Discussion boards are turned off on Yahoo!

[Catherine Vincent]

To Yahoo! News readers:

Yahoo! News is working on new ways for readers to comment on the news and participate in a discussion around it. While we work on our new community features, the message boards that were linked from individual news articles have been taken offline.

As they were set up, the Yahoo! News message boards allowed a small number of vocal users to dominate the discussion. In addition, related discussions from similar news articles were not easily linked.

Over the next few months, we plan to offer new discussion forums based on topics in the news and incorporating the latest features to foster a better discussion for all of our readers.

Neil Budde
General Manager
Yahoo! News

I think they were tired of all the racist trolls on their boards. And now they are figuring out a way to keep them off.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. Good.

The place generally functioned as an affrontery to the whole human race and millions of years of evolutionary effort.

[Maestro]

2. Good

That place was horrid. The individuals there were pathetic, at least some. The vileness of some of them was atrocious.

[rug]

3. Free republic must be flooded about now.

[leveymg]

8. Kicked off Freep for being too racist and crazy.

[treestar]

4. Most of those boards are ridiculous anyway

There is no intelligent discussion on them. Just juvenile insults and obscene remarks.

[SoCalDem]

5. better discussion?

I never went there because I pretty much knew what was lurking there.

The trolls who live online will usually find a way around anything they set up, unless they heavily moderate.. Can't see them taking the time or spending the money to do that.

[EST]

6. A few years ago, I rounded up a few like minded

participants and we convinced Skinner (against his better and, as it turned out, more experienced judgment) to open up a forum with minimal censoring as a place to foster intelligent dialog between us and like-minded individuals from the dark side.
This was meant, of course, as an olive branch, a "bipartisan" effort for cooler heads to attempt to lower the temperature a bit and map out a path to the future of cooperation and productivity.

As expected-by those more knowledgeable that I-the forum was immediately invaded by all sorts of demons, invariably faux-"conservative," spewing all sorts of nasty invective, shrilly and nonsensically profane and of absolutely zero value.

I, being a relative neophyte, was shocked and dismayed, clueless as to why such people even existed and what on earth could motivate them to such anti-civility and mental garbage. Totally deranged.

We were all pleased and relieved when he took the board down-without even a single "I told you so."

The unspeakable horror that crawls around in the minds of republicans and similar denizens is indeed remarkable.

[bobbolink]

7. Now, if you could just impart that lesson learned to our Dems who

are hell-bent on "bi-partisanship" at all costs!!

Goddess, I'm really dreading watching them learn that same lesson IRT.

:(

Could you pleeeeez have a friendly chat with 'em? :hi:

[EST]

11. I have written a snail letter to each of my senators and rep,

followed up by e-mails with the same letter, including selected excerpts from some talented DUers, H2Oman,for example, as well as several links to posts by h2Oman, nancegreggs, deepmodemom and several others who reflect the majority opinions here on this site.

I copied those letters, with appropriate tags, to several other congressionals.

For kicks, knowing there would be no real reaction or serious consideration, other than from secret service or FBI, I also sent almost the same letter to his chimperness. I avoided Dork Chinny the dog fu*ker, fabled marksman and big game hunter, however.

THe letter described painfully precise examinations of the attempts to mollify the gangsta' right and their violent responses, as in Ford's forgiving (in our names) Saint Nixon, the pardons and cover up of Saint Ronnie the hack, Lord GHW bush the assassin-both Iran contra angels-as well as the attempted castration of Bill Clinton and the other illustrative examples of spreading the other cheeks to crave favor from the gangsters and the uselessness of such dumbass ideas.

Being sweet and nice to those criminals only gets a contract by anthrax, ala democrats Daschle and Schumer. Assassination anthraxogram is poor return for go along to get along terminal niceness.

(Pardon my fixation on the moral depravity of publiclowns, but the attempted murder of two democratic senators and the murder and attempted murder of several others, as well as the round shouldered, shadow boxing fake follow upinvestigation still rankles.)

[mrdmk]

9. Some of those responses I suspect were there to amuse oneself

which is selfish in a public arena.

[Catherine Vincent]

12. Really?

That must have been before I joined. It would have been interesting.

[EST]

15. I don't remember the exact date, but it was before the '04 elections

I'm pretty sure you were here, although it would have been easy to miss, I suspect.

Instead of setting it up as a sub-forum on the DU board, for legal reasons I think, he set it up with a different bulletin board program, totally separate but with a link on the home page and the format was not the easy to use, intuitive format we have grown to know and love.

It was not an illogical pattern and was easy enough in its own right, just not like this one.

Since I was the squeaky one, I felt obligated to check the board often and post a few threads as well as answer questions as need be.

It got so bad that, after a few days, I became so disenchanted with the immature vitriol that I quit posting and just tried to monitor it for anything of value and finally asked that it be taken down as a failed experiment.

I had lost my virginity once again.

Edit to add: I wish I knew how to twist the search engine here so as to be able to review my early posts-the first thousand or so-then I could nail it down. (plus I would like to review the sophistication of my posts as my brain got dilated and my understanding started clearing up
.
The number of registrations was about forty thousand or so and, although I'm sure I didn't get to talk to everybody, it seemed as though all those nice people took it upon themselves to educate me and make sure I felt at home - held my hand - as it were.)

[Mad_Dem_X]

10. Good for them

I haven't been on those boards in at least a year; they've gotten WAY too nasty.

[Quantess]

13. uh....duh!

Haven't we all been sick of all the racist/sexist/homophobic/anti-choice/ all around-ignorant, pubescent, yahoo board trolls for quite a while, now?

[Cleita]

14. Maybe they ought to run it like newspapers do LTTE.

For one thing you have to sign your real name. They call you to verify, so no phony addressed or telephone numbers get by. Secondly, the letters are published only after being screened for content, clarity and English usage (spelling and grammar). I used to get my LTTE published on USA Today occasionally, believe it or not. This was their criteria. Also, my views were usually opposite their conservative editorial positions yet they would publish what I said when it met their standards.

It didn't take that long either. Usually it was within twenty four hours because the topic had to be timely.

[EST]

16. That's a good idea.

How many editors/moderators would it take on a busy board like DU to read and correct all those entries-whew!?

And then they'd probably farm it out to some board in India or some other non-US place with people who can't even do a credible job of wrestling with regional American english is spoken form. (sigh)Not very optimistic tonight.

[cynatnite]

17. A prime example of why I won't welcome those across the aisle here

I thought I found a place not long ago for intelligent discussion about politics. The first time I said why I didn't like bush and was against the war, I was accused of hating America. I left.

Many of these people are hateful and the only opinion that counts is theirs. I don't want them here at DU and I won't tolerate their crap anywhere else. Here at DU I don't mind heated discussion and I don't even mind it so much when my opinion is in the minority.

Not one single person here has ever accused me of hating my country.

Good for Yahoo!

[donheld]

18. Yahoo Discussion board should have been shut down long ago

I'm all for free speach, but yahoo was one of the worst parts on the internet.