Thread: Complaints & Solutions

AMERICANMADE
of course you have every right to express your thoughts & opinions. And you have some good ones, btw.

So that everyone knows as far as concernedvet goes, there were quite a few PMs back and forth between him and several Mods. He neglected to mention that fact which would have kept the discussion HONEST. The Mods tried to keep it private and he purposely made it public.

And also, as there are quite a few here that can privately attest to this, warnings & hand slaps are pretty much the norm. The way some people {not all, by any means} have rewarded us with our warnings was to escalate their rule breaking. IMHO, that sucks! Nothing like getting stabbed in the back by the very members we've tried to protect because we valued them.

There is certainly power in numbers but that power gets drastically diminished when some don't care about the whole and the larger mission at hand.

COTO
I'm in complete agreement with you. It would be a sad day to let those Anti-Americans win and I have worked too many years on this issue to ever back down.

JUSTME
A few weeks ago I personally saw one of my posts, chopped up, selected words taken and used on another site as a "racist." I was shocked as this was a completely new experience for me!

When I found out who had done it, that made it worse! An "innocent" alipac member who had been banned. I say "innocent" because that's what some of our members insinuated. Again, they had no idea of what had taken place behind the scenes to keep it private. Turned out, though, that this person was really an Illegal sympathiser who was able to pull the wool over many people's eyes.

my 2 cents

Originally Posted by Coto

Ummmm, to lock out the board could be construed as a victory for La Raza and other subversive bad guy organizations. The use of the exclamation point software enhancement should be tested; it might preclude bad guys from joining and abusing, by catching em quickly.

Just my 2 cents worth.
Coto

I agree with Coto here that locking out the board will be a victory for La Raza types who scan. I hope this forum will continue because it is vital and I've been here for more than one year.

Tempers flare at times because of the seriousness of this issue, and we do not all agree on other issues brought up from time-to-time, plus have numerous trolls visiting. I just wish that those who have gripes with the running of ALIPAC would contact W and/or Administrators and Moderators first before posting their complaints in the forums. The rest of us don't need to hear this and it is a morale buster.

Likewise, if a member who isn't an obvious troll (and some of them are very obvious), I'd rather not read about their rule infractions. Can't it be settled behind closed doors first and then, if necessary, mentioned in the forums if that is necessary because they have been banned?

This is a serious issue, and one I have observed elsewhere.

I agree with all of the steps you have taken thus far. I also concur with “no more salvage jobs”. But there is still the issue of the amount of time it takes to moderate this forum. This is totally unreasonable; you and the other moderators are providing a valuable resource and should not be personally penalized for doing so.

I see by your latest statistics that you have approximately 3,100 registered users. I don’t know what the percentage of miscreants is, and this goes against my decidedly libertarian nature, but I think that you’re the option f allowing users to report infractions of policies to be a sound one. I think the majority of the people on this forum, if presented with this issue, would prove to be good stewards. I know I would.

As far as the issue with concernedvet, I don’t know what went on ‘behind the scenes’, but as moderators of this forum you have the right to question when someone is not adhering to the guidelines. In this instance, I feel that someone should be at least temporarily banned from posting until the issue is resolved either way. That would prevent indiscriminate posts from the perceived offender until all of the facts are known by the moderators. But you could still get ‘tricked’ by someone feigning ignorance or humility. I still think that by using the power of the majority on this forum, these individuals could be minimized. We are all in this together.

As far as suggestions go, I think that if there was more of a focus on the specific actions through letter-writing to legislators, etc., that some of your offenders might by dissuaded by the fact that they actually had to think, and do something significant. The news articles posted by users (and I’m one of them) are interesting, but after a while it becomes more yadda-yadda. Everyone knows the horror stories. They stir more ire and gut-instinct reaction than they do decisive, constructive action. I know you have your legislative section as a Discussion Group, but I think it needs more play. We need to be serious, and not whine so much.

That’s my two cents. I appreciate this forum and the information it provides. If there is anything I can do, please feel free to contact me. Don’t let my name fool you.

GirlGeek

Originally Posted by GirlGeek

This is a serious issue, and one I have observed elsewhere.

I agree with all of the steps you have taken thus far. I also concur with “no more salvage jobs”. But there is still the issue of the amount of time it takes to moderate this forum. This is totally unreasonable; you and the other moderators are providing a valuable resource and should not be personally penalized for doing so.

