Not such a Beginner ;)

Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 8,394
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VB has seemed more tame now than in past days. More focus on food than ethics? I wonder if too much? Need more compost perhaps? |
I know many here do ban themselves temporarily. When you're 'banned' do you still get messages? How about changing the label of banned when it's self imposed to something like 'on break'
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The VB's admisisters cover page has really put me off. It's like a generic magazine article patronizing their veg readers rather than a forum that's exclusive to vegetarians!
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This is in large measure why I stepped down as a mod. The articles are patronizing and rather insulting, written by an anonymous pool of authors, who don't seem to understand the underlying passion and commitment of real veg*ns. The avowed purpose of the cover page is to attract new members, but it may be, it is attracting the wrong crowd- curiosity seekers and opportunists.
VeggieBoards was founded by Michael- a vegetarian, who had an interest in veganism too- in 2001. Under his leadership, VB became a phenomenon, the best veg*n site on the web. But Michael's work was voluntary- not for profit- and in 2012, for personal reasons, he felt obliged to give it up. Rather than close VB down, he saw fit to sell VB to Huddler, a non-veg*n management company, in the hope VB could survive as a viable veg*n website. This is when the first "great exodus" occurred. Many of the old-timers objected to Huddler, and chose to leave. On the other hand, some of us stayed. I was not ready to give up what for years had been my "home away from home." Huddler was very lucky to have found Jennifer C- a veg*n- to administer their new site. Jennifer re-organized what was left of VB, and worked with the moderation staff to bring back the old esprit de corps. But then, Huddler sold VB to VerticalScope, its current owner, and Jennifer started to post less and less, and soon stepped down as the site admin. She's still listed as a member, but hasn't posted in over a year. River took up the banner briefly, but was soon replaced by Cricket, the current administrator- a non-vegetarian. As I recall, River asked to be "banned," because she was starting law-school, and was concerned about managing her time. As administrator, and a non-veg*n, Cricket promised to stay in the background, to handle the purely technical functions of the site, and to let the moderators, all of whom are veg*n, run VeggieBoards. Then, these lame home-page articles began to appear. When mods raised objections about the superficiality of the articles, they were essentially overridden, and the articles were published anyway; in other words, we were not being allowed to actually run the boards. I felt somewhat betrayed, but, rather than engage in a behind-the-scenes fight, I elected to step down. In my view, except for those purely technical aspects of running the site, VB doesn't really need an administrator, certainly not a non-veg*n one. I think Cricket, who has expressed an interest in vegetarianism, should make an actual commitment, and become vegetarian herself, or else keep her word, and stay in the background, and let VeggieBoards be run by, about, and for real veg*ns. As it has become, "our" home-page portrays us as little better than a side-show at a carnival, where outsiders can gawk at the funny veg*ns. VB has evolved from a genuine veg*n website into a simple for-profit commodity, managed by non-veg*ns, who don't really know what it's about. I think we're being treated disrespectfully, but perhaps worse, VerticalScope doesn't seem to realize that their interference is preventing us from developing our own community. They seem to want us to adhere to their vision of veg*nism, which is not correct. |
Well, "we're" on Facebook now, so we can all be friends.
I guess that's how they think it works? I, too, dislike the articles. Stop pandering/patronizing the members. They may think that Facebook and these articles drive traffic to the site, but it's not the right traffic. I've heard through the grapevine from other forums that social media definitely does hurt them, but then that means that forums now have to entice users in other ways. A few things that I've found recently, anyways: (1) the lack of discussion, (2) the lack of the ability to discuss, and (3) how we sometimes 'come across' to new people as complete stereotypes. For (1), there are way too many threads about food. There's an entire lifestyle related to veg*ns, so why not explore this area for discussions. For (2), I've been told and have seen that this site is a "safe-haven" for veg*ns. I understand that it won't (and shouldn't) tolerate hate; however, questions or feedback from members that may not be inline with the 'stereotypical' views of veg*ns shouldn't be chastised. For (3), I get frustrated when someone comes on here asking a legitimate question about eating meat and the response is "I wouldn't put burning, rotten, dead, horrible, bloody flesh in my mouth". Ok, that's not good for anybody. It reiterates a ridiculous stereotype about veg*ns, and is quite uninviting to new members. They have a legitimate question, and we've essentially rebuked them. These people need our guidance and support, not our scoffing and finger-wagging. Sorry, not trying to offend anyone, but I've found that forums are generally for discussions. The best part of forums are that you learn about others, their beliefs, and how a particular belief system doesn't exactly fall squarely into a box. There are no particular rules or guidelines that are to be strictly followed in life (generally speaking, of course). If you want a safe-haven where no one will question your views, don't go into public. Call/email/text your likeminded friends to all rant together. I enjoy discussions, because it helps me learn what I don't know. It also helps me learn about the opposing side of any particular argument. If we discourage discussions outside of our comfort zone, I'm probably going to come around here less. I like getting outside of my comfort zone. As the great Eleanor Roosevelt said: Do one thing everyday that scares you. If that means stepping into someone else's shoes for a moment, I'm all for it. |
Years ago, this forum was a target for anti-veg trolls. A duckhunting forum invaded en masse one time.
