Is This a Direction Fauna Should Go?

In light of recent events and Rich's efforts made last year to elevate the standards of the site and insure quality dialog, I would like to know if this is a direction that Fauna should go.

RE two recent threads that many of us found troubling and in poor taste.

In Lonely Hearts: Couple Looking for FWB in MD/DE/PA/NJ
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80719

In Photography: Whatcha Like Shooting (besides your load)?
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=78082

I think it is better if interested parties read the threads for themselves and come to their own conclusions.
Is this the type of subject material that will serve the ideals of FaunaClassifieds?

There is real potential that this discussion will include strong opinions. Please, maintain a posture of decorum.

I'll go first.

Whether I am truely a prude or not is of little consequence.
I was and remain behind Rich's efforts to establish, insure and maintain high standards on this site. IMO subject matter and language as exhibited in the threads referenced above will undermine those efforts and the intent of this site.

I do believe that opening up the site to sexual topics and language is one way for increasing traffic and membership. It's risky though. And personally, I won't find much use for such increased content. I also believe that it will soil the stellar reputation of Fauna. I don't want to see this site become one more internet vehicle for the sexual exhibitionism of those with boundry issues.

It may happen that I am alone in my opinion and desires on this issue. If so it will be a great disappointment to me.

Is it, "just what this forum needs to give it that jump start"?
Please, add your thoughts.

I think both of those examples are vile. I'm no prude, either. At one time I actually put a dating profile on some dating site. I don't remember the exact site, as it was just a "whim" thing and I decided I really didn't feel comfortable meeting people like that. I've also looked at pics of nude women on occassion, so I'm not some bible thumping, righteous prude. I just don't think those two examples, belong on this site, especially when it can be viewed by anybody. I made my opinion on one of the actual threads, but it's apparently of no consequence.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but the direction of one or two forums, and in particular one or two lone threads, does not lead this entire site by the nose. To even suggest such a thing defies rationality. Actually no one here even has to go into that forum or read any particular thread unless they specifically choose to do so. So exercise your own free will to move on to somewhere else other then THAT thread,or THAT forum. Threads do not open themselves up and tackle you as a reader. YOU have to specifically click on it to open it up and read it. So if you see the title of some thread that looks like it may contain something offensive to you, please don't let it twist your arm or wrestle you to the ground in order to make you read it. Resist it, as impossible as that may seem to do.

But that being said, I did make a concession in that I have changed the permissions for that forum so that only registered members can even see the Lonely Hearts forum, much less read anything in it. I have the registration (and have for a long time) set to refuse to allow registration of anyone 13 years old or younger. But if "little Johnnie" lies in order to get registered and then can read that forum, then that's just the breaks. There is no way to verify that information. I have no intention of trying to rubber baby buggy bumpering this site to try to please everyone's opinion of every thing they can think to complain about. So as for those children within the tender years of 14 thru 17, well I don't know what your children are like at that age, but when I was that age, I doubt anything being talked about in any forum here would have gotten my hormones torqued up much. And I do believe that things are considerable different now then they were back in those days.

As for the threads and forums in question, I gave the moderators of those forums the authority and discretion to treat posts within them as they see fit.

Oh, and please note that the way this system is designed, if you report a post, that report ONLY goes to the moderator(s) of that forum. No where else and to no one else. This is known as "division of labor", and quite frankly, I prefer it that way. I don't want to have to micro manage every aspect of this site. So I delegate whatever I can.

Thanks Rich. I wanted to know where you stood.

coyote said:

I'll go first.

Whether I am truely a prude or not is of little consequence.
I was and remain behind Rich's efforts to establish, insure and maintain high standards on this site. IMO subject matter and language as exhibited in the threads referenced above will undermine those efforts and the intent of this site.

I do believe that opening up the site to sexual topics and language is one way for increasing traffic and membership. It's risky though. And personally, I won't find much use for such increased content. I also believe that it will soil the stellar reputation of Fauna. I don't want to see this site become one more internet vehicle for the sexual exhibitionism of those with boundry issues.

It may happen that I am alone in my opinion and desires on this issue. If so it will be a great disappointment to me.

