The BBC vs MSN public discussion forums

[cgf]

Hello, I am CGF, roughly a member of msn uk forums for 9 months. But please dont think I am here to promote them, in a good way. I am absolutely disgusted at their level of chidishness vs professionality.

I wonder if anyone has been a member of the BBC forums (I know its harder to become a poster there) and wish to compare the two differently owned corporate public discussion forums and see fi the problems with both, are fundamentally the same.

I have since being ill treated on MSN forums, created a website called equalityandlife.co.nr and I warn you, I am not best pleased with them and have had a good old blast at them for what they have done to both myself and other users, who are very upset at how they have been treated.

Now, MSN if you didnt know, is owned by Microsoft and regulated by Otelo, all three parts of the triangle have been contacted about the problems there and NONE of them have taken the challenge of plucking up the courage to look into and deal with the matters at hand.

Topics deleted include :

Poverty
War
Politics
Child abuse
Drugs
Advertising

and more...

now you may not think nothing of this so far, but I think you should know a few things...

Peter bale, the CEO (last I heard) of MSN UK came on the forums and asked the users to add their views and gave advice on how to make threads work so that they are within the guidlines (which are very vague) set in the rules of usage. So some of the users, myself included, followed those advices and did exactly that. To then be deleted, and sometimes banned for doing so. The guidelines were simple, To make a topic about a certain subject, you needed a relevant news story... simple eeh ? no... they still delete and ban us.

Myself, I have been banned around 30 times from the forums and now they have resorted to IP banning me to make me stay away longer. But I just work around that and eventually I am accepted back on the boards (I never hide who I am, even though the over zealous have accused me of such, for example, I said clearly who I was, the thread/post was delted and then I was accused of hiding in another username) and am allowed to continue posting and welcomed back by fellow users.

Various co-users have expressed their disliking of the moderators and how they treat people like they are worthless scum who dont deserve that very voice they invite joe public to use. Some of them have posted on my sites forum and if you take time to look, you will see how some users really feel about how this democratic voice allowance works. I am saying its a disgrace to life. A poor standard to set.

Like trying to brainwash people into talking about what MSN allow and nothing else.

I will stop for now and see how you chaps on this forum feel, forgive me for not continuing because I am of the belief that I could be completely wasting my time writing all this here, no offence... but this is due to the conditioning of msn uk moderators. I hope things are different here.

Kind regards

cgf.

btw, i will tell you, my last banning was last night after I started a thread about two men kissing on Emmerdale Farm last night, whihch must have happened in front of thousands of children, I personally felt sick and do not want my children aged 8 and younger to see this type of thing. I dont wish to start up the homophobic fight here, I am just telling you, i was banned for having my say....again.

[Teddy Bear]

Welcome CGF
I moved the topic here simply because it is not directly related to BBC matters, although if we find there are connections to the Beeb, we can certainly move it to the relevant board later.

I'm personally not familiar with the MSN forum, though I have frequented others in the past and recognize different characteristics according to the leaning of the site owners.

What's not clear to me from your post above is the overall leaning of that site, as to why you were banned, and which particular posts were removed. Are you saying they are biased, and if so, in which way?

If that is the case, what do you think are the reasons for it?

[cgf]

Hello Teddy, thanks for the welcome, I expected you may move the thread, which is cool

This may sound freakish, but I think they (msn) lean toward their corporate agenda in much the same way the BBC do, we know and have heard the government connections aside from the legalities, you know, the underhanded (public wise) control and golden handshakes they both have. The BBC I have had personal experience with and found they only care about one thing, their corporate self. Of course, this corporate self includes the lean toward painting things in a light that doesn't match the reality of the situation.

I considered writing for their forum (BBC) but when I found someone had to "OK" your points before the people could discuss things together, i walked away thinking, thats NOT a community of people, thats a community of "well behaved" better yet "brainwashed" people.

You CANNOT discuss things on MSN in a sense where, people have to die before you can talk about the situations, so to speak. They lean toward (IMHO) brainwashing. They cant handle attitudes caused by reality, they cant handle reality because they are a corporate money making machine and that golden handshake has them by the balls.

For example, a friend of mine, was involved in a gun incident in the west midlands... it was a story on a local newspapers website as well as in the paper and featured on the televised news, so I posted the story with intent to get in touch with my friend and developing the realities of the story. They deleted the thread instantly. There are no comebacks, no explanations, the thread was well within the rules, I have no idea why they would take the proverbial p1ss out of someone. I am not sure I fully understand the leaning thing but I do know that many people are fed up of not being able to deal with realities in their own way.

The experience I had with the BBC was the same thing in essence, they told a story and told it their way, they officiated the truth from a high place (top brass police) and told a story that was completely wrong. The story came out in a documentary called "my son the killer" and it came out completely twisted with LITTLE said about the realities of why a chap would go around killing people. When told, the BBC officially ignored the truth.

The point I am making is they are so powerful, they can trample all over people and walk away with no care whatsoever. They get paid alot of money claiming they care, but we know the first thing they care about is themselves. It matters not, what happens, they are tied to a systematical way of life an are not putting life first.

