Well, it all hit the fan, folks.
One member sent a legal letter to Dr. Irene, pleading that members be permitted to edit/delete posts at will, as it had become a legal issue. Many members had signed their names to the letter - some requesting all their posts to be permanently deleted, others who supported any member's right to edit/delete their own posts, while they did not want all their posts deleted. When Dr. Irene received the letter, she...
amazingly thought it was the right thing to do...
to POST the letter in the Catbox.
With the member's REAL NAME and EMAIL ADDRESS still on it.
She was really that egotistical, that she thought it was okay to do that?
In a forum where people are sometimes in DANGER if their real identity is revealed? And which forum was allegedly created for the purpose of HELPING such people, not further endangering them? And in which Dr. Irene HERSELF had pleaded with members to conceal their identities?
Oh, but it gets even better...
And then, Dr. Irene threatened to reveal personal information about the letter-writer to the writer's real-life peers. The statement - I'm paraphrasing now, because it's no longer there to reference, but it went something like this, "I wonder what your peers would think of you when they find all these things out about you?"
Well, a hue and cry went up after Dr. Irene so arrogantly posted that letter (thinking herself above any ethical, moral or legal standard???)... and several other members said, "Sign me up, too. That's just wrong, Doc." Some commented on Dr. Irene's habit of laughing at the members' discomfort or their questions - it was minimizing and condescending.
The lack of edit/delete ability came under discussion. Dr. Irene and/or her admins had commented in the thread that it was only a few members who'd had that function disabled, with full notice (a lie, they were not notified). And her reasoning was because of (paraphrasing) "those member's rude and really awful content," and she defined their attempts to delete their own posts as "venting of anger because they had no where else to vent it."
Someone else pointed out there was a serious flaw in that logic - if the content was really awful and rude, then why did Dr. Irene prevent them from deleting it? Why did she want to force them to leave it there, why did she want it?
Within hours, the Catbox was closed down.
Could be so that Dr. Irene and the admins could delete all the requested posts.
Oh, but in the meantime, the Doc posted a link on her main site page saying something like the catbox would be back better than ever, with no more of "this yucky stuff" - and the link led to a CNN article about the proliferation of angry posts and blogs on the internet. (I suppose this is one of those "yucky things" she doesn't like.)
Too bad, Doc, if people are angry at you, hmmmm? As more and more members have realized each day, you brought this all upon yourself. A little vindictive power-tripping goes a long, long way in cyberland. You brought your own house down.
P.S. Many members have found Dr. Irene's repeated use of baby-talk to be demeaning and condescending. Clawsies, pawsies, her (giggle) at people's discomfort, her use of teenage language ("Like, duh"). Here's a clue, Doc - your (ex) members are intelligent people in their own right. Their refusal to lock-step with you is a credit to them. If you weed and dilute your member base to only those who agree with you (and/or are afraid of you), you'll be left with only a few clones and nothing interesting or of value.
Oh, but that's what you wanted, wasn't it? A bunch of clones?
(As you repeatedly told another member weeks ago, even after she asked you to STOP saying that to her, that you wanted to clone her, it wasn't a compliment to HER. You still kept hammering away at it. Because what YOU wanted was more important than her feelings, right?
And that's what abuse is all about.
Thank you, Dr. Irene, for giving us the Catbox. We learned to identify abuse. Even by the Catbox owner, herself.
So the Catbox is shut down - for how long? Who knows? But I'm sure Dr. Irene will find a way to spin this into blaming the "bad apples" for it all. It's all "their" fault. None of this would have happened if it weren't for "them" and their "rude and really awful"ness.
It was your actions, your behaviors, that brought all this about, Doc. It was you. You can scurry and scuttle and try to blame, but we know better. We're intelligent people. You brought this on yourself.
