Frustrated Vent

Mocha, I couldn't agree with you more and I weed what is not useful myself and save what I can for future reference.

I think it may be wise for forum administration to initiate a screening practive used by the site administrators on the other forum I've just joined. Before a guest can officially become a member and have the right to post on the message board, they must go into a screening chat room and answer questions posed by one of the administrators. This is how they weed out people who are not serious, and other potential bashers, jokers, and flamers.

This site needs that very bad Ari. I have noticed in a thread I just read that a "Guest" is at it again telling people to pay their bills.

Thanks, Mocha-you bring up a very valid point.And Ari-I totally agree with you. I have read some posts by others giving advise and it was not only wrong, but way off base. In those instances, I try to answer the post with threads or research to back up what I am saying. I think some kind of screening would help weed out alot of that and others who are here just for points or whatever. I know everyone has a right to their own opinion, but if you are giving someone advise and it's wrong, that person can be in a bigger mess than they already are...Karen

I agree with you Bossy :D

we have a roundtable discussion about this a while back ,trying to bring order to this forum because it was getting out of hand and losing it's integrity. We should initiate a screening process and get this forum back on it's feet.

Amen to that Sister :D ...Karen

I agree as well with all of the prior posts. My personal peeve is when people get very judgemental IMHO when responding to other posts, ie, pay your bills, etc. Would it be that simple, right? In that case, we wouldn't need a place like this one. We can all learn from one another, but Bossy and Jedi, you are absolutely right: noone should give advise without checking to see that it is correct!

Thanks everyone for bringing up your worries at this stage. I will forward your concerns to Vikas and we will sit together and come up with something better.

The community is growing so the problems will also come up in different occasions. We will think something in the long terms and keep the integrity of this forum.

Thanks for pointing it out upfront.

Regards
Mike

why not just disable guest postings? Require people make an account first? And require people use email validation, that way all of these debt collectors that get on here and bash will leave footprints and it'll be easier to give them the boot.

This point was already thought before. There is always this option to force one and do the registration first. It can be done anytime. We realize that many people do some research for months and understand the quality of the website before using their services. If they are not given the choice to review the website first, they may not sign up. Unfortunately, few people remain hidden in the bulk and get the chance to use it in a bad way.

We will have to solve this problem but in a better way and thinking about the long terms. Your suggestions will be helpful.

Regards
Mike

Thanks Mike, for staying on top of things! I just get really worried when I have been reading some of the posts, and they are way off base with the info. I really get worried when things such as-quit paying them money, or, they can't arrest you,etc. are posted. I know they can't arrest you for not paying your bills, but there are judgements, garnishments and the whole laundry list that goes with that. The purpose of this site is to take responsibility for your own choices, make them right and try to live a debt free life,at least in my opinion. In the process, we become educated in debt practices, our rights as a consumer and ways to improve our lives, not get out of our responsibility. OK- OFF MY SOAPBOX NOW-sorry-I just hate to see this become a place where others call each others names,down others, and give advise thaat could be harmfull-I'm through for now :lol: ...KAren

You're absolutely right, Karen. When I came to the forum, I went solely by what people here told me to do and, thank God, it was people like you and Steelers1, Finsfan and Mishele as well as a few others who directed me and gave me the correct information with which I am now managing to get out of debt with. I only post what my experience has been and what worked for me in relation to things I found on the forums; but if I ever unintentionally give wrong information, I would only hope that you and others would PM me and let me know. This site has been a tremendous help to me, and I would want to help it stay that way.

As a guest, I have visited this site hundreds of times over the past year and a half. It has helped me tremendously. I hate to think that because I choose not to register, I would not be able to untilize the helpful information here. It seems no matter where you go on the web, there is always going to be opportunity for people to be "hidden" jerks who try to get the topic way off what it was originally supposed to be. I have also witnessed members being
very offensive in response to those hidden posters. The only suggestion I would have in those situations, and I do know its hard, is to just ignore them. Thanks for listening and I hope a workable solution is found. This site is to valuable to lose.

Wonderful post, Karen. This thread will come up with some more helpful suggestions and create awareness.

dbaker6, you are in safe hands because many people care for you as well as others. :)

You all are a part of the community and that makes you the best critic. Please come up some more helpful suggestions that is right and everyone can use.

