BFF Drama Update
Word on the street (or the Bigfoot Forums) is that Brian Brown has returned as Chief Administrator of the site. You can read this announcement for yourself HERE
I see this as a step in the RIGHT direction, and as such, I will back off criticism of the BFF and give Brian a chance to clean things up. I respect Brian and what he has worked hard to create, and as such I think it's only fair he have the opportunity to get this creation of his back on the right track.
Lets all support him in the work ahead of him. I will.
posted by Melissa Hovey @ 2:17 PM
6 Comments:
At 6:07 PM,
Ed Smith said…
I see this as a good move but there has been so much damage done to the image and credibility of the BFF I fear if he fails to remove all of the problems (is: people) that have driven the BFF into this position.
The toxic personalities that would be allowed to remain would lead to the undoing of any gains made by bipto.
At 12:25 AM,
Henry May said…
This is indeed good news, but I will not be playing Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus" till the toxic elements of that forum are removed or at the very least demoted. Go, Brian!!!!!!
At 11:13 AM,
Anonymous said…
Well I wonder if it will make a difference. He would have to clean house and one of the worst perpetrators of often malevolent immature leadership (Jaylee) has been there a long long time. Teresa would have to go too as well as their newly groomed cronies. Without those changes, any renewed leadership would have a hard time making changes.
What needs to occur is a realization that forums these days require an extra effort to be less abusive of people. It would do the field well to look back at the changes made in the ufo field, which is indeed much friendlier then it once was. It found its center and learned to not pounce on every witness for what some felt were unsupported claims.
Forums may also need to open up a little to some of what certain hard nose individuals consider as fringe or romantic claims. The FACT is, they don't know these things aren't part of sasquatch's being. They need to allow exploration of these concepts. That doesn't mean they advocate.
but if they want people to grow, well they are going to have to grow up themselves.
Here's an old BFF page I found with the main topic written by Bipto. It gives food for thought as to how some things have changed and how some things haven't.
http://www.bigfootforums.com/index.php?showtopic=6639
I don't think what goes on there today can be anything near 'tough love'.
At 10:35 PM,
In Search Of said…
Yeah,Brian will get things ship-shape in no time flat. Good to hear.
At 11:34 AM,
Anonymous said…
Ahh I see Melissa,
Well ya know, BFF was still abusive to people even when Bipto was there. People were still persecuted because they had experiences that didn't fall within the accepted norm. BFF has always crucified people due to their own limited understanding of the world.
I remember when you came on the bigfoot scene too. You were what many would consider part of the in-crowd, and thus you probably didn't even notice it. But there were people being beaten up at BFF all along, you just had your own thing going and could care less. So while you are praising Bipto for changes he 'can' make, you might consider this when holding back contributor comments because they NOW appear too volatile for your shifting position. Just because your personal background may not include the really negative experiences there a few years ago, it doesn't mean that hundreds of others didn't. BFF was just as bad then.
Part of the REAL problem is the paradigm of what the leadership wants/expects bigfoot to be. Partly because they are mostly armchair researchers who have limited experience. Anybody who has theories or experiences that don't fall within this narrow parameter, will always be on the attack from the MOB. That's a big part of the problem that needs to be fixed Mel, or the foundation for abuse will continue. And do you really think change will happen if you don't clean house of some of the screwed up leadership who encourage the bad behavior? So when you start playing nice and withholding posts because you know Bipto personally, well you end up thwarting the real change that's needed, that you advocate.
Little will change Mel unless they deal with the very issues that CAUSE most of the conflict. In management when you target change you can either address the symptoms (which is usually ineffective), or you address the cause and thus the core of the issue. Unfortunately it sounds like you are now influenced by your personal friendship with Bipto, but it was only ONE YEAR AGO that he left, and things were ALWAYS the same at BFF many years before that.
Read your own interview of him to remind yourself how BFF always was: http://searchforbigfoot.org/index.php?showtopic=926
Just one example of the public perception:
" JohnCartwright, on Aug 22 2008, 06:19 AM, said:
1. Why do they allow personal attacks on witnesses at the BFF?"
Unfortunately in this situation, it will probably be as they say, 'the more things change, the more things stay the same'.
So Mel, just because you know the person in charge, think before you endorse the same old institutional status quo.
At 8:13 PM,
Anonymous said…
Melissa, my point is, they were always just as abusive and mean to people. You just didn't notice because when you came on the scene, you were busy with your intended focus and they liked you.
I don't expect for this or my former post to go on line as they are intended for you, but the first one is true and it would have helped initiate positive change if you really wanted that. But if you now want to be soft for Brian's sake, well that sounds a little weak given your prior take on things, because it was only a year since he left and BFF has been abusive to people for many many years.
And the only reason I'm being anon is to not be targeted by them, I am sure you understand.
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