RRF Coming under fire

[JakeK]

I don't usually like people seeing what I write. If this board went "members only", who knows, we might get more members!

[winston]

True Tony but many people do not bother with the security protocols available to them on facebook.

[1965]

Just a general comment. Please don't read anything else into it. If you are a facebook member you are most likely just as much at risk of your information being available to anyone who wants to find out about you as you are here and in some cases more so.

True, but I have almost no information about myself on facebook, and my privacy settings are tight there. I don't know about you guys, but guitars are a pretty personal thing to me. I post em up here because I want to share the love and knowledge, but I'd rather not have the whole world see them (and be able to download the photos for their fake ebay auctions). Having to sign up isn't a huge security measure, but it would certainly deter most casual troublemakers.

True Tony but many people do not bother with the security protocols available to them on facebook.

That says something about them though, not facebook. All facebook can do is provide security features, if they don't know better than to take advantage of them it's not facebook's fault.

[sowhat]

It is easy to talk nonsense and to deliberately offend when you are posting under a name that is not your own. Genuineness begins with being able to use you real name.

Good point, Peter, but may i disagree, if you don't mind? Methinks the one who is responsible for his words wouldn't be deliberately offending even under a nickname or as a guest (with no nickname or name at all) — because it's his principle: "If i wouldn't say something to somebody "face to face", i wouldn't say that something on the web either". And the ones who like to offend and "stir the pot" may do that even under their real names, since they're far anyway and, to some extent, are "nothing more than letters on the screen". And their favourite places are in fact those which do not require registration, where one can post whatever under hundreds or thousands fake names.
As for members-only forum — well, sorry, lemme be a dissenting voice yet again. Long story short, "if they've hidden their forum from us, then they have something to hide" (the word "snob" may surface again) and "it's closed, it's like saying to me i'm not welcome" (as i said before, personally i wouldn't even try to join a members only forum, partly because i have no idea what it is and why waste time; but nevermind, i don't think this forum — or any other, for that matter — would have lost anything if i wasn't a member. )

[admin]

All excellent points, Sheena. Thanks for taking the time to give us your view. May I please respectfully disagree with your last point though Sheena. You have brought sunshine, controversy and respect all at the same time. We are fortunate to have you.

[ajish4]

Due to a somewhat unrelated incident, I've already decided to stop posting, and I've asked Peter to remove my moderator status, but I'll break my new silence to say I may consider continuing to participate, at some point in the future, if the forum goes members only, as I think it's a good idea.

Jason,

This is extremely upsetting news.

You are a huge RIC fan and the most knowledgeable musician I know. You will be sorely missed.

I hope whatever the issue is, you can work through it.

Please stick around and contribute if you can.

[winston]

Again just a personal comment. Read it for what it is. Many people who have a facebook account list their real names and the location of their town or city. That is more than enough information to find a person if you are so inclined. As far as posting pics of instruments here that has always been a personal concern of mine, but let's not lose sight of the fact the our mere presence on this board suggests that we have one or more instruments in our possession.

I am all for added security but for me personally I will only activate a security measure if it actually works as it was intended to. Here in Canada there was a huge rush to add names to a government sponsored don't call list for example. This was a list that was designed to stop those irritating telemarketers from calling us.

The security of the list was easily breached and yet another tool fell into the hands of the very people it was designed to protect the general populace from.

There are many such examples of this type of security protocol doing more harm than good because of one reason or another. I am one of those people who choose a deliberate path and I am always aware of my environment. As a consequence, I tend to evaluate and consider any new proposal carefully.

In our case, I am not convinced that any changes need to be made purely for security reasons..............at least not yet. I say this because IMO we do not have enough information at this point for a careful examination and weighing of the pros and cons.

[deaconblues]

Although there are privacy concerns with the forum remaining public, I would rather people be able to find information from the RRF easily via a Google search than cut them off by requiring registration. Making the forum members-only will decrease participation and impede access to all this wonderful information.

[jaymi]

Although there are privacy concerns with the forum remaining public, I would rather people be able to find information from the RRF easily via a Google search than cut them off by requiring registration. Making the forum members-only will decrease participation and impede access to all this wonderful information.

Privacy concerns are widespread across the internet. It is up to the inidividual to utilize any and/or all security measures from each site. There are plenty of nice people here, I think that the biggest concern of mine is that it appears to be a "fan-boy clique" which only appreciates certain opinions and for whatever reason tries to be super friendly when the entire world is not like that. I do not believe that there is anything wrong with being that way if you so choose, but it is not the norm and for the sake of reality, the "not-so-sappy" opinions tend to cause a posse to form against that person. I have seen this on a couple of occasions and it is very disheartening. I have shared this previously with Peter in PM and it disappoints me as a 'member' to see that all opinions are not really welcomed. In the spirit of healthy debate, there are always 2 sides (or more) and it seems like in the past couple of months, the only opinions that have been heralded are the ones that appear very schmoozy and butt kissing to a certain individual or individuals that run a certain company.

There is enough of that in corporate circles for those who are trying to climb a ladder. Why does this have to be enabled here? I believe that every person's opinion is valuable whether I agree with it or not. It appears that there are some here who do not agree with this for one reason or another. I am probably going to stop posting for a while because this has been ongoing since I got here in 2004 and does not appear to be changing because it is the will of certain people, or at least their choice to let that continue.

There are numerous people not yet mentioned who have lots of great information that has been lost from this site because of the comments I stated above. It is unfortunate that many of these individuals have either left or been banned because of what they have seen or said here. I hope you all enjoy your little site and remember that each person has something to offer and many of them have been silenced by your choices.

[deaconblues]

I don't see why you quoted me Jaymi...I agree with you that the attitude here can at times be stifling to people with different opinions.

Especially troubling to me is when someone with a legitimate criticism is shut down and flamed for not conforming to the group consensus.

[admin]

Thanks Jaymi your opinion is welcomed, of course.

You are quite right, that there is no ladder to be climbed here, but common courtesy does remain the order of the day.

Sometimes the fact that we remain little allows us room to grow. I am sorry if we did not serve you well.

[wayang]

Well-l-l-l, I....

As for me, I found it very disheartening when the hair and eye color categories were removed from the member profiles, since I had a couple of good ones listed...

[cjj]

I don't see why you quoted me Jaymi...I agree with you that the attitude here can at times be stifling to people with different opinions.

I'm not so sure that it's people's different opinions, but rather, how those opinions are presented. From what I've seen, opinions, whatever they may be, if presented in a rational, controlled manner, are generally well received and respected. But when people start making personal attacks or basically just being jerks about it, that's when the "stifling" seems to occur.

[deaconblues]

I'm not so sure that it's people's different opinions, but rather, how those opinions are presented. From what I've seen, opinions, whatever they may be, if presented in a rational, controlled manner, are generally well received and respected. But when people start making personal attacks or basically just being jerks about it, that's when the "stifling" seems to occur.

I won't dispute that much of the time the dissenters are disrespectful. However, there have been times when the response has been disproportionate.

(Alot of 'dis...' words there...)

[leftybass]

I hope you all enjoy your little site and remember that each person has something to offer and many of them have been silenced by your choices.

Whose choices? It is never 'my choice' or the choice of any moderator or the admin that people respond in a disrespectful and sometimes condescending manner when the debate gets heated.....It is the choice of the one who is typing the post.

Noone who leaves on their own or gets banned wishes to be accountable for their actions....yet the ones who police the site and try to keep things civil get trashed....for all the wrong reasons.