Regards
Mike

[quote=sylvia]I hate to think that because I choose not to register, I would not be able to untilize the helpful information here[/quote]

Just because of the way you think, we never forced anyone to do a compulsory sign up. We value all, unfortunately some take advantage of it in the bad way.

Regards
Mike

dBaker- you have been a valuable part of this forum, and your suggestions right on target! Sylvia- thanks for the words- you and Mike are right. I,too, checked this site out for a while before I joined. Maybe it's my age, since I am older than most here, but those who post negatively usually don't generate any response from me. There are too many others here that need help to waste my time and effort on those who are here for other reasons-to bash,get posts,etc. I will PM Mike or Vikas if I think things are getting out of hand in a post,vulgar or offensive,or mean spirited. I think if we all need to take responsibility as memebers,too, and ignor what we can,they eventually get tired of their own stuff if no one rsponds..Karen

I agree with everything karen has said. I also think you are a valuable member dBaker and you do give good advice. I will admit I am guilty of responding to those who attack others whether it be a member or a guest who only cam here to get advice or direction. I do verify my info. before I post a response, I do NOT want anybody getting into deeper trouble because of something I posted. And I, like dBaker would hope that somebody would pm me if I am giving harmful advice.

I am glad I hopped over to the pub for some "relief".

I have been helped by several members here, the hall of famers - and also some n00bs just like myself.

I was also invited to stay and psot more about stuff, which I have tried to do. I am a moderator on anotehr board, nothing at all about debt but it has over 2,000 members; it's simple, law of averages. People are people and of course people want to circumvent the rules at every turn, for a myriad of reasons.

As much as it pains some folks, the only way to prevent the nonsensical, and flamers, is to make them register before they can post. Sure, you may thingk it somehow (and this is a total misconception, at the very least a cop out) infringes upon your civil rights, but with the freestyle of posting you allow to happen here, even though it is a help site, it is out of hand; I noticed it my first day here.

Please allow me to submit that there are thousands, literally thousands of web sites that are created to assist those in need. They all have a particular order of actions one has to go through to post.

Listen to this example, and please take it seriously. I am a cancer survivor, Brain Cancer survivor. I am a member of several bulletin boards, etc. and even I couldn't post unless I joined, meaning registered. they didn't ask me where I lived and my social for Pete's sake. Isn't this site about also empowering people to find strength to deal with their issues? Registering simply shows they are serious.

Anyway, I do not mean to start trouble, but I believe some of my words carry some weight.
Carry on :)

P.S. I have found this site to be tremendously helpful!

One more thought, how do we know when we are supposed to offer advice? Tasha's thread starter mentions unsolicited advice; the whole place is full of questions meant for whomever to respond to. I mean, I know all I can do for now is share what I have learned, but only if called upon - but you can bet that I will jump in and offer my moral support for people in need, because like all of you, I was panicking too at one point. I don't think it's a bad idea for a n00b like me even, to say "hey you can do this!"

Sometimes it does happen that some answers are not as helpful as others but I believe that most of us are working with the same mission and vision of offering help. May be that the quality of the answer depends on the experience and the expertise.

The points are just a small appreciation and if it can turn out to be a little help to someone then I feel happy about it.

In case if you feel that some of the members are violating some of the community norms, feel free to contact the moderators or admins. We will surely look into it as we want to keep the members motivated and house clean.

In my opinion the freedom (no rules policy) is the most desired status and as a community we will try to have as less barriers as possible for participation.

Thanks for your valuable feedback.

Vikas

I can honestly see both sides of the guest situation. I was a guest here before I joined but I didn't slam anyone. I think the majority of guests here are seeking help to their debt questions. We always have those few who want to slam us. I try not to respond to these people but I was recently guilty on a different thread. It gets old and tiresome when you see people coming here judging others. I think this is a very helpful community with debt and other issues. That is what the pub is all about here. I think that if we force people to register than we might be missing out on some great future forum members. It would be nice to stop the negative marks but I think you would have that on any open forum like this. My opinion only :-) We come here to share our own stories to help those who are going through something similar that we've been through. We are a community family as Karen says :-)

Quote:

Right on, my biggest pet peeve is the preachy self righteous collectors who come in here acting like they are all-knowing and wise and we're a bunch of fools. Obviously they do not read the name of this site and probably just feel like condescending someone. That I hate, I'm always saying the same things to them in rebuttal.