Opening the WhatsApp chat?

Jacob Sullivan91 said: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.

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.

It’s like how Mexicans love to say "you played the whole football match." 😁

If a thread is posted publicly for a hangout—specifically for the users on the American board where the thread was opened—then nobody expects random people off the street to show up. It’s meant for the group that actually signs up on the thread. This thread got shut down, clearly, just because a moderator felt like it, ignoring the actual rules. And she’s the type of moderator who only shows up on this site as rarely as Halley's Comet.

And the reason for closing it? Apparently, there isn't enough room for this kind of gathering. Let me explain why it's a bad idea to demand public addresses when someone is hosting at home. Look, the site guarantees anonymity until you decide to volunteer your own data, but until that point, different rules should apply. I don't see any issue with keeping the thread open so users can gather interest, making a list, and then sending addresses via private message to solve the privacy issue. Instead, the easiest thing to do—as always—is to just kill the thread and coldly claim it will be reopened and pinned once we provide a specific time and place. My question is, if you were organizing a meetup at your house, would you post your address publicly? I doubt it, and honestly, few people would. This wasn't a meeting in a public space like our previous hangouts at Central Park, Mount Rainier, Indianapolis, or various pubs around Chicago. If it were a public spot, fine, the thread could close because locations were set, but that wasn't the case here. There is no logical or valid reason to shut this down and demand public info about where someone lives.

It really feels more and more like every opportunity to hang out gets buried from the start because "some things weren't done right." It’s like being told to go to Window 4 for a yellow slip, then back to Window 17 for blue and green ones, and finally to Window 3 just to get permission from the higher-ups that the thread is okay.
I don't agree with this. Someone genuinely tried to organize something for everyone; it wasn't some exclusive club, but apparently, it doesn't sit right with certain mods, so we end up arguing over trivial rules and whatnot.

So, this is a REDDIT MEETUP, because everyone on the forum was invited, not some secret Masonic gathering shrouded in mystery that only a chosen few can attend (especially since the opening post was written in a joking tone anyway).
Maybe start listening to the voices of us regular users instead of acting like your word is the only truth, the absolute law, and that we aren't allowed to disagree.

Jacob Sullivan91 said: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.

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.

Honestly, I’d rather just leave things unmoderated than deal with some toxic group of people mass-reporting posts—especially when they're targeting topics that don't even have explicit rules laid out yet. It’s just not worth the headache.
Can one of the admins please weigh in on this?
In the future, if you're browsing a thread where there aren't any specific rules listed and you spot someone breaking the general community guidelines—even if you know the moderator isn't going to catch it without a formal report—should you still bother reporting it? 🍿 Man, that’s just incredible. 🙂

Just to add—after hanging out at Golden Gate Park one afternoon, mistyhound94 ended up inviting all those Reddit users over to his place to keep the party going. It included everyone from the local regulars to people who hadn't even been seen on the boards before.

Eric Gray2 said:Honestly, I’d rather just leave things unmoderated than deal with some toxic group of people mass-reporting posts—especially when they're targeting topics that don't even have explicit rules laid out yet. It’s just not worth the headache.
Can one of the admins please weigh in on this?
In the future, if you're browsing a thread where there aren't any specific rules listed and you spot someone breaking the general community guidelines—even if you know the moderator isn't going to catch it without a formal report—should you still bother reporting it? 🍿 Man, that’s just incredible. 🙂

It’s pretty clear the moderators have zero interest in actually running this place—they aren't even active in the sub—so instead of stepping aside to let someone with actual time or drive make this community better, they just lean into these repressive tactics. It's the same old story.

Jacob Sullivan91 said: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.

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.

Then why bother being a moderator at all? You might as well put that energy toward a better cause—if one even exists.

