An OPEN letter to the admins and owners of WWW.SICCNESS.NET

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mrtonguetwista

mrtonguetwista

$$ Deep Pockets $$
#45
Feb 6, 2003
23,473
7,035
0
82
#45
HERESY said:
At this time I’m attempting to go over some legal documents for a meeting I have later on this week, but I can’t seem to bring myself to focus on them. Right now, I believe it would be a great disservice to the website, my fellow siccness members and me if I didn’t speak about the recent events and the ramifications of the actions of members, mods, admins and owners of www.siccness.net.

I’ve been a member of this site for over a decade now. As a member of this site I’ve had a long and “controversial” history. As you all know I shoot from the hip and am very critical of certain institutions in our society. During my time here I’ve met people from all types of life who I’ve had the pleasure of meeting offline. Some I’ve met for business while others I’ve met simply because we shared common interests and the vibe was there. People on this site often come to me for advice or my opinion on a wide variety of subjects. They do this because they trust my opinion and they know that with “HERESY” or “:H:”, they’ll receive constructive criticism, words of encouragement, a joke or two, information they did have before and a chance to look at things from a different perspective.

However, I’m not an angel. There are times where I’ve said things that were out of line and done things that were uncalled for when I should have taken the higher road. I can be wrong as two-left shoes sometimes, but the fact is I can admit when I’m wrong, can provide a sincere apology if need be and can move on.

Years ago I was unjustly banned, and I’ll never forget how swiftly siccness members rallied to my aide to have me reinstated. The love I’ve received from the siccness has not been limited to the outcry that came with my banning, however. During my time here I’ve lost a lot of things that were important to me, most notably, my sister to cancer, my father and recently my grandmother. When I told the board about the deaths, they rallied behind me and offered support and love. In my time of need, my extended family, my siccness bretheren, did things for me online and offline that extended way beyond what some would believe.

What you have is not simply a site with members with a love for music. What you have here is a community, it is a family. At times it is a highly dysfunctional family, but nevertheless, whether you acknowledge it or not, that’s how this site operates. Yes, many of us are from different socioeconomic backgrounds, have different educations, have different life experiences, etc. However, the one thing we have in common is that we come here and we enjoy the environment and what this site has to offer.

I'm fully aware that the owners are running a business, this site uses bandwidth, etc. However, you are doing a disservice to your website and potential revenue streams if you simply look on your members as people who are expendable. You are doing a great injustice by looking at your members as numbers that will allow you to see a return on investment. You need to maximize and monetize, this is business 101, but the WRONG thing you want to do is look at your user base as nerds, disrupters, people who need to get offline and some sunshine in their lives or any other derogatory adjectives you can conceive to describe them. You should look at the membership as family, friend, customer and business ally. I say this because without your membership, there would be no exclusive content. Without the membership there would be no mods and admins. Without the membership, there would be no revenue from ad dollars. Without the membership, there would be no siccness.net and that is a FACT.

You guys are in business, and you obviously understand word of mouth is the BEST advertisement a company can garner. However, how will it affect your bottom line if your user base leaves in mass numbers? Do you have any contingency plans in place to stop it? What type of damage would you suffer if some of the more extreme users decided to go all out and wage a cyber attack? Would you really be prepared? These are the things you should ask yourself BEFORE alienation by mods and admins take place.

Am I implying that the membership is perfect and beyond criticism? No, but I can say that they need to be heard and listened to. I don’t know if any of you have taken classes pertaining to sociology or psychology but what has taken place here is a big “no-no” that can come to hurt you where it hurts most—your pockets. When you take away something simple as a feature like a “prop” button, you have to understand that you’re taking away something that people have grown accustomed to, something they look forward to and something they use as a tool to communicate with each other within the community. Yes, something as simple as a button can do that.

Anytime you’re going to implement change, or take something away from someone, the best thing to do is to warn them of the change, tell them why the change is coming, tell them why the change is for their benefit and gradually go into the desired change. This would have given the users enough time to contemplate the change and even offer feedback and tips on how they could have helped. People would have stepped up to the plate if they would have been given a chance to do so. Again, I don’t know if any of you are familiar with sociology or psychology but these are elementary principles that can be found in both studies. Now some of you might think to yourself, “we don’t owe them an explanation” or “I don’t have to tell them shit.” But that type of thinking is counter intuitive and makes the mods, admins and owners appear draconian even if they aren’t and have good intentions.

So the crux of this thread is to get you, the mods, admins and owners to think about the user base. You have a community that is rich in spirit and has stuck by the website through thick and thin. Have there been bumps in the road? Yes, but things will get worse if you don’t reach out to the community and provide information, which is what the community asks for. You don’t have to go into every detail, but you do need to consider the outcry that has happened within the last 48 hours. Siccness members like fillyacup and likwid called this place home and, before this, I’m sure you never had a problem with them. Moreover, their recent bannings and the problems it has caused should show you they were assets, not liabilities, who made contributions to the website.

