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Pastimes : SI Message Filtering - Pros and Cons -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: raven who wrote (1)	2/9/1998 11:42:00 AM
From: Patricia L. Clews	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 263

Hi Raven, we sure could use a filter IMO. It wouldn't hurt the thread I'm thinking of to put the "ignore" button on several people. I wish they'd grow up & take responsibility each & everyone of them. ;-) Patti

To: raven who wrote (1)	2/10/1998 9:42:00 PM
From: Randall	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 263

What happens to individuals who take it upon themselves to heckle a featured speaker at an event where everyone is in attendance to hear that speaker? Answer: The heckler is escorted out of the audience and out of the room. This action does not prohibit the heckler's freedom of speech, it merely forces the heckler to arrange his/her own audience if he/she wants to be heard. It is fair to say that a majority of the audience is supportive of the removal of the heckler from the room, so that they can continue hear the person (speaker) for whom they have taken the time to see. This is a democratic approach to maintaining rule in a public place. When we have hecklers in forum threads, a similar solution would be most desirable. For the benefit of all those in the audience who dial-up the forum (thread) at their own cost and in their own limited time, there needs to be a way to remove unwanted posters to the thread when a majority of the participants on the thread is desirous and in full agreement with such a banishment. This does not prohibit the heckler's freedom of speech, it merely forces the unwanted poster to create their own thread for those who would listen to them. This is of growing concern to those of us whose livelihood is augmented or may even be dependent on the free flow of information on these threads without major disruptions of our serious intent to share, locate, and disseminate timely facts, relevant information, and considered opinions within the group. There is at least one major "con" to the argument of ONLY having an ignore button. It leaves the heckler the freedom to inject improper information to the thread unchecked. That is, if everyone is ignoring this heckler's posts, then there is a danger that the heckler may post information that is detrimental to the facts about the company to those who arrive to the thread unwary of whom they are deriving information. Those who are new to the thread are none the wiser (have not yet checked the ignore button yet), and may be absorbing wrongful information because nobody is disputing such bad information. Such wrongful information would go unnoticed by those who would be most suited to post a challenge or inject a correction. This allows the heckler to "win," which would be detrimental to the focus of the main thread. The heckler's agenda would continue unbeknownst to the majority of the thread. That would present a potentially dangerous situation for the serious investors on the main thread whose well-being may be dependent on the company's stock price. Wrongful information needs to be exposed and held in-check. My suggestion is that there be a capability available on each page of postings that allows the viewer to click a box which will register a vote for the heckler to be banished from making future posts to the thread. If a thread experiences a majority of viewers choosing the "Banish" button, then the majority has spoken. That individual (heckler) should be BANNED FOREVER from making posts on that thread. The heckler would still be able to create their own thread, and the original thread could continue without experiencing further bickering. Many of us would feel some satisfaction in making our thoughts known to the administrators, by clicking the "Banish" button. We would be saying.LOOK HERE..HEY..THERE IS A PROBLEM HERE!! Then, maybe a lot of anguish would no longer be dribbled across our screens as posters (as we are now experiencing) fight to warn someone about their improper demeanor in their posts. For this to work, Silicon Investor needs the capability (software technology) to ban a person from a particular focus group (thread), instead of completely banishing the person from all services that it currently offers. Complete banishment from SI would be a threat to freedom of speech; however, banishment from a particular thread (or threads) would be greeted with open arms, especially to most of us who want to maintain our sanity when reading the Fonar threads. The rules would need to be set forth in the "terms of use section." In my opinion, laws are made for those who do not have good common sense, and to provide for the community's coffers toward the maintenance of creating and keeping civility on this crowded planet. "Necessity is the mother of invention." And there is a real need for a new software feature that will democratically count votes and provide for the banishment of a particular thread poster from a particular thread. I sympathize with Silicon Investor's dilemma, and I put to them this considered approach (above) to resolve the problem. Such a solution would take some of the pressure off of the administrators. Currently, the administrators have to make subjective judgments about an individual's right to post on any thread, because complete banishment is their only option at the moment. If you are in agreement, we should plead with the administrators of the forum (Webmistress at the Silicon Investor) to create the technology and enforce a new rule which says that when the majority of thread's participants identifies a heckler, that heckler should be stricken from making any future posts onto that particular thread, forever. I suspect that if this option were available, that it would benefit mankind as well as the stock prices of certain securities - and rightfully so. Regards, Randall