State of the Board

[Eric the Red]

On a side note

 

I am closer to breaking into the "starting line up"

atta boy.....keep it up, you'll get there one day.

[Eric the Red]

 

1. So you're banning people based on Private Messages? I'd recommend changing the name of them. That whole 'private' thing could throw people.
2. It's extremely hard to take a post seriously when it's signed with your handle.

Sincerely,

 

Killer Cacti

 

 

 

P.S. Pretty disappointed with a lot of good posters being banned at once. I will probably be spending a lot less time on the boards.

 

 

1. It's actually called a "Personal Messenger"
2. But you signed your post with your handle.
3. I understand your frustrated, but I'm having a hard time getting past this: who is liable? Will anyone here pay the bills, take the time to go to court, and possible have your personal reputation dragged through the mud over a football message board?

[Army_Allen]

You talk about making this place a place where bullying isn't accepted yet your very own mod is cracking jokes at a 2 year old incident that I clearly told people that I didn't enjoy people mocking me for.

It's not that I was hurt by it per say but it's so annoying that the only time I'm really ever referred to on this board it's pertaining to that situation. I had been logged out and was speaking with Knapplc about deleting my account but decided to wait until now to read this and it solidified my decision to do so now.

[Eric the Red]

 

My question is the banning after the 3 were originally banned. It seems almost like a board cleansing of people who are negative.

The first three were after discussions with an admin via PM. The investigation within the PM system was what led to some of the later ones, or so's my understanding.

 

I respect what you and the other Mods/Admins do to make this place a special/fun place, but also think that making such a massive move like that can sink a board many of us love.

I know we all feel this way, but nobody wanted there to be a massive move. One of the bans was a member that had been involved in many issues over the course of a long period. During most of that, Eric himself had been adamant in arguing for him to stay.

 

The rest of them pretty much stunk, that they were ever necessary. Of these some were very visibly determined to leave, and others, well, if we're even anywhere close to dealing with threats, I'd say there's just not much choice left either.

 

I know we wont get actual answers, but just hope things can be worked out. I also hope that some people learn there lesson to stop taking shots at some members on this board.

 

Here is hoping things get back to normal.

Definitely.

 

Thank you Zoogs....100% correct.

[Eric the Red]

You talk about making this place a place where bullying isn't accepted yet your very own mod is cracking jokes at a 2 year old incident that I clearly told people that I didn't enjoy people mocking me for.

It's not that I was hurt by it per say but it's so annoying that the only time I'm really ever referred to on this board it's pertaining to that situation. I had been logged out and was speaking with Knapplc about deleting my account but decided to wait until now to read this and it solidified my decision to do so now.

 

Is there anything I can do to help? My door, errrr PM, is always open.

[killer cacti]

 

 

1. So you're banning people based on Private Messages? I'd recommend changing the name of them. That whole 'private' thing could throw people.
2. It's extremely hard to take a post seriously when it's signed with your handle.

Sincerely,

 

Killer Cacti

 

 

 

P.S. Pretty disappointed with a lot of good posters being banned at once. I will probably be spending a lot less time on the boards.

 

 

But you signed your post with your handle.

 

Meant to be ironic.

 

 

I understand your frustrated, but I'm having a hard time getting past this: who is liable? Will anyone here pay the bills, take the time to go to court, and possible have your personal reputation dragged through the mud over a football message board?

 

I don't f'ing know. I'm no lawyer, but if I legit felt threatened on a football board I would just leave and not come back. It's not that important to me.

[caveman99]

Had no inkling anyone was banned.........back to my beer I guess.

[Eric the Red]

 

 

I don't f'ing know. I'm no lawyer, but if I legit felt threatened on a football board I would just leave and not come back. It's not that important to me.

 

I'm not a lawyer either, but we consulted with them.

 

That's what most people would do....leave, I would. But some won't, that's hard to believe or explain to people who don't think like that. Some love the fact that this is their alter ego. This internet personality people create is how they would really like to act if society let them or how they saw someone act in a movie and they want to give it a ride without consequence.

 

Some people take things so personal that are said to them they can't control their emotions. Me, like yourself, really don't care. But I can't just worry about myself. I have to worry about all members, thus the action was taken.

 

Good feedback killer cacti

[Eric the Red]

Had no inkling anyone was banned.........back to my beer I guess.

 

Sounds good to me.....GO BIG RED!!!

[AR Husker Fan]

I don't f'ing know. I'm no lawyer, but if I legit felt threatened on a football board I would just leave and not come back. It's not that important to me.

