Site Slander

[Nixeon]

Now this is something i sorta wanted ask in a support boards but was unsure how to so thought here could be best. When there is another site out there which is insulting your own, your members or anything along those lines but its in topics which get hidden/deleted/moved to discord so they arent seen on the PB system....how is best to handle that? 

Sure, i know, be an adult and ignore it. Im fine when thats directed at me, my site or in general on my end but when it comes to my members i get a little more protective and wanna do something about it

[User 180565 is taking donation]

Ignoring it isn't always the best adult way to go about things, I'd post in the support board. There are still fine lines when it comes to freedom of speech but if this is harassment then it needs to be reported.

[Nixeon]

So you think reporting them even if i have no evidence in the way of threads or direct comments and the like is an option? I mean dont get me wrong, ive looked in to doing it and i wanna sometimes but i feel ive not got a lot to go with 

[User 180565 is taking donation]

Really depends on what's being discussed, if it's someone leaking out personal info on a user then yeah, that could qualify as a police report. I dont think there is much proboards could do when it comes to other sites, as long as it's nothing too bad then I'd just do what you said and ignore it. Unless someone is out to cause you physical harm or if it's just this person said this which I find dumb so I'm going to make them look dumb isn't really that big of an issue. I'd keep your eyes out though. And like I said if it get's to the point of personal harassment, take screen shots, email them to your local police.

[wildmaven]

I've moved this from General Talk to Open For Discussion, a place for forum owners to discuss the general running of their forums. ProBoards does not handle disputes between forums unless they violate the Terms of Service (TOS). If they do violate the TOS, report them via the Report Abuse link at the bottom of the forum. Anything outside of that, should involve your local law enforcement if you feel it truly is an actual crime.

Why do you care what another forum says about you anyway? Just continue to make your forum the best it can be, don't give in to the urge to look at what they're saying, and they'll eventually move on to another target because it's no fun for them anymore once you quit caring what they say. 

[Kami]

Technical things: if there is off-site activity (eg discord), no you can't report it. PB can not control what users do off their service. They can however take action on a forum using the service to attack you  IF you can have at least one link (even if it was hidden later) that you can pass along.

That said, Ive been in these situations before and unless it gets to actually dangerous harassment (like private info getting leaked), wildmaven is absolutely correct in saying the best revenge is to listen to your members' feedback and live well. The forum in question on my end is being redesigned after fifteen years of steady use; all the other forums that made snide remarks about us have long since been inactive.

[Nixeon]

Thank you, the issue is the largest part of these things are being reported by my members and not myself so im not seeing things - though from what it being said i to believe people - and then im going to links they give to find stuff deleted or discord chats which have since had channels deleted or all comments removed.

I think you are right, we are a very old site and we are keeping alive and well and i think maybe thats part of it and just being happy and ignoring it might be best. Seeing as its all nasty comments on how we run things, how we randomise (or assusedly cheat) its nothing serious enough to go to the police or such aside nasty comments to members or about them so....its all a lot of "he said, she said" really

[Retread]

Jun 19, 2020 2:20:59 GMT -8 Nixeon said:

Now this is something i sorta wanted ask in a support boards but was unsure how to so thought here could be best. When there is another site out there which is insulting your own, your members or anything along those lines but its in topics which get hidden/deleted/moved to discord so they arent seen on the PB system....how is best to handle that? 

Sure, i know, be an adult and ignore it. Im fine when thats directed at me, my site or in general on my end but when it comes to my members i get a little more protective and wanna do something about it

1 - Avoid the temptation of playing the hero. Any actions you take publicly will be another opportunity for members on the other forum to criticize. If there is a reason to take action such as an Abuse Report, do so quietly and without any fanfare.

2 - If the insults have been hidden or deleted, the problem has already been solved (by the staff of the other forum), haven't they? Why would you care about something that has already been handled?

3 - Discord channels are a long singular string. Anything said there becomes quickly buried. Unless the people in that conversation are organizing an attack (or doxing your members), get over it.

4 - Quickly stifle any posting on your own forum regarding insults that occur on other forums which directed at your forum or your members. Move those posts to staff-only boards (or delete them). If you feel they merit investigation, quote the post and include that in a PM to the member who made the post. If you allow those conversations to remain in the public space, that serves to feed the trolls on the other forum since they can easily see they have had an effect.

5 - never Never NEVER allow your forum to be used to organize any sort of retaliation. This is how forum wars start.

[Kami]

Retread has some great advice.

One more thing I would add is to perhaps examine the expectations you have set with your members. Yes, Forum B seems to be instigating things and that's something you can't control. But, look to the community you have built that has somehow encouraged your members to engage with what appears to be a clearly hostile community.

You can't force people to suddenly behave because change comes from within, but you can set community expectations (and consequences if needed), not just in what people post but what kind of attitudes are allowed to fester. I think you may find that some ways that the forum has been interacting with others may be due to the type of culture that has grown.

If a member comes up to you with a report, thank them for their concern efforts but you are choosing not to engage and advise they do the same. Quietly lead by example and also make a clear statement forum-wide to level set expectations -- it doesn't have to point fingers and can be quite personable like,

"Hey friends! I appreciate everyone's efforts in trying to keep this a fun community. Just a small reminder though that we don't engage or participate in public callouts, and ask that everyone move forward and keep ourselves focused on [forum topic]. Thank you!"

It's vague but it avoids calling out specific individuals who may have been engaging, and if there are further reports you can either take care of them privately or reiterate that public callouts aren't acceptable.

[wildmaven]

As a reminder to all members, the Rules of Proboards state: "Member/Forum squabbles should be left at the door and not brought to the support forum, especially the support board. If a member feels there is a situation that violates the Terms of Service or Community Guidelines they should contact [e-mail]"

While it is fine to discuss problems in a generalized way, outing a forum, giving out someone's real name that they have never displayed here, or any other sort of specific squabbles is inappropriate and should NOT be posted here.

It is also not acceptable to give out any sort of legal advice.

I have removed posts that have violated the Rules and common sense.