Opening the WhatsApp chat?

Jerry Parker72 said:This reminds me of those "visionary" entrepreneurs who always find a way to blame their employees when the company goes under. It’s a classic move—it’s never the CEO’s fault, it’s always the staff. 😁
And if anyone actually points out the glaring issues? They're just labeled as troublemakers or accused of being negative. 😬

The fix is pretty straightforward, honestly. Just remove those two or three moderators who haven't contributed anything to the subforum in ages and bring in people who actually give a damn about this place. Once you have active participants in charge, you'll see the difference immediately. Plus, problematic users would be flagged much faster and removed before they cause real damage.

Give me a break.

"Claiming the Slack in the US sub-forum is unnecessary shows a total lack of thought and empathy on your part. Or maybe it's just pure laziness because you don't want to moderate it. I'm not sure. You decide."

I never said it was unnecessary. And here we go—now it's the Reddit users' fault because they're trying to bury the chat just because, heaven forbid, we have two separate chats instead of one. 🤦

Ah, my bad—Nicole mentioned it was unnecessary 😁
I guess she’s just the type to say things like that...

The two Slack channels in the US have been around forever and everything has worked fine.
Merging them didn't actually achieve anything—it just created awkwardness and tension. Maybe that was the point all along. 🤷
If the moderators were actually part of the subforum and participated in it, managing two Slack threads wouldn't even be an issue. I know that sounds like Mission Impossible to you, but try to visualize it.

Jerry Parker72 said:Ah, my bad—Nicole mentioned it was unnecessary 😁
I guess she’s just the type to say things like that...

The two Slack channels in the US have been around forever and everything has worked fine.
Merging them didn't actually achieve anything—it just created awkwardness and tension. Maybe that was the point all along. 🤷
If the moderators were actually part of the subforum and participated in it, managing two Slack threads wouldn't even be an issue. I know that sounds like Mission Impossible to you, but try to visualize it.

Well, I guess we can agree to disagree. I'm not insisting we need X amount of chats; other PDFs can function just fine with one, or even zero logins.

Moderator quality and performance are everything on a forum like this. Honestly, the current mess is a direct result of poor moderation. I don't get why we don't have someone dedicated to managing the US section properly, because it’s pretty obvious the current mods can't handle it. Their only solution seems to be muting the Group chat and calling it a day. So what does that actually achieve? Peace and quiet? Since when was "silence" the whole point of a forum? A forum should be a place of debate and energy, not a ghost town. As far as I can remember, the Group chat wasn't even active until this season, and now that it's finally buzzing, the mods shut it down because they couldn't manage it. They could have just handled things simply when they got out of hand instead of killing the vibe entirely. 🍿

I’d love for Meadow and United Airlines to actually weigh in here—they're nowhere to be found on this sub—but do they honestly believe they’re handling their moderator duties correctly? If they aren't interested or simply don't have the time to moderate, why not just step down?
With some fresh blood in the mod team, your job would be a whole lot easier.

Sophia Thomas7 said:Great. So now, not only is one group not enough, but apparently we need several different ones—one for specific age groups, one for this, one for that. Other subforums can function perfectly fine with a single chat, but the US section is treated with such special reverence that it needs its own little ecosystem. A chat should be a place where EVERYONE is welcome and where EVERYONE has the chance to just hang out and talk casually. If someone can't manage to be civil in a chat, they shouldn't be using it. Let me repeat: plenty of other forum chats are full of diverse people with different perspectives and ages, yet the US section is the only one being singled out.

And it’s even more fascinating how the issue is suddenly framed as "moderators vs. one chat," rather than the US crew systematically trying to bury the chat out of pure spite. 🤦 Good luck to them/you. My stance hasn't changed: if a chat can't function without constant, nonstop drama and bullshit, then there's no reason for it to exist on the US section at all. And as for all the undermining and twisting of words, you can try to pull the wool over my eyes all you want, but it won't work on me.

I used to think that the USA section needed to be treated with extra care, mostly because it felt like most of the folks hanging out there were dealing with something, whether they were unhappy, feeling slighted, or just generally worked up, so I figured giving them that extra grace was the right, more human thing to do.
But nowadays, I feel like any kind of chat in the USA section has sort of lost its original purpose.

It seems pretty logical to me that a chat on a subreddit like this should be about socializing, getting to know people, and maybe even meeting someone for romance, hookups, or something along those lines.
If that were actually the focus, I bet there would be way less frustration and all that pseudo-intellectual snarkiness going on.
But if that isn't the case, then what's the point of it all? 🤷

Sophia Thomas7 said:Well, I guess we can agree to disagree. I'm not insisting we need X amount of chats; other PDFs can function just fine with one, or even zero logins.

