Usually, I like to handle these things quietly and move on, but due to recent/continuing conversations, I have to make this post.
Our main site, SeatHound, is a simple ticket aggregation site that helps people save money on event tickets. (some really cool features soon to be released on that site) My business partner and I are always thinking of new ways to get eye balls on the site. More eye balls equals more sales, etc... Pretty simple concept. One of these ideas was to purchase fan sites and brand them with SeatHound data to create a partnership in the eyes of the major search engines. (Google, Bing, Yahoo) BoltTalk is one of those sites. And yes, we own and operate multiple fan sites. (I will be posting a similar message on one of those sites)
Our goal when acquiring fan sites is NOT to kill them, but help them grow. Bring some of the latest forum technologies to the fan sites and continue to upgrade the user experience across multiple devices. For the most part, I feel we have done a pretty good job keeping the lights on and making the forum browsing experience a good one. Everything that we can control with a "forum" website is done to the best of our ability. However, there are a number of things that we cannot control... (nor should we)
The biggest thing that is completely out of our control is user opinion. Everyone has an opinion, which in our eyes, is a good thing. That helps create discussions on a forum. The problem starts when opinions turn into attacks/insults/threats. This starts the "not fun" part of running/owning forums, but it is one of those things we have to deal with from time to time.
I am the type of person to give 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 'N' number of chances. I always want to believe that people can change for the betterment of the community. But there are some situations where people will not change. And yes, it is their right to not change one thing about themselves, and that is okay. However, at the end of the day, we have to do what is best for this community.
It is easy to ban someone for spamming, advertising or other random things are completely obvious. But it is extremely difficult when it comes time to ban someone due to personality issues/conflicts. Very difficult. Why is it so difficult? Because it involves opinions and not empirical evidence. And like I stated before, everyone has an opinion that usually differs from your own. Do we get it right ever time? Of course not. But we are trying to make decisions based on all the information collected and on our past experiences. (I have been doing Internet projects/websites for a very long time...)
Finally, lets look at what this site is, a fan forum for the San Diego Chargers. Nothing more, nothing less. Some members are just not a good fit for this community. Doesn't make those members a bad person. I am sure there will be another community out there that better suits his or her personality. And when I make a decision, I move on immediately to the next things because I just don't have time to dwell on it. So to the members that didn't get responses to their personal conversations, I apologize. I didn't want to dwell on specific situations because again, everyone's opinions is different.
Feel free to comment on this thread or send me a personal conversations if you want to discuss this further. (I will be responding to PCs regarding this topic)
Our main site, SeatHound, is a simple ticket aggregation site that helps people save money on event tickets. (some really cool features soon to be released on that site) My business partner and I are always thinking of new ways to get eye balls on the site. More eye balls equals more sales, etc... Pretty simple concept. One of these ideas was to purchase fan sites and brand them with SeatHound data to create a partnership in the eyes of the major search engines. (Google, Bing, Yahoo) BoltTalk is one of those sites. And yes, we own and operate multiple fan sites. (I will be posting a similar message on one of those sites)
Our goal when acquiring fan sites is NOT to kill them, but help them grow. Bring some of the latest forum technologies to the fan sites and continue to upgrade the user experience across multiple devices. For the most part, I feel we have done a pretty good job keeping the lights on and making the forum browsing experience a good one. Everything that we can control with a "forum" website is done to the best of our ability. However, there are a number of things that we cannot control... (nor should we)
The biggest thing that is completely out of our control is user opinion. Everyone has an opinion, which in our eyes, is a good thing. That helps create discussions on a forum. The problem starts when opinions turn into attacks/insults/threats. This starts the "not fun" part of running/owning forums, but it is one of those things we have to deal with from time to time.
I am the type of person to give 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 'N' number of chances. I always want to believe that people can change for the betterment of the community. But there are some situations where people will not change. And yes, it is their right to not change one thing about themselves, and that is okay. However, at the end of the day, we have to do what is best for this community.
It is easy to ban someone for spamming, advertising or other random things are completely obvious. But it is extremely difficult when it comes time to ban someone due to personality issues/conflicts. Very difficult. Why is it so difficult? Because it involves opinions and not empirical evidence. And like I stated before, everyone has an opinion that usually differs from your own. Do we get it right ever time? Of course not. But we are trying to make decisions based on all the information collected and on our past experiences. (I have been doing Internet projects/websites for a very long time...)
Finally, lets look at what this site is, a fan forum for the San Diego Chargers. Nothing more, nothing less. Some members are just not a good fit for this community. Doesn't make those members a bad person. I am sure there will be another community out there that better suits his or her personality. And when I make a decision, I move on immediately to the next things because I just don't have time to dwell on it. So to the members that didn't get responses to their personal conversations, I apologize. I didn't want to dwell on specific situations because again, everyone's opinions is different.
Feel free to comment on this thread or send me a personal conversations if you want to discuss this further. (I will be responding to PCs regarding this topic)
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