I'm really liking what I've been reading so far. It's great to see members new and old contributing their ideas for the betterment of the forum.
1. With the prospect of the introduction of ISP level content filtering in Australia, are there any discussions or consierations being made on how to keep access to the site alive for those of us who live in Australia? One idea that springs immediately to mind is the prospect of setting up a hidden service within the TOR network.
2. I'd like to see bluelight use an SSL certificate to enhance the security and safety of posters, some of whom may be vulnerable, and I dont mean simply from the police.
3. Posting pictures on the site should be reviewed... I really feel that posters putting images of themselves up on the site complete with big eyes and a bag of whatever, really are inviting trouble, perhaps picture posts should be better moderated or at least certain images should not be visible? This may seem harsh but sites like bluelight are monitored.
4. The archives in some places are getting a little bit messy, and I feel that in some areas they need to be dumped. Is it possible to start looking at refreshing the old content and dumping what isn't required? Yes I am aware of the enormity of such a task
I understand some of this may be more of a site level thing but if the moderators are sharing ideas then I guess it never hurts to bring it up.
The initial issues you have raised are more at the site level but that doesn't mean they wont be put forward in forum wide site discussion. The proposed internet filter is of great concern to sites like Bluelight and has the potential to cut the current user base off for a short period of time while work arounds are developed. The more concerning aspect of its implementation is that it would potentially cut off those who need us the most. Although it can be frustrating to some, this is one of the considerations taken when moderating. If we're seen to be nothing more than a 'drug chat' website with no HR value then there is no doubt we will be added to list in a heartbeat. If, however, the authorities see us as what we are - a HR resource - we may have a chance to bypass the filter at the first step.
The updating of old content (FAQS) is an ongoing task which is obviously very time consuming. There is no doubt that as trends change then we need to be dynamic and change with them. Although there is obvious nostalgia issues involved with some of the old content, it's imperative that it remains relevant. If you come across threads in the archives that require refreshing or deletion then I ask that you use the report function and detail what you believe needs doing. In the meantime, we will look at ways of amalgamating similar content and cleaning out dated material.
A separate section for news articles perhaps...
Not entirely separate, but if they were given their own folder where the threads appeared below the more generalised stuff... might help create some visual order at least.
This is another one I will have to take to our vBulletin professionals and find out where the limitations lie.
For what it's worth, I'd like to see slightly looser moderation. One aspect might be allowing discussion of prices - at least in a general way. Not dicksizing, but an acknowledgement of the general street prices for particular substances. [One approach might be to allow pricing for small quantities, but not large ones: we don't want people saying 'yeah I pay $40 a pill but if I buy 1000 it's $20/each' (or whatever, I don't know what pills cost in Aus, obviously :D)
The call for 'looser' moderation is something that's being taken on board. As noted previously, the moderation is undertaken to ensure not only the smooth running of the forum but also to ensure everything is within the guidelines. One of the ways of achieving the 'looser' moderation would obviously be the modification of the guidelines to permit a wider base to work on. The guideline changes would obviously need to still encompass good HR practice and be in the greater interests of the members and the site.
Personally, I see no value in the addition of prices. There is no HR value in discussing how much you can get a specific substance for and it invariably leads to dicksizing. It's also my belief that from an outside perspective it just wouldn't look good. If we continually have people talking about how much they get
x drug for and how much they get
y drug for, it will just look like a drug trading site. This isn't the attention we want from the outside!!!
If people really want to see what prices in their area are like then they can jump into the only site approved price thread in OD. ---------->
2009 Price Thread
You have to remember that people have been arrested in the past due to lax conversations on AusDD about their plans for the weekend (it was in Perth right?). Police and press do monitor this forum and the guidelines are here for a reason.
Just another reason why we appear to be more mod happy in AusDD. We have drawn unwanted LE attention in the past and it resulted in some of our Western friends having contact they weren't expecting.
![:\](https://bluelight.org/xf/BL_Images/Orig_Emoji/wrygrin.gif "wry grin :\")
I think Akhhenaten raises some good points, all pretty pertinent. What options are available to us Aussies in 12 months time if bluelight.ru is added to the ISP filters?
This is primarily something that needs to be attacked from our side of the fence. If the filter comes into play then as Australians we're going to have to find the workaround. I'm not aware if there is higher level (Admin) discussion surrounding this issue but I'll poke Hoptis and see what he knows.
I'm not sure about the PIR threads / news threads. Could we have one PIR megathread which was heavily reviewed to delete unuseful posts (like the price thread in OD)? Are further sub-forums possible? Or maybe we could break the existing two Australia-centric forums into four and have Aus Social, Aus DD, Aus PIR, and Aus News?
The problem with muliple state PIR threads is the overlap of pills circulating between states. I know pillreports is suposed to be the resource used for this kind of thing but I personally find the discussions on BL more reliable (and mature) than the user reports on PR.
The PIR threads and news threads are a very important part of AusDD but finding how to fit them in just right is going to be the challenge. The use of sub forums in this instance may be an option but then I worry there may not be enough traffic once you take it away from the main drug centric discussion. Another good idea and something that will be seriously considered.
One thing I can probably say is there is very little chance of an Australian PIR thread. The PIR issue needs to find the happy medium between individual, State and National threads while not taking away from Pillreports.com.
