Reply #369: Forum

[Dr Ron]

I assume you are asking about the Forum.

Mike had a strange view of the forum in which he wanted it based upon open discussion but tried to strictly control that discussion.

I supported more structure, but also more freedom for members. For example we had news and position statements partially separate from discussion, with open discussion of the articles also in other threads. There was also a formal question and answer section.

Mike opposed our efforts at creating this structure just wanting people to basically have discussions--but then would ban people if they didn't discuss like he wanted. He wound up alienating lots of Kerry supporters, or people who could have been won over, because they worded their comments in a way he didn't like. He wound up banning many of the early Kerry supporters for disagreeing with how he ran the forum. Later the campaign stepped in and wouldn't allow him to ban people as freely, but by then the damage was done and most of the early Kerry supporters no longer had anything to do with the forum.