Please tell us what is going on

[Guest]

This is a request to Steen or the moderators.

Please post an entry in the Announcements section of the forum telling everybody what is going on at the moment regarding topics being moved to closed areas (as far as guests are concerned) and topics being deleted without trace.

There seems little point having an Annoucements section if you don't use it when there are policy changes being made.

[maddi]

Steen posted the following on Chit Chat (he may well remove it from here as being inappropriate for general).

The very first posting on www.carvoeiro.com was made on the 27th of July 1998 (http://www.carvoeiro.com/Guestbooks/guestbook1998.htm), since then more than 75.000 posts have been made which remain on the forum. Some have been deleted because they were spam, some have been moved because they were not in the right place and others have been deleted because they were off topic or could be defined as baiting, trolling or flaming (please see definitions here viewtopic.php?t=5287 )

Freedom of speech does not include disrespect for authority (moderators); recently a user has withdrawn because his post was removed yet he was "just expressing an opinion about how older members had treated x" - but thus ignoring the fact that all the unrelated replies had been removed - it is the moderators job to police the forum not the users - "I will post 4 if you remove this one mods........and 5 and 6" is definitely not the right path to voice a complaint, a mail to me would clarify matters.

Following that two other users, one with a history of more than 2.800 postings (an average of 12.86 posts per day since signing up) accuses me of impeding "Freedom of speech" on the forum - honestly?

There are no cover-ups on www.carvoeiro.com, but there is no room for broad accusations either, if anyone has any unresolved issues they wish to share, it should be done in the open; giving names, starting by ones own and stating facts - giving the opponent a chance to answer, or even better, informing the opponent beforehand with a quote of what is to be published. Nobody is helped by creating confusion with insinuations.

www.carvoeiro.com is not meant to be a glorified postcard of the town but a place to share the town, both the good sides and the less good sides, in particular for the many who don't speak the language and can't participate in the local democratic process. I believe the forum is valuable in that respect. Yet, those with a cause, be it a noble one, business interests or a combination thereof should stand up and put their own name and face to their opinions, they are welcome, but transparency is needed. I am happy to help setting up web sites or blogs and providing server space for these.

This forum can not be a democracy ruled by faceless people using covers, it is, very unofficially, representing one picture of a specific town and with that comes responsibility. It might be of little consequence for Joe or Jack when posting, but every little brush contributes towards a picture that might influence the livelihood of the locals - is it therefore too much to ask for a little self-moderation?

That should answer you question.

Maddi

p.s. if deleted from general I would completely understand especially as Guest asked you guys the question not me!!