DIFFERENT DRUG PROBLEM

Steven

Dear Posters,

I wanted to offer a brief explanation for the locking of this thread, as well as offer a preview of some changes that will be debuted VERY soon at MyFitnessPal. These changes are being made with the express purpose of allowing more leeway in terms of what users can freely post on the site.

The forum guidelines include this item:

13) Topics about politics, religion, atheism, or sexuality are not allowed and will be deleted. This includes posting images or signatures. Unfortunately, we have seen that topics about either of these subjects are highly likely to result in heated arguments and disputes. If you really wish to discuss any of these topics, please google political forums, religious forums, etc. - there are plenty of other places to express your views.

In the past, with only a small crew of volunteer moderators to help keep the dialogue on the site positive and supportive, Mike has reluctantly had to create a rule which disallows any posts about these potentially divisive topics. Mike would greatly prefer to allow all of these topics to be discussed on the site, but so far, we haven’t had the resources to moderate such topics in a manageable fashion. Often the tone of the original thread is harmless, but as the threads proceed, members participating in such topics have been subject to insults or attacks, feelings have gotten hurt, and in more instances than we would like, a moderator wasn’t able to step in quickly enough to prevent this from happening.

To help the situation and with the purpose of really letting conversation on the site blossom, two things are being done: the team has trained more moderators, and the site will soon feature a new “Groups” feature.

With Groups, Members will be able to form their own groups and invite other members to join. Each group would have it’s own forum, and group forums would have much more leeway in the range of topics discussed. So, for example, you’ll absolutely be able to create a faith-based, or politically leaning support group and discuss the exact range of topics you’d like to discuss. Groups will be able to host a much more diverse and mature range of conversations, and because groups will be able to moderate themselves, we hope they’ll be much better at protecting some of our more targeted populations from unwanted hassle. We plan to heavily promote the existence of groups to all of our members, fostering strong participation and hopefully giving you exactly the community experience you are looking for on our site.

In the meantime, we appreciate your understanding. We’re committed to making MyFitnessPal a place where all members can communicate openly in a supportive, and positive environment that helps them to achieve their weight-loss and fitness goals.

If you would like to review the forum guidelines, please visit the following link:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/14923-forum-rules-please-read-before-posting

At our discretion, this locked thread may be deleted entirely in the near future.

With respect,
Steven
MyFitnessPal Staff