I see by your latest statistics that you have approximately 3,100 registered users. I don’t know what the percentage of miscreants is, and this goes against my decidedly libertarian nature, but I think that you’re the option f allowing users to report infractions of policies to be a sound one. I think the majority of the people on this forum, if presented with this issue, would prove to be good stewards. I know I would.

As far as the issue with concernedvet, I don’t know what went on ‘behind the scenes’, but as moderators of this forum you have the right to question when someone is not adhering to the guidelines. In this instance, I feel that someone should be at least temporarily banned from posting until the issue is resolved either way. That would prevent indiscriminate posts from the perceived offender until all of the facts are known by the moderators. But you could still get ‘tricked’ by someone feigning ignorance or humility. I still think that by using the power of the majority on this forum, these individuals could be minimized. We are all in this together.

As far as suggestions go, I think that if there was more of a focus on the specific actions through letter-writing to legislators, etc., that some of your offenders might by dissuaded by the fact that they actually had to think, and do something significant. The news articles posted by users (and I’m one of them) are interesting, but after a while it becomes more yadda-yadda. Everyone knows the horror stories. They stir more ire and gut-instinct reaction than they do decisive, constructive action. I know you have your legislative section as a Discussion Group, but I think it needs more play. We need to be serious, and not whine so much.

That’s my two cents. I appreciate this forum and the information it provides. If there is anything I can do, please feel free to contact me. Don’t let my name fool you.

GirlGeek

You rock, GirlGeek,

And I'll add that I've been involved as a volunteer in non-profits in the past with diverse interests and know others who have too. There are alway problems - it's a shame - same thing with paying jobs too although people cannot always quit these with as much ease.

I appreciate this forum too and all the information and would hate to see it disbanded or locked.

That to me would be giving in to the OBL enemies. AND, I bet they also have squabbles amongst themselves too.

William.....you have a wonderful board here. I truly feel those on here are very warm, friendly and understanding for the most part. I know I have said a few things that I shouldn't have, as most people do in the heat of the moment, but I think your moderators do a fantastic job in keeping everyone straight on here. Me included
I know I for one have learned alot since I joined. I had a hard time understanding where to post what but I think I've learned
If I've stepped on any toes, please forgive me as I did not intend for that to happen.
We all need to understand though that with immigration comes other topics that are related, maybe not directly, but they are related. The actions of one movement leads to the actions of another movement. For instance, if it weren't for the New World Order there wouldn't be a Bilderberg group. No Bilderberg Group, no World Bank, No World Bank, no NAFTA. No NAFTA, no SPP. No SPP, no Immigration issues. So, our government has made this a never ending thing and there is an awful lot that can be said on these issues. I have quite a few issues going on in my life and have had for some time. Issues that are very demanding and frustrating to me. This board is a great deterrent to me to keep me from dwelling on those issues so much. Some things in life you cannot change no matter what you do, but when you have something to occupy your mind and your time and you can do some good for someone out there, then it's times like these we all need to pull together.
There are several things I've seen that I did not understand, but I know there are two sides to every story, so I pretty much accept what you say. After all, this is your board, William and I think all in all you do a wonderful job with all you have going on.
So, if I need my hand slapped from time to time, go ahead. It does take alot to offend me or to make me mad. I've learned over the years you can learn more by listening at times, and there are always those who sees things others don't. That is where this board is wonderful. Let's just keep our cool, listen and learn. Ask questions. If you don't like the answers given, ask another question. No reason for anybody to get upset over something anyone has said. If you do take offense, there is always the off button on your computer you can push till the anger goes away. Like I used to tell my kids, if someone says something or does something we don't agree with, just take a deep breath and count to 10. Works wonders.
Once again, thanks William for the wonderful job you do here on this board.

My observations:

Keeping all offensive or potentially offensive content off the site is a virtually impossible task. That means that what you should be aiming for is control of the tone, not absolute control of content. I would post a LARGE NOTICE stating plainly that this is a pubic forum and that the views expressed here are not necessarily the views of the site operators.

Next, I would be aware that many inflammatory posts will come from intentional agitators. I have seen this time and time again on political chat sites. One high-profile site was shut down because of an uncontrollable flurry of posts from a single individual who had the ability to spoof numerous IP addresses and appear to be a collection of about a dozen separate personalities, each egging on the others. Control of such individuals is essential, so you may want to look into an add-on for your software that logs IP addresses and email addresses and looks for common traits or inconsistent information. For example, I have frequently seen such posters claim to be posting from one place while the IP address is located somewhere else entirely.

