I Miss A Certain Member - Have I Missed Something?

Me too

Me too.

Happy new year to you all
I haven't posted for ages but still reading

Hi All,

If you do a search on the Member page, his profile comes up as normal.
And if you click on his profile, you will see that he was last online on the 19th Dec, which was also the last day he posted.

It would be great to see him on the forum again, but I suspect that he may just have decided to take Xmas off - as so many of us do.

I miss his posts too. I was just assuming he was taking a Christmas/New Year break.

Brunneria said:

If you do a search on the Member page, his profile comes up as normal.

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This is true of other member's profiles too. However several of those have actually been banned. The mods obviously know who has been banned and who is just taking a break. It's not so easy for the rest of us, which was why, a couple of months back, I asked for banned members to be always annotated as banned. I wasn't being awkward, just asking for transparency and clarity to stop the need for folk asking questions on threads like this. Consistency would be good.

Didn't know there was a naughty step
Glad no one misses me posting, too much presure

I don't agree that people should be "named and shamed" by announcing a ban to the whole world - as I understand it, a ban can be temporary thing,so could be for short term only in any event. That would then create a desire to know why the ban - which is a confidential thing, I guess.

It is the way of life with many things, that people come and go into our lives, (and a few stay for always); life happens, people have their fill of a certain site and move on to another, drop off the wagon, computer breaks down, can't afford ISP costs - a dozen different reasons for not posting. I see no reason why anyone should explain themselves to the site or anywhere else.

There could be a whole range of very good reasons (or not good reasons - it's none of our business) why a member hasn't posted.

Salvia said:

I don't agree that people should be "named and shamed" by announcing a ban to the whole world

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I agree with you, however some are named and shamed. It is this inconsistency that is wrong.

Salvia said:

That would then create a desire to know why the ban - which is a confidential thing, I guess.

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Though it would be good if the person who has been banned is told the reason, don't you think?

zand said:

I agree with you, however some are named and shamed. It is this inconsistency that is wrong.

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I haven't seen any of these, so can't comment. Is it because something's changed in the system, over time; e.g. a ban used to be stated but now isn't? I don't expect you to know, nor answer, that - perhaps something that could be included in forum procedures or rules?

[/QUOTE ="zand, post: 1661121, member: 85197"]Though it would be good if the person who has been banned is told the reason, don't you think?[/QUOTE]

I didn't suggest otherwise - it's the whole forum / open posting that is under discussion (in our exchange, that is, not the original question relating to the whereabouts of a member).


edit to clarify

When I first started the forum 40% of posters then don't post now.

Look at any old threads. Many don't post anymore.

I miss soooo many but luckily posting is voluntary and at the members own expense. They aren't obliged to post or maybe feel they don't think their view would be left unquestioned or be expected to be backed up with links and evidence proven in some experiment somewhere.
Self experience overweighs any scientific research.
Which can often be blighted out.
One part of the forum I wish didn't happen but without links and research we would be relying on Chinese whispers?

So I too agree transparency and reliability are important, otherwise the forum would be as useful as a wet paper bag.

lindijanice said:

I have just been noticing that Grateful has not had any input on the Forum lately and wondered how he was doing.....

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I only just found this thread. Thank you for your concern. It started with a break for Christmas week, and then I became very busy with business as the New Year got going. This is great news as it follows a long work drought. In my life there is now more stress, less sleep, less time for forums ... and more income. Making things a big grim, the weather here in northeast USA has been extremely frigid for weeks (as I write this, it is minus 9 centigrade, or minus 17 if you include the wind chill). This has interfered with my daily walks and we have a serious case of Cabin Fever and I just recovered from a horrible 10-day-long head cold. Whine, whine.... It is my wife's birthday today (we are both now 60!), I gave her a Kindle and we should go to the movies later in the day.

lindijanice said:

....or did I miss an announcement that he was no longer going to be active?

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Years ago I left an Internet forum, and notified members by posting about it. This was immediately seized upon as "attention seeking" -- not to mention the usual gloats of "don't let the door hit you in the backside as you leave" and so forth. Ever since then, if I take a break from an Internet forum I have just stopped posting, without notice. So if I disappear again, it does not necessarily mean anything at all....

During my absence, a certain virtual couple appears to have been outed as fabricators. I must admit I was totally taken in at the time, and even still have some trouble believing that they were not real. (I am even more puzzled as to the motivation or any sense that there was any point to it all.) As a former journalist (for a dozen years) I really should have smelled a rat. "In my day" we did not have the Internet to contend with! "Fact checking" seems to have become a lot harder than it used to be.

A very belated Happy New Year to all. I think that 2018 will be better than last year for me, if only because my 2017 was tainted forever by the T2 diagnosis last February!

I wonder if some who no longer post possibly passed away. how would we know?

Pura Vida said:

I wonder if some who no longer post possibly passed away. how would we know?

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When I stop posting here if and when i die, I very much doubt my partner will put a my death notification here on this forum.

Pura Vida said:

I wonder if some who no longer post possibly passed away. how would we know?

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Judging from recent events, one time that we can find out a forum member has passed away is when they are an imaginary person!

Grateful said:

Judging from recent events, one time that we can find out a forum member has passed away is when they are an imaginary person!

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Hi Grateful I was wondering where you had gone also,so glad you are back...Love your sense of humour

Tipetoo said:

When I stop posting here if and when i die, I very much doubt my partner will put a my death notification here on this forum.

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Love the "if" in "if and when", such optimism!