and see several people making a claim like that, and drop me.)

What came out of that was a brief exchange with Laurel, in which she warned me that the level hostility in AH had been climbing for some time and I'd have to watch my step. It was clearly a ongoing concern to her, but she clearly preferred to avoid doing anything about it, and despite the fact that I actually had a legal footing under US law (yes boys and girls, there are a very few cases where it really isn't legal to make unverifiable accusations), she wasn't overjoyed at deleting the thread in question. (Which speaks well of her; trying to maintain a light touch on conversations is the way to go for any site.)

Since then I've watched other people get slapped around, and did a post on it recently. I'm not talking about JBJ's "zinger" style - his insults amount to an artform, pretty much anyone can be a target and they mean as much as morning dew on grass. It's comic. But there are folk here who take everything personally, and others who make everything personal.

AH is an unusual forum. It's a collection of people who can directly affect Lit as an economic entity; if it gets out that the management is hostile to authors, authors will walk and not be quickly replaced. You can see why no one's been in a hurry to moderate or intervene here; it's one thing for authors to piss each other off; another for Lit itself to do it.

But from what I see, a handful of people just don't get when it's time to shove a sock in their mouths and walk away. Maybe it just got to the point where the Management decided Lit needed to defend their own reputation.

There's an easy fix. Shut your mouth when you get angry. Attack ideas freely, but never persons. There's a world of difference between "your idea sucks and here's why" and "you suck, you're a fat ignorant cow with daddy issues."

tl;dr: this is a problem with an easy fix that we can all apply. Y'all should know the definition of and hominem. Treat it as the sin that it is. Yeah, I know, it means less local color and wouldn't we all miss certain people, etc. But seriously, some folk need to get a grip.

Don Rickles was my daddy.

 

[sr71plt]

For the record, trimming was going on for some time on the GB before two threads were closed here yesterday. And posters to the GB have been banned too. That's farther than anything done here yet.

JBJ brings up free speech again here. And, again, free speech isn't relevant to a privately owned Web site. Also brings up the demise of discussion sites that don't permit it. The bread and butter of this site is the story side, not the discussion board. Frankly, this Web site probably would flourish even better if it didn't include a discussion arm, where most of those causing the friction--like most on the GB--aren't even aware this is a story site and they are only here to yammer on the boards.

 

[sybarite_1]

For the record, trimming was going on for some time on the GB before two threads were closed here yesterday. And posters to the GB have been banned too. That's farther than anything done here yet.

JBJ brings up free speech again here. And, again, free speech isn't relevant to a privately owned Web site. Also brings up the demise of discussion sites that don't permit it. The bread and butter of this site is the story side, not the discussion board. Frankly, this Web site probably would flourish even better if it didn't include a discussion arm, where most of those causing the friction--like most on the GB--aren't even aware this is a story site and they are only here to yammer on the boards.

Oh? What threads were closed? Are they still available for reading?

Ha! This is my 650th post....