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[Marc]

Hi Guys,

 

Was gonna post this up on the forum a few days ago, however decided it was best for me to calm down from something before doing so. There was a question posted up as to why private messages are not private here on the forum, so I am going to do my best to answer this as the last thing we want on the forum is the thought that there is some kind of hidden conspiracy or agenda.

 

Before I explain fully the reasoning behind it I need to make a few points clear which seem to have been misunderstood for whatever reason.

 

• Nowhere on the forum system is the word private used. - This was specifically and delibrately removed so as not to mislead anyone into thinking that a message on the forum was private in any way.
• When signing up to the forum, it specifically states that the messenger can be read at any time by site administrators
• The rules also contain text specifically stating that messages can be read by site administrators
• There are ONLY site administrators with this ability. Thats Sarah, Dunc, Jos, and myself.

 

Point to note: Even if there was no "system" as such to allow the viewing of messages for admin, at least half of those (Jos and myself) would be able to view them anyway. This is the same on every single forum you ever visit with no exceptions to that rule. Anyone who has access to the database can see a message whether you think this to be private or not. This is not to say that they do so, but to expect that they cant with readily available tools they have at their disposal is a mistake, as they can and quite easlily.

 

 

The reasoning behind this is extremely simple. We have children on the forum (including my own) and have adults the majority of which I do not know. The forum therefore with anything private makes an easy target for the predators of children unless we ensure there is nothing on the forum which is private. Bare in mind this is not something which has been done because it could happen, this is somethign which has been done because we have been told it HAS happened, on this forum. I will not go into any further detail on that, but needless to say that not acting upon this was not an option.

 

 

You want a private conversation? No problem, send someone an email, send them a facebook message, send them a text or ring them up. We do not have anything private on this forum and that is not something which is about to change, or will ever change.

 

In addition because of the confusion through people not reading what is readily put in front of them I have also added a warning now to the messaging section of the forum.

 

Let me answer another question personally also which has been asked. Do we readily read every message that is sent on the forum? Well, I work full time, I run this forum, I develop modifications for 3 different forum software types, I help run 3 other forums in addition to this one also. You tell me whether you think I have the time or the inclination to go reading every message that is ever sent on the forum. To think as much is quite frankly ridiculous. When there is something going on surrounding a specific person, yes I may well go and see what messages have been being sent to and from that person, but other than that there isnt enough hours in the day.

 

Another point to note: The mistake that we have made isnt that we have the ability to read these. The mistake we have made is that we are openly transparent about it when most are not. And people then wonder why there is no transparency in this world.