Why do we have a Shout Box?
The Shout Box seems to be a point of controversy and a breeding ground for animosity or confusion. The problem has always been the management styling. The inconsistencies. The fact that one day something is ok to do or say, and other days, it isn't. I saw recently in the Shout Box yet another example of these inconsistencies with a lengthy discussion between several of the LDW team and another member.

The Shout Box seems to be the biggest thorn in LDW’s side. Though the concept was nice, the practicality of it seems unobtainable. This seems to be where many issue arise between the LDW team and the forum members and even between mods, well, specifically myself when I was a moderator, (I can't speak for the others), and management. I guess LDW really should ask themselves, “is it really worth it?”. My moderating style, when it came to the Shout Box, seemed different than what the Admins would have preferred, as a result I was constantly getting written reprimands. Yes, there is always the decision making process of "is this a violation?", and what action needs to be taken, if any and that decision is dependant on the moderators perception of what is in the Shout Box and their interpretation of the forum rules, and in some cases, their personal feelings towards one member versus another.

Is it really worth it, the hassle, the miscommunication, the “politicking” this causes? I have said it before and I will say it again, why even have the Shout Box at all? What is the purpose of the Shout Box? The answer to that question has been said that it is there for people to get help and get answers.

When I see questions posed by members, there are no real answers given. I see things like "Did you look in the forum?" or "that answer is in the such-and-such forum.", but is that a real answer? We aren't supposed to put spoilers in the Shout Box. OK, I get that. So we can't give a specific answer to a question in the Shout Box. It has to be PM'd.

When I answered questions in the Shout Box, I would give a link or two that dealt with the question at hand. "You can find the answer here: http://blah-blah-blah. THAT is answering a person's question. Not "Did you look in the VF forum?". At the time I am writing this, the VF forum has 1,805 threads and over 19 and a half THOUSAND responses. People like me, who have been here a while, would have a better chance of locating an answer to the question and giving a direct answer. That would be more representative of the “family” atmosphere that is always preached. Telling a new member to go look in a particular forum for their answer is like telling them to go look for the needle in a haystack.

Now, I can hear the rebuttal being, "we don't have the time to research every request that comes through". To that I say... "Why even have the Shout Box?". Many times I have come on and someone has asked a question and it went unanswered. Most likely because someone wasn't online to answer it before they left. Even at that, no spoilers are allowed. Again, nobody takes the time to run a query and point someone to the specific answer to the question that they asked. The person who asked the question feels let down because there was no response given. “How rude” or thanks for the help” is most likely what somebody thinks at this point. The Shout Box raises expectations of the newer members only to let them down in most cases. If there was no Shout Box, people would be more likely to research the forum and use the tools of the forum, such the search feature because they wouldn’t be led to believe there is a shortcut to getting an answer.

It has also been said that the Shout Box is a place to cozy up and get to know each other. It seems even that has its limitations. Limited to "How's the weather?" and "Are you playing VV (VF, PT, FT). Other than that, things get deleted or stern warnings are given. No antics, no role playing, no consecutive posting, no frivolous posts. Why even have the Shout Box in the first place? It seems to me that there is no real purpose for it except to be a mechanism for hypocrisy, headache, false hope, and eventually, disappointment. I cannot think of any forum that I have been to where a Shout Box has been incorporated. They are strictly threads and posts. I think we would all, as a whole, benefit from the industry standard, leaving more time for the LDW team to do what they need to do and not worry about policing the Shout Box.

Since my departure as moderator in early August, the activity of the Shout Box has dwindled considerably. Most days when I pass through, the post at the top of the list that is viewable is at least 4 days old. Most of the time it is just people popping in and shouting “hi J “, followed by “Anyone here?”, followed by their sad faced departure. Again, what’s the point of having a Shout Box but to offer hope and deliver disappointment?

It just seems to me that the Admins of this forum are spinning their wheels and wasting their time and energy in trying to make a concept work when in reality, there really is no answer that will meet the needs of the demographics here in this forum. Since the Shout Box is guarded with a heavy, and sometimes fickle hand, and punishments are handed out, like being temporarily banned from the forums, or in other cases, as most of us have termed “being Red Gloved” (reference to Virtual Families), I say just kill the Shout Box. I liked the idea of the Shout Box. I liked it when I first came here almost 4 years ago, but it has become such an issue with me, that this was one of a few reasons I resigned my commission as Forum Moderator and started my own chat website where the chatting rules are looser and Red Gloving is not the first course of action. I don’t have a company image to uphold so I can do it. I essentially have 2 rules. No cursing and be respectful to others. That’s it.

The demise of the Shout Box may upset some people. Why? I don’t know, and others would cheer, but we’d all get used to it and the new members would not know any difference, so it wouldn’t bother them. This is just my opinion on this matter. Thanks for “listening”.