But how much activity are we actually seeing on those other PDFs compared to what was happening in those two Slack channels? 🍿

Lisa Barrett5 said:I used to think that the USA section needed to be treated with extra care, mostly because it felt like most of the folks hanging out there were dealing with something, whether they were unhappy, feeling slighted, or just generally worked up, so I figured giving them that extra grace was the right, more human thing to do.
But nowadays, I feel like any kind of chat in the USA section has sort of lost its original purpose.

It seems pretty logical to me that a chat on a subreddit like this should be about socializing, getting to know people, and maybe even meeting someone for romance, hookups, or something along those lines.
If that were actually the focus, I bet there would be way less frustration and all that pseudo-intellectual snarkiness going on.
But if that isn't the case, then what's the point of it all? 🤷

Well, people would actually socialize, wouldn't they?
But thanks to mindless moderation, we get absurdities—like when Mickey starts a meetup thread right at his own house, only to have it shut down because he didn't "publicly disclose" his address. 🤣

Lisa Barrett5 said:I used to think that the USA section needed to be treated with extra care, mostly because it felt like most of the folks hanging out there were dealing with something, whether they were unhappy, feeling slighted, or just generally worked up, so I figured giving them that extra grace was the right, more human thing to do.
But nowadays, I feel like any kind of chat in the USA section has sort of lost its original purpose.

It seems pretty logical to me that a chat on a subreddit like this should be about socializing, getting to know people, and maybe even meeting someone for romance, hookups, or something along those lines.
If that were actually the focus, I bet there would be way less frustration and all that pseudo-intellectual snarkiness going on.
But if that isn't the case, then what's the point of it all? 🤷

But people actually do hang out here. Not everyone is busy playing pseudo-intellectual games. Should people who aren't interested in that constant back-and-forth just be left out?🤔

Daniel Kelly57 said:But how much activity are we actually seeing on those other PDFs compared to what was happening in those two Slack channels? 🍿

Some chats are busier than others—some are absolutely blowing up, while some are just sitting there dead silent. So, what's the move now? 🍿

Daniel Kelly57 said:Moderator quality and performance are everything on a forum like this. Honestly, the current mess is a direct result of poor moderation. I don't get why we don't have someone dedicated to managing the US section properly, because it’s pretty obvious the current mods can't handle it. Their only solution seems to be muting the Group chat and calling it a day. So what does that actually achieve? Peace and quiet? Since when was "silence" the whole point of a forum? A forum should be a place of debate and energy, not a ghost town. As far as I can remember, the Group chat wasn't even active until this season, and now that it's finally buzzing, the mods shut it down because they couldn't manage it. They could have just handled things simply when they got out of hand instead of killing the vibe entirely. 🍿

Claiming that the US section isn't being moderated just because people are going wild in the chat doesn't hold any water. And how exactly was the chat shut down? They kept one channel open and the mod promised to pay closer attention.

Seriously, you're just talking nonsense without any proof.

Jerry Parker72 said:Well, people would actually socialize, wouldn't they?
But thanks to mindless moderation, we get absurdities—like when Mickey starts a meetup thread right at his own house, only to have it shut down because he didn't "publicly disclose" his address. 🤣

And look... this forum is essentially a public medium with a pretty wide reach. I think what Aljehin wrote was spot on; if that's what you were aiming for, you've already got social media and your inner circle for that kind of thing...

Daniel Kelly57 said:But people actually do hang out here. Not everyone is busy playing pseudo-intellectual games. Should people who aren't interested in that constant back-and-forth just be left out?🤔

To be perfectly honest, I feel like the whole situation has reached a certain level of absurdity. It doesn't matter who is who... I mean, who actually finds enjoyment in messing around in such a frustrated atmosphere? 🤷

Sophia Thomas7 said:Some chats are busier than others—some are absolutely blowing up, while some are just sitting there dead silent. So, what's the move now? 🍿

Nothing much going on. I didn't even notice the group chat was active, but we all know who used to run the show there. Now that the US finally got a high-quality moderator that everyone actually respects, things feel smoother, but I still haven't seen that crazy energy in the chat that used to drive the US side wild.

Sophia Thomas7 said:Claiming that the US section isn't being moderated just because people are going wild in the chat doesn't hold any water. And how exactly was the chat shut down? They kept one channel open and the mod promised to pay closer attention.

Seriously, you're just talking nonsense without any proof.

