Editing our posts and blocking members in discussions we've started

It's me (the founder of VoyageForum for those who wouldn't know) who deleted the messages in question. Is it really better than before...? And it's also me who trains the new moderators...

Anyway, in the two interventions of yours that I witnessed, I found them to be quite reactive. Was it because the traffic seems lower? 🤔🏼

Hi Bruno,

Was it because the traffic seems lighter?🤔

It’s definitely true that makes things easier for now... just like it’s easier to spot violations in a small village compared to a very large city. It’s also a matter of "luck," since there aren’t moderators online 24/7 (I could’ve not been working this weekend). Plus, moderators can’t read hundreds of messages in detail every day.

So, if you see a post that doesn’t belong on the forum, don’t assume a moderator has seen it—or even approved it. That’s actually why we ask members to help us by reporting posts that seem inappropriate.

I’ll admit, I’m tired of repeating all this for over 20 years... especially for long-time members.

Best regards,

François

No, no connection—I don’t have time to dig up the addresses. We were talking about the situation. That’s what we were discussing.

It might just be harder to admit that you’re not liked by everyone who reads you

Not being liked by everyone who reads me (which is normal) and being reported for an inappropriate message are two very different things. It sounds like you’re quite proud to tell me that some people might not like me, but sorry, I don’t see the connection... Also, none of the messages you say were reported ever sparked a forum discussion like the ones we have about trolls.

Of course, no connection...

You seem really proud to tell me that some people might not like me, but sorry, I don’t see the connection...

My point is that while you want certain members to leave the site (oh, that poor moderation that lets everything slide...), others have wanted exactly the same thing about you, at least in some discussions.

Hello Pagal, I just wrote you a long message and once again the page crashed almost at the end and everything was erased. No matter what you say, you’ll always be wrong... Don’t waste your energy on that. Have you been reported? I’m not surprised. You’re a brilliant guy in real life. You’re an ethnologist—qualified—, highly educated—at a high level—, very cultured, especially when it comes to anything related to India. Your interventions bother some people because of your knowledge, when you set the record straight on mistakes or nonsense that’s said, or the fake profiles that challenge you to provoke a reaction, to test how you’ll respond... that’s all. These days, being educated, cultured, intellectual, thoughtful is seen as a "flaw." You’ve never been insulting or condescending. So what are they blaming you for? Your bluntness, like me.

Getting back to the so-called "troll"—there’s another word that should be used—I reported last year the guy with multiple nationalities, multiple aliases, sometimes a man, sometimes a woman, sometimes young, sometimes old. But *I* was the one who got scolded; *I* was the troublemaker because I made "too many" reports. Of course, every time this guy came back with a new identity, I reported him.

I know this person in real life; I won’t describe his behavior here. It has a name. He claimed that at least 50%, if not more, of the members didn’t really exist—that it was VoyageForum’s admin creating multiple profiles to inflate the member count. Did he want to prove it to me? Or to himself? Or... something else... He even often wrote to himself, in a way, starting fake dialogues between two of his aliases. I could elaborate... I’d reported that too. But *I* wasn’t believed: *I* was the one causing trouble, *I* was the one losing it...

As soon as VF reopened, he contacted me with the alias of a Belgian who seemed to know me, even though I’d never seen him, never interacted with him here on VF. In his last message before the forum closed, he was a "German who didn’t speak French well," or so he apologized. He’s recognizable a mile away by his style, his way of expressing himself, the recurring themes...

He’s back now and intervening in tons of discussions with different aliases, even starting dialogues between two of his own profiles again. Oh, he’s active, all right! More power to him, as long as he doesn’t stir up trouble or sabotage a travel journal or any discussion. But he has his "favorites"—the ones he knows will react.

As soon as he creates a new alias, I spot him immediately. He’s a special "case." He uses a VPN to hide his IP and create all kinds of aliases, nationalities... I know his real first name, his last name, the city he lives in... I’m not just talking nonsense. No, sorry, even if what I’m saying sounds very strange, I’m not paranoid... All I want is for the India forum to restart in a healthy, pleasant, intellectual way. It had really reached a high level of idea and culture exchanges. Not just trivial stuff and requests for hotels, taxis, and the like...

For now, the guy is keeping a low profile... making more or less vague comments. As long as he doesn’t disrupt discussions, someone who also recognized him told me, it’s not a big deal.

Personally, I’ve decided to ignore him, to pretend I haven’t noticed... But I’m afraid he’ll start "prodding" me again to get a rise out of me. He’s waiting for me to lose my cool and say something that’ll get me kicked off VF, like he did with Marcomarco...

His ex-girlfriend told him he writes terribly, that his travel journals are heavy and uninteresting, that he’d never write like me. He didn’t like that at all...

Thanks Jean-Marie for your kind message. Anyway, you can’t reason with someone who doesn’t want to listen. Putting reports about frank and lively debates on the same level as trolls who create dozens of accounts to constantly disrupt discussions and harass people with private messages—that’s being in bad faith and refusing to see the problem. The evidence exists, but we don’t have time for that since it wasn’t the goal...

