most of the PDAs (publicly posted personal journals) are used by members to share and talk about personal things that just don't fit anywhere else on the board. they're usually upbeat, with the occassional "having a bad day, please cheer me up" thrown in. much the same thing you'd find if you were gathering daily for coffee with your buddies.
i have heard reports that some PDAs are/have been used by members to post and trade vicious gossip and other snarky remarks. they must be rare, otherwise my inbox would be flooded with complaints. the very few members who might be abusing the PDA in that manner might also be doing us a favor. they expose themselves as the sort of people we don't want to hang around with, and so we learn to ignore them - with or without a special button. ;-)
it's true. members do come and go. 99% of the time they leave because something else demands the lion's share of their time. occassionally somebody leaves because they aren't having fun here anymore. in very rare cases somebody leaves in a huff. and, unfortunately, once in a while, somebody leaves in tears.
we can't fix problems - harrassment being just one example - we don't know about. the perpetrators usually use the private message feature. if the target member doesn't tell us, we can't help. we are usually as surprised as everyone else to find that a member has been driven away, and that it's took late to prevent it. so far, i know of only two specific cases. whether or not we can fix it remains to be seen.
there were some serious problems in the chat room. people have gotten so used to the facebook behavior model and to the general "wild west outlaw" internet mentality that they sometimes forget to use their inside voices and good manners when they join into our conversations there. chatters can fix that faster than Admin or the moderators can because they are right there when it happens. we find out later when it's usually too late to take effective action.
think of chat as though it was a neighborhood block part. if some obnoxious, loudmouthed thug shows up and starts trying to pick a fight, ignore her/him. do not respond at all to their comments. pretend they are not there. they will usually get bored and move on. remember, they are trying to entertain themselves by getting everybody wrapped around the axle. deny them their fun and continue having yours. ;-)
take note of the username, the date and exact time they barged in and tried to wreck the party, and send Admin a pm with all of the specific details. then he has the information he needs to investigate and take the appropriate action.
but, i must emphasize, those are rare examples. it almost never happens. in nearly every case, if somebody isn't here anymore, they just aren't here. there's nothing more to it than that. no need for concern or worry.
i absolutely do NOT mean to criticize or complain that the question was posted. it's NOT a violation of any policy to have done so. unfortunately, on the other hand, such posts create the impression that the problem is chronic and widespread.
let me reassure you, please. our board is 99.99999985% fun, safe and effective for daily use. :thumbup: