<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Brian:
As an individual who was ultimately responsible for the moderation of boards with similar issues to those faced here, I had exactly the same problem. Essentially, it comes down to some people needing to use a board like this as an extension of their own ego system. Since the Internet makes people anonymous, there is no accountability.
At the end of the process, there are only two alternatives that work. Make people accountable, by requiring that they use a paid ISP email account that is publicly accessible within their profile (and additionally have them pay a subscription fee), or close the board down completely. It isn't like the old days of the Internet, where these boards increased a company's value or threw off ad revenue adequate to even pay their costs.
My own bet, for what it's worth, is that the programming cost of converting to a paid (and accountable) subscription model will prove to be too expensive, and Webflyer will simply close the board. That's what I did, and I saved my company many thousands of dollars a month, and many headaches as well.
Sorry to be perceptually negative, but this is a business, and who would volunatarily deal with these headaches without compensation?
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It seems, sadly, that Brian is no longer posting, along with many others, all of whom I generally miss very much.
I thought perhaps, bringing this forward, as the new TalkBoard is presently being reconstructed, might help us all to focus on the ongoing single greatest threat to the health and vigor of the FT boards, IMHO -
OURSELVES!
Let's all be sure to make the greatest possible effort to insure that Brian's prediction that the board will close down does not come true!
It's my sincere and earnest hope that members will kindly follow the FT TOS please, and that the TalkBoard, and Randy & Co, will make far greater and more consistent efforts to kindly enforce them as well, please! Thanks!
Mark