Sorry for rambling but I am so fed up of these two commercial entities and their bullshit "we care" badges. They don't care.

They both seem to lean toward kissing the governments backside. I feel this is true with a high degree of certainty.

Great site, Teddy. About time people stood up to the powerful people and showed them the people are the real power, and no matter what they do, the people own them and not the other way round. Just the people who need to realise this now.

[Teddy Bear]

Cheers for the compliments CGF

Thanks for the clearer explanation about the behaviour of the MSN site controllers, or as you call it 'the corporate agenda'.
My question to you first about this is: are you surprised? It's no secret that private entities have their own agenda or biases, and we can expect them to follow it in the pursuit fo their goals. They have achieved whatever power they have by exploiting those resources which they felt would best serve them. The fact that it might not be moral or serve the society the best is something we might all agree on, but in the free market society we live in, this is clearly one of the pitfalls. It makes them ultimately short-sighted and unwise because of the world they're ultimately creating with their shenanigans, but I guess good business acumen doesn't necessarily go hand in hand with wisdom.

While I agree with you it's negative to our society that they are the way they are, I believe it's minor compared to the BBC. Simply because the BBC receive their funding on the basis that they will be unbiased and impartial. Citizens found not supporting them through the licence fee can be heavily fined or imprisoned. So an deviation from their mandate is totally evil and does more to undermine our society than any private company. The BBC destroys us because it both makes lies the truth, and is (supposedly) the standard by which fairness should be recognized in our society. We don't necessarily expect more from private companies.

You're right that the 'people own them, and not the other way round', but so long as people are largely unaware that they are being brainwashed, 'the people' are being owned by the others. All we can do is try to raise their awareness by maintaining these sites in the hope that the views we express will open their eyes, and that eventually they will take back what is rightfully theirs.

[cgf]

No teddy, I am not surprised at all... but I did expect to be treated somewhat better than how it really goes. but the thing they both have in common is that lean.
They both offer HAVE YOUR SAY and deny what they wish.

I just wish the people werent so eaily fooled by whats really obvious.

There are many voices of reason but they arent being heard very well.

My love for the BBC isnt changing, I saw this from the start of my conceptualisation of what the hell is wrong with this world. And it really is better than thou philosophy.

All of these corporates need to wake up. Reality is not them and them alone.

The governments are to blame more than anyone.

[Teddy Bear]

CGF, Re: but I did expect to be treated somewhat better than how it really goes
We can really only hope that those leading society will be moral and upright. History shows that this is not always the case, and we are seeing this also in the present. I sense from your writing that you really do expect that this will not be so, and while I share your disappointment and frustration with the status quo, I think any expectation as such that things would be otherwise is unrealistic.

If you look at the lives of the people who are fooled it's easy to see why. The majority are not independant thinkers, and because they also don't feel their lives are seriously impacted or affected by whatever line is put out as truth, they will continue to suck it up as it comes.

The media realised their power and are milking it for all it's worth. The 'Have Your Say', sections enable them to maintain their bias under the guise of popular opinion, by simply screening out most views to the contrary. Politicians are nothing more than media puppets, adopting what ever the media creates as popular opinion.

If its any consolation, those in power within the media lack the foresight and wisdom to create a positive society, since they are the antithesis of the qualities required to make it so. So their ultimate downfall is assurred, it's just a matter of time. The unfortunate thing is that they will have dragged the world down in the meantime, and one can only hope it will be salvageable.

We'll see!

[cgf]

I agree with everything you say Teddy, I guess my hopes were based on the apparent good we see. I hoped that when they saw good intentions they would applaud that. I knew as soon as I looked on the BBC forums it was a control factor before a free opinion which as any free thinker knows, amounts to brainwashing.

This is a constant problem in society where we have people who are angry and within these corporations, there is no realistic way to let off steam and say what you think on a big scale.

So Teddy, I have decided to make a website, I brought a domain yesterday and am currently looking at designing it with solutions available to me, although my budget is a shoe string, I intend on doing a few things with my site. For example linking, if you dont mind, to your site, alongside others that I find who are truly defined as free speech holders where people can say what they want to say without fear of being punished for expressing their feelings.

I will check you back soon and let you know how I am getting on with the process... for now mate, have a proverbial beer and please accept my gratitude for what you are doing. We need more people like you who will stand up for the good of this world and tell these bullies, governmental or not, that the people are in charge, not the rich, or so called powerful.

Kind regards

CGF.

[Teddy Bear]

Thanks again for your praise CGF, it's much appreciated.
There is a saying, though I can't remember who first penned it, that 'for evil to triumph, all that is required is for good people to do nothing'. So the more like yourself, who feel frustrated and irate at the status quo and try to redress it, the more hopeful looks the future.

At this present time, I feel 'telling' the 'masters' of the world that 'the people' hold the real power would be empty words. The 'people', with too few exceptions, are mostly puppets of the system, and really are under its control. If you find the way to first 'waken' them , then there is a possibility they may take back what is rightfully theirs.

My advice to you would be not to let all the shit going on get in the way of your finding personal happiness and contentment. Otherwise you let the assholes win

Best of luck with your new site, and be sure to let me know when it's up and running and I'll happily provide a link to it here as well.