If you have any comments for the editors of fodors.com.....
 

Hi
On the main page of fodors.com, on the left side of the screen, is an invitation to "write to us."
If anyone is feeling the inclination to bring to the editor's attention any recent problem or source of problems on this forum, that would be a way to do it.

Elaine, thanks for your suggestion as I just took advantage of the opportunity to discuss a VERY negative person who is full of HATE about ANYONE who travels. Thanks, Mike

I'm not one to write about these things, but if someone <i>did</i> want to make a handy suggestion about persons unknown -

There's always the thought that deleting accounts doesn't work if dealing with a reoccurring personality disorders (well, it's probably ok if the RPD belongs to the deletor, rather than the deletee). Suggest that they trace the IP back to the person's ISP (or college, etc). A person has to know a bit about how not to have their IP traced to avoid this. Otherwise, it's logged every time a person accesses a page on this site. Fodors is well within its bounds to ask that the person's ISP account be closed down. Almost all ISPs, as well as public access points, schools, etc have usage clauses against harassment.

If nothing else, Fodors should be able to block a list or range of IPs using their own server config files.

Those familiar with the US boards were sickened this past year by the constant badgering by a poster (using various names) who slammed everything posted about San Francisco. It became really obnoxious. The editors clearly blocked his posts, only for him to reregister a new name, but eventually it apparently became more effort than it was worth for him as he has now disappeared permanently. So it does work! It just takes time.

Or he was hit by the San Jose Express bus. :)

Maybe still lost in the Mystery House?

The San Jose nut moved to Dallas. :D

I wrote a week or so ago to [email protected] to bring to their attention an ugly thread about a nice poster supposedly needing two plane seats, or something like that. By the time they replied to say that they'd forward my message to the site producers, the thread had been deleted long before. Waht I'd really like to know is how to contact the &quot;site's producers.&quot;

Thank you.
I just submitted my reaction to the improper postings and solicitation of information for countries in the inappropriate forums.

Clifton, LOL!

I will just add that posting remarks here on the forum will NOT get you any reply or response from the editors. Writing directly to them, as elaine has pointed out, is the only effective channel of communication.

About 8 months ago I started a thread about marijuana use in coffee shops in Amsterdam. It began as an interesting inter-culteral exchange, about &quot;soft&quot; drugs, the ages different cultures permit alcohol consumption....and some people went off the wall in judgments and criticisms. After a lot of posts (can't remember how many, but it was well over 30), Fodors.com just deleted it. Gone. I thought it was a great dialogue...but our hosts evidently did not.

Rather than get Fodors to delete a person (which only causes them to reregister under a different name), there should be an ignore function so that those who wish could place a person on personal ignore.

The offending might not even realize they're on ignore and they wouldn't reregister.

An indivual's option to put a certain poster on &quot;ignore&quot; does nothing to stop an offending poster from posting defamatory remarks that can do a lot of harm, since not everyone will ignore them. I never really understood the point of the &quot;ignore&quot; function on Delphi and AboutCom, though those forums have many valuable features that Fodors does not have, e.g., an excellent search function.

I'm not sure how an ignore button would work. This isn't a chat room where you can prevent a particular poster from contacting you. Are you suggesting that if I put a poster on ignore, that posters comments wouldn't appear when I brought up a thread? I don't think so.

I belong to an investment board and that's exactly what it does.

There are two basic functions: posting on the board and sending private messages to individuals.

If you place a person on ignore, you don't see their posts and they can't send you a private message.

If 500 people place an individual on ignore, essentially their posts are not being seen or read.

If you choose not to place the person on ignore, you deserve to be subjected to their posts.

The alternative is to have them removed from the board. All they'll do is reregister under a different name.

cmt is right, though, myer. In the case of the San Jose guy, his misleading remarks were very destructive to newcomers asking questions about SF. If the rest of us had him on &quot;ignore,&quot; we wouldn't even know he was giving out bad advice.

There have also been a few cases on here where one individual targets another specifically, posting on all the same threads, making nasty remarks, etc. &quot;Ignore&quot; might keep some people from reading those remarks, but others would see them and it would be just as unpleasant for the target.

&quot;Ignore&quot; seems to me a bit like sticking your head in the sand. Just because you don't read it, doesn't mean it's not there.

You make an excellent point, Marilyn. I have thought, however, that an ignore button would be great because if a troll were targeting a specific person or persons than those persons (putting that person on ignore) wouldn't feel the need to respond. Once the troll isn't being &quot;fed&quot; than s/he would go to another venue (hopefully).

I think, too, that some of the issues on this board stem from hot-topic issues such as politics or fashion. If one see someone posting negatively about your party or affiliation then one might feel compelled to post defensively. That's where some of these threads bog down are debates over these topics. And I've been guilty myself.

Some people really hate what they term the &quot;frivolous&quot; posts (I don't mind them myself - I engage in them). I think an ignore button would be useful in this situation as well. Those who are offended by posters who engage in this can place the &quot;offenders&quot; on ignore; the &quot;offended&quot; can continue to read the board in relative peace and the &quot;offenders&quot; can continue to post in relative peace, also.

Just a few thoughts.