The Wall

But some of us like talking to new/regular members.

 

I think he's saying to use the forum for that.
I think maybe just more PMing options for new/regular members or a longer ban should do the trick...

 

I'm thinking the Wall is just creating way more problems than it's worth.

Honestly, when I first came here, I didn't really use the wall at all (I still only use it a bit). I just went about my business in the forums and posted in topics until I applied for Full membership. I get that people want to keep lines of communication open, but if you want to support someone after seeing a thread asking for support, why don't you just post in the thread? The wall is no more private than that thread; you just can't banter on about nothingness in threads (though even that is up for debate).

Plus, when you get full membership status, what's the point in posting on someone's wall when you can just PM them?

I'd scrap the idea. It's just not worth all the grief the mods are having to deal with. And if shit goes down, then there just won't be an EC anymore.

 

Though with Walls...you can't be off topic. I like it. Its the only way to communicate with newer members and they might be more at ease talking on a wall than in their topics. I love my wall...cant imagine not having it. (!)

 

The thing is with PMs, we don't want to offer a PM system so that new members whom we don't even know anything about can privately contact another member. The walls have an added advantage over PMs in that they are public and can be monitored publicly.

Plus, the delete option for removing your own messages was removed because of too many "I'll just post my e-mail address for you, look at it quickly and then delete it so nobody else sees". Again, another example of deliberately flouting the rules.

I personally like the wall as well, and offers the newbies a chance to chat one on one to other members, but there is no denying that it is a nightmare to police, and is being abused repeatedly and deliberately.

 

I wonder if we could just completely remove the wall for those who break the rules. When i say this i mean like we could keep the wall and when someone breaks the rules they are banned for a week and when they return their wall has been deleted and deactivated so they cannot post on other peoples walls or have people post on theirs.

 

The options are either for people to stop misusing the wall, or for it to be deleted. Despite bright red warnings splashed everywhere, peple haven't stopped misusing the wall, so if things continue in this way the only option is to get rid of it. If you want to blame someone for this, don't blame the staff, blame the people who blatantly ignore the rules.

 

Is there a way for the wall to only be usable by full members? Like how chat is set up? Sure it sucks for new members, but this would cut out ALOT if not all the problems.

 

To have only full members use it makes it almost exactly like the PM system.

 

Well, i still wall post many other full members instead of doing a PM

I just think, if we HAVE to ditch the wall because of security issues with leaking things from new members to full members and vise versa, this is one way to salvage atleast some functionality of the wall without this problem happening.

...i just dont want to see the entire wall die Its a nice quick and easy way to send a shout out to someone

 

If it dies just wait 4 days so i can apply for full member status. I think its a good thing to have, but if its abused it regularly then perhaps stronger punishments should occur. Maybe longer bans for Regular Users, and downgrades for Full members for a couple of weeks.

 

I was thinking the exact same thing, Im on all day long, I do absolutely nothing after school and nothing on the weekend, I have no personal life what so ever so it wouldnt be hard for me or any other non social life having people to get through wall messages without much problem

 

If you have to get rid of the wall then by all means do it. It's not SO valuable that we can't do without it. Regular members will still be able to PM the people that they really need to talk to. Until they get their full membership, they'll have to wait to talk more socially. It's a shame you guys have to deal with people trying to get around or just blatantly ignoring the rules.
I recommend more permanent bans where appropriate as well.

 

*sigh* even though it's in red text on every god damn page people still intentionally try to circumvent the regulations? Are you really that anxious to try to establish personal communication that you go through ridiculous methods like "I'll post it then delete the message"?

I don't know if these people understand that the staff here do not have these rules to be sadistic, but it's literally the only way this web site can continue to exist. There has been major problems with inappropriate contact with younger members.

As it stands now new members are already kind of isolated. Why do anything that would put what remaining semi-private communication there is in jeopardy for everyone?

Ideally I'd like to think that maybe there's a way we can try to fix the problem without completely losing the wall. My first thought was maybe to have a flashing animation, but obviously that won't work.

Paul mentions there's over 200 wall posts a day. Is that for all users? If the problem is mainly caused by new users, maybe it's a smaller number that could be moderated while the rest go through unaffected? Any way filters could be set up to flag potentially problematic posts?

Maybe if the "report" button that would immediately make the post no longer viewable? If it would mean keeping from everyone losing it, I'd be willing to spend some time looking through / reporting posts.

Wall of shame somehow I don't think will work. I've seen those on other forums and it just gets depressing to see how many people can't follow the rules. And here that rule is spelled out so excruciatingly clear.

 

I dont think getting rid of the wall would be a good thing. It'd be very isolating for new members. And if its just a few people, maybe regulations should be tighter? Or punishment or something? I love the wall because its so easy to use and very quick. And I can look at their stats and other tabs without losing info on one easy page. Plus, new members cant really socialize one to one specific person in the forums. Who'd want to see the forums get flooded with threads like...

"To Enigma from Johnny"
"To Greg from KarenWalker"
"To Derek The Wolf from GraceAdler" ?

Just to say something trivial...I mean we would almost need a brand new section for socialites. Lol And Ilove leaving small comments on peoples pages. Yet, some members who have been here for ages still haven't gone to full member. What about them?

 

How about, seeing as how people read the messages anyway, and there are people who'd be willing to look at everyone's wall messages (myself being one of them) rather than see the wall go, we could make every wall comment need to be approved by someone. Like since the people are already reading them, couldn't they click "post" or something to allow it to go through?
I know this disadvantages the real time-ness of the wall, but in my opinion it's better than no wall at all.

 

Um... some of us actually joined EC when there was no wall and no chat room, and I didn't really make use of the PM functionality either. The forum is a perfectly good way to share ideas, stories, issues and suggestions - and the best part is that it is available to people who do not yet even have the courage to create an account. They can still read the forum and take away some hope and encouragement from what is written there as a 'lurker'.

The wall is not really essential for EC to be an effective support forum.

Having EC survice is essential for EC for EC to be an effective support forum. And ensuring that there isn't inappropriate contact between memebers that have not been somewhat 'vetted' is what we're trying to do here. It would appear that some people simply don't get that.

 

I'd rather nothing happens, but if you had to do something to the wall why don't you just make it only accessible to a user's friends?

 

What you don't seem to grasp is that all of those trivial wall posts are being reviewed and monitored by the moderator team. And that needs to continue to ensure there aren't predators using EC as a way to befriend and in some way abuse young people. This is operated as a 13+ site and the site operators can be held responsible if they were deemed negligent in its administration.

In this age of 'instant gratification' it might seem harsh for people to have to wait for access to the private messages, but that might be the way it has to be. 'Good things come to those who wait.' Does nobody buy into that any more?

 

But can't predators just as easily wait until they get PM rights and then lure them into a meeting? I mean...the predators can do it either way. I doubt the mods watch EVERY piece of info that goes across EC.