They shut down the 40+ group chat that people actually cared about, and now the whole US community is feeling the hit. What am I supposed to do, just talk nonsense without any substance? That’s how the mods operate, and that’s exactly why I’m speaking up. There are two other moderators in the US that I haven't even heard of. What are they even doing here? Just appoint one decent moderator. Bring back the 40+ chat and fix this mess. 🍿

Daniel Kelly57 said:Nothing much going on. I didn't even notice the group chat was active, but we all know who used to run the show there. Now that the US finally got a high-quality moderator that everyone actually respects, things feel smoother, but I still haven't seen that crazy energy in the chat that used to drive the US side wild.

They shut down the 40+ group chat that people actually cared about, and now the whole US community is feeling the hit. What am I supposed to do, just talk nonsense without any substance? That’s how the mods operate, and that’s exactly why I’m speaking up. There are two other moderators in the US that I haven't even heard of. What are they even doing here? Just appoint one decent moderator. Bring back the 40+ chat and fix this mess. 🍿

The Reddit sub doesn't have a chat; it's shut down. For instance, the Finance sub does have one, and they don't have any issues.

Daniel Kelly57 said:Nothing much going on. I didn't even notice the group chat was active, but we all know who used to run the show there. Now that the US finally got a high-quality moderator that everyone actually respects, things feel smoother, but I still haven't seen that crazy energy in the chat that used to drive the US side wild.

They shut down the 40+ group chat that people actually cared about, and now the whole US community is feeling the hit. What am I supposed to do, just talk nonsense without any substance? That’s how the mods operate, and that’s exactly why I’m speaking up. There are two other moderators in the US that I haven't even heard of. What are they even doing here? Just appoint one decent moderator. Bring back the 40+ chat and fix this mess. 🍿

Assigning or removing moderators is up to the owner, not me.

And yeah, you're just venting because you claim the US isn't moderated just because of the chat situation. No, we aren't going to run two separate chats; ideally, every category should have its own dedicated chat. It's either one central hub or nothing at all. 🍿

Sophia Thomas7 said:The Reddit sub doesn't have a chat; it's shut down. For instance, the Finance sub does have one, and they don't have any issues.

Assigning or removing moderators is up to the owner, not me.

And yeah, you're just venting because you claim the US isn't moderated just because of the chat situation. No, we aren't going to run two separate chats; ideally, every category should have its own dedicated chat. It's either one central hub or nothing at all. 🍿

So the previous guy could have had two because maybe people weren't posting that much? Honestly, I don't care. I know what I'm talking about because I'm always active there, unlike you and the rest of the mods. You made a mistake and now it's hard to admit. I don't get why everyone is being so rigid. It's like you all want people to post less. 🤔

Daniel Kelly57 said:So the previous guy could have had two because maybe people weren't posting that much? Honestly, I don't care. I know what I'm talking about because I'm always active there, unlike you and the rest of the mods. You made a mistake and now it's hard to admit. I don't get why everyone is being so rigid. It's like you all want people to post less. 🤔

I find it absolutely fascinating how these "alternative facts" are being presented as the absolute truth. 😁

People were posting before, and the problems were almost identical to what we see now. Every once in a while, the Slack goes totally insane until it's unrecognizable.

On the PDFs I moderate, I'm relatively frequent; I don't always post because work keeps me busy, but I always find time to quote things. So, this whole "I'm always there and you aren't" argument is just pure nonsense.

As for the mistake—what mistake are we actually talking about? That we left one group chat open instead of setting it to zero? Okay, fine, you've got a point. We should have had zero chats on the US side. I'll admit the error. 👍

Lisa Barrett5 said:I used to think that the USA section needed to be treated with extra care, mostly because it felt like most of the folks hanging out there were dealing with something, whether they were unhappy, feeling slighted, or just generally worked up, so I figured giving them that extra grace was the right, more human thing to do.
But nowadays, I feel like any kind of chat in the USA section has sort of lost its original purpose.

It seems pretty logical to me that a chat on a subreddit like this should be about socializing, getting to know people, and maybe even meeting someone for romance, hookups, or something along those lines.
If that were actually the focus, I bet there would be way less frustration and all that pseudo-intellectual snarkiness going on.
But if that isn't the case, then what's the point of it all? 🤷

The sub has its ups and downs—months, whatever—but the whole idea is to start new threads and get discussions moving so others actually want to join in.

Right now, there are just a few threads where people are endlessly debating who’s buying the first round, guys trying way too hard to help out, and people posting problems that die out after two pages... especially during peak trolling seasons.

In the 40+ Group chat, you have people who actually vibe together, people who share the same mindset or hang out offline. Same goes for the regular chat. A lot of people talk off-site, via text or Facebook, to set up meetups. But that doesn't mean the chat is useless or that we couldn't use one or two more.