That is why we are leery of questions about desert island stranding and insects killed in agrigulture, etc. We can go pretty much anywhere IRL, or on Facebook, Twitter, the web, youtube, etc and argue veganism with omnis all day long if we're in the mood. This is the one place we don't have to listen to that. The hardest part while transitioning and just living life as a vegan is the food. That's why we talk about it so much, I guess. |
If "stepping into someone else's shoes" means tolerating hunters and meat-eaters on a veg forum, then I strongly disagree. If there's one place where we can speak truthfully about meat, it's here-- and, frankly, if someone can't handle a plate of dead flesh being called a plate of dead flesh, then they shouldn't be discussing things on the internet.
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heh TailFin, I will actually sometimes argue for something I don't personally believe in. I find it a good way to expand your understanding of a subject.
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Thanks to Spudulika and Joan for the compliments! I worry that I get too invested in debates and that I might come across as a bitter person who's just looking for an argument, so it's good to know that my posts are seen in a positive light! I've always loved debating and I have respect for anyone who can argue a point articulately, even when I disagree.
I'm relatively new to VB and sad to see it disintegrating. What can we do to keep it alive and thriving? |
If this forum is solely meant for those to complain about meat eaters and to not discuss topics or to help provide guidance, than I am in the wrong place.
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As said that thread was great and the contributions were great and I'd love to see more of the same. Consequently I wonder whether we could have debating questions posed for those who do enjoy a good debate?
Like a well behaved Devil's Advocate thread or threads, posed by v*gans to v*gans rather the kind of typical confrontational crap that comes from omni trolling. A lot of the YouTube channels I most enjoy involve in depth questioning of commonly held ideas, both by omnis and vegans. Perhaps we could choose a provocative YouTube video topic to discuss, or an article perhaps, but ensure that the debating tone is kept at a sensible grown up level where there is no abuse, intimidation of or 'pile ons' to those who may differ from the majority or most popularly held view. The great thing about a properly-moderated forum, is that real in depth democratic discussion can take place, possibly like no-where else on the internet. I think there is a real potential that Veggieboards could be great space for this. And I don't think we have 'too many' vegan food discussions either, just too few of the other meatier (so to speak) ones. |
Who are the active mods now?
My general impression is that a few more would be nice. Do the mods not respond to reported posts any longer? I know I haven't received any response to the ones I've recently sent: Poppy 13 January 2016 |
I'm not sure what you mean. We discuss many topics here, but the question of whether or not it is acceptable to kill animals isn't up for debate. This is a forum for vegetarians. If someone is genuinely interested in giving up meat and needs encouragement or advice, that's one thing, but the promotion of hunting or meat-eating is another thing entirely. Maybe we're thinking of very different hypothetical posters, here. What sort of discussions did you have in mind?
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I had a nice reply, but this site is acting really funky for me today. I lost it. Poop.
We are thinking of different hypothetical situations. I don't mean trolls or those promoting hunting or eating meat. I mean when someone is somewhat thinking about being a vegetarian (or they're asking how to convince family or friends) and the responses are similar to: "Oh yeah, dead rotting flesh is terrible, just watch this video of cows getting their heads bashed in". That harsh response doesn't work on a lot of people. We need to take a step back and learn what's motivating them to make the change, and then cater to that motivation. |
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