DEAD BOARDS

Can a MOD or an Admin, explain why we have all these dead boards. Most of which were dead, even in the older format. If officers from other states request a board to be set up then never use it nor spread the word, why do we have them clogging the space?

Just curious, I would actually like certain agencies to participate like LAPD, but not one of their 9,000+ officers comes on here and its just another dead spot.

[Centurion]

Good Point Chip!

Leoaffairs is missing out because so many officers do not take advantage of the forums provided, usually due to lack of knowledge of them, their potential, and their proper use and application.

Perhaps Leoaffairs could begin outreach to these low response agencies, sponsoring events, local ads, getting the word out thru the respective unions etc. to get these boards fired up. Perhaps calling attention to the activity on boards in use would help.

Also, the teacheraffairs site is suffering the same fate. I cannot believe the teachers do not have anything to say about the conditions they deal with! I just think they do not know about their board.

The more postings you have here, the more real hits you have, the more ad dollars you get. I believe in this format, you can make it happen!

Somehow this board seems to have lost Chips' reply to Guest about the dead boards.

Centurians' message shows that he is responding to what Chip had said - which did explain why the boards are remaining.

I have another theory, which has two prongs.

1. The HCSO law suit DID have a chilling effect on the more vitriolic posters, who now fear that they may be identified and punished.

It also could indicate that a very high number of the total posts were done by this relatively small group which now fears to post the nasty stuff they used to post.

The fear factor is increased by the fact that posts, with their IP information, no longer scrolls off the bottom of the board in a relatively short time.

2. The Moderators are doing a much better job of policing the board and are not permitting the anonymous, defaming, abusive posts of the past, so this same small group is kept from posting - greatly reducing the volume of posts.

-------

Because of these facts you are seeing fewer posts on the boards which are active and no posts on some of the newer boards. Let's hope the dead boards wake up.

:!:

[Sysop]

OK, let's try this again. I already responded to this post once, but my message was apparently lost in the recent transfer to the new servers.

You are absolutely right, we do have a number of agencies with little or no postings. LEOAFFAIRS.COM(tm) originally started with one (1) Message Board for the Tampa Police Department. We then added Board #2 for the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. It spiraled from there to around 50 Message Boards, most of which were located in Florida.

We then went to the National FOP Conference in New Orleans (July/August 2005) where we added around 100 agencies. Tripling the size of our agency Message Boards as well as Moderators was something we had a hard time keeping up with. It took weeks to add all the agencies and there was no one dedicated to train new Moderators on how to be good Moderators or how to keep activity on their Boards. So, while all those new agencies have Moderators, their activity has been slow.

We recently added new positions for Mod 1 and Mod 2. They are in charge of all Moderators and Training. This has also helped free me (and Admin) up for other responsibilities. They are "fixing the problem" with low producing Message Boards and will replace Moderators as needed.

Police Week in Washington D.C. this month was a huge success and we added approximately 100 additional agencies and Moderators (again). Activity on these new Boards will be low simply because they are brand new and we are still in the process of contacting the Moderators.

So, to answer your question, we are aware of the problem and hopefully I explained on how we got here. The good news is that we took steps to correct it before we went to D.C. and now a system is in place to handle it.

In reference to a lack of postings due to the HCSO Sheriff attempting to obtian IP addresses, I would hope by now that no one would question our commitment to keep this information confidential. We pay approximately $2,000 a month in attorney fees to protect the HCSO deputies. That's not something we have to do, but we do it because we think it's the right thing to do. That's also why we have Moderators on every Message Board. Apparently the Courts agree with us because we've won 3 major battles in front of 2 different judges against the HCSO Sheriff and we are currently scheduled to appear before the 2nd District Court of Appeals for Oral Arguments on June 20th. Thanks to Luke Lirot, the First Amendment and prior case law, we are now creating New Case Law that protects You!

