Locked thread
Locked thread I am angry that the moderator has locked the thread entitled ‘They minimise bc’. Though the issues raised on this thread are controversial the debate was energetic, and carefully considered. This is after all the Current issues/hot topics forum.
I wonder who these people are who are ‘upset’…are they the same mysterious people who don’t want contact buttons?
Once again I am disappointed in BCC’s poor modertion and clumsy policing.
Jane
Well said Jane I agree 100% with Jane’s post.
From the way this forum’s been moderated lately, I wasn’t at all surprised when the thread was locked, but am still very disappointed. We’re all adults here, and should be able to have a lively debate without the moderators stepping in.
Sue
Agree with Jane It’s a shame that BCC are not as responsive to the many requests about contact buttons as they are to the 1 or 2 complaints received about “hot topics”.
80.175.42.169/content.php?page_id=1940&forum_cmd=3&forum_id=22&topic=3847
This thread has 16 posts all requesting contact buttons or at the very least a response on the contact button issue, why haven’t BCC replied?
Re-name this forum? And change hot topics to ever so slightly warm topics?
Actually if the thread had run it’s course it might have helped us all.
It wasn’t just about that particular thread.
I was pleased to see a post removed from the Men’s forum this morning but I’m at a loss as to why the thread was locked here.
Would also like to see a BCC response to the contact buttons requests.
Best Wishes All.
x
Healthy debate?? I felt so.
I’ll freely admit that I was a tad angry at times - not at the discussion topic but at the intimations of bullying and picking fights with women - both of which are anathema to me. I dealt with it, as some know, by walking away from the computer screen for a time. I certainly did not require the intervention of a moderator - I’m a big boy ( a tad bigger after 5 years on Tamoxifen, certainly!!) and can look after myself.
As to the debate ‘going around in circles’, the vast majority do but with each circular motion a little clarity and degree of consensus comes to the fore. If some readers felt that the discussion was becoming ‘aggressive’ , - your word, not mine - then surely the solution was to simply flip onto another thread??
Have a good evening.
Jim
Response from Breast Cancer Care moderator and hosts Since the relaunch of the site in December, the Breast Cancer Care chat forums have grown to nearly 4,000 registered users. In the last 24 hours we have had more than 130 postings to the site, and this is a fairly quiet day for us. It is our job to ensure that all the people who have posted or read the posts feel using the chat forums is a worthwhile and positive experience.
As can be seen from these postings, the vast majority of people making posts come to the chat forums in order to get information from others who have ‘been there’; for peer support or to seek answers to their questions from the staff at Breast Cancer Care.
Many who post are often at a very vulnerable and frightening time of their lives and are perhaps therefore, more sensitive than usual to the atmosphere on the forums. We know, as Breast Cancer Care staff looking at the forums every day and taking feedback through both formal and informal channels that our users expect a gentle, supportive and friendly atmosphere and some become very upset when they see disagreement or what they perceive as rudeness on the site. It is our job as hosts and moderators of these forums to serve and support everyone posting or viewing the site.
Since we have been hosting and moderating the chat forums more often and with an expanded team, we have seen a big drop in the number of complaints about postings on the forums and a steady increase in people registering and posting. We regard this increased usage and drop in the number of complaints we are receiving as evidence that our approach is one which is right for the majority of our users.
We hope you understand why we will continue to moderate the forums in this way and that you will respect our decisions when, occasionally, we have to intervene.
Best wishes to you all
Moderator
Hosts
Breast Cancer Care
The definition of forum Forum - A medium of open discussion or voicing of ideas.
“some become very upset when they see disagreement” surely we cannot be expected to agree with every opinion and idea voiced on the forums?
All in agreement. It seems so Twinkle.
And still no response to the contact buttons requests.
Frankly… …I find the response from the Moderator to be patronising in the extreme!
Of course, as a person affected directly by breast cancer I have felt - and, oft times, still feel, vulnerable.
I have felt, and continue to feel, the rollercoaster of emotions - anger, self pity, hope, mistrust, joy…the list is endless! Sometimes I’ve emptied the shelves of my local store of wine, tissues, chocolate, ice cream etc depending on my mood at the time - or the results of the latest scan / blood test.
Wrapping people in cotton wool isn’t healthy!
The plusses from this board - for me - centre on having an outlet to express my feelings with my peers without overburdening my family and friends. Admittedly I haven’t availed myself of the facility to the degree that I did some years ago ( I am now six years down this journey) but I do drop in from time to time.
I think that your attitude and policy is flawed and wrong,
Regards
Jim
No sorry BCC When you make a bad desicion I will tell you so…and this was a bad decision. I am so…ooo… sick of charities being patronising to people with cancer.
for many of us who live with cancer the opportunity to debate and discuss issues which arise from having cancer is absolutely essential.
Sorry we don’t fit your stereotype of needy people with cancer lookiing to you for nicey nicey ‘support.’
Agree with you on this Jim…maybe BCC have a subtle plot to get all the women talking to all the men…uniting over our anger about silly decisions?
