Blackburn 24/7?

emamum · 26-08-2008, 21:48

has been shut down.....anyone know whats happened?heres what MB's said......

Quote:

Apologies to the people that made this their home. It may return at some point, but at the moment I can't dedicate any more time to settling petty disputes and I draw the line when people try to make this site a scapegoat for their own problems. More than a few people decided to abuse what was the only independent forum dedicated to our town. Some misguidedly used it as a means to get back at ex partners or air their dirty laundry (or both) and when asked to stop vented their anger on the site - not the real issues. That's just one example, but hey it was only once in a while we had problems, but it seems that offline the site had been knocked, slandered even, by people who felt that a site ran voluntarily, somehow owed them something. And that meant that people, through hearsay, decided not to visit the site as often or not at all.

BERNADETTE · 26-08-2008, 21:56

In house name calling and such like

Neil · 26-08-2008, 22:11

What else do you expect in Blackburn

jambutty · 26-08-2008, 22:32

Blackburn 247 has gone and left behind the following.

Quote:

Sorry, Blackburn 247 is offline indefinitely.

I wrote this because the last time the site went offline because of a technical problem I got accused of 'taking the site away from it's members' even though I'm the sap who pays for it to be here, and it's always been free... And it was only a technical hitch back then. So...

Apologies to the people that made this their home. It may return at some point, but at the moment I can't dedicate any more time to settling petty disputes and I draw the line when people try to make this site a scapegoat for their own problems. More than a few people decided to abuse what was the only independent forum dedicated to our town. Some misguidedly used it as a means to get back at ex partners or air their dirty laundry (or both) and when asked to stop vented their anger on the site - not the real issues. That's just one example, but hey it was only once in a while we had problems, but it seems that offline the site had been knocked, slandered even, by people who felt that a site ran voluntarily, somehow owed them something. And that meant that people, through hearsay, decided not to visit the site as often or not at all.

The site was set up before the likes of MySpace and Facebook, and before the Lancashire Telegraph decided to allow commenting to their pages. It was a means for Blackburn people to keep in touch, chat and discuss local issues. It didn't receive any funding from the council or anywhere else. Sadly it can't remain if only 80 out of 1000+ members are using it regularly.

Perhaps when people stop using the net as some kind of cheap counselling tool, and realize that... "Hey everyone in the world can read this crap I'm writing." And think before they click the submit button, well I may resurrect it. Though I fear that may not happen in our lifetimes!

If you did like the site and would like it in some way resurrected, please join the Facebook 247 group.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=14954967523

Or you're welcome to use the forum at my other site: www.pleasedsheep.com

Thanks for visiting, and special thanks to those that made the site worthwhile over the years, MB

No other comment other than I’m sorry to see it go.

Maybe there is a lesson there?

Lilly · 26-08-2008, 22:36

I've never used that site.

booth76 · 26-08-2008, 22:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by emamum23

has been shut down.....anyone know whats happened?heres what MB's said......

I've been as frank as I can on the front page of the site. It's not just one problem but a host of them, which led to the closure of the site. You're very lucky to have such a very loyal membership on this site.

An example of the problems is when a member decided to bring up the very inappropriate subject of the Sophie Lancaster tragedy to win favor in an argument, and show the site in a bad light. There was no need to make a point by using that. That's not what I set the site up for, the last thing I want is the girls poor parents to see that on something so trivial as an internet forum that I'm running. Especially when attached to such a petty squabble. That was just one of many things over the past 18 months which have forced my hand. Ex girlfriends bashing ex boyfriends and vice-versa, airing dirty laundry. Then I hear that these people are telling their friends not to use the site. I don't see why the site should be held responsible for offline events, but that's the mentality of some people.

We had some very loyal members but sadly not enough to justify the site remaining. Our site was the first of all the current local sites (even Accyweb), so it's a shame I've had to take the decision. And it's a shame that us Blackburn'ers can't be as proud as you Accy folk.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BERNADETTE

In house name calling and such like

Not at all Bernadette. In house would suggest that the moderators and admins had problems with each other which isn't true. They were fantastic.

It's a case of a few (very) bad eggs upsetting the apple cart.

emamum · 26-08-2008, 22:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by booth76

An example of the problems is when a member decided to bring up the very inappropriate subject of the Sophie Lancaster tragedy to win favor in an argument, and show the site in a bad light. There was no need to make a point by using that. That's not what I set the site up for, the last thing I want is the girls poor parents to see that on something so trivial as an internet forum that I'm running. Especially when attached to such a petty squabble. That was just one of many things over the past 18 months which have forced my hand. Ex girlfriends bashing ex boyfriends and vice-versa, airing dirty laundry. Then I hear that these people are telling their friends not to use the site.
.

I saw the goth argument, that was horrible.
Its a shame its shut down, i was a member on there and was just starting to get used to the members on there...

BERNADETTE · 26-08-2008, 22:45

Sorry to hear that you have felt you had no choice but to close the site just because of a few members. At the end of the day you don't need it

booth76 · 26-08-2008, 22:46

I may resurrect it at some point, but I doubt I would run it on this software (we used the same forum as Accyweb) as it seems difficult to block people (read, idiots) completely using this. Something like Facebook is easy to keep out unwanted attention for example, and this helps the moderators.

You guys and gals on here are great, so loyal to the Accyweb cause. Has Roy put something in the water?

booth76 · 26-08-2008, 22:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by BERNADETTE

Sorry to hear that you have felt you had no choice but to close the site just because of a few members. At the end of the day you don't need it

Not so long ago a family member of mine had their business slandered on the site too. It's not nice to wake up to read something like that. And when the member that did that was eventually banned (for something else - posting inappropriate comments about someone's mother, who had just come out of intensive care) this member sent a message out to all 100+ of her Facebook friends telling them not to go on the site because, and I quote, 'they don't allow free speech'.

BERNADETTE · 26-08-2008, 22:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by booth76

Not so long ago a family member of mine had their business slandered on the site too. It's not nice to wake up to read something like that. And when the member that did that was eventually banned (for something else - posting inappropriate comments about someone's mother, who had just come out of intensive care) this member sent a message out to all 100+ of her Facebook friends telling them not to go on the site because, and I quote, 'don't allow free speech'.

That is terrible.

emamum · 26-08-2008, 23:01

I'm sick of this 'free speech' malarky! You are allowed free speech as long as it doesnt hurt or offend anyone else, anothe forum i go on is having a problem with this as well..