by rcraftlady 25 Nov 2008

+25

First, I must apologize. I am perhaps one of the worst offenders of that which I now understand to be the accepted practices of this forum. I simply did not know that

what I was doing was incorrect, unwelcome or played a role in moving this forum in a NEW and undesirable direction. I quietly watched for quite some time before becoming swept-up in what seemed, at the time, to be a very warm, open-minded exchange and a sharing of that which each individual had to offer to the group. However, after this post, I will also be leaving. I firmly believe that if the suggested censorship of this site is embraced, any uniqueness that it has to offer will be lost and its value greatly diminished. I receive countless daily digests, read numerous online chats and participate in a number of Yahoo groups, which demonstrate the narrow-focus suggested for this forum. I would also like to point out that there are an endless number of resources, both online and in print, that offer a wide range of approaches and well-written, concise answers to virtually any ME question or issue that we might have. However, I'm NOT suggesting that questions be disallowed, I think that we all benefit from the asking and answering. However, what I am suggesting, is that censorship of the group for other than such things as illegal or socially unacceptable content would be a major error in judgment. The offerings of new sites to visit and, yes, the enticement of the freebies that they may offer has great potential for increasing the size and knowledge base of the forum community, not to mention the participant forum approval level/happiness with the site. The more who participate, the more who will become paying members of the site, if that is the concern. A happy forum member, refers their friends, colleagues and acquaintances, which I have done on a regular basis. I found, that the men and women of this forum are very, very diverse and I feel that it is unwise to govern the direction of this site and this forum in a manner that is narrow in perspective. Personally, the posts that are of little, well actually NO, interest nor value to me... are those that boast of the accomplishments of the writer or point out such things as the number of flowers that the writer has accumulated. However, I would far prefer to take these posts with an open mind and spirit, rather than one of censorship, as the writer simply had a need to post this material and that should, in my mind, be good enough reason. I remind myself, to be more accepting of those, who appear less well-endowed intellectually, who feel the need to boast, or who are boorish or petty. I have enjoyed the forum and the many lovely participants. I would suggest that a bit of information be posted in a prominent location about Veronica and about the expected focus, practices and procedures of forum participants. I've looked and found nothing that would suggest what I have read today is acceptable. I am saddened by that which has transpired and will sign off for the final time.