Censorship

[ReefRy]

Ever notice how quickly a thread gets deleted if it says anything negative about a R2R sponsor? I'm not even talking about something aggregious where a company gets shredded. I mean practically any negative comment at all and poof! The thread dissolves into the ether as if it never was.

This is a fantastic site, but fair and balanced it is not. If you're looking for honest discourse about goods and services this is not the place to go. If you're looking to view major manufacturers through rose colored glasses, well you've come to the right spot.

So what's the over/under on number of minutes til this gets vaporized?

 

[Vested]

Personally havent ever seen this happen, I've definatly seen multiple threads dogging on companies though not sure if they where sponsored.. Do you have any examples?

 

[ReefRy]

Yeah, it's happening currently with the "serious issue with WWC thread." At first it looked as though the entire thread had been deleted as I couldn't find it at all, but now I see only my post is gone. Not sure if any others have been erased.

 

[ReefRy]

All but the op have been removed and there is a generic disclaimer from R2R.

 

[Vested]

huh maybe an admin can explain, weird

 

[ca1ore]

Objectivity and sponsorship are usually incompatible. Hardly new news.

 

[fish farmer]

Yeah, it's happening currently with the "serious issue with WWC thread." At first it looked as though the entire thread had been deleted as I couldn't find it at all, but now I see only my post is gone. Not sure if any others have been erased.

It's all been gutted.

 

[Goaway]

They allow vendor feedback, just not negative conversation. I don't really understand it. You can give praise up and down, never touched. You become bitter nancy, you better shut up. I hear you loud and clear though.

 

[ReefRy]

That's kind of what I'm getting at. In an era where many things are bought remotely, mostly on reviews or word of mouth, it seems really counterintuitive to redact someone's experience.

If a person clearly has an agenda or vendetta I can see how that is counterproductive and a waste of time. But if I say I physically visited WWC and found their coral to be extremely overpriced and totally different in person than the way they represent it online, that post gets removed for fear of angering a platinum donor, or whatever they are.

Someone that had the opposite experience has free reign to tout the virtues of said company, leading others to draw the logical conclusion that that company is essentially without flaw.

That is not providing a service to our community, but instead exascerbating an already growing problem of false or sponsored reviews.

 

[Goaway]

I would rather not bring this thread down. But, it's probably going to happen because of the fan boys out there.
Let's hope not.

 

[fish farmer]

It would be nice to hear WWC's side of the conversation. I agree based on the rules of the Vendor Forum it is for the two parties to come to agreement which based on what the thread looks like there is only the one side posted.

Serious issue with WWC

I’ve been fortunate to be in the Orlando area for as long as I’ve been in this hobby, over 20 years. And I have been a big advocate for shopping and supporting your LFS. As the hobby has grown, one of our local stores has taken a major role in shaping the hobby, WWC. I’ve been shopping with...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Goaway]

I read that. It sucks and they haven't even replied to the guy,

 

[homer1475]

Anyone complaining....

Ever read the TOS before you decided to complain? I'm guessing not.

This is not a public entity, it is privately owned entity, and your bound by the TOS when you signed up(you know that thing no one reads and just clicks OK). As a private entity they can do whatever they want including deleting threads that are negative in opinions on a sponsor of this forum.

Disservice or not, they can do what they want to any thread created on THEIR forums.

 

[ReefRy]

Anyone complaining....

Ever read the TOS before you decided to complain? I'm guessing not.

This is not a public entity, it is privately owned entity, and your bound by the TOS when you signed up(you know that thing no one reads and just clicks OK). As a private entity they can do whatever they want including deleting threads that are negative in opinions on a sponsor of this forum.

Disservice or not, they can do what they want to any thread created on THEIR forums.

And here comes THAT guy to try to squash public discourse while letting you know how right he is and wrong we are, about everything, assumedly. If ever there were something in need of censorship this guy would be high on the list.

 

[Goaway]

I wont lie, r2r has helped me a lot deciding not to buy from high end (over priced) vendors. A $25 blasto marked up to 300? No thank you. I can photo shop my own corals. It's still difficult to find the right vendors. So, if they actually don't have what I want. I wont buy. I will never purchase from WWC.

 

[ReefRy]

I wont lie, r2r has helped me a lot deciding not to buy from high end (over priced) vendors. A $25 blasto marked up to 300? No thank you. I can photo shop my own corals. It's still difficult to find the right vendors. So, if they actually don't have what I want. I wont buy. I will never purchase from WWC.

They've (R2R) helped me quite a bit too, especially with gear and livestock choices. It's nice to get unvarnished opinions. That those are much easier to find on a pyramid butterfly as opposed to a sponsor was the whole point of this thread.

As to WWC specifically, had I been able to find a series of honest experiences from which to form a reasonable opinion I wouldn't have driven from Tallahassee to Orlando to check out what I thought was and was certainly billed as, the mecca. Turns out it's a beautiful store and worth the trip, but yeah, $300 for coral I can find locally for a fraction of that price.

 

[jda]

I have been critical of some vendors and never been censored. I have been for being critical of other members. I try to keep my feedback honest and fair without any hyperbole, so you don't see any "worst ever" or stuff like that. I try and keep the good with the bad for an honest review.

 

[snorklr]

you know , i just read that "serious issue with WWC'' thread....and theres a whole disclaimer printed above and below it that clearly states that the buyer/seller feedback section that its in is just supposed to be a conversation between the buyer and seller and any additional posts commenting on it will be deleted...so i dont think its any great conspiracy that they did what they said they would do...im pretty sure everyone could have complained nonstop in another section....that being said i tried to reply to a kid a couple days ago to tell him how to join a local club and the whole thread disappeared...and i really have no clue why...

 

[ReefRy]

you know , i just read that "serious issue with WWC'' thread....and theres a whole disclaimer printed above and below it that clearly states that the buyer/seller feedback section that its in is just supposed to be a conversation between the buyer and seller and any additional posts commenting on it will be deleted...so i dont think its any great conspiracy that they did what they said they would do...im pretty sure everyone could have complained nonstop in another section....that being said i tried to reply to a kid a couple days ago to tell him how to join a local club and the whole thread disappeared...and i really have no clue why...

The disclaimer appeared afterward. The posts they deleted weren't particularly harsh, but as the terms of service champion pointed out, they can do as they please with their site, as evidenced by your experience. If that means eliminating competition or free market, so be it. (Not to make R2R out as communist Russia. They are not, lol.)

I'm wondering if it does more harm than good by only allowing positive everything, rather than a more realistic portrait of goods and services.

But I also get that any thread has the potential to devolve quickly by a single person derailing it with their agenda and others piling onto that, rather than what the original poster wanted to discuss.

Suffice it to say I wouldn't relish the role of mod on this, or any, site.

 

[Goaway]

I did read the TOS I understand buyer and seller forum rules.

I know of a few heated moments in fish keeping threads needed to be halted. I understand when people result to 2 yr old temper tantrums, adults need to step in.

I know, I know. TOS. No one can leave their 2 cents on the subject. It's just between buyer and vendor. I guess you take it to PM. Or, even FB or some other platform. BUT what bothers me is when you tell a vendor in one of their posts " i don't like your photo editing" it is removed. Plain and simple as that. Or how about " I love how you make your corals better looking than what they really are". "So, are you selling a photo for 500? Or does the coral actually look like that, and that's what you are selling?"

My point is, you walk into a vendor sell thread, if that vendor doesn't like what you say. That post is gone. Oh well I guess.. TOS

I'm wondering if it does more harm than good by only allowing positive everything, rather than a more realistic portrait of goods and services.

It helps the vendors