I’m not making this post to shout from a soap box, but making it because I see fellow members going down in flames and speaking out because they feel they’ve been mistreated. Each person on this site, from the user with one post, to the user with over 10k, to the mods to the admins to those at the very top of the food chain, have contributed to the success of this site. In addition to that, each has a responsibility in hearing all sides and not falling victim to ego. The most important aspect of communication is listening, not speaking but I’m going to leave you with something.

As humans, we need oxygen to survive and the lack of oxygen can cause brain damage or death. However, if one is suffering from a lack of oxygen or needs to breath CPR can be the remedy to bring them back to. So my solution to the recent problems? C.P.R. In ANY relationship, I don’t care if it is between business partners, a spiritual relationship with The Creator, a relationship between family members, teacher and student, or two lovers, if it lacks C.P.R, it will DIE.

Commitment.
Priority.
Respect.

From all parties involved...

HERESY/:H:
Click to expand...
 
MRTHECOSE

MRTHECOSE

Sicc OG
#47
Oct 30, 2002
11,091
1,888
113
www.soundclick.com
#47
kinda fucked up cause you knwo theyre just laughing in the "siccness elite secret forum" calling everyone nerds giving each other props..

it really isnt the end of the word but to keep real how many of us have this site siccness.net/vb as their home page???
probably over 75% of the reg posters..

i personally dont relaly trip off this stuff but i can see you are hurting my brothers and i dont appretiate it... i think some malicious stuff is going on. some "FLEXING" going on...
 
Gemini

Gemini

Sicc OG
#48
May 16, 2002
8,502
11,715
113
51
#48
Serious question, is it personal between those banned & the admin?

I've had my share of getting ridiculed on here and I have contributed to ridiculing myself. We all agree & disagree. I've also have come in here stating some very offensive statements, but if I feel strong about something I have every right to state & argue that issue. I don't care if I lock horns with your favorite rapper, he is human just like me & we both have opinions and have every right to express that. The sad part about it is, your favorite rapper can be dead wrong, but some of you are quick to turn the other cheek and play deaf, dumb & blind to the reality of the topic.

...but that's why I love this site. We can get into 17 pages plus going back and forth with valid points on both ends at times. Giving us a perspective that perhaps we didn't see at first.

I was a mod on another site and stated topics that offended people, but they wanted the site to run in a fantasy world. We all had to support and agree with everybody on there. Any statement going against the grain was quickly labeled, "hate." Another mod claimed to be getting emails behind the scenes (never brought them forward) from people to vote me out of being a mod for being negative. Negative? Really? So that means I have to go with the flow of things and pretend it's all good in Pleasantville?

The issue became personal when the other mod tried to salt me with other artist, CEO's, producers etc. outside the board.

I tapped out and told dude he could run the board on his own & I was out. He said he could do it and the site died the day I left. It clearly states that the suppose emails from people to vote me out was bullshit.

With that being said, I had brought up the Siccness to them (prior to me leaving) and stated the Siccness was a site where we could come in and keep it real and everybody expressed their thoughts & not everyone agreed all the time, but that's what kept this site going strong.

A lot has changed around here since then...

It just seems like it's become personal between some of the admin. and some members in here. Perhaps not being banned right away, but a grudge was held from something that was posted in here at some time.

Likwid posted a thread asking to be banned for what happened to Fillyacup and it's taken serious without hesitation by the mods. Abuse of power? If that doesn't say, "A big fuck you. We don't need you." to all of us members, I don't know how much more clear it can get.

Props to HERESY.
 
Dana Dane

Dana Dane

RIP Vallejo Kid
#54
May 3, 2002
26,982
11,624
113
50
#54
ECOSE said:
kinda fucked up cause you knwo theyre just laughing in the "siccness elite secret forum" calling everyone nerds giving each other props..

it really isnt the end of the word but to keep real how many of us have this site siccness.net/vb as their home page???
probably over 75% of the reg posters..

i personally dont relaly trip off this stuff but i can see you are hurting my brothers and i dont appretiate it... i think some malicious stuff is going on. some "FLEXING" going on...
Click to expand...
where the fuck is that forum at?
 
Sydal

Sydal

Sicc OG
#56
Apr 25, 2002
7,232
170
63
42
www.idealsentertainment.com
#56
HERESY said:
At this time I’m attempting to go over some legal documents for a meeting I have later on this week, but I can’t seem to bring myself to focus on them. Right now, I believe it would be a great disservice to the website, my fellow siccness members and me if I didn’t speak about the recent events and the ramifications of the actions of members, mods, admins and owners of www.siccness.net.

I’ve been a member of this site for over a decade now. As a member of this site I’ve had a long and “controversial” history. As you all know I shoot from the hip and am very critical of certain institutions in our society. During my time here I’ve met people from all types of life who I’ve had the pleasure of meeting offline. Some I’ve met for business while others I’ve met simply because we shared common interests and the vibe was there. People on this site often come to me for advice or my opinion on a wide variety of subjects. They do this because they trust my opinion and they know that with “HERESY” or “:H:”, they’ll receive constructive criticism, words of encouragement, a joke or two, information they did have before and a chance to look at things from a different perspective.

