Conspiracies, Moderation and Me. How NOT to use this site.

Howdy FWT members. I thought I'd take a moment to blog about my feelings on moderation here and debate some of the "conspiracy" type info that gets posted and spammed here from time to time.

This blog was sparked by a recent encounter with member Curtis Lee. He has been a member of the site since July 23, 2008. All of his content he posted were links, copies or video embeds from Alex Jone's infowars.com website, or other conspiracy related websites. He had 54 videos posted throughout our video section. Curtis would also message members with links to these videos and websites. On Saturday I logged on to check the VIDEO section here and the whole first page was filled (spammed) with quick video embeds about "Obama's Depopulation" , 911 Conspiracy, Anti-New World Order stuff.... you know what I mean, you've seen this EVERYWHERE online and either you believe it or you don't. But as a moderator and webmaster for FWT, I abide by the Community Commitments which acts as a kind of terms of service and etiquette when using this site, and Curtis was breaking the TOS. I sent him a message discussing the videos I took down and why.... and he went ahead and re-posted the videos! This made me take a closer look at his profile and realized he has been on this site for a year and isn't a member of any groups (which is fine) 54 videos posted (ALL of the Alex Jones variety) and a few blog posts the same.... clearly in my mind, he's breaking the Community Commitments. After hearing from other members that they were also turned off by the messaging of links (8 in one day!) I banned him from action here. Doing so removes any content (videos, photos) that the person has put up. It's the only easy way to wipe a slate clean. Like the one time we had a fella upload 328 photos of his pet hamster, he was just using FWT as an "image hosting service" -- And to a point, in my humble opinion, I feel members like Curtis are not serious about being a part of FightWithTools, Street Teams and what we're really about when they use our site as yet another depository for other agendas, misleading information, and YES, some videos that are made to make people SCARED.

Talking with cooler heads removed from the situation who were going to contact Curtis directly after my non-response from him, I unbanned him. Last night he sent a message to members declaring that I was a "communist bastard" - and this place was full of censorship, and that I was working for the people trying to suppress all this information, etc etc. It included links to obamacrimes.com and infowars.com - Wow. Thanks a lot dude!

Before I go to far... I want to make it 1000% clear that I subscribe to many fringe theories about things. I believe in government weather modification, mind control waves- I believe in the Law of Attraction and many other things floating out on the fringe. I find some of it fascinating. I just do not believe that FWT is the time or place for this content where you can find many other places. OH, and by the way.

Especially after our relaunch in July, we wanted to focus like a laser beam on what our organization is about, chosen by the community... sustainability! -- It's my belief, as an administrator of the site, that our site can't be successful when many members do not feel welcome, or they feel spammed by "weird" ideas. We can see the numbers, and they don't lie. Our activity levels online dropped significantly when our site was unmoderated and any and all content was posted to the main page. You could come here for an entire week and find nothing but similar 911 truth videos.

And here's another kicker... we are totally not against hosting this material. Go search our video section! We have videos about EVERYTHING...some doubled! 911, Zeitgeist, Alex Jones, Banking Scams, 2012-- you name it, i bet it's in there somewhere. -- So there. We're hosting this information. It's ON our servers. Multiple times! The problem arises for me as a moderator when I come to the VIDEO section and see it's been spammed to include videos by one member all about stuff that's already been posted here before.

I'm aware this is a "tactic" of passionate believers of all kinds of stuff... but it doesn't help our community here one bit. In fact, we've heard it drives people away from coming here. Not because they are conspiracy haters... but because most of our members HAVE SEEN THIS INFORMATION BEFORE. And many of the active members are focusing on issues like Sustainability and getting active in their communities.

It's a fine line to draw between "censorship" and moderation. I encourage anyone on our site to re-read the community commitments. Here are a few snippets:

I agree not to use the FightWithTools.org Network to send emails or instant messages or post on message boards, blogs, profiles, comments or any place on the FightWithTools.org Network, any message or material of any kind nature that is unlawful, harassing, libelous, defamatory, abusive, threatening, harmful, vulgar, obscene, racially offensive, inaccurate, or otherwise objectionable or that encourages conduct that could constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability or otherwise violate any applicable local, state, national or international law or regulation, or encourage the use of controlled substances.

VIDEO AND PHOTO GUIDELINES: "FightWithTools.org is not a video and photo hosting service, if a profile is found with little to no contribution to the site beyond posting photos unrelated to the organization's efforts or using your FWT account as a link farm the profile may be removed without notice. We usually won't delete accounts unless it becomes very apparent that some sort of spamming is going on. If you are looking for a place to host your photos and videos in bulk, try opening a Facebook or Myspace account."

