Sophia Thomas7 said:We've heard these exact same arguments before:
- back when we decided to shut down the suggestions and feedback section
- when the classifieds were closed, then reopened with that "minimum 100" rule
- when we locked the WhatsApp group at least three different times for the exact same issues, only to reopen it again
Mods aren't obligated to host a feedback section on every single PDF, nor are they required to run the US classifieds, just like not every PDF needs a WhatsApp group. If the mod team decides a chat isn't necessary, we can lock it—unless the site owner or the admin decides otherwise.
Trying to spin it as "the mods just don't want to moderate something that occasionally spits out 50 posts in a heartbeat" or "they don't want to deal with the bickering and people nitpicking the staff"—which is exactly what a chat is—is just plain silly. No matter how you slice it.
And honestly, look at Forum.hr; they have a dedicated section just for chatting. This idea that the WhatsApp group *must* exist on the US, or that the US would be a "wasteland" without it—implying the PDF is worthless because a tiny subset of users wouldn't find each other—is just ridiculous.
No, the chat wasn't ruined by one single person, but it's glaringly obvious that the chat crowd tends to stick together and cover for each other. In fact, more than half of the reports on the US come from that very same group of people who report one another—the same people you claim make the forum "not a wasteland."
On the flip side, look at the long-standing chat on LJES plus the new one in LJES18—reports? Zero.
Next time this starts up again, the chat is getting locked for good.
I get what everyone is saying, but honestly, just restricting things and deleting stuff isn't going to achieve anything. I guess my opinion is that all parties involved should try to make this forum a real place for discussion, but also just for joking around and hanging out. It’s easy enough to say, "we aren't responsible for this or that," but if you want to make this place actually livable, both sides need to step up. You guys are here to moderate and set boundaries—acting like judges, which I suppose isn't easy—but it’s still way too simple to just shrug and say, "it's not our job." Ultimately, decisions like this should fall to the admin or supermod, but if you have different agreements in place, fine, just coordinate among yourselves. Just explain the reasoning behind why something is being done instead of everything just getting locked down and having people told, "we aren't obligated to do that."
And honestly, the US would be a pretty rotten place without the chat. It gives the regulars a spot to hang out that isn't just about whatever current events are blowing up in America; there's so much more to talk about. I guess I can't even list all the people who met through that chat in different ways, and I doubt they could have connected anywhere else on this forum unless they were already talking in other chats. Most of the folks in the LJES-ov chat are the same ones posting everywhere else, though every chat has its share of random drop-ins. But you have to realize that LJES isn't quite like the US section. In the US area, it's mostly people who feel like they belong there, even if they're lonely. The vibe is just different, and the chat was at least some kind of oasis for the US section.
At the end of the day, you guys call all the shots anyway. Most of us "regular" forum users aren't really consulted on anything, but I still don't see how shutting things down actually achieves anything positive. Maybe it would be better to just clearly define the boundaries and rules, then punish the people who actually deserve it without making a scene. I guess we should at least be allowed to have our own opinions on these matters, instead of everything being handled with that "we're the mods, we have the final say" attitude. It shouldn't be about anyone having the last word. Sometimes, finding a real solution might require taking a harder, different path rather than just closing everything down and claiming the "problem is solved."
If you want another suggestion to actually consider, maybe take Air Canada off the list of mods for the USA, since that guy isn't even really active in the States. I guess you could give the role to ja-cu-poluditi instead—she’s much further out there and way more active in the USA anyway. At least I trust her to stay impartial, and she might actually have the nerves to handle the crowd running wild in the USA.
