Firstly, thanks to everyone for the comments they have posted. They make very interesting reading and I do appreciate the views.
On the whole, it would, seem, you are in favour of message boards, at least the ones to do with interests or hobbies. It is heartwarming to know that some of you have made friends that way.
I guess, in the end, it comes down to personal choice as do most things in life.
However, I wish there was some way of vetting offensive material before it is posted. The hosts do a wonderful job but they are only human. They cannot deal with everything instantly - there are too many postings for that. The fact that I was able to read such material proves that some slip through the net. Yes, they do get deleted afterwards but, by then, many people have been offended or deeply hurt, many have read anti-racial remarks and incitement to violence. There are thousands of youngsters using the internet, some of them very young. This is not the sort of thing they should be exposed to. Yes, there are parental controls but not every parent bothers about them. This is the real world, all parents are not perfect.
Many of you remarked that you were sorry I was upset. Believe me, friends, I was not upset. I am big enough and old enough to know what life is all about. I have not attained the age I have without learning about people. No, I was angry, angry that people could write this sort of filth especially under those circumstances. I was angry for the Muslims who were posting messages of condolence having to see things like that, read about what people were saying should be done to all Muslims. I was angry for all the decent posters who would have seen this garbage as well. That is why I asked for your views.
Thanks to all who have commented.
4 comments:
I agree, what else is there to say....
Sad to think that people have such hatred inside them.
Sara x
you are right on. i cant stand those message boards or the chat room for teens. they seem to be the only ones on them. what a new generation we have brought into the world. they think that they are the only ones reading their garbage. xxroberta
I'm a day behind on your postings. I only check out a few message boards on a regualr basis. One is the Sheltie board. Even there egos take over and there have been several feuds between the regulars. The last one was so bad, a bunch left and created their own board at Yahoo. I just check in occasionally to keep up with news of peoples doggies. The others I regularly visit are authors boards, like Dean Koontz, for one. Generally, people are nicer there, but not much action in between books. However, those boards specific to recent news events are awful. Don't go near them anymore as all the wackos come out in full force. Truthfully, I don't think AOL should begin those types of boards as they know (or at least they should know by now) the types of postings they will get. Mean, hateful things are posted and then the board host or leader gets indignant, pulling posts and posting warnings about what is and is not acceptable and the nonsense goes on ad infinitum. It seems to me, if AOL is going to act as THE FINAL JUDGE and CENSOR, they need to act responsibly in the first place. You can't give the general public an open forum like that and then say "now you all be good little boys and girls and play nice." It just ain't gonna happen. That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it. Hope you're doing well.
Susan
I used to frequent message boards - not anymore. I found them detrimental to my mental health - too toxic - yuck.
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