A quick word on "Overwhelmingly Negative Influences"

[Thumpalumpacus]

This is a decision that you, as the owner, have to address. If enough people leave, will it be worth your money to keep the site alive? If folks stay despite the presence of twats like him, is that something you're happy financing?

Of course the members leave of their own accord. But whether you like it or not, you're in the biggest marketplace in the world -- the Internet. Every poster here has plenty of options, and how you spend your own money is your own business.

As I've said, I may be wrong about this but I suspect that the are far more people who support freedom of speech than there are who would want us to censor / ban people who post offensive / upsetting words.

I've been running this forum for almost a decade now. I've seen hundreds of people leave. I've seen thousands of people join. 4 people leave because they don't like a single member? Yeah, that doesn't affect me as much as you seem to think it does or even should.

And that's all good -- it's your ducats, not mine, on the line. How many of those thousands of gained members post, though?

And -- I'm not advocating for banning on the basis of offense, as I think I've already made clear. My position, once again, is that allowing one member to chase off others is in itself a negative influence, especially when you consider the quality of posting you've retained vs the quality of posting run off. Maybe I value quality over quantity, I dunno.

Don't get me wrong, Tibs; I love the site, and appreciate that you provide a spot where we can speak our minds. I'm offering my opinion here in the hopes of improving the place. If my suggestions aren't useful, so be it.

You own the place, and it's your call. You can listen or not, as you see fit; I offer my opinion, for what it's worth.