[Garage Logician]

There are those that say we should exercise continued patience while DXS gets their act together while at the same time displaying little patience with attitudes of diverse nature here. Like you Russ

Originally Posted by CuriousGeorge

Unfortunately, I find this very confusing.

[CuriousGeorge]

Yep, soul of diversity that I am......(not).

Here's the way I see it and it's a cold, hard reality check. First a brief historical (hysterical?) review. (The sequence is accurate, but many actions/results overlapped each other)

1. DXS/GDT was the reason for DX4Dummies, which later became DX4All.

2. Membership was good and there were good discussions at that time.

3. As things became even more complicated at DXS and the various changes were enacted, people became more confused. Log-ins rose.

4. When outXchanges started drying up, there was a lot of "angst" among members and we developed a reputation for "cheer leading" and brutally suppressing any negative comments about DXS.

5. Once the outXchange queue locked down and we continued to clamp down on ANY negativity that members expressed, our readership started to drop fast.

6. We "read" the writing on the wall, so to speak and tried to "re-invent" DX4All into 4AllAccounts. This was to get away from the "DXS only" label and to try and expand into other areas that we felt may interest our forum members. At this time the amount of "hate" mail we were receiving in our "Admin" email box started rising, with members blaming us for DXS "screwing them"; "stealing their money", etc. Most of it is VERY brutal in nature and it became obvious that a great many of our forum members actually believed we ARE DXS or "owned" by them.

7. We started taking steps to ensure (as well as we could) that the membership here clearly understood that we are NOT affiliated with DXS, we are simply a "teaching portal". Sort of like teaching rabbits not to make new rabbits. (Joke) Meanwhile, membership log-ins continued to drop.

8. After many heated discussions, the Admins decided to stop censoring the negative posts concerning DXS. We decided to allow reasonable discussion on why DXS did not seem to be honoring it's deadlines, it's contractual commitments or it's fiscal responsibilities. None of these points are debatable, this is actually what HAS happened. Ask any Blue Chip member.

9. As we relaxed the censorship of posters and tried to limit censoring to obvious (to us) digs at others by forum members and other just plain foolishness (spam, etc.) we also developed a core of members who did not want to allow the "negativity" that was creeping into the comments and posts about DXS/GDT.

10. DXS/GDT went into a series of off-line periods. Membership posting and log-ins plummeted. The "stop the negativity" camp started getting pushy and holding the Admins responsible. The "realist" camp started getting pushy and didn't understand why people thought they were "negative" since they were merely posting the truth as they saw it. They hold the Admins responsible for not pointing out the "truth".

11. DXS/GDT continues to be very sporadic about it's on-line existence and member log-ins continue to decrease. Advertising revenues now are below that needed to keep the forum up and active and we had to get an "angel" investor who is interested in the potential of the forum as an established (somewhat) brand name.

OK, that's a very rough history. Here's the reality. Nobody is going to be entirely happy with the postings on this forum. However, we are actively seeking a "new" balance between what we fervently wish for and what actually is the reality of the moment.

The reality of the moment is this is STILL a VERY DXS centric forum and DXS, at this time, is angering far more account holders than it is making happy. That may not mean a hill of beans to GDT, but it is a very serious issue at 4AllAccounts and causing problems. Unfortunately, account members cannot treat DXS the same way they would a financial institution. There is no "accountability" of funds as far as can be seen by me and as a result, there is only one major place to vent frustrations and concerns where members can be fairly certain "word" gets back to GDT. That's right here. However, so many have given up on DXS in disgust at this point, the member ship log-ins no longer support the board's costs.

What we (4AllAccounts) fervently hopes for and is working on (takes time and changes) is a vibrant community of members where the PRIMARY thrust of the knowledge and sharing is teaching people how to make a "living wage" as independent business people via the Internet or home based businesses. That is why we changed names and added the different forum areas. We would love to see new ideas, special forums, teachers or specialists, personal "invitation only" forums, stuff like that. That is the future WE are working towards. That future will include DXS, but as an area of interest no greater than any other area we talk about.

So, the question is, how smooth can this transition be as we fumble our way there?

Oh, and about that Admin negativity thing? What this thread is about? Now you have a much clearer idea of what is going on in the back ground.

Please feel free to make any comments, suggestions, etc for ways in which to MOVE IN THAT DIRECTION. If this was the board we dream of, the negativity would disappear by virtue of the amount of OTHER things going on in the forum.

So, pick all you want, just remember, back it up with a specific suggestion and reason.

I will be ensuring that the censoring in THIS thread is kept strictly to the personal insult level and above. Specifically, I am asking the mods and super mods to simply draw my attention to posts they feel may have crossed that particular line.