Is it, "just what this forum needs to give it that jump start"?
Please, add your thoughts.

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The thread in "Lonely Hearts" is absolutely ridiculous.

The thread in Photography is okay but the title is not appropriate.

I don't really see the point in having a thread like "Lonely Hearts" on a reptile related website, it just begs for posts like the one made recently.

Scott Ashton said:

I don't really see the point in having a thread like "Lonely Hearts" on a reptile related website, it just begs for posts like the one made recently.

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Personally I don't see that forum "begging" for anything of the sort. The few times I checked in there, it appeared that the people participating within it were having a lot of fun there.

I strongly suspect that it would be quite possible to find someone who could find each and every aspect of this site something with which they could not see the point of having here. Everyone is different. Everyone has their own opinions. It is quite impossible to cater to all of them.

As for the Lonely Hearts Club Forum, there are 4,668 posts in that one forum alone. So obviously some people have found reason enough for it to be there.

coyote said:

Thanks Rich. I wanted to know where you stood.

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Now you do. I am not swayed by a vocal minority voice. I have long ago given up any idea whatsoever of pleasing everyone.

The downside to posts like the one referenced above in Lonely Hearts as well as the inappropriateness of the thread title in Photography is that they will quickly get your site filtered as "Adult Content".

WebSlave said:

Oh, and please note that the way this system is designed, if you report a post, that report ONLY goes to the moderator(s) of that forum. No where else and to no one else. This is known as "division of labor", and quite frankly, I prefer it that way. I don't want to have to micro manage every aspect of this site. So I delegate whatever I can.

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What if there is a post that a mod feels needs to be given points, as you said if wer report it it comes back to us so we have to PM you to decide, that seems to be a PITA for you to have to do.

I know that I have sent you some and have found that I am a lot more hard assed that you are but what if.... there is one and even if I am more hard assed and would give points when you would not. Will that be something a mod can do at some point.

I am really undecided about giving the forum mods the power to assess warning points. I get quite enough nasty grams myself from them, so something tells me that doing so would greatly increase the hate mail I would be getting trying to convince me to overrule the mod's decision. This could cause a lot of feathers to get ruffled, especially if the mod is much more "hard assed" then I am and I find myself disagreeing with the mod's opinion.

Assessing warning points is rather easy to do. Rolling them back is a real pain in the butt for me to have to do. And honestly, I just am not looking for more work to have to be doing......

Scott Ashton said:

The downside to posts like the one referenced above in Lonely Hearts as well as the inappropriateness of the thread title in Photography is that they will quickly get your site filtered as "Adult Content".

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Well is those keywords themselves will trigger a censor's filter, this site is lost anyway if people happen to be talking about their female dogs in the Dog Forum.

WebSlave said:

Well is those keywords themselves will trigger a censor's filter, this site is lost anyway if people happen to be talking about their female dogs in the Dog Forum.

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The filters we use are contextual so a single term wouldn't bias a score and thus generate a false positive.

But the phrase "shoot your load" would more than likely be an issue. Aside from the fact that any "personal ad" type posts would seal the deal.

No. You are not alone in your opinion, and I would wager a bet that most of the members here would feel the same way; I do. I don't think either are appropriate but I understand now that my personal feelings on a topic like this and some others do not matter anymore. And that's ok.

Yeah, right. I'm supposed to jump at everyone's suggestions and complaints upon demand..... A handfull of people say "YES" and another group says "NO" about every issue that has ever taken place here. No matter which way I jump, one group is going to get pissed and believe they were wronged.

That's just the way it goes. I know I can't please everyone, so no, it is not realistic, much less sane, for me to think that I must. If that attitude bothers you, and you take it as personally ignoring YOU, then I am sorry, but you have a misunderstanding about how things run here. I've been on this road far too many times to not know where it leads.

So when you all find that perfect website that can and does please everyone, PLEASE do me a favor and let me know where it is. I'd like to join up there myself.....