Eric Gray2 said:Honestly, I’d rather just leave things unmoderated than deal with some toxic group of people mass-reporting posts—especially when they're targeting topics that don't even have explicit rules laid out yet. It’s just not worth the headache.
Can one of the admins please weigh in on this?
In the future, if you're browsing a thread where there aren't any specific rules listed and you spot someone breaking the general community guidelines—even if you know the moderator isn't going to catch it without a formal report—should you still bother reporting it? 🍿 Man, that’s just incredible. 🙂

That is totally your interpretation and has zero to do with what I actually said.

I never said posts that deserve a ban shouldn't be moderated... I’m just saying I can't wrap my head around why anyone who doesn't care about a specific Slack would bother lurking there just to hunt for reasons to snitch.

Look, I get it—you stumble upon an offensive post... but choosing to just ignore a corner of the internet you have no business being in because you don't vibe with that crowd? I can respect that.

I'm not talking about you personally, okay? It's more of a general thing... 😉

Anyway, now nobody has a reason to go scanning through other Slacks looking for something "naughty." Everyone can just stick to one place and hang out together.

And now the Slack will be way better moderated, which I'm sure is your biggest priority anyway... 😁

Jerry Parker72 said:It’s pretty clear the moderators have zero interest in actually running this place—they aren't even active in the sub—so instead of stepping aside to let someone with actual time or drive make this community better, they just lean into these repressive tactics. It's the same old story.

Then why bother being a moderator at all? You might as well put that energy toward a better cause—if one even exists.

So you're telling me that being a mod means I should just be ready to deal with constant harassment and drama? Is that the job description now?

Now I totally get why some mods don't last long here. But just because something doesn't work for you guys, doesn't mean it won't work for me. Nope.

There's still one Slack left, no matter how much people insult each other. Just take a breather already...

I honestly don't get why some people still can't grasp why a user's private address isn't just blasted out on a public forum? I guess it's just a matter of how much you value your digital footprint after all these years.

And if I recall correctly, everyone who actually wanted to show up at our last meetup made it happen, even though the location wasn't posted publicly. You can always just pass an address along via DM or through other private channels.

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Jacob Sullivan91 said:That is totally your interpretation and has zero to do with what I actually said.

I never said posts that deserve a ban shouldn't be moderated... I’m just saying I can't wrap my head around why anyone who doesn't care about a specific Slack would bother lurking there just to hunt for reasons to snitch.

Look, I get it—you stumble upon an offensive post... but choosing to just ignore a corner of the internet you have no business being in because you don't vibe with that crowd? I can respect that.

I'm not talking about you personally, okay? It's more of a general thing... 😉

Anyway, now nobody has a reason to go scanning through other Slacks looking for something "naughty." Everyone can just stick to one place and hang out together.

And now the Slack will be way better moderated, which I'm sure is your biggest priority anyway... 😁

Actually, let me speak for myself here. Every time I'd open up Reddit (and lately, I've been doing that more and more), I’d run into at least one problematic sub-thread. Whether it was people dissecting another user's entire personality (like Daniel Kelly57), or some more or less veiled commentary directed at the moderators, or just people being absolute jerks toward Gypsies and stuff like that. The crowd from that chat had basically found themselves this little swamp where everything went—from breaking the rules to straight-up hate speech—but I just don't get the logic of reading a thread you aren't even participating in?

But it's clear to me now that everyone was perfectly happy having a group over there to gossip, insult people, and drag both users and mods through the mud. And me? I was just being an idiot, trying to call it all out. Oh, snap. If only I had just left that unmoderated mess alone—that oasis of trolls, that little microcosm of chaos, that sanctuary for links to other PDFs, that whole breeding ground for toxicity.

In any case, please, do keep a close eye on the US Slack and definitely shut it down if we don't behave over the next ten pages, just like you promised. That's exactly what the moderators are there for.

Eric Gray2 said:Actually, let me speak for myself here. Every time I'd open up Reddit (and lately, I've been doing that more and more), I’d run into at least one problematic sub-thread. Whether it was people dissecting another user's entire personality (like Daniel Kelly57), or some more or less veiled commentary directed at the moderators, or just people being absolute jerks toward Gypsies and stuff like that. The crowd from that chat had basically found themselves this little swamp where everything went—from breaking the rules to straight-up hate speech—but I just don't get the logic of reading a thread you aren't even participating in?

