Is ecf advocation censorship?

[jonnymac]

I've been hearing that the e-cigarette forum has disallowed any mention of ........'s [Short for EDITED] on the forum and that there has not been any public announcement as to why this is.

Now granted I don't post very often but I have used and visited this forum quite often and would be willing to recommend it to anyone if i could believe that it really stood as an open centre for discussion for all aspects of vaping. Now as it so happens this favourite vaping blogger of mine (see above) has reacted by starting up a new forum. Given that vaping is a subculture (although massively successful a subculture nonetheless) and that vapers from hobbyist to casual user need to fight to counteract the million ignorances from the tobacco industry, heavily lobbied political powers and other idiots isn't it blindingly evident that we find unity and security in the singular knowledge that we don't rely on tobacco? That we can choose to express our individuality through vaping is essential to being a vaper; the knowledge of what is out there and available comes from the free communication and exchange of ideas throughout all of the vaping community. The fact only remains that, like a Hollywood denouement that states the stupidly [expletive deleted] obvious, promoting anti-competition policies is completely counter-intuitive to the ethos of being a vaper.

Now, as I understand it, there were some actions that followed the initial censorship which ought to be byegones at this point. The new forum is up and active and as befits any new start-up with lots of energy and vigour will continue to grow and attract new and experienced vapers to its pages. If there's a hatchet near you, my dearest ecf, now is the time to bury it where your head seems to currently be. Should I be in error on any of what I've posted now is the best time to clear the air. And then vape the pipe of peace with all our comrades-in-arms.

Can't we all just get along?

 

[Shootist]

Yes they censor certain website links and or even just the names of them.

Mostly sites/names that do not support ECF or for other reasons only known to ECF.

It is their forum and they can censor whomever they choose. Nothing new about that with any forum.

They can also BAN anyone they like.

 

[SingedVapor]

It has nothing to do with censorship. It has everything to do with reputation. ECF is one of the biggest online electronic cigarette forums on the internet, whilst I may not agree with every action they may take... They do a wonderful job of keeping this forum alive and well. If they have banned someone or have "censored" the mentioning of something/someone then then there is a good reason behind it. The people who run this site work very hard to keep it smooth.

(Also if ECF has filtered something I would suggest not trying to get around the filter. Good way to get your post deleted )

 

[Wow1420]

ECF is a privately owned site. I fully support them in taking whatever action they feel is appropriate regarding discussions about competing sites.

 

[Izan]

How is the "other" better?
So I have to watch my language here and there it's vaping 4chan?
The information is the same and each has a target audience.

But I concede, it must suck not having your "new" place promoted for free by ECF. Me=VJ... I'd send out scouts just like the OP.

Cheers
I

 

[jonnymac]

Hmm, all this is very interesting support for ecf but it still doesn't really answer any of my questions. I hope y'all will notice that I've been really diplomatic and even-handed about the way i phrased everything. I'm looking for transparency and really don't want to sling mud at arbitrary targets!

I mean, obviously it's a privately owned site and I couldn't have made it any clearer that I don't want to ruffle any feathers. Albeit using a cheeky way to get around the filter is a little shady, but to be honest I wanted to see for myself. You'll notice I didn't directly reference any rival e-cig forums or make out that one was better than the other. I didn't insult anyone. As a casual vaper with vested interest I'm looking for clear explanations on what's going on, that's all! I'm not looking for answers in support of anything, just explanations!

 

[GinnyTx]

I can't say I blame ECF honestly cybershilling abounds, and it's a nice place here, (you should see the fairly unmoderated board I used to go to) I've been censored, and I probably deserved it *lol*

 

[K_Tech]

promoting anti-competition policies is completely counter-intuitive to the ethos of being a vaper.

A forum that aspires to be the "face" of a community can easily be judged by its associations, and a forum's "owners" can pick and choose at their will whom they choose to associate with.

 

[jonnymac]

Well, isn't that exactly the issue here?

From all the vapers I've talked to ecf was one of the first steps and most important discoveries in relation to leaving cigarettes behind. As representative of the vaping community and with the stated intention of "honest reviews" the choice to limit the involvement of one's competition is one thing, denying any involvement is another. It's not exactly as though any new forum could ever replace ecf, the cumulated archive and political drive is immense. What I'm getting at here is the argument for a unified vaping community. As vapers we are constantly faced with potential issues regarding legality and it would seem to me that the more enterprising and innovative we become as a community the better equipped we'll be to deal with these issues. Splitting the community into factions, doesn't it come across as being confusing? Do we really want to have ecf-vs-[nameless-forum/blogger/etc.] rivalries after the Mac-vs-Microsoft fashion?

 

[Miata GT]

Yeah I'm not getting these responses either.

The OP is asking what happened or why did something happen. The responses so far seem to be supporting ECFs right to do what it wants. As a forum owner and admin myself I understand this but would be concerned about splintering a community that should be held as tightly close together as possible.

I am curious myself what could have happened that would make mentioning VJ akin to using naughty language.

 

[K_Tech]

Well, isn't that exactly the issue here?

From all the vapers I've talked to ecf was one of the first steps and most important discoveries in relation to leaving cigarettes behind. As representative of the vaping community and with the stated intention of "honest reviews" the choice to limit the involvement of one's competition is one thing, denying any involvement is another. It's not exactly as though any new forum could ever replace ecf, the cumulated archive and political drive is immense. What I'm getting at here is the argument for a unified vaping community. As vapers we are constantly faced with potential issues regarding legality and it would seem to me that the more enterprising and innovative we become as a community the better equipped we'll be to deal with these issues. Splitting the community into factions, doesn't it come across as being confusing? Do we really want to have ecf-vs-[nameless-forum/blogger/etc.] rivalries after the Mac-vs-Microsoft fashion?

