We're Bleeding and I Think it's Menstrual

[_GoodK]

Well they can speak up then can't they.

Off the top of my head, nine posters listed continue to post here. Maybe more, I haven't been following the board very closely lately.
The rest of the list is comprised of people who had stopped posting here long ago (no one knows what happened to charity, unless that was just a sock puppet too) or sock puppets. Even beastie and Jersey Girl continue to post here, and we can all assume that they were the two nameless hostages harmony took first.

[_Jason Bourne]

Guy Sager

Gone

Froggie

Gone

Addictio

Not sure

Tal Bachman

Gone

Kevin Graham

Mostly Gone

Runtu

Was gone but is back


huckleberry

Gone

maklelan

Was gone but is back


Analytics

Gone


A Light in the Darkness

I think gone

DonBradley

Gone

Barrelomonkeys

Don't know.

Loquacious Lurker

Don't know

Nephi

Don't know


charity

Gone

Beastie is gone. She posted briefly on one thread after she left but is gone now again. Truth Dancer is gone. Jersey was gone but is back on Book of Mormon study issues.

[_Scottie]

Perhaps some posters have seen that we are attempting to make the board better and are willing to give it a second chance?

[_Ray A]

Here is what Ben McGuire posted in February last year (2008):

I paricipate here very, very rarely (35 posts would hardly be considered anything at all).

I have, however, participated in the LDS community on the internet for years and years. I was at ZLMB for the longest time. I was involved heavily in the AOL community (which transitioned to FAIR). I participated on the FAIR boards. I still poke my head into MADB once in a while and write a few things.

This forum usually turns me off. It doesn't take more than 15 or 20 minutes of reading for me to decide that I am not really interested in most of the dialogue here. It's not that it isn't moderated (as I recall, ZLMB was fairly heavily moderated), its more the fact that this forum has a consistently negative view towards the LDS church. Wouldn't you all agree? Just a glance through the list of thread starters (and being aware of the individuals and their views on the LDS church) makes me think that I am not going to see much that is of interest to me.

Of course, any more, I skip reading most of the MADB content as well. Rabid pro-Mormons interest me just about as much as the antis. And just about as many of them find reasons to disagree with me as well. When ZLMB died, it died in part because of an influx of non-believers in general. There was a recent thread here on the Apologists and Church Art where Boaz and Lida made this comment:

"Like I said, anytime a critic brings up an issue with early Mormon history, they get out the Bible billy club and attempt to beat the critic into submission. This only works on those who believe the Bible to be divine."

Let's forget for just a moment that most of your garden variety Mormons are going to find Boaz and Lidia's avatar to be patently offensive. Should I really find a need to engage this person in discussion? And of course, from that perspective, is a person reading from a stone in a hat any more strange than claims of a man being resurrected (to the non-believer of course). So do comments like these really create an enviornment where you are going to get your reasonable run-of-the-mill believers to come join in the party?

When ZLMB disintegrated, and most of the believing LDS went elsewhere, this crowd followed them. They wanted the audience. It kind of felt like they relished being abrasive. So what kind of response were they expecting? And the same holds true for people here. I don't think it is enough to talk about being polite, I think that for a community really to be inclusive (and I don't really think that this community is all that inclusive) there has to be an effort by all parties involved to buy into the community and to create a community - and you don't get this when most of the material in your forum is devisive. And clearly, having disagreements doesn't have to make things devisive. After all, I have had long running conversations (spanning years) with many of the participants here. Without rancor (and only the occaisional frustration).

Personally, I think that if you want to foster community, then you work at weeding out those who seem intent on creating division, and aggravating others whom you would like to participate. Because if you don't, you have let them define the community for you. If, on the other hand, this is the kind of community you want, then by all means, it works well. But, you will see people leave who otherwise would be valuable participants in the discussions here (and certainly this happens all over - including at MADB presently, but certainly at ZLMB and some of the other forums I have been a participant at). It seems to me that in the absence of wholesale moderation, many have turned to blogs and the like to find a venue where they can productively air their opinions without the rancor that often these forums generate. This environment normally feels quite hostile to me (and I am one who usually gets decent reveiws here ....).

Ben

[Guest]

My thoughts on a few on that list:

Addictio: 11 posts total. Talk about contribution. Must have been earth shattering.