Contact buttons???
Jane
PS Just read your post again moderator and I am enraged. You are so b**** patronising.
Yes we are all vulnerable here…we all have breast acncer…we are all at different stages of our life with breast cancer. But what has that got to do with locking a thread of intelligent debate? Or perhaps you think that people with cancer shouldn’t be using their brains?
Jane
Drop in complaints??? Moderator wrote…
“Since we have been hosting and moderating the chat forums more often and with an expanded team, we have seen a big drop in the number of complaints about postings on the forums and a steady increase in people registering and posting. We regard this increased usage and drop in the number of complaints we are receiving as evidence that our approach is one which is right for the majority of our users.”
It is interesting to note that of the 130 posts quoted, 10 were in the thread BCC chose to lock. The chit chat forum had 1 post yesterday, does that not tell you something BCC?
I am sure that the lack of complaints is due to a lack of posts on this site. You quoted 130 in the last 24 hours. We have 300 posts on a quiet day on the “other site.” We also have contact buttons, and in the 7 months the site has been running we have not had one complaint about their misuse. If anyone was found to be abusing the contact facility, their ability to contact others would be removed. All this is available on a “free” forum, I dread to think how much BCC has spent on the forums on this site, and still manage to ignore the needs of most users.
To coin a phrase so often used about breast cancer; “Be up front” BCC, please respond to the many requests about contact buttons. If they are not going to be returned, don’t we have the right to know?
Locked Thread I agree with the points made above. I don’t think the thread had become aggressive at all. There was forthright debate, but there was no aggression.
A forum section entitled “Current Issues/Hot Topics” is obviously going to contain many posts in which people have a healthy debate and display passion in what they say. Nobody is forced to come and read what’s posted in this section or contribute to it if they may find it upsetting. It’s like being scared of spiders, finding a big one in your bath and then you keep going and staring at it.
Many of us come to this site, not only for the support, but also for the debates, and yes, some debates are going to get a bit spikey at times. BCC, please don’t deprive us of the opportunity for healthy debate by over-zealous moderation.
This debate was important because it brought to a head some issues that had been festering for a while over communications between men and women on this forum. I hope that the debate enables us to all move forward and improve matters in that area. The fact that BCC didn’t allow the debate to run its course hasn’t helped though.
And please reply about contact buttons. That’s causing far more anger, upset and frustration than anything in the locked thread.
For the moderator When I was first diagnosed, I found this site to be a Godsend. But it has changed so much since I began posting, though I still come back to try and help people who are now where I was last autumn.
I agree with what has been said so eloquently by the posters above.
We are not naughty little schoolchildren who need to be kept in check; we are responsible adults with considered views.
People with breast cancer lose their breasts (or parts of) - they do not lose their minds!
Presumably, your silence on the issue of contact buttons means that you are not going to reinstate them. It would be nice (and courteous) to be told.
Mcgle
So much has already been said…I can only agree with you all.
I really resent being treated as a needy cancer patient. I may have breast cancer but I still have all my marbles.
BCC you do so much good but you never listen.
Belinda.
Amazed I agree with mcgle how much this site has changed since I first discovered it back at the end of last year.
I still take a look every day as it was such a help to me that if I can pass on advice and help from my own experiences I want to do so. But, despite BCC boasting of the numbers who are using it, it is NOT as busy as it once was, the dates of the last postings do not update as fast as they did when I first came to this site and the “coffee room” part where in theory we can discuss anything and everything is nowhere near as busy.
I resent the controlling attitude of BCC over what are interesting and lively discussions of this nature and I wonder in truth how many “complaints” they really received, surely people are more likely to go off and read something else that interests them more if they have no interest in a particular discussion?
What is the point of a Hot Topics section if the topics aren’t allowed to be “hot” with lively debate and not just about easy topics such as Kylie’s hair! (Didn’t mean to offend anyone there - I will be watching her on TV at the weekend too!)
LindaAnn
Report buttons I would imagine one reason for the number of complaints is how easy it is to complain on the new BCC site, because of the report button right underneath the reply button.
I have to say that i wasn’t very happy about this facility when I first saw it and am even less happy now because of BCC’s attitude towards the facility that we all really DO want - contact buttons. To have a site which positively encourages us to complain about other posts by giving us a report button and yet gives us no means of contacting each other privately, shows too much evidence for my liking of a “Nanny knows best” approach to forum management.
As RMW pointed out, we have very lively discussions indeed on the “other” site, and we don’t always agree by any means. But being big grown-up (though still vulnerable) people, we manage to live together in a very friendly and supportive fashion, with posts being answered quickly and helpfully by other members.
Kathy
BCC This is ridiculous! Words fail me.
In agreement with all that has been said - BCC this is patronising in the extreme.
Its often said on posts about others “try and put yourselves into our shoes” and think how you would want to be treated - well just imagine you had BC - how would you want to be treated???
As Jim said - if people don’t like what they read - they can walk away from the screen… Or use the shut down button.