[Visioneer]

I've been holding this back for months, but I'm just going to come out and say it now.

I appreciate the warnings, since I've accidentally broken forum rules on this site several times, and actually said one thing I truly regret that has been dealt with. I'm just starting to get confused here, and frankly frustrated. There is so much censorship going on, threads just disappearing, etc.

As an example (I'm not outright disagreeing with the rules, I'm just trying to understand it), the fact that we are not allowed to talk about specific numbers in the ED forums, and not allowed to talk about religion in the Spirituality forums... like, "Welcome to the Support For Those With Leaves forum, but don't mention what kind of tree they came from or you might offend someone". I don't see anything constructive coming out of it anymore.

I'm just trying to figure out what the point is on this site lately, and I'm not the only one. Are we really this incapable of dealing with reality and other adults? I guess that's why a lot of us are here. Maybe I'm just disillusioned at this point, but what I see happening is people slamming each other over the head with political correctness and walking on eggshells. Was it always this way and I just didn't realize it? Or am I seriously as dysfunctional at communicating as this site makes me feel? I am sure that's a possibility.

Maybe this qualifies as a rant, and if so I'm sure it will be speedily dealt with by our vigilant mods, but feel free to rebut, or explain (ie. give Community Feedback), until then. Or ignore it.

[roads]

I'm basically a live & let live sort so generally protest like mad restrictive rules. However....

Religion and politics are subjects that a whole lot of people get passionate about. Two or three sentences beyond that, and stuff often begins to get personal ... and then feelings get hurt.

Most of us are here trying to deal with our mental health problems, and it's hard enough to keep opinions from getting in the way of discussions as it is. Eliminating these two "hot-button-issues" has been done in public forums long before Political Correctness or computers. It just saves a lot of hurt feelings and unresolved anger.

The only threads I've ever seen disappear are those that are moved to somewhere someone considers more appropriate or those whose creators have asked for it to be removed. And I guess if enough people find a forum no longer useful for whatever reason, it would vanish pretty much like old threads do when we quit posting to them. I don't go much to the spirituality forum here; for my tastes, there are better ones elsewhere on the Internet--so I take my business there.

[darkrunner]

I get what you're saying. At first glance it does come off like censorship, but if you consider it from a different perspective, it is a good way of ensuring a safe environment for everyone. Like Road Runner said, religion and politics are topics that can result in very heated conversations that are not about supporting others.

And re: EDs: posting numbers is not supportive in an ED support forum. Eating Disorders are not about weight or calories anyway; they are about underlying issues and the unhealthy ways that people use to cope with them. Knowing numbers can foster competitiveness and fuel people's EDs (ie. make them worse). There are plenty of places on the internet people can go to get that stuff, but it is really good that PC isn't one of them anymore.

Take care.

[Visioneer]

Yeah... I think what I'm figuring out is that I'm not a good fit for this site anymore, and maybe never was. I just wrote a fairly long post explaining myself and realized I'm wasting my energy, and yours.

You take care, too.

[roads]

I'm sorry you feel that way, Visioneer, but you did invite rebuttal. From my perspective, you gave me food for thought--& I didn't think my time was wasted when I responded.

I think so much of what PC does, it does well. But it's not Walmart. No promises of one-stop-shopping. I hope you'll consider staying for what does work for you. As for when you disagree ... Well, only 2 of us have responded here.

No policy issue will ever get everyone to agree. MIs we may have, but we're not Stepford people.

[sabby]

Hi Visioneer,

I do understand what you are saying and sometimes it can be confusing and look like we (the Community Support Team) may be trying to sensor the membership. I can assure you that the guidelines we have in place are there for specific reasons. Threads/posts may be removed for very specific reasons. Very rarely is anything done by a team member that isn't first discussed by the team before an action is taken. When an action is taken, it has been agreed upon that something was against the guidelines that DocJohn has instituted.

roadrunnerbeepbeep was spot on with their comments regarding politics/religion. Luckily, we have the ability to have social groups about religion or politics. As long as the discussion in these social groups remains on good terms, you can discuss them to your hearts content!

I'm just trying to figure out what the point is on this site lately, and I'm not the only one. Are we really this incapable of dealing with reality and other adults? I guess that's why a lot of us are here. Maybe I'm just disillusioned at this point, but what I see happening is people slamming each other over the head with political correctness and walking on eggshells. Was it always this way and I just didn't realize it? Or am I seriously as dysfunctional at communicating as this site makes me feel? I am sure that's a possibility.

I don't think anyone here is incapable of dealing with reality and other adults necessarily. I think that no matter where you go on the net or even face to face, there are just certain things that will always draw out strong feelings and beliefs. Because PC is a "support" site, how is it supportive to be told that your ideas regarding religion or politics are wrong?

Could it be that you are not dysfunctional at communicating but just more aware? Our guidelines have been in place for a long time. I vote that you are more aware now.

I'm sorry that you don't feel comfortable here at the moment. I hope you will give things some thought and stick around. Sometimes it's just a matter of getting more comfortable with the forums.

Take good care!

sabby

[Alcinus_of_chell]

There is so much censorship going on, threads just disappearing, etc.

If I might recommend an alternative example to underscore why we have these rules, 4Chan (FYI 4Chan should be assumed NSFW by default (please note that 4Chan is actually referenced on that page (under 'real life') ) ), which has no rules of that type.
I think 4Chan speaks for it's self.
Good day.

[pegasus]

Originally Posted by Visioneer

As an example... "Welcome to the Support For Those With Leaves forum, but don't mention what kind of tree they came from or you might offend someone".

Maybe this qualifies as a rant, and if so I'm sure it will be speedily dealt with by our vigilant mods, but feel free to rebut, or explain (ie. give Community Feedback), until then. Or ignore it.

Gosh the above quote did make me smile and thank you for that. I think it is about being civil and courteous, we can say what we like if it is done in a way that isn't rude or going to be unsupportive. A while back I felt a little like you do and realized that I was actually censoring myself and restricting myself too much. I thought, rules are rules (*bangs table*) and they must be stuck to no matter what! When actually much of the rules here at Psych Central are guidelines and not all are set in stone.

Hugs to you.

[DocJohn]

I think it's interesting when a person mentions the word "censorship" as though it were a bad thing.

We're not the government, so yeah, we definitely embrace and endorse the need for censorship here. For instance, if we didn't have censorship, spammers would be free to post all of their wonderful ads on every forum, every day, ad infinitum (I've actually seen communities die that allowed this sort of thing).

We have a set of pretty simple (and mostly straight-forward) guidelines here that help members understand what is and isn't appropriate. These have been developed informed by my 20 years of building communities online (and the direct experience of running this community for the past decade). Are they perfect? Absolutely not. Could there be room for improvement? Always (and we're always open to hearing feedback about them).

But they do a pretty good job with helping most members understand what kind of community we are here. We're not an "anything goes" kind of place (plenty of such communities online that you can pick for that sort of thing), and we're proud of that fact.

So while I would hate to see a member go for such reasons, I always understand and appreciate we simply cannot be all things to all people.

Best,
DocJohn