An Interesting Turn of Events

I am generally a reasonable person. I try to reason and use logic in an argument. However, sometimes I think it's better to hold one's tongue, or fingers, and not contribute at all as it may cast oneself in the light with all others that did not contribute with good intentions. Unfortunately, in this an all other situations involving any kind of communication between human beings, once it is out there and someone sees, reads, or hears a thought that has left the confines of one's brain, it is impossible to 'take it back'. In other words, one cannot unread a written comment once it has been read.

I am a member of a forum in which there was an occurrence among some of the younger members involving a very serious accusation on the part of one person. The person came to their own defense and a dramatic scene ensued. The ultimate consequence for the whole mess has been the temporary removal of forum access from all members. I have been a member of many forums over the years, and I have seen these types of events happen before. In the past, those other forums never recovered and were eventually removed. One of them had a similar dramatic event, the forum was temporarily closed and the member simply decided that type of 'group punishment' wasn't worth their time. They went to a different forum and the first forum died a slow death.

While I do understand that the original event was traumatic and potentially libelous, it is the responsibility of the administrators and moderators to deal with it privately. If there is inadequate moderation, nearly any forum will fall apart. Because while it is a sad truth, it is reality that most human beings, while on the internet, can and will occasionally more closely resemble a ravaging pack of wolves.