Sunday, June 24, 2007

Dilemma

I'm in a bit of a quandary right now over a certain Yahoo group I'm in. I really believe in what the members of that group are doing, and I was so glad to have found a practical way to show support for our troops. Plus, the soldiers really seem to appreciate the things we do for them. The pictures posted to the website bear that out.

What I am having problems with is the heavy handed moderation of the group. I have never been on any list or message board that is so heavily moderated as this one. The list owner moderates every single message posted to the list. Every single message is read and either approved or deleted/edited by the owner before being sent to the group.

Am I the only one who sees the tremendous irony in this? The very first amendment to the Constitution refers to freedom of speech. It is one of the things our forefathers fought and died to obtain, and one of the things our soldiers of today are fighting to maintain. Yet on that list, we are not allowed that very freedom.

Some of my own posts have never made it to the list. I've had others that were "edited" before being posted to the list. If I were posting rabid, anti-war, anti-troop messages, then yes, I could understand, but I'm not. If I were posting spam, I could understand, but I'm not. Here is an example: someone was talking about "when this is all over let's have a big get together". I responded that it would never be all over.
There will always be evil in the world, and where there is evil, there will always be the need for good men and women to stand up to it. Those men and women will need socks. I plan on knitting socks for soldiers until my eyes can no longer see the yarn and my hands can no longer hold the needles.

What was so wrong with that? I didn't see anything inappropriate about that post. Yet apparently, it did not meet with the list owner's approval because it never made it to the list. I've also had other posts that were edited/altered before they made it to the list. It makes me wonder what other list members are really saying.

Now, I'm not here to trash the group, or the list owner. I'm not in the group to cause trouble or spam the group. I'm a very independent minded person, and an adult besides. I don't believe anyone else should be telling me what I can and cannot say, as long as I'm not being obscene or inflammatory. I also recognize that not everyone has to agree with me, but if I am expressing my opinion in a calm, rational, respectful manner, I should be allowed to say what I want to say. It seems the list owner doesn't believe that. Before y'all start with the hate mails, I realize it is her list and she has the right to run it the way she wants to, and if I don't like it I can just leave.

But there in lies my dilemma. I really support what this group is doing. It is a very practical and heartfelt way of supporting our boys in the field. Anyone can plunk a yellow magnet on his car. It takes little effort to buy a pack of gum or bag of candy and drop it into a donation box. But knitting a pair of socks--14" of k2 p2 ribbing in black yarn, plus 10 to 12 inches of foot in stockinette--there is a lot of your life that goes into those socks. I figured up one time that it takes somewhere between 35 and 40 thousand (yes I said thousand) stitches to make up a pair of big black soldier socks. It truly is a labor of love. The smiling faces of the soldiers in the pictures we receive make me realize I can't just quit.

It's for the soldiers that I do this.

Back to knitting...

*

9 comments:

Sus said...

I think you just answered your own question. I'd say participate in the actions of the group and distance yourself from the words on-list. If you make some friends on-list, they can continue to be your friends off-list. I used to be very active in a list-based group, I met many of them in RL, and became great friends with a few of them. Then list politics made the place a nightmare. My decision was to keep my devotion to the subject, keep my few good friends in another milieu and lose the list. Others stayed and tried to change it from the inside. Neither way is wrong. But I'm still happy with the decision I made and I didn't burn any bridges, so I could go back if I wanted. It's all good.

I'm proud of your dedication to Socks for Soldiers, most because it is your dedication to the soldiers, not to looking cool to your listmates and fishing for huge kudos about how dedicated you are to Socks for Soldiers. In the end, I think you have a firm grasp on what's important and if, as you said, you intend to knit socks for soldiers until you can no longer see the yarn, then you will always find a way to get them to them. Keep on keepin' on. The rest will sort itself out. :)

Mauren Mureaux said...

I do see the irony, indeed.

I think that the leader's intent is in the right place in that she's really trying to keep any politically sided conversation off of the group. With over 1,000 members now, there are going to be any number of conflicting views and beliefs.

With this in mind, consider that there may be some of us on the group who think George Bush is "evil"...the bit that you quoted on your blog here, may have raised some hackles and started a war of words and caused some knitters to leave the group. Of course, that was nowhere near your intent and most rational adults would realize that, but there are some people that go off the deep end over the slightest thing that gets under their skin.

I have never once noticed any of my posts go missing or been edited for content. So, i have not had the experience that you have had. I'm sorry if you felt like your voice was being silenced somehow. Write what's on your mind over her eon your blog...you have readers, we listen to you. ;)

I counted the stitches once too, in this blog post:
http://scatteredgemini.blogspot.com/2007/02/272-rounds.html

Bag Blog said...

I agree with Sus. If you can continue knittig socks for soldiers, but back off the message board, maybe that will work. I saw nothing wrong with your comment and I certainly do not think comments should be monitered or censured. One of the problems with the written word, is that voice inflexion is missing and intent is often misunderstood. Then there are the paranoid people - hall monitors - that take themselves too seriously.

Keep up the knitting - it is a good thing you do for our soldiers.

Buck said...

Me three...what Sus said. If you believe in what you're doing, then just do it and leave the board to the board. You have no control over the problem, as you see it, the moderator holds all the cards.

Like Sus, I believe we've all had "issues" from time to time with internet groups, moderated or not. After numerous bad experiences I've decided it's just best for me not to join any forum that appears to be dominated with Lefties who will discuss politics. (Most of the time, anyway...)

And I've made it personal policy NOT to comment in any moderated forum...ever.

;-)

Anonymous said...

I'd put my foot in my mouth every time, so I wouldn't even try.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Becky G said...

Posting anonymously? How cowardly. Why don't you comment under your name, then we'll have something to discuss?

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Becky G said...

"Anonymous", whoever you are, I'm afraid I'm going to have to throw the bull sh!t flag on that one. There are no valid reasons for posting anonymously other than you want to hide behind your anonymity to attack someone. If you are so afraid of "being hurt" or having your identity stolen, you wouldn't be on the internet at all. Do you not think I can trace you through your comment? You would be surprised. Besides that, using a screen name hardly equates to posting your full legal name complete with SSN online. If you can't at least do that, then you don't need to be online at all.

My comment was not hardly rude. If you think so, no wonder you "get hurt" so much.

Speaking of jumping to conclusions, you made a mighty big leap when you assumed I was deleted from the yahoo group. I have not been deleted from anything. You assumed, and you have made an ass of yourself.

And frankly, if you think your comments were supportive, think again. If that is the kind of support you will offer, then I won't miss you. I don't need anonymous people attacking me for my association with what is really a fantastic charity organization. Just because I think the list owner needs to lighten up, doesn't mean the soldiers don't deserve the best we can give them.