Posting about Bad Seats on Other Sites (Craigslist, eBay, blogs, etc).

[UlrikeDG]

These posts do not belong in the Car Seat Chat forum (or any of the other public forums).

We've all been there. You start to learn about car seats and the common mistakes, and then you start noticing. Maybe it's an ad for a department store. Maybe it's that car in the parking lot. Maybe it's a friend, family member or neighbor. But there's that car seat, and something's wrong with it. We can't help but see it. The same thing happens online. Maybe we stumble across it by accident. Maybe we find it on purpose. But, there it is: another car seat, and something's wrong with it.

With a misuse rate estimated at 80%-95%, there's no shortage of examples. The temptation is to point out to everyone else that we've found an error, like a virtual game of CPS Where's Waldo--a carseat horrors scavenger hunt.

"I found one!"
"Mine's worse than yours is!"
"OMG! You won't believe how stupid this person was!"
"That's nothing. Look at this!"

Now, imagine you are a parent looking for car seat advice, and you stumble across this site, and what you see is a bunch of know-it-alls criticizing others. How likely are you to stick around for the advice you need? Worse yet, how do you think the original poster would respond to stumbling across his error being mocked in public? In short, these posts make this site look bad. If you absolutely, positively must criticize someone's post on eBay, Craigslist, other forums, blogs, or other similar sites, please do so only in the Community Member Coffee Break (CMC) forum.

If you don't have access to the CMC forum, you will have to wait to post these types of threads until you do. There are no exceptions. Please do not try to post them in the other forums. Posts of this nature in any of the public forums will be subject to immediate deletion without warning.

 

[natysr]

:bow:

Great reminder Ulrike. The purpose of this board is to help others keep their kids safe. It needs to look inviting so that other parents feel *safe* to ask questions.

 

[ErinGoBragh]

Thanks for the reminder mama!

 

[xxluckychicxx]

*raises hand* Guilty! But thanks for the explanation! That makes alot of sense.

 

[LuvMyCharlie]

So basically you're saying it's okay to talk about people behind their backs. If they can't see it, it must not exist, right?

That said, I am guilty of what you've mentioned. I'm sorry for "making the site look bad." I've found this site very informative and useful, regardless of what I've read and/or disagreed with. That's the internet for ya. You don't know what tone people are speaking in and you have to just take everything with a grain of salt.

*runs off to hide from the mean mamas*

 

[LISmama810]

So basically you're saying it's okay to talk about people behind their backs. If they can't see it, it must not exist, right?

If that's the way you want to look at it. :shrug-shoulders:

I see it more as a matter of attracting more flies with honey than vinegar. If I see someone doing something wrong, I can laugh at them and ridicule them, or I can offer some friendly, constructive advice.

Will I sometimes make a comment to another tech/knowledgeable person about something outrageous I've seen? Yes, and that's how we're able to prepare ourselves for things we might encounter later, learn better ways to deal with things, or just vent/cope when we weren't able to make a difference.

Sorry if we seem mean.

 

[barnmama25]

I'm just curious why some people dont have permission to view above forums? That in itself gives the board a clique groupy almost high school type feel.

 

[Patriot201]

I'm just curious why some people dont have permission to view above forums? That in itself gives the board a clique groupy almost high school type feel.

I am so sorry you feel that way. The more "senior member" group really isn't a clique or an exclusive group. We are certainly not a group that is not accepting of new members. We are thrilled when there are new members!
I'm sorry if you feel the boards have a clique-like feel.

 

[UlrikeDG]

I'm just curious why some people dont have permission to view above forums? That in itself gives the board a clique groupy almost high school type feel.

The CMC forum is private for a couple of reasons. First, this keeps it from being scanned by search engines, which means it's easier to keep photos and such private. We've had some pervy trolls in the past, so this helps some people feel a little safer.

It also provides a place to talk about things totally unrelated to car seats. We don't want that to be the main focus of this site, but this site is friendly enough that many of us look to other members for advice on "off topic" subjects.

It really takes very little time/effort to get access to the CMC forum for those who stick around and start helping out other posters.

 

[scatterbunny]

The last paragraph in Ulrike's first post in this thread included this link, which details the requirements for the private forums. Be sure to read it all the way through; I believe there were some modifications made to the rules later in the thread.

 

[MissAllyLou]

Thanks for the reminder AND the explanation ... it's So easy to point out what other's are doing wrong, to make ourselves feel like we weren't really so bad ourselves.

 

[UlrikeDG]

This applies to Facebook, as well.