However, I’m not an angel. There are times where I’ve said things that were out of line and done things that were uncalled for when I should have taken the higher road. I can be wrong as two-left shoes sometimes, but the fact is I can admit when I’m wrong, can provide a sincere apology if need be and can move on.

Years ago I was unjustly banned, and I’ll never forget how swiftly siccness members rallied to my aide to have me reinstated. The love I’ve received from the siccness has not been limited to the outcry that came with my banning, however. During my time here I’ve lost a lot of things that were important to me, most notably, my sister to cancer, my father and recently my grandmother. When I told the board about the deaths, they rallied behind me and offered support and love. In my time of need, my extended family, my siccness bretheren, did things for me online and offline that extended way beyond what some would believe.

What you have is not simply a site with members with a love for music. What you have here is a community, it is a family. At times it is a highly dysfunctional family, but nevertheless, whether you acknowledge it or not, that’s how this site operates. Yes, many of us are from different socioeconomic backgrounds, have different educations, have different life experiences, etc. However, the one thing we have in common is that we come here and we enjoy the environment and what this site has to offer.

I'm fully aware that the owners are running a business, this site uses bandwidth, etc. However, you are doing a disservice to your website and potential revenue streams if you simply look on your members as people who are expendable. You are doing a great injustice by looking at your members as numbers that will allow you to see a return on investment. You need to maximize and monetize, this is business 101, but the WRONG thing you want to do is look at your user base as nerds, disrupters, people who need to get offline and some sunshine in their lives or any other derogatory adjectives you can conceive to describe them. You should look at the membership as family, friend, customer and business ally. I say this because without your membership, there would be no exclusive content. Without the membership there would be no mods and admins. Without the membership, there would be no revenue from ad dollars. Without the membership, there would be no siccness.net and that is a FACT.

You guys are in business, and you obviously understand word of mouth is the BEST advertisement a company can garner. However, how will it affect your bottom line if your user base leaves in mass numbers? Do you have any contingency plans in place to stop it? What type of damage would you suffer if some of the more extreme users decided to go all out and wage a cyber attack? Would you really be prepared? These are the things you should ask yourself BEFORE alienation by mods and admins take place.

Am I implying that the membership is perfect and beyond criticism? No, but I can say that they need to be heard and listened to. I don’t know if any of you have taken classes pertaining to sociology or psychology but what has taken place here is a big “no-no” that can come to hurt you where it hurts most—your pockets. When you take away something simple as a feature like a “prop” button, you have to understand that you’re taking away something that people have grown accustomed to, something they look forward to and something they use as a tool to communicate with each other within the community. Yes, something as simple as a button can do that.

Anytime you’re going to implement change, or take something away from someone, the best thing to do is to warn them of the change, tell them why the change is coming, tell them why the change is for their benefit and gradually go into the desired change. This would have given the users enough time to contemplate the change and even offer feedback and tips on how they could have helped. People would have stepped up to the plate if they would have been given a chance to do so. Again, I don’t know if any of you are familiar with sociology or psychology but these are elementary principles that can be found in both studies. Now some of you might think to yourself, “we don’t owe them an explanation” or “I don’t have to tell them shit.” But that type of thinking is counter intuitive and makes the mods, admins and owners appear draconian even if they aren’t and have good intentions.

So the crux of this thread is to get you, the mods, admins and owners to think about the user base. You have a community that is rich in spirit and has stuck by the website through thick and thin. Have there been bumps in the road? Yes, but things will get worse if you don’t reach out to the community and provide information, which is what the community asks for. You don’t have to go into every detail, but you do need to consider the outcry that has happened within the last 48 hours. Siccness members like fillyacup and likwid called this place home and, before this, I’m sure you never had a problem with them. Moreover, their recent bannings and the problems it has caused should show you they were assets, not liabilities, who made contributions to the website.

I’m not making this post to shout from a soap box, but making it because I see fellow members going down in flames and speaking out because they feel they’ve been mistreated. Each person on this site, from the user with one post, to the user with over 10k, to the mods to the admins to those at the very top of the food chain, have contributed to the success of this site. In addition to that, each has a responsibility in hearing all sides and not falling victim to ego. The most important aspect of communication is listening, not speaking but I’m going to leave you with something.

As humans, we need oxygen to survive and the lack of oxygen can cause brain damage or death. However, if one is suffering from a lack of oxygen or needs to breath CPR can be the remedy to bring them back to. So my solution to the recent problems? C.P.R. In ANY relationship, I don’t care if it is between business partners, a spiritual relationship with The Creator, a relationship between family members, teacher and student, or two lovers, if it lacks C.P.R, it will DIE.

Commitment.
Priority.
Respect.

From all parties involved...

HERESY/:H:
Click to expand...
Perfecto, sir.
 
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