But it's clear to me now that everyone was perfectly happy having a group over there to gossip, insult people, and drag both users and mods through the mud. And me? I was just being an idiot, trying to call it all out. Oh, snap. If only I had just left that unmoderated mess alone—that oasis of trolls, that little microcosm of chaos, that sanctuary for links to other PDFs, that whole breeding ground for toxicity.

In any case, please, do keep a close eye on the US Slack and definitely shut it down if we don't behave over the next ten pages, just like you promised. That's exactly what the moderators are there for.

Like I said, we’ve made things easier for you, so you don't have to play tightrope walker between two different chats anymore.

Deal. 🙂

mistyhound94 said:It’s like how Mexicans love to say "you played the whole football match." 😁

If a thread is posted publicly for a hangout—specifically for the users on the American board where the thread was opened—then nobody expects random people off the street to show up. It’s meant for the group that actually signs up on the thread. This thread got shut down, clearly, just because a moderator felt like it, ignoring the actual rules. And she’s the type of moderator who only shows up on this site as rarely as Halley's Comet.

And the reason for closing it? Apparently, there isn't enough room for this kind of gathering. Let me explain why it's a bad idea to demand public addresses when someone is hosting at home. Look, the site guarantees anonymity until you decide to volunteer your own data, but until that point, different rules should apply. I don't see any issue with keeping the thread open so users can gather interest, making a list, and then sending addresses via private message to solve the privacy issue. Instead, the easiest thing to do—as always—is to just kill the thread and coldly claim it will be reopened and pinned once we provide a specific time and place. My question is, if you were organizing a meetup at your house, would you post your address publicly? I doubt it, and honestly, few people would. This wasn't a meeting in a public space like our previous hangouts at Central Park, Mount Rainier, Indianapolis, or various pubs around Chicago. If it were a public spot, fine, the thread could close because locations were set, but that wasn't the case here. There is no logical or valid reason to shut this down and demand public info about where someone lives.

It really feels more and more like every opportunity to hang out gets buried from the start because "some things weren't done right." It’s like being told to go to Window 4 for a yellow slip, then back to Window 17 for blue and green ones, and finally to Window 3 just to get permission from the higher-ups that the thread is okay.
I don't agree with this. Someone genuinely tried to organize something for everyone; it wasn't some exclusive club, but apparently, it doesn't sit right with certain mods, so we end up arguing over trivial rules and whatnot.

So, this is a REDDIT MEETUP, because everyone on the forum was invited, not some secret Masonic gathering shrouded in mystery that only a chosen few can attend (especially since the opening post was written in a joking tone anyway).
Maybe start listening to the voices of us regular users instead of acting like your word is the only truth, the absolute law, and that we aren't allowed to disagree.

If you seriously want to invite the entire forum over to your house, we'll open the thread.

Jacob Sullivan91,
If I’m reading you right—the crowd from the 40+ group kept reporting posts with the Finger that were basically aimed at them, just tattling on everything, which ended up blowing up the mods' workload and eventually forced this whole chat merger?
Do you think the number of reports will actually drop now? Or would it have made more sense to just punish the people who kept jumping into the 40+ thread specifically to provoke others—trying to turn that "exclusive club" vibe into a total dumpster fire? Isn't that probably why all those reports started flying in after the mods failed to step in when people kept crashing the party?
Yeah, I get your point; you can't just hand out bans because someone decided to post in two different threads. But I'm telling you, the real reason behind these moves—and even the troublemakers admitted it—was purely out of boredom. Just the older crowd needing to mess with people because they feel intellectually superior, haha!
Also, from what I know, before this famous merger, the Finger thread was locked because everyone was constantly bickering. Did the 40+ crowd have anything to do with that? If not, why did they get punished by this aggressive union?

