MSE has closed the Money Saving Arms.

ukcarper

Matt_L said:

ukcarper said:

Marisco said:

Well, the troublemakers finally got their way   I think it's shocking of MSE to close DT at this time when many people are stuck in the house, some on their own, and this was the one place they could feel connected. Surely it's not beyond the wit of MSE to root our AE's and kick them off the boards? I'm sure some tech savvy member would volunteer to do it if the forum team has no time (or inclination!)

Those of you who are moving to DS, (or other platforms) are you keeping the same name as you have here? I've been looking into it, but not sure whether to change names or not, I'm very attached to this one

I've register on DS but am waiting for approval which can take 48hrs I used same username.

I was considering DS but to be fair looking at a couple of comments on here and reading some threads over there it appears to be nothing more that a left wing echo chamber....

I'm not sure how much I'll use it they seem to have a good virus thread running. Although I don't know regulars here in the real sense I feel that to some extent I do and the long term posters are normally civil and friendly even if sometimes our views differ considerably. 

Skint_yet_Again

How many are leaving I wonder ? Duncan seems to have found a lovely new home on compers but I don’t see many others around ? 

JReacher1

It was always going to be closed. People can be incredibly petty on this forum and like to report any comment they don’t agree with in the hope that person can then be banned. There is only a small number of admins so it was always going to overwhelm them eventually. I think everyone needs to have a look at what they have reported over the years and think whether it was really necessary?

In the years I’ve been on here I’ve only ever reported one comment and that was because the poster was implying they may kill themself. I thought MSE had a responsibility to contact the person to make sure they were ok. 

Biscuit_Tin

Marisco said:

... Surely it's not beyond the wit of MSE to root our AE's and kick them off the boards? ..

I raised the issue of AEs 3 months ago on this very board.

In response @MSE_Tine replied:
"Can I please ask that you report any users you believe have alter ego's and are using them to create disturbance on the boards? 
If they aren't reported to us then we won't know..."

This was in response to my request to raise the number, or better still remove the limit entirely, of such users I could ignore. The old software had no limit to the number that a user could add to their ignore list, and I understand on good authority that the current software also has the option not limiting a user's ignore list quota.
No one has yet given any explanation as to why a limit has been imposed, and despite the limit having been raised a few times from the woefully inadequate 5 that was originally set, my request to increase or remove the current limit of 250 made 10 days ago has been ignored. If the limit is not removed, there will be endless requests to increase it whoist there is an endless ability to create AE accounts. (not to mention all those being resuscitated after over a decade of inactivity)

So I am now in the situation that no more users can be added (and I already have a sizeable 'waiting list' to join!), and MSE has apparently now disabled the online reporting system, or if I believe their spin, are taking an extraordinary long time to repair the "fault".

This makes the forum totally unusable for me at this time.
But the troublemakers are loving their new found freedom that now exists.

Well done MSE!

Marisco

Skint_yet_Again said:

How many are leaving I wonder ? Duncan seems to have found a lovely new home on compers but I don’t see many others around ? 

I'm leaving until they bring back DT, I'm not really interested in the other boards but do like a good "topical issue" discussion.

Grumpelstiltskin

Now the troublemakers have got their way and got the Arms closed what are they going to do with their spare time?

I can't see them wanting to stop making trouble somewhere, I'm sure that's how they get their kicks, so are they going to try and cause trouble on other boards on here or are thy going to migrate somewhere else?

SingleSue

Marisco said:

Well, the troublemakers finally got their way   I think it's shocking of MSE to close DT at this time when many people are stuck in the house, some on their own, and this was the one place they could feel connected. Surely it's not beyond the wit of MSE to root our AE's and kick them off the boards? I'm sure some tech savvy member would volunteer to do it if the forum team has no time (or inclination!)

Those of you who are moving to DS, (or other platforms) are you keeping the same name as you have here? I've been looking into it, but not sure whether to change names or not, I'm very attached to this one

I've been a member over there for many years, however I would be reluctant to post the sort of things that I do here as that name is known more and is connected to my main website. That user name has to remain squeaky clean, completely neutral.

My username here is my AE, the place where I can actually be more of myself and not the one that is easily traceable to my forums.

Sea_Shell

I wanted to ask a question on the UK days out board, only to find that shut too.

tghe-retford

WillimS2020 said:

tghe-retford said:

Cornucopia said:

Realistically, a small relatively balanced, relatively well-behaved forum with tens rather than thousands of members is unlikely to attract attention from anyone sinister.    There are some social media PAYG sites that can simplify set-up and funding.    There's the possibility of self-funding from the outset to avoid dependency on squeamish advertisers (and the costs are such that it would be a micro-payment sized contribution). 

Crowdfunding websites and payment processors (the ones who would allow self-funding) are just as much not keen on funding websites with free speech and comments sections in the same way Google aren't keen to fund the same websites with their ad platform. If I were to ask for funding on a well known membership platform for my proposed discussion forum, it would be taken down quickly because any negative press would smear them for allowing it to be funded via them. Same with payment processors. The free speech social media website I mentioned above has had real difficulties finding someone to fund them. They have someone but are reliant on people joining their subscription programme and it ain't cheap. It also helps that the founder has a lot of money behind them. Your average Joe has not got a hope.

It's no wonder why websites across the board have strict no politics, no religion, no current affairs and no news policies!

To be fair this site and many more forbid the Madeleine McCann discussion, it has worked well, so why can't they successfully implement the same rules with politics?

There's nothing to stop anyone. Considering the news that came out last night regarding the social media network I mentioned, they've now been told they can no longer be provided service by all of the payment processors, the last one - VISA - just pulled out, I expect a lot more websites after seeing this and what Google did to news websites I also mentioned earlier to pull comments sections and close discussion down of anything that could put them at risk of having someone post "hate speech" (protected by the first amendment in the USA), even if they take down posts because they can be archived and merely allowing posting puts you at risk - religion, politics and current affairs must be a dead cert to go. The aforementioned social media network can now only accept payment and pay companies for hosting, domain and other costs with cryptocurrency (which the payment processors could refuse) or cheque by post (good luck finding a bank that will accept payments that way for what its intended for). I expect even tighter enforcement of terms of service as well with collateral damage in terms of what gets moderated and removed as we've seen and will intensify in Germany with their NetzDG law.

This might be why Digital Spy might be allowing a left wing echo chamber to develop in their politics forum as noted by myself and at least one other person on here. Because if everyone agrees with one another, they can't be accused of brewing up or hosting conservative or centrist "hate speech". Its that or close down the subforum which would lose far more users and ultimately, revenue.

tghe-retford

redux said:

Too much of this discussion, on this and a couple of other threads, is working against persuading MSE to reconsider the decision at a suitable time in the future. 

It's more to do with the reality of running a website that allows people to speak freely and what has been happening recently in relation to "conspiracy theories" being allowed to run rampant and "hate speech" being expressed (both of course not defined) to anyone that allows such discussion as is the case with the Arms and DT. It's a risk and one that could see you on the wrong end of payment processors pulling their service, where Google can pull ad revenue from your website (not applicable here but has happened elsewhere in the last week), where your domain is pulled and your host gives you notice that they're pulling their service. Maybe MSE has seen all of this and decided it isn't worth putting the whole site at risk just to appease those with right wing or centrist views or those who may not agree with Government or World Health Organisation guidance on masks and social distancing and may wish to criticise them with the increased moderation that will need to shoot down anything like that on sight combined with the increased pressure of Covid-19 on staffing and moderation levels needed.