We're very busy with other things for the organization and it's hard to police all the content here on FWT. I donate as much extra time as I can to reading through the site. If you ever find something that is questionable or offensive in nature, please point it out to me or any other administrator on the site. (Featured Members)-

What Curtis was doing, in my opinion, was posting very misleading and offensive information. I don't have time to debate EVERY issue or point-- but here's one case in point. A 10 minute video. I sat down over lunch and hit play... everything was sounding like run of the mill Alex Jones material on a homemade podcast about the "banking holiday" - when suddenly a photo of President Obama shows up wearing a Turbin, arabic markings on his face, his face altered to look evil and a pentagram on his hand reaching out. RIDICULOUS! Don't believe me? go watch for yourself at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDMxtDapJzs - if you want to skip all the nonsense, go to the 5:22 mark. -- Another thing that was raising my suspicions about this particular video and MANY like it are how stories are stated as FACTS by unnamed sources, or friends of friends sources... or they quote articles written by new sources that aren't really news sources at all. When that fails, they claim that the media is "in on it" and suppressing information...... hey, just like Curtis claimed with me! In his message to members he wrote:

"dj coffman is, in my opinion, working for the people we are fighting against because if there is important information you need to know that may help you prepare for an unknown future and he is blocking you from seeing it then he is just as corrupt and guilty as the rest of them communist bastards. I can't leave a comment on his wall since I'm not one of his friends but if anyone of you can you can tell him that I said that he is a communist bastard just like the rest of them. He even took the 911 cover-up videos off which showed proof!!! Everything is about politics. Even here! "

Everything Curtis has said here is not only insulting to me personally (but I'll live! I'm a big boy!) but also false and defamatory. The guy wouldn't even message me back or open a dialogue directly. I've had other members send me messages without friending me. But see, debating these issues one by one is not SUSTAINABLE and HEALTHY. It's clear that no matter what I say on my side of things, the people on the other side don't want to hear it. You're either WITH THEM, or AGAINST THEM.

I do not subscribe to that way of thinking. I'd like nothing more than this... If I could wave a magic wand and write this stories ending... I'd like passionate people like Curtis Lee who graciously spreads the videos and news of Alex Jones around, to have his own Street Team and work in his own community to BETTER IT. I'd like to see people spreading videos like this one about Sustainability and OUR FUTURE. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNszFwmSg2Y - I'd like CUrtis to get 8 friends in his area and REALLY discuss these issues. I'd like Curtis to instead of copying embed codes of other people's videos and thoughts, he should record his own and post them here, that includes his own interviews and research on matters he's passionate about. Same goes for blogging and photo journalism. I'd like the FWT site to become a scrapbook for people's transformational change in their lives and communities.

See, I didn't even ask for an apology!

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THIS? If you're Curtis Lee or a "Truther" or subscribe to or are passionate about any fringe theories (as I am! Weather Control, people! It's happening! weatherwars.info !) - you have to realize that this behavior is not SUSTAINABLE to your causes. It will be easier for "THEY" to point out how "crazy" or "wacko" you are by your very own statements or replies, or spamming all over the internet. Wouldn't it be better to be your own individual and let people know about YOU. AND to get to know other "friends" online on your friend lists before spamming them something that may be offensive or drive them away from the information or site you're using to get the word out??? There are MUCH better ways to go about getting your information out there than using a bullhorn, spamming and disruption. Just like the recent TownHall shouters...it really accomplishes nothing and it works against you in the long run. We can't shout over one another and call each other names.

My moderation of the site will not change. And here they are in a nutshell:
- If someone posts two of the same video within a couple of weeks just to "bump" it, it's gone.
- If someone spams any content section, the content will be reviewed as to why this was done and if the material already exists on our servers in the first place.
- If it's a misleading video that doesn't cite sources and/or is made to make people afraid or spread rumors (Obama as a Nazi) it's gone.
- Hate groups, hate speech of ANY kind will not be tolerated. Offensive caricatures or "satire" of any ethnicity or sexuality will not be tolerated.
- Again, it's hard to moderate everything by myself. If YOU find something questionable or controversial or offensive to you, please contact me or any of the other administrators on the site. (featured Members) - You can also feel free to email contact@flobots.org to report an issue if you wish.

I hope that clears up a lot of my thoughts about this specific issue pertaining to moderation here on the site. Again, we're not censoring messages. Go ahead, search our video and blogs section, you can find TONS of fringe info. Some of it very useful, some of it (in my opinion) bizarre!