I have to say I agree with Rich, in that WE are the ones that click on a thread and opt to read its contents. I saw the FWB thread before there were any subsequent posts. I may have been a touch brainfried because it didn't click what it stood for, and I clicked on it...read enough to know I wasn't interested in reading more and closed it. Totally forgot about it, in fact, until some hours later when I received the first of several notices from members that I should check it out. I was not offended by it in the least (I don't offend easily, as a rule). I will admit that I was surprised to see such a thread, but since the language was not explicit I didn't think it was worthy of all the fuss...though once the next post was made, I knew it would rapidly degrade. (For the record, I feel it probably would have been best if the originator had simply closed the thread after posting it; thereby forcing any and all responses to go directly to him, whether it be hate mail or interested parties. It would not have stopped the controversy, but it would have significantly cut back on the frenzy that followed...well, until it showed up here, lol). Now that the forum is only visible to registered members, and there IS an age block, I think the administrative job there is done.

I have to agree with what someone else posted on the original thread......I find it confusing that a person can be fined and suspended for calling someone a thief or scumbag, even when it's a proven fact, but yet it's OK to advertise for sex. It just seems to be totally backwards from the direction I thought this site was supposed to be going. Not to mention that it "inspired" another member to say he was going to post something similar. I guess I thought cleaning up the site meant just that.

I guess that's what I get for thinking.

You took the words right out of my mouth Cat_72. I'm glad you beat me to it..it might have been considered "nastiness toward fauna" had I said it.

I guess this is where I am lost

WebSlave said:

Yeah, right. I'm supposed to jump at everyone's suggestions and complaints upon demand..... A handfull of people say "YES" and another group says "NO" about every issue that has ever taken place here. No matter which way I jump, one group is going to get pissed and believe they were wronged.

That's just the way it goes. I know I can't please everyone, so no, it is not realistic, much less sane, for me to think that I must. If that attitude bothers you, and you take it as personally ignoring YOU, then I am sorry, but you have a misunderstanding about how things run here. I've been on this road far too many times to not know where it leads.

So when you all find that perfect website that can and does please everyone, PLEASE do me a favor and let me know where it is. I'd like to join up there myself.....

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This is what you need mods for, sol you do not have to jump at every suggestion and complaint and deal with it so that you do not have to micro manage.

It does't really matter "which" group jumps on you as long as you stand on your decision and or that or your mods.

If I am too hard assed maybe I should be removed befoer it becomes a problem.

I really do not think that anyone expected you alone to please everyone all of the time, that would be foolish to t hink of at the least. BUT you did put mods in place that can do NOTHING more thanADD to the post counts and move/copy a thread to where it shoudl be.

As a Mod I am simply a no name member who can only reply to messages and try to spark attention to the forum, that being said, there are only so manty questions you can ask and not be flamed as I have on the cham forum and get a reply!

hhmoore said:

...... Totally forgot about it, in fact, until some hours later when I received the first of several notices from members that I should check it out.

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So obviously a few people here are trying hard to make that molehill into a mountain, eh? Man, you guys really crack me up. That thread would have fallen to the bottom of the pile if you hadn't kept bringing it to the surface and calling everyone's attention to it. Gasp! Hey! Look at that post! People shouldn't have to look at something like that so take a look at it yourself! But I suppose that irony is lost on those people.

So cut the flak, please. I have already stated that the Lonely Hearts Club forum is Lucille's and she makes the decisions there. You can either like it or not, but you do have to accept that fact concerning what may be allowed there. If you don't like it, then don't go there. It is quite a simple concept to grasp. If you believe the sky will be falling shortly because of it, well start digging that shelter for yourself and make your own preparations. Personally I doubt that will be the case at all.

WebSlave said:

Yeah, right. I'm supposed to jump at everyone's suggestions and complaints upon demand..... A handfull of people say "YES" and another group says "NO" about every issue that has ever taken place here. No matter which way I jump, one group is going to get pissed and believe they were wronged.

That's just the way it goes. I know I can't please everyone, so no, it is not realistic, much less sane, for me to think that I must. If that attitude bothers you, and you take it as personally ignoring YOU, then I am sorry, but you have a misunderstanding about how things run here. I've been on this road far too many times to not know where it leads.

So when you all find that perfect website that can and does please everyone, PLEASE do me a favor and let me know where it is. I'd like to join up there myself.....

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Ok, but what I don't understand is, why is there a Feedback forum if you don't want feedback?