kilarae wrote:I will start with the 900 pound gorilla that everyone is tap dancing around. Why is it so hard to post pictures? Most conversations are not good without a photo and I can't post photos. I am not as computer savvy as I should be, but I can put a picture on Facebook without having to use photobucket and doing crazy resizing. This really makes posting difficult.
This is a recurrent complaint. IIRC, at one point Nick confessed that he'd deleted something to do with photographs in the very early days of this VBD on this platform, and that may well have been the auto-resizing package. I'm sure that the code could be added back into the site software, but Nick is the only person with the necessary access codes.
kilarae wrote:Next thought is that when I did use to post more, I felt marginalized. I am in my fourth decade of collecting and have put in my 10,000 hours. I love learning new things an there are always new things to learn, but I am really good at this stuff. Sometimes I feel that because my parents decided to live in Colorado instead of London that I am just a beginning dabbler to a lot of the regular posters here.
This has been mentioned in the past as a potential reason for there being so many lurkers. It is gratifying to see that a significant number of Members now go out of their way to be as welcoming and accommodating as possible to new Members and less-experienced collectors, making it clear that the only foolish question is the one that wasn't asked. Whilst I completely sympathise with your point, I'm at a loss as to what more the VBD community can do to be more welcoming.
kilarae wrote:Next is the question of why expert collectors seem to hate each other and why everyone wants to air their dirty laundry. This seems to have been going on forever. Collectors are sniping at each other a lot on these pages. Michael Stannard got out of collecting because of this stuff. The MCCH died mostly because of this silliness. I know a lot of you don't like Mark Curtis but I am here because I collect childrens toys. I really do not want to know your opinion of other collectors unless they are actively selling counterfeit toys. Differences of opinion should be debated and celebrated.
Mistakes were made in the past, especially in the early days of VBD when posters were cut too much slack and excesses resulted. I like to think that we have come a long way since then, and have learned from our mistakes (and the Member who was perhaps the biggest culprit, elected to no longer post rather than mend his ways, which was unfortunate given his extensive knowledge of certain ranges). Kangaroo courts are not tolerated, and neither are unsupported accusations of fakery and/or fraud. Personal insults are banned, as is any form of threatening or discriminatory language. (If anyone reads anything which they feel oversteps the mark, please PM me, and I will review it immediately.)
kilarae wrote:Be inclusive. Be friendly. Don't become the loud failure of MCCH. Recognize differences of opinion. Learn from others.
As Site Admin., I will step in to delete any material which is vulgar, defamatory, inaccurate, harassing, hateful, threatening, invading of others privacy, sexually-oriented (such as innuendo or smut), or violates any laws. Furthermore, having learned from the Toymart episode, I am also always on the lookout for potentially libellous statements which, after taking the ‘fair comment’ defence into account, could create problems for either the poster and/or VBD (hence my insistence on supporting evidence being offered when someone cries ‘Fake!).
If
any member sees
anything on VBD which is in conflict with the above, please let either myself or one of the Moderators know asap.