I would also convene a moderator panel to review individual cases. It may be necessary from time to time to temporarily suspend an account in order to prevent inflammatory posts in the immediate short term. Members in otherwise good standing against whom such action must be taken should be given an explanation of the action by email and a chance to explain their comments or to promise to rein in their rhetoric and return on a probationary basis. Egregious examples may require a vote of the panel as to whether permanent suspension may be required.

Be careful. It is my experience that once a member rebellion is on and heads must roll, numerous members who take sides may be lost and it may take a bit of time to again stabilize the discussion board. It is far better to deal as forthrightly and lighthandedly as possible. Unfortunately, it seems human nature that adults posting on a site such as this one take disciplinary actions quite poorly in many cases and feel a need to defend their points of view in the public forum. That's when "time outs" may be required so that members may cool down before they author something they will later regret.

Requiring moderator approval for new member is probably not a bad idea, although it is generally impossible to to discover anything meaningful about a potential member prior to allowing him admission. The one thing that it could potentially prevent, however, is activists from specific known organizations and trying to snoop from those organizations' own IP addresses. Requiring registration prior to viewing discussions accomplishes a couple of other things. It makes lurkers obvious, as they do not post, but can be seen making regular visits. Most serial lurkers are not normal folks who are simply too shy to post, but rather are operatives of other sites looking for dirt. Collating the browsing habits of these registered but non-posting lurkers and their email and IP addresses may provide more information than you suspect.

The downside of the registration requirement is that it may ward off casual visitors who don't want to have to register in order to read the boards prior to posting. Since the purpose of this site is to disseminate its information to as many people as possible, this would probably be a heavy negative.

I am a bit new here, but before I came here, I searched around for other boards/sites with information on immigration and this one has more information and people discussing the issue at hand then any other site I've come across.

I really don't have much time to post and such, I like to read new articles and some of the discussions.. Especially the stories and such of others..

Here are just a couple suggestions:

I would scale down the number of topics shown when you first enter the forum.. think this would make things a bit easier for people to navigate through.

I'd employ some kind of IP block system.. I've seen it in action on other forums and seems effective, though, there are ways around it.

Just hope the bad guys dont succeed in trying to shut this site down.

I would also convene a moderator panel to review individual cases. It may be necessary from time to time to temporarily suspend an account in order to prevent inflammatory posts in the immediate short term. Members in otherwise good standing against whom such action must be taken should be given an explanation of the action by email and a chance to explain their comments or to promise to rein in their rhetoric and return on a probationary basis. Egregious examples may require a vote of the panel as to whether permanent suspension may be required

I think this is a great idea, Crockett. Also, if someone is "on probation" they can have more attentive monitoring, again by the panel.

Great suggestions folks.

Now we do have a moderator panel already in place. The Green and Orange users listed at the whos online section of the main index meet privately daily to discuss moderation matters.

Sometimes we vote on things that are not clear cut on what to do. There are about 10 mods and admins.

We also have IP tracking and IP block, but we hate to use that much since IP addresses change.

We want to be as open and available to everyone as we can be.

Unlike other boards we 1. Always send a PM about a moderation to explain and 2. Try to work with people so they understand the reason for the moderation. Many of us have fought hard battles on other boards and want ALIPAC to treat others as we have wanted to be treated.

We are the largest archive if information on the web about America's illegal immigration crisis and I think we are the largest web forum dedicated to this issue on the web. We are just a bit bigger and more active than our friends and allies at SaveOurstate.org but saveourstate is a street protest oriented site whereas our focus is on the campaigns and elections.

W

Originally Posted by ALIPAC

. . . require all new users to require moderator approval to join the posting community here.
W

That sounds like a good idea.

Also, is increasing the number of Moderators an option, so the workload is distributed among more individuals?

Is there a way ALIPAC can distance itself from what people post on the boards, so outsiders don't assume those are the opinions of ALIPAC?

Completely closing it off would be a shame and I think, as a previous poster said, a victory for our adversaries. The ALIPAC website and these boards are a phenomenal educational resource for those of us who want the truth about what's going on (Lord knows we don't get it in the MSM) and I think it would be a great loss to our cause to have the boards eliminated. I, for one, as have many others I'm sure, learned a lot about the illegal immigration problem and it's causes here, not just from the website, but from informed individuals who have posted here and posted links to further reading. I would really hate to see the boards closed.