The reason I’m reporting this—honestly, just blowing up the Slack group chat 🙂—is the same reason I jump into other threads, even the ones where I don't usually chime in 😲: people are breaking the rules. I mean, why should anyone get a free pass to violate the guidelines just because the mods aren't actively policing everything? 🤷

I didn't bother reporting anyone for calling me out directly—you know, freedom of speech and all that—even though there was definitely some targeted stuff going on in the Group chat. It’s honestly irrelevant whether they used my actual handle or just quoted my exact words to call me out; everyone knows exactly who they were aiming at. I didn't report the posts where people were basically begging the mods to treat them like some special third category and unlock the Finger, either. And look, I’m not even complaining now that the Finger has been disabled since the 62nd edition, especially since everyone else has just been rebranded as Bachelors. These guys are basically sabotaging the whole vibe by acting like they own the place, essentially running a gatekeeping operation to pick and choose who actually belongs in the chat.

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Eric Gray2 said:The reason I’m reporting this—honestly, just blowing up the Slack group chat 🙂—is the same reason I jump into other threads, even the ones where I don't usually chime in 😲: people are breaking the rules. I mean, why should anyone get a free pass to violate the guidelines just because the mods aren't actively policing everything? 🤷

Seriously, what is the deal with all these reports? Isn't that exact feature there so we can stop people from having massive, public blowouts right in front of us? 🤷
Maybe the issue is just how loose this subforum is. We have a really high tolerance for all sorts of wild crap—including the stuff that isn't even wild—which is actually great, as long as nobody starts throwing personal insults.

I feel bad for the 40+ crowd, and honestly, I feel even worse for Finger, who were part of it—and I hope they're still out there somewhere, because they're some of the best people I know personally. As for the rest of you—the bored usurpers—you’ve got a brand new product line available to you: nothing but absolute garbage. Hope it lasts you.
Cheers.

Keith Cox6 said:Seriously, what is the deal with all these reports? Isn't that exact feature there so we can stop people from having massive, public blowouts right in front of us? 🤷
Maybe the issue is just how loose this subforum is. We have a really high tolerance for all sorts of wild crap—including the stuff that isn't even wild—which is actually great, as long as nobody starts throwing personal insults.

I feel bad for the 40+ crowd, and honestly, I feel even worse for Finger, who were part of it—and I hope they're still out there somewhere, because they're some of the best people I know personally. As for the rest of you—the bored usurpers—you’ve got a brand new product line available to you: nothing but absolute garbage. Hope it lasts you.
Cheers.

uhmmmmm... I feel like everything mentioned above is a pretty slippery slope to walk on, if you ask me.
just thinking out loud here, but a democracy designed this way can never truly function to its full potential.

in my humble opinion, giving the power of reporting to the general users is a complete failure of the forum's design.
it would be much more efficient to maintain order by actually strengthening the moderator structure instead.
taking that power away from the users and just putting a sign at the entrance saying "enter at your own risk" might actually be one of the smarter moves to make. then, well, who lives, who dies, right?

Eric Gray2 said:The quality of the Finger remains intact, so there’s really nothing to worry about.

I mean, it looks like we have a perfect example of symbiosis here. And apparently, Bachelors can still hold their own when it comes to quality🙂 :haiku: Honestly, what exactly is so offensive about that? Sex is a beautiful thing—though, I guess if you don't have the right partner, maybe that part is up for debate.

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Lisa Barrett5 said:uhmmmmm... I feel like everything mentioned above is a pretty slippery slope to walk on, if you ask me.
just thinking out loud here, but a democracy designed this way can never truly function to its full potential.

in my humble opinion, giving the power of reporting to the general users is a complete failure of the forum's design.
it would be much more efficient to maintain order by actually strengthening the moderator structure instead.
taking that power away from the users and just putting a sign at the entrance saying "enter at your own risk" might actually be one of the smarter moves to make. then, well, who lives, who dies, right?