If I remember right, when there was all that massive drama a few years back and everyone jumped ship to another site, it was over some chat issue too. Just let people talk. If keeping up with reports is the headache, just hand that job to someone else or tighten up the moderation rules.

Morgan Newman7 said:The sub has its ups and downs—months, whatever—but the whole idea is to start new threads and get discussions moving so others actually want to join in.

Right now, there are just a few threads where people are endlessly debating who’s buying the first round, guys trying way too hard to help out, and people posting problems that die out after two pages... especially during peak trolling seasons.

In the 40+ Group chat, you have people who actually vibe together, people who share the same mindset or hang out offline. Same goes for the regular chat. A lot of people talk off-site, via text or Facebook, to set up meetups. But that doesn't mean the chat is useless or that we couldn't use one or two more.

If I remember right, when there was all that massive drama a few years back and everyone jumped ship to another site, it was over some chat issue too. Just let people talk. If keeping up with reports is the headache, just hand that job to someone else or tighten up the moderation rules.

I think you might be being a little naive in how you're looking at this.
I just don't see how Amazon would ever be willing to invest more in moderators when they can barely seem to invest in basic technical infrastructure. It really comes down to how much these people are getting paid and how much they actually want to spend their time moderating cranky Bachelors or those who act like them, along with all the other disruptive elements in the chat. Monitoring a massive flood of posts in a chat requires way more effort from the staff to keep things under control. The math is pretty simple, really.

In principle, I kind of agree with what you're saying, but I tend to be an extreme pragmatist. In life, I always look at the end goal versus the means used to get there. If the tool loses its actual function, then it stops being useful to me. A chat that exists just for the sake of existing, where people are constantly being unkind to one another, just doesn't make sense if you ask me.

Lisa Barrett5 said:I think you might be being a little naive in how you're looking at this.
I just don't see how Amazon would ever be willing to invest more in moderators when they can barely seem to invest in basic technical infrastructure. It really comes down to how much these people are getting paid and how much they actually want to spend their time moderating cranky Bachelors or those who act like them, along with all the other disruptive elements in the chat. Monitoring a massive flood of posts in a chat requires way more effort from the staff to keep things under control. The math is pretty simple, really.

In principle, I kind of agree with what you're saying, but I tend to be an extreme pragmatist. In life, I always look at the end goal versus the means used to get there. If the tool loses its actual function, then it stops being useful to me. A chat that exists just for the sake of existing, where people are constantly being unkind to one another, just doesn't make sense if you ask me.

Yeah, I'm with you on that. 🙂 gotta admit, my motivation to hang out here tanks whenever some drama breaks out. Used to wonder why anyone would even bother being a moderator—all the responsibility, zero payoff, not even money... then an old friend explained it to me. He said it's because you want the place where you spend your time to actually be decent and civilized. Thought he was being naive back then. Now I get it... finally see what he meant.

Jerry Parker72 said:Well, people would actually socialize, wouldn't they?
But thanks to mindless moderation, we get absurdities—like when Mickey starts a meetup thread right at his own house, only to have it shut down because he didn't "publicly disclose" his address. 🤣

Exactly! At his own house. Is that even "forum hanging out"? No. Can he invite people he knows and actually wants over to his place privately? Yeah. Does he want random strangers in his living room? Probably not. So why does it even need to be a forum thread? Honestly, we might as well all start threads every time we invite the crew over or grab coffee with friends.

Morgan Newman7 said:The sub has its ups and downs—months, whatever—but the whole idea is to start new threads and get discussions moving so others actually want to join in.

Right now, there are just a few threads where people are endlessly debating who’s buying the first round, guys trying way too hard to help out, and people posting problems that die out after two pages... especially during peak trolling seasons.

In the 40+ Group chat, you have people who actually vibe together, people who share the same mindset or hang out offline. Same goes for the regular chat. A lot of people talk off-site, via text or Facebook, to set up meetups. But that doesn't mean the chat is useless or that we couldn't use one or two more.

If I remember right, when there was all that massive drama a few years back and everyone jumped ship to another site, it was over some chat issue too. Just let people talk. If keeping up with reports is the headache, just hand that job to someone else or tighten up the moderation rules.

Does anyone here seriously think we merged the chat just because of a little tension? When adults start acting hysterical, spying on people in a chat where they aren't even posting just to snitch... and when you see enough of that happening long-term, you start wondering if you should spend your energy on something better.

It's not about managing reports. It's about when those reports turn into personal vendettas.

The chat isn't unnecessary, we agree on that, but two chats just can't function right now. There's only going to be one. If things actually shift, maybe we could consider a second chat, but look at what the chat has become. And that's because of the players in it. Not because of "evil" moderators.