Again, it's your turn........

[mwong92683]

[STG'd]I can see both sides. And I'm tired of looking to find blame. We have a situation here, and its all too familiar to a lot of us.

I've been involved in many internet sites/programs that have gone awry. Immediately preceding each and every instance has been a situation like we are experiencing right now.

The site starts having problems, the cheerleaders say "hang on, it will be alright in time as things get "fixed"". Then the naysayers start to bash everything starting with the program, then moving to personal attacks on the admin and mods.

As the admin start to defend themselves, things typically get a bit heated because they are trying to fend off attacks, which makes the cheerleaders themselves turn into downright attackers, the admin vehemently try to get stuff under control, unsuccessfully, which causes unrest with the rest of the members - who one by one start to drop off due to a number of reasons from the site being down, disillusionment with the program, too many attackers seeming to be taking over the forum, the admin starting to get feisty in defense, and all threads seem to evolve into one, or all of the above.

The last step is the site does go down, and everyone disappears - - - the naysayers say "I told you so", the cheerleaders blame the nayssayers not realizing what part they played in the scenario, the forum dries up because no-one has anything to talk about anymore, and everyone finds a new playground to play in.

ANYTHING HERE SOUND FAMILIAR?

Now the problem we have is that DXS keeps coming back, yes it may be on its last legs, and nothing new is happening, but as long as they keep showing up and the site stays alive, its enough to keep everyone on a roll, and so the cycle continues.

I've logged in here many times over the past week or two and been one of two people online - that's depressing. I've seen the ongoing battles, right or wrong, and that's depressing too. I know DXS is in big trouble, and my personal opinion is that if our numbers are any reflection of their own numbers, they may never be able to come back to the degree they need to in order to survive long term.

We have ideas, things start popping for a few days, but they never come to fruition, or they fizzle out before they begin. We've tried to open new threads and people seem to go back to DXS because all we've got right now are a few surfing sites and a couple of HYIPs. Even though some of those are still paying, people are not interested in stuff like this long term. They either join or they don't, but the threads are not enough to hold interest to continue posting in.

DXS was different. It was a CONCEPT of something new and exciting. It was something people were excited to promote and be a part of - and I haven't seen anything like it out there to take its place.

I don't know how we're going to come out of this quick sand, or if we even can at this point??? I feel the more we struggle, the deeper we are sinking. We HAVE to try to stop bickering, but I also don't know if that's possible since the "other guys" insist on pocking and prodding until a reaction is inevitable. And then we get what we've got now - two sides at battle calling each other out. No-one is going to win if this keeps up. Particularly us. But even if we stop bickering right now today - what has anyone got to say that will promote activity? The only activity we have right now is the bickering. On one hand its driving people into a frenzy, but on the other hand, what is left if it stops?

Someone, somewhere needs to take the "higher road" but at this point, I don't know if its possible, or even if it will fix what's been broke at this stage of the game???

On our side, we have strong personalities that understandably feel they must defend their own honor (at times to our own detriment), and on the other side, we have equally strong personalities that appear to be intent on our destruction. Regardless, its the only posting thats occuring.

Where do we go from here?[STG'd]

[CuriousGeorge]

Well, I was thinking about the networking section, myself.......

Or maybe the record keeping information section of the Bricks and Mortar forum.

How about the social marketing section?

What's better? MLM or Networking? Is there a difference?

How about setting up a cleaning business from home? I have an old neighborhood friend that did that rather successfully.

[Shiisa]

I'd suggest that if the only thing you're going to say about DXS is bashing, it's probably time to shut down the DXS section of the forum... because it truly sounds a lot like TalkGold...

I have NOT been "cheerleading" for quite some time... and neither are the others who are seen as in the "pro-DXS" camp... but it gets mighty tiring to have negative (and snide) commentary on EVERY positive thing that comes out about DXS... it's one thing when the negative comments come from members... but when leadership joins the bashing it becomes much more "valid" for many members....

[Shiisa]

Originally Posted by CuriousGeorge

Well, I was thinking about the networking section, myself.......

Or maybe the record keeping information section of the Bricks and Mortar forum.

How about the social marketing section?

What's better? MLM or Networking? Is there a difference?

How about setting up a cleaning business from home? I have an old neighborhood friend that did that rather successfully.

Go for it, Russ... I'm a little busy with the real world right now... and if I had to clean for other people -- well... just shoot me now...

[Garage Logician]

Originally Posted by Shiisa

Go for it, Russ... I'm a little busy with the real world right now... and if I had to clean for other people -- well... just shoot me now...

Appears their is enough SNIDE to go around!

[Shiisa]

It wasn't intended to be snide, LeRoy... sorry you took it that way...