In my entire time on this site, I have never reported anyone. I still carry this leftover mindset from school where only losers do that. It’s such a pathetic, snitch-like move. Like, "Oh, I'm going to go tell the teacher on you!" And as we all know, those types usually end up digging their own graves anyway.

The new chat is a complete joke. They took the playground away from the professional complainers and handed it over to a bunch of toddlers. It's no surprise who ends up getting punished. Even though I think reporting people is a bottom-tier move, it’s just... pointless and ugly.

There was a time when we were all just fighting to keep this community alive, back when things felt different... a place where you could actually exchange ideas without everyone getting petty or nitpicking, maybe catching a little breeze from the Finger crew before they drifted away from the Bachelors after a few days...
Was the Slack channel well-moderated? It could’ve been better, sure, but the real issue isn't the mods, it's the people actually typing in there...
It's obvious even now with the Finger crowd constantly trying to bait people into reacting, so wouldn't it be better if that Slack was just shut down entirely? I can't be the only one who feels this way...
Whether it's City Hall or the federal government, whoever is making these decisions clearly thinks one local dive bar is enough for an entire neighborhood. For those who can't stand the music,
the crew or even just the fridge in that bar, they have the option to just open a brand new bar in a different neighborhood under the exact same name. And here, that’s nothing more than a single mouse click somewhere else...
And this whole business of reporting posts is a total tragicomedy, especially coming from someone who is so prone to insulting other users. But oh, how convenient, they only ever report the posts that strictly break the rules. Give me a break...

Keith Cox6 said:Jacob Sullivan91,
If I’m reading you right—the crowd from the 40+ group kept reporting posts with the Finger that were basically aimed at them, just tattling on everything, which ended up blowing up the mods' workload and eventually forced this whole chat merger?
Do you think the number of reports will actually drop now? Or would it have made more sense to just punish the people who kept jumping into the 40+ thread specifically to provoke others—trying to turn that "exclusive club" vibe into a total dumpster fire? Isn't that probably why all those reports started flying in after the mods failed to step in when people kept crashing the party?
Yeah, I get your point; you can't just hand out bans because someone decided to post in two different threads. But I'm telling you, the real reason behind these moves—and even the troublemakers admitted it—was purely out of boredom. Just the older crowd needing to mess with people because they feel intellectually superior, haha!
Also, from what I know, before this famous merger, the Finger thread was locked because everyone was constantly bickering. Did the 40+ crowd have anything to do with that? If not, why did they get punished by this aggressive union?

That’s not it. There’s a massive difference between reporting a post and being straight-up aggressive when a mod doesn't agree with you.

The Group chat was only closed so we could moderate things and check the reports, but given how things shifted, we decided to just shut the chats down altogether.

We only realized later that maybe keeping one open would be okay. It wasn't like we were picking and choosing who gets moved to which group as some kind of punishment. If it makes everyone feel better, I can just close this current open one and start a totally fresh one, so nobody can complain about who got penalized.

I'll say it again: it's not about the reports, it's about the attitude. None of the mods enjoy getting dragged left and right every time someone wants a specific person punished. Not to mention how people just outright insult the moderation or talk trash about us. Why should we put up with that?

After we closed one of the chats, some Reddit users showed us the absolute peak of their arrogance. So why on earth would we reopen it? Because it’ll somehow be different this time?

I feel like a broken record here, but one chat is staying. That doesn't mean we can't open five more in the designated PDF section.

Hey, moderators...
blah, blah, blah...

Has anyone else on the Reddit threads actually said that merging all these different chats is such a brilliant idea? Honestly, if you actually read what people are saying—instead of just skimming through looking for some clumsy little rhyme to justify yourselves—you’d realize that absolutely nobody here agrees with you.

Trying to throw such a massive generational gap into one giant melting pot is totally unpalatable and just isn't going to work in the long run.
It’s so obvious that there are several distinct groups here, each with their own specific interests, and nobody wants to spend hours scrolling through pages and pages of "other people's" conversations just to see if someone they actually know showed up after being away or if they wrote anything worth reading.