Killer, remember that part of the "State of the Board" was general in nature, and not specific to the bans. When Eric speaks of who will be liable, that covers a lot of ground. There have been cases of cyberbullying - some involved people who committed suicide due to the practice. In those case, why did those people continue to read or react to the bullying? Who knows? Different strokes for different people. But it is real, we have to take it into consideration and recognize that each members reacts differently, and it is an issue of which we have to be cognizant and responsive due to the possibility of litigation.

[zoogs]

if I legit felt threatened on a football board I would just leave and not come back. It's not that important to me.

Definitely, there are a wide range of potential responses -- but that's not what is at stake, from a site owner perspective. They have to decide, do I let this activity continue on the site, or do put my foot down?

 

When it gets to something this serious, in my eyes, it's over. Warnings or first offense, and for different levels of bullying or threatening. It's extremely, extremely easy to not even touch this area.

[Ratt Mhule]

[husker B-rent]

I am a person that routinely questions authority because in my career I am the authority to a lot of people and I need to ask the questions before they do.

 

This situation on the board is not one that I would even consider questioning. We all know that some of these posters could be volatile and have short tempers. In fact, many of the same posters that are now questioning the motives, etc. of the admins/mods were calling for some of the banned members to be banned just two months ago. Some of you guys are just questioning authority to question it.

 

Admins/mods you guys do a good job and run the best board around. You also definitely appear to have handled this situation the correct way. No one needed this thread to confirm that, it's all part of questioning authority.

 

Thank you guys for keeping this free and open. My wife hates you for it but I am greatful.

[NUance]

<snip>

 

With that said, we cannot be everywhere, nor do we wish to be. We have only and will only review PM messages when we have grounds to suspect that the system is being misused, such as when another member makes an accusation of threats occurring within their PM conversation.

 

This particular incident occurred from a PM conversation between three members and an Administrator. It subsequently was broadened as a result of a member sending us quoted comments another member sent them via PM. To verify the authenticity of the claim, we had to verify with our own eyes to ensure there was no fabrication. We determined these were slanderous & offensive comments that had to be addressed. Again, regardless of the fact that Huskerboard is not legally responsible for what members post or say, we must protect ourselves from the threat of litigation. Further, we will not stand by and allow other members to be threatened or bullied and look the other way.

 

With that said, we have no interest in playing Big Brother and monitoring all PM conversations. We respect member privacy and will only take this step when verifiable proof is required to make a decision on an accusation or misconduct or abuse of the system, threats, or similar situations. I want most of my time consumed with talking Huskers.

 

To maximize members’ privacy, as we have always done, these actions will be recorded & securely logged by the owners of Huskerboard, but will not be shared with anyone for the sake of privacy unless legally compelled to do so, such as a subpoenaed in a court of law.

 

A formal privacy policy and update to the terms outlining these policies will be posted within the week.

 

Perhaps, going forward, you should consider changing the PM privacy policy to remove some of the perceived privacy rights. A person should have no expectation of privacy for a PM containing content that could get them banned. In a situation where a poster gets banned due to a PM, the Mod or Admin would then have the option of publishing a portion of the offensive PM itself in The Village of the "Banned" thread in the Shed (assuming the content itself wasn't illegal; e.g., child porn). Alternatively, the Mod or Admin could, at his discretion, choose to post a synopsis of the offensive post (e.g., something like: "the banned person sent a PM that included a threat of violence."). Such a policy change would serve two purposes. It would provide a feedback loop to other members, informing them about a behavior that could get them banned, thus reinforcing the rules. And it would prevent the controversy and discord that results from others being upset over a poster getting banned due to unknown reasons. Just a suggestion.

 

Finally, most of us are a bit sad to see the ten or so members leave the board over this debacle. I'm sure you are as well. Nonetheless, we certainly appreciate your efforts to make HB a great Husker message board.

[StPaulHusker]

I would go a step further with NUance's suggestion. If you want to look into someone's private messaging for legality sake, so be it. But you should at least let the person that you are looking into know tat you are doing it or have done it. Further, if you find something that is worthy of being banned, you should let them know that is why they are gone.

 

In my discussions with the people that were banned due to whatever reasons over the last week or so weren't given any information about this. And to my knowledge still haven't.

 

 

 

Other than that, thanks for creating Huskerboard. It's a great place for talking about the Big Red which is something I don't get to do a lot of living in Gopher country. Hopefully things will get back to normal and maybe with some time, old wounds will heal and things will be better because of this.