Freedom of speech, opinions and respect!

But MFP does not have ALL only mature adults and people get heated.

I know this because I help moderate a public forum on another site.

This is SOP for pretty much all public forums on the web. If you want to have discussions like this, they need to be moved to a group or done between private messaging.

Well here's the point: We are not in high school to punish everyone for a bunch of... sorry.... retards. They do this in school, we are in a "adult" community. The trouble makers should be reprimanded, not the others....

And here's the problem, you think using the word "retard" is ok. I don't.

I work with special needs students and my sister had a daughter who falls into the moderate category of "intellecutal disapbility" category.

It's OK, really, I"m not upset. I completely get where you are coming from. We live in a world where speech is free but in a forum, this is not always the case due to there being TOS we have to follow.

I have seen (while moderating) small things blow up huge because of a small misunderstanding.

It's hard to read only written words with no voice influctions and "understand" what someone else is saying.

And in regards to "retard" for me, it's just about educating other people. It's not something I blow up about, it's something I educate people about.

Tolerance, mutual respect and civil discourse have all gone under the wheels of the politically correct bus.

Tolerance, mutual respect and civil discourse have all gone under the wheels of the politically correct bus.

Well said!

I think he was talking to you, Raven.

And while we're quoting guidelines, here's one....

11. No Airing of Grievances With Moderators

a) Protesting a moderator or admin action is not allowed on the Forums or in Groups. If you have a question or concern about a moderator or admin action, please email one of the moderators or Steven, an MFP staff member, with your concern and we will investigate the matter promptly.
b) If you have concerns about another poster, or wish to report a guideline violation, the only appropriate venue is to use the Report Post link or to message a moderator or Steven, an MFP staff member. You may not air such concerns on the message boards themselves. If you have a general concern that does not involve a specific member, you may post your question in the Feedback or Help forums.
c) Threats made to moderators will not be tolerated, and will result in an immediate ban from the site.

from http://www.myfitnesspal.com/welcome/guidelines

Just remember that while this is a public forum, it is privately owned. Speech is free in the context that the government cannot suppress it or punish you for it, but privately owned websites whose primary focus is to run a business - they can do whatever they want with their site.

Which actually still leaves you with a choice. You can use it. Or you can choose not to use it. There are other options for engaging people on topics outside of this forum.

What? I cant say my opinion!?!?!?!???????????!?!??!??!?!? Or even ask for opinions!?!?!?!?!?!?

No, now go pout in the corner.

We make every effort to maintain a safe and respectful environment in our public forums, so that all users can visit the forums, and get the support and encouragement they're seeking.

To achieve this goal, we've established (and constantly update) our Community Guidelines. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/welcome/guidelines

These guidelines are upheld by our moderators, a few of whom are staff, but the majority of whom are dedicated volunteers.

An accumulation of experience has taught us that certain topics inevitably cause great upset among the users of the site, and/or present a huge time investment for the moderators to keep the conversation in these topics guideline-compliant.

We do our best to moderate lightly, but sometimes there is no better recourse than to lock (or delete) a thread.

Last year we launched our Groups feature precisely for the purpose of giving folks an alternative to the public forums where moderation is not bound to all of the guidelines, and where certain incendiary (or explicit) topics may be discussed without the intercession of the site-wide moderators (though groups are still obligated to uphold most of the guidelines, there are some that apply only to the main forums).

We'll continue to evaluate our guidelines and our moderation. For now, we do require that users of our public forums abide by the guidelines. This includes the guideline that prohibits public protest of moderator actions. Threads on this topic also tend to overheat. If you have specific concerns about an act of moderation, please feel free to contact me directly at http://www.myfitnesspal.com/steven and I will be happy to respond to your concern privately.

That being said, I do need to lock this thread per the following guideline.

19. No Public Protests Of Moderator Actions Or Decisions

We at MyFitnessPal are people too, and most of our forum moderators are unpaid volunteers. We all work hard to improve the site and ensure MyFitnessPal remains a positive and friendly place for everyone. When problems arise, we do our best to be fair and nice people. We require that community members interact with us in a respectful manner, and while we understand that people get upset, we will not take abuse and we reserve the right to deny you access to the site at any time.

If you have an issue with a moderator decision or action, you may send a private message to a moderator or to Steven from the MFP Staff. But please do not post such disputes on the forums themselves.

Thanks for your understanding,
Steven
MyFitnessPal Staff