Yeah I'm not getting these responses either.

The OP is asking what happened or why did something happen. The responses so far seem to be supporting ECFs right to do what it wants. As a forum owner and admin myself I understand this but would be concerned about splintering a community that should be held as tightly close together as possible.

I am curious myself what could have happened that would make mentioning VJ akin to using naughty language.

I certainly can't speak for ECF, but there are hints both here and in some of the pre-launch chatter for the "other" forum. Perhaps they feel that any "official" release about what happened would turn into a free-for-all and would be harmful to the community in general.

Some disagreements just can't be resolved and the best thing to do is to cut your losses an move on.

 

[Marc411]

I certainly can't speak for ECF, but there are hints both here and in some of the pre-launch chatter for the "other" forum. Perhaps they feel that any "official" release about what happened would turn into a free-for-all and would be harmful to the community in general.

Some disagreements just can't be resolved and the best thing to do is to cut your losses an move on.

Agreed, cyber wars can start at the drop of a hat and nobody benefits. There is a reason and it really is none of our business, don't get me wrong you can ask just don't get ...... when you hear crickets.

 

[spartanstew]

Nobody knows for sure, but IMO that other site has taken every opportunity to "bash" ecf. They even make it a point in some of their "rules" to point out how their "rules" are better than ecf. In the myriad of promotions leading up to the launch it was clear they were specifically targeting ecf.

So, why would ecf want them mentioned/promoted here?

 

[aceswired]

I think we all get that ECF has the right, and we all understand at least the basic reasoning for it.

Still, as an ECF loyalist, I find it ... distasteful. We are adults, capable of our own judgments. Censoring that site stikes me as pointless, and I think it does more harm than good. Just my 2 cents.

Sent from my YP-G1 using Tapatalk 2

 

[jonnymac]

Nobody knows for sure, but IMO that other site has taken every opportunity to "bash" ecf. They even make it a point in some of their "rules" to point out how their "rules" are better than ecf. In the myriad of promotions leading up to the launch it was clear they were specifically targeting ecf.

So, why would ecf want them mentioned/promoted here?

tbh, I haven't see any ecf bashing except when I asked how the censorship came about. Which is understandable. I wasn't party, like I can imagine plenty of others, to any promotional material; I joined up because I saw the banner on the blog. Other forum(s) can't possibly be a threat to ecf because, as we've already covered, competition in this domain can only be healthy for raising awareness around vaping! The VU is different enough to not warrant a blackout.

 

[joesquid]

I'm relatively new and to tell you the truth I never heard of that other site til now. So I went there and it appears to be a good site for the 20 somethings. Not my cup of tea, heck, I have a hard time remembering my 20's. What I did notice there is a bit of ECF bashing. I suspect ECF is taking the high road by not allowing the site to be mentioned thereby preventing bashing and resulting in a so called cyber war.

 

[cags]

Nobody knows for sure, but IMO that other site has taken every opportunity to "bash" ecf. They even make it a point in some of their "rules" to point out how their "rules" are better than ecf. In the myriad of promotions leading up to the launch it was clear they were specifically targeting ecf.

So, why would ecf want them mentioned/promoted here?

I think we all get that ECF has the right, and we all understand at least the basic reasoning for it.

Still, as an ECF loyalist, I find it ... distasteful. We are adults, capable of our own judgments. Censoring that site stikes me as pointless, and I think it does more harm than good. Just my 2 cents.

Sent from my YP-G1 using Tapatalk 2

I have seen ecf bashing on the site you are talking about. a lot of it. and the bashing started with the announcement that they would open soon. I found that very distasteful and I no longer read anything from them. I am only a member of ecf so I don't know their reasons - but I don't want to be associated with a site that bashes other sites. I've never seen other sites being bashed here by the admins..... so perhaps you should be asking them why they bash!

IMO, bashing other sites is what will harm the community.

 

[rolygate]

There are a few points I can make here.

ECF doesn't censor other sites or forums unless we are attacked, or we can't afford to give that site a lot of links that would jeopardise our position with search engines.

If we are attacked then we will censor the links that the attackers attempt to place. An 'attack' is a massive flood of links.

ECF is the biggest ecig site and will always be a target for spammers - people who want to kickstart an ecig business. We will always have to stop that or ECF would just be a toilet with thousands of useless posts and links, and drop through the floor on Google as a result.

Spammers are a real pain and every successful site on the web has a problem with spam. We all do what we can to stop it.

Every now and then a successful internet marketer who sells porn, torrents and all the other stuff they do, latches onto ecigs and tries to make a dollar. If he is successful then he can dupe people into working for him. We can't afford to give one of these internet marketing empires a bunch of links because it may look as if we are involved.

Forum wars often start up over nothing, and are hell to stop. The best thing to do is make sure they can't start. If we are attacked then we do what we can to shut it down. If our members attack someone else we shut it down by banning those members.

This has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with genuine good resources, they can stand on their own feet, and do so very well. We support them if we can.

This has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with 'supporting the community' or any such crazy notion. We do enough of that and have done so better and longer than anyone else.

This thread is closed.