Nephi: Not posting anywhere it would appear. Oh I remember, got pissy because not enough women would say if they liked to take it in the poo hole. Remember that?

Froggie: Posting mostly at the foyer

Tal Bachman: Not posting on any boards lately, only posted here briefly while he got owned royally by Tarski on a thread

Kevin Graham: He'll be back

Runtu: He'll be back, on Foyer

maklelan: Back

Analytics: Posted recently, posted alot before the election

A Light in the Darkness: Had one major spell of posting, did liek 100-150 posts out of his/her 300ish in one day.

DonBradley: APparently has disappeared, possibly to be the love slave to some alien princess

Loquacious Lurker: only posted briefly as I recall

charity: Apparently has disappeared off the face of the earth, not appearing on any boards


But it appears people go in cycles. Let them. Anyone who is invested enough in the board to be worried when people don't post should probably do as those posters probably have done, and diversify the activities in their lives. I myself have taken that advice by the way...

[_GoodK]

I think it's rather late in the game for you to bring this up, GoodK. You yourself were a participant on the thread you linked to in the OP.

I've mentioned it before, and I didn't think it was too out-dated a topic to discuss. It certainly is relevant, since she was trying to fool the whole board with her bogus list.

If you think harmony "bamboozled" the board into making her a moderator, that doesn't explain cksalmon and marg as new moderators.

cksalmon and marg were chosen after harmony's overly dramatic post, if I'm not mistaken.

In fact, I believe the moderator experiment was a direct result of harmony's thread - which was based on false pretenses.

Being a moderator is a totally thankless job.

My problem is with the way harmony went about engineering her take over, the list was nothing less than dishonest. I know she likes to claim ignorance, but clearly she was pulling one over on us.

[_harmony]

I think it's rather late in the game for you to bring this up, GoodK. You yourself were a participant on the thread you linked to in the OP.

I've mentioned it before, and I didn't think it was too out-dated a topic to discuss. It certainly is relevant, since she was trying to fool the whole board with her bogus list.

If you think harmony "bamboozled" the board into making her a moderator, that doesn't explain cksalmon and marg as new moderators.

cksalmon and marg were chosen after harmony's overly dramatic post, if I'm not mistaken.

In fact, I believe the moderator experiment was a direct result of harmony's thread - which was based on false pretenses.

Being a moderator is a totally thankless job.

My problem is with the way harmony went about engineering her take over, the list was nothing less than dishonest. I know she likes to claim ignorance, but clearly she was pulling one over on us.

With this kind of imagination, you should start your own church, GoodK. You give me 'way too much credit.

1. My original post was a response from three separate PMs regarding people I cared about, 2 of which I know in real life, who were leaving the board because of the rampant and irresponsible behavior of a handful of jerks who had co-opted the purpose of the board for their own use. Unless you're saying their voices were false, you are basing your argument on a shaky foundation.

2. My list was generated by going to the list of members available to anyone, and listing those who I hadn't seen in quite a while. Sorry, no forethought on my part, no planning a hostile or benign takeover... just me looking at list of people I wished would come back and post again, some of them I know in real life, some of them I just wish I did.

3. Shades essentially told me to put up or shut up, about the moderator thing. It seemed only fair that if I was going to gripe about the lack of moderate moderation that I shoulder some of the burden that would be coming down as people learned to school themselves and behave civilly. He offered the job to anyone who wanted it. I noticed your silence. So perhaps you weren't quite as proactive as I was... or maybe you just like to gripe without having to actually pick up any of the pieces.

4. Several posters who had not posted with us in quite a while have returned and expressed their opinion of the current board atmosphere. However, you are certainly entitled to your opinion and can express that most vehemently, at the end of the experiment.

One man, one vote. If it doesn't suit the board to be as civil as it's been for the last few weeks, you will be able to be as uncivil as you like. If not, you won't. Pretty simple really.

[_Mercury]

LOL!!!!!!!!

[_Mercury]

GoodK,

What is your main complaint here? Can/will you sum it up in one sentence?

That we were bamboozled into making harmony a moderator.

Don't feed the trolls dude.

[_antishock8]

I've already been threatened with a ban by one of the mods for "creating too much work". Obviously, the people who are moderating this board now are attempting to make it a little more Mormon-friendly.