What the Creator didn’t understand is that we love this forum, and our comments are only meant to improve it—otherwise, we wouldn’t have come back. The issue of "trolling" was a real problem here that drove some people away. It’s no coincidence that sites trying to fill the void left by VF (and failing) even made it their guiding principle, because it had become unbearable.

I had just written you a very detailed and thorough reply, and just as I was about to click on preview, it vanished—this happens every time the message is a bit on the long side. Several of us have "reported" this to Mr. Bouchet (with a T, stop putting an R there) ;)

Thank you, Jean-Marie, for your kind message. In any case, you can’t reason with someone who doesn’t want to listen. Putting reports about frank and lively debates on the same level as trolls who create dozens of accounts to constantly disrupt discussions and harass people with private messages is being in bad faith and refusing to see the problem. The evidence exists, but we don’t have time for that because that wasn’t the goal...

I was telling you that I found in my archives the personal response Mr. Bouchet gave to my reports. I’d like to post it here, but I don’t want to get into endless arguments again. Basically, he said I was ranting and was a **** (the mojibake was fixed). He blamed me for making repeated reports, even though he had asked me a few months earlier to report every time our troll came back under a new disguise. There was a time when the troll was creating an incredible number of new aliases, and yes, I reported each one. But no, it was wrong—it was *me* who was ranting. We could have proven I was right, but it would have taken professionals, a lawyer, IT experts, a lot of time, energy, and money. I didn’t want to get into that. I preferred to stop writing, withdraw from the forum, like so many others. Mr. Bouchet reproached me for being the only one making reports. And for good reason—people don’t want to get involved in drama. Reporting takes a lot of courage, on VF as in life. People don’t want trouble, so they pretend not to see or hear anything. Solenne40/Christelle, the social worker, won’t contradict me on that.

What the Creator didn’t understand is that we love this forum and that our comments are only meant to improve it—otherwise, we wouldn’t have come back. The problem of "trolling" was a very real issue here that drove some people away. It’s no coincidence that sites trying to fill the void left by VF (and failing) made it their main focus, because it had become unbearable.

Yes, we love this forum, yes, we love the exchanges with interesting and passionate people, yes, I love writing here. I know not everyone likes my writing style. People don’t have to read me, no need to crucify me. I also sensed a judgment about that in Mr. Bouchet’s message. Yet, over 67,000 page views on my travel journal... I’m not a bad contributor. I kept being read throughout all these years the forum was closed, and I didn’t even know it. So many people like what I write, and I’m happy to actively contribute to this forum’s dynamic. Happy to share with my readers. When I saw him back after I’d barely written three words, I exclaimed: Oh no! He’s not starting again! But I wasn’t going to report him right after coming back, right after the forum reopened. I’ve already spotted him under several aliases. So I stopped writing immediately. I won’t make any more reports, I won’t make waves. I’ve decided to ignore him no matter what he writes. Just don’t want to go through that circus again. I just want to share my experiences in a friendly way.

So, if you see a message that doesn’t belong on the forum, don’t assume a moderator has seen it—let alone approved it. That’s actually why we ask members to help us by reporting posts that seem inappropriate.

I was telling you that I found in my archives the personal response Mr. Bouchet gave to my reports. I’d like to post it here, but I don’t want to get into another endless debate. Basically, I was ranting and being a pain... He accused me of making repeated reports, even though he’d asked me a few months earlier to let him know every time our troll showed up under a new disguise. There was a time when the troll was creating an insane number of new usernames, and yes, I reported each one. But no, it was wrong—*I* was the one ranting...

So we’re told we *have* to report stuff, but when we do, we’re just overreacting. This mixed message isn’t going to make things any clearer...

So, if you see a post that doesn’t belong on the forum, don’t assume a moderator has seen it—or even approved it. That’s actually why we ask members to help us by reporting posts that seem inappropriate.

I was telling you that I found in my archives the personal response Mr. Bouchet gave to my reports. I’d like to post it here, but I don’t want to get into another endless debate. Basically, I was ranting and being a pain... He blamed me for making repeated reports, even though he’d asked me a few months earlier to report every time our troll put on a new disguise. There was a time when the troll was creating an insane number of new usernames, and yes, I reported each one. But no, it was wrong—I was the one ranting...

So we’re told we need to report things, but when we do, we’re just ranting. This contradictory message isn’t going to make things any clearer...

No big deal... I’ll just let the river flow and chill in my hammock

As soon as a new username pops up, I spot it immediately. This is a special "case." He has a VPN and can hide his IPs and create all sorts of usernames, nationalities...

It’s really odd because you can’t log into VoyageForum with a VPN...

I know this guy in real life—I won’t describe his behavior here. It has a name. He claimed that at least 50%, if not more, of the members didn’t really exist—that it was the VF admin creating multiple usernames to inflate the member count. Did he want to prove it to me? To himself? Or... something else... He even used to write to himself, in a way, starting fake dialogues between two of his usernames. I could go into more detail... I’d reported him before, but no one believed me. I was the troublemaker, the one losing it...

We have the technology to detect duplicate accounts. Sure, a few might slip through occasionally, but suggesting that 50% of members are fake is just ridiculous...

Sometimes members get paranoid and see the same person behind multiple accounts when that’s not the case.

Enough. We’re closing this discussion.