It all comes down to how you do things. We don't have to have Moderators and police ourselves, but we do. We'll continue to act professionally and do the right thing, deleting inappropriate content that violates our Terms of Use and Banning abusers when needed. This helps set us apart.

Thanks for your support!

I have another theory, which has two prongs.

1. The HCSO law suit DID have a chilling effect on the more vitriolic posters, who now fear that they may be identified and punished.

It also could indicate that a very high number of the total posts were done by this relatively small group which now fears to post the nasty stuff they used to post.

The fear factor is increased by the fact that posts, with their IP information, no longer scrolls off the bottom of the board in a relatively short time.

2. The Moderators are doing a much better job of policing the board and are not permitting the anonymous, defaming, abusive posts of the past, so this same small group is kept from posting - greatly reducing the volume of posts.

-------

Because of these facts you are seeing fewer posts on the boards which are active and no posts on some of the newer boards. Let's hope the dead boards wake up.

:!:

There is something about change, many don't like it. You're right in that I think the perception is that with the posts not scrolling off it is less safe. Some day, some way, some agency is going to find a way to get that info then with a precedent set ... and with nothing scrolling off ... not that anyone thinks Chip won't defend us to the best of Lirot's ability. It's just that the roaches never stop coming, and somehow they always manage to find a way in.

Secondly, I don't think that a few people were posting due to massive troll posts. I think that fear as mentioned above plus the fact that everyone is waiting for someone else to get the ball rolling good and hard first. I know this because of the number of lurkers, how many people are reading the posts if not replying. People are still out there, but until enough people overcome the fear and post as before, these boards will stay dead.

I don't know if there is anything the admin of leoaffairs can do about that.

GET RID OF THEM, SOME OF THESE BOARDS NO ONE HAS EVER POSTED ON THEM EVEN ON TH OLD SYSTEM TOO. I READ THAT LAPD HAS A BOARD ALREADY SO WHY WOULD THEY NEED ONE HERE. GOING NATIONAL HAS NOT WORKED SO JUST KEEP IT LOCAL SO WE ALL CAN BE HAPPY.

GET RID OF THEM, SOME OF THESE BOARDS NO ONE HAS EVER POSTED ON THEM EVEN ON TH OLD SYSTEM TOO. I READ THAT LAPD HAS A BOARD ALREADY SO WHY WOULD THEY NEED ONE HERE. GOING NATIONAL HAS NOT WORKED SO JUST KEEP IT LOCAL SO WE ALL CAN BE HAPPY.

Why are you obsessed on the inactive boards? They don't affect you - just skip over the ones you aren't interested in.

Keep it local? Nahhhh.............

8)

Can a MOD or an Admin, explain why we have all these dead boards. Most of which were dead, even in the older format. If officers from other states request a board to be set up then never use it nor spread the word, why do we have them clogging the space?

Just curious, I would actually like certain agencies to participate like LAPD, but not one of their 9,000+ officers comes on here and its just another dead spot.

I think if LAPD began posting on this forum, the gangs of California would all have to unite to stop the violence amonst the LAPD. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

THE REASON WHY IT BOTHERS ME IS THE FACT ITS ANNOYING. WHY SCROLL THROUGH ALL THESE DEAD BOARDS JUST TO GET TO HCSO. HOW BOUT YOU MAKE A QUICK LINK TO YOUR ACTIVE BOARDS WHILE YOU SEE IF YOU CAN GET MORE PARTICIPATION FROM OTHER AGENCIES.

[MOD 1]

THE REASON WHY IT BOTHERS ME IS THE FACT ITS ANNOYING. WHY SCROLL THROUGH ALL THESE DEAD BOARDS JUST TO GET TO HCSO. HOW BOUT YOU MAKE A QUICK LINK TO YOUR ACTIVE BOARDS WHILE YOU SEE IF YOU CAN GET MORE PARTICIPATION FROM OTHER AGENCIES.

Have you thought of Bookmarking or adding the HCSO page to your favorites? Then you could go straight to it, without scrolling through anything.