Hey everyone, hate to put a novel in here, but I just spent time I donÂ’t have writing a long PM to a friend. I figure that I can share with you all my thoughts from the PM that werenÂ’t personalized for the recipient. Just to make it more worth my time.
Let me begin by saying that I, myself, really don't have much choice but to be committed to QSX now since the administrator of the old board has indefinitely suspended my posting privileges because I had the nerve to thoughtfully oppose him since I thought doing so would help both new and old quitters remain IN our community. He, however, is the decider. This is HIS community. Everything that happens here is thanks to him. So, my objections are not welcome. The administrator defined my posts as "trolling," a term that could be slapped on just about anything he chooses, and told me I had 24 hours to remove them, and 8 hours to inform him if I would "comply." Undue pride on my part? I suppose you need to decide for yourself.
All that said. Even though I now have no choice, my experience has shown, choosing sides in this or not, that the QSX forum is a superior format, and I will spend as much time and energy possible so that it takes over as the scene of communication between smokeless tobacco quitters online. It does not exist for the purpose of spreading indecency or profanity, but rather it is built on a premise of inclusion. I do not see why people going through the torture and pains of nicotine withdrawal should be disciplined and/or banned for mundane instances of profanity or combativeness. Okay, go off on a racist diatribe against a member and you should be banned, call veteran quitters "fucking cocksuckers" and you should be helped.
Most importantly, it is clear to me that not only is the specific administrator of the old board not fully capable of making the decisions and handling situations as would be necessary to single-handedly lead a diverse group of addicts in withdrawal, BUT I do not believe that such a burden is fair to place on any ONE single person. QSX features a board of six administrators. I suspect that they will have disagreements amongst themselves. I also suspect that from their disagreements will arise solutions that will either be superior to what one person would arrive at, or at the least will be received better by the community. There will be no ad hominem bitter responses to decisions generated by a board of six people.
I might also add that the QSX board's administrators, so far as I know, have serious plans to direct new quitters to these new pages. Currently QS2 is the only source of board members for QSX. However, QS2 itself gains new members from a single link on a nine-year old low-tech webpage that must receive tons of hits because it is the only thing of its kind on the internet. I think the board of administrators at QSX will have fresh ideas and skill to put towards bringing new folks into the community. And get this, if those new folks feel uncomfortable about what's happening here, we can direct them to the squeaky-clean QS2. From what I've read and seen so far, there will be no attempts to censor links to the more formal board from here. QS2, however, refuses to allow the option of QSX for quitters who might feel more comfortable at a less formal forum.
-Greg
