Forum comments

ironical as in... anything goes and someone posts about regulating the attitude of the whole site to their liking.. so they may come here more often and be bemused or something.

and yes.. survival for one..

pretty pictures don't make me feel less uneasy about finding something good to eat, and not finding something that seems fine, but is actually messed up... or remains of the meat industry and otherwise unessential if not a by-product.. or way of gaining revenue for something putrid.

I have to agree with Jack on this one. I'm not one of the original members, but I joined not too long after they did, and I've noticed the same decline.

Yes, you should be able to post off-topic threads from time to time, but when more threads are off topic than on topic, we lose sight of what Unleashed is supposed to be about: getting youth involved in animal rights and offering them support.

I think Jesse, Karen, and the other admins here are fantastic, and I love the Action Team Alerts and the blog. I used to love the forum as well. It used to be a place for activism, campaigning, and seeking support as young vegetarians, vegans and animal rights activists.
Now it seems less and less about that, and it's sad. I feel rather attached to this place, as it is thanks entirely to the likes of Rav3n, Jack, MissMonster and the other older members that I went from vegetarian to vegan, and that I had the strength to overcome hurdles with family and friends to become the vegan animal rights activist that I am today.

It really is awful to see that newer members either aren't coming here for, or aren't receiving the same experience as I did, and now, like many of the other older members, I am considering leaving as well.

Please, try not to forget what Unleashed is all about, because it used to be my virtual home, a refuge and sanctuary from a meat-eating world where we could all get educated and get passionate about the animals. Now it seems to be becoming a place to chat about irrelevant things and post obscene amounts of emoticons.

Howard has been evicted and the comments related to his trolling have been removed. Sorry about the disruption.

glad howard is gone.

have to say though... everyone is complaining that since they joined the site has gotten worse lol..you guys shouldn't be so hard on yourselves.

you can still make it better than before you joined


*giggle

Well, I think the off topic posts are nice. Similar minded people coming together every day to talk as friends. But yes, it needs to be controlled, not spammed.

And I hear so much complaining about losing sight of what unleashed is about... um... well.. maybe there just ISN'T anything to post????? Organise something then.

I myself have posted whenever something local to me is happening, and most of those posts are ignored.

The main difference I see now from when I first joined is... there used to be weekly city leafletting sessions in Melbourne so they were being posted.

If they don't happen, they can't be posted. If they are happening.. POST THEM.

You can't hissy fit coz kids are talking about life instead of activism if there isn't anything going on.

I'd love to see more 'active' posts, but I don't like this feeling that people being friends is a bad thing.  My fav posts here are little fun ones and mainly ones about food. I find it so helpful that we share recipes but most enjoyable is when people spot a new vegan food or restaurant! And we still have that..............

Maybe instead of turning the forum into a battleground or whinge session... take our concerns to a mod and they can organise the rules and better ways for things to sit. Upping and leaving and this thread being so large seems stupid to me.

Anyway, I wasn't even going to make a post on this thread but it seems to be going still.. and i've noticed a big silence from a lot of those people this weekend. Work at making it better, I say.

But... I always beleive the older the wiser, so you should hang around and educate us newbies.

The forum has changed. BUT change is good. When I first found this site I remember only being about 15 members. And look at it now!

Karen & Jesse you are doing a fantastic job (and when you aren't so busy we know you'll get the threads on track)

I was working on a project; researching all avenues of Veganism... and seeking advice on labeling laws.. and 'actually' useful things to know. and only one person tried to add in...

so ever since I figure... posting crap gets more of a response.. not that I try to. but I finished all of the essays and evidence with no help from ANYTHING on this whole website.

and my investigation was quite thorough...  I had to cut about 65-70% out of my final submission but still managed to cover a few things... I don't see much covered here at all...

my project was actually to make my own web page but I gave up..only having a short amount of time.. so just did essays. (my own choice.. peoples input would of helped my outcomes)

but if I had a web page.. I would have a page dedicated to a list.. in black and white.. no fancy crap and introductory sentences filling a page with almost no material... a list of official vegan things.. a list of things people have investigated and found to be vegan...

a comprehensive list of labels to watch out for.. and places to go and share ideas and a less hidden list of places to eat out.

much more research has to be done.. and maintained... for this site to even contain information... I read through so many reports *else wheres) about stuff..it was like reading legislation...

someone saying as minimal as possible in the most amount of words with some ground breaking title... then .. I could find almost not ONE fact to even cite in my own work... or refer to.. like one report apparently detailing the secrecy and blowing open secrets of the labeling industry.. it went on for thousands of words just talking about barn chickens, and how things should be changed.. no examples.. no references of anything. voiceless.org.au being ran by a bunch of lawyers doesn't really make my example too unbelievable .. but still maybe THEY would know a law or two that exists about labeling.. but apparently not even when I e-mailed them.

so many reports though.. full of bogus. most of all.. i found the internet to have a great lacking for vital vegan information. or a nice open place for people to go and share their findings. this site could easily do that... but alas... it doesn't.

when I first looked at veganism.. i found a vegan food pyramid. http://www.chooseveg.com/vegan-food-pyramid.asp (like this one)

which is just the normal pyramid.. with legumes instead of meat...

this was pretty troubling.. it seems no research has been done anywhere... or it would be completely reworked.. you can't base something like this... on a diet founded on meat and dairy.. and expect to just 'substitute' one ingredient with another.. "oh meat has protein... what else does.. oh legumes.. all better".

the human brain I predict would even be still entirely undiscovered and explored... (if deforestation kept happening as today) by the time the amazon was gone...

we'd have flattened all the unknown species and possible cures, before even knowing our own body or brain. maybe figuring that one out (with the knowledge and wisdom gained)... we (would be smart enough) could then to simulate the effects of drugs and chemicals so they don't have to be tested barbarically on animals... also pretty stupidly.. with no real outcome but 'will it survive or die' or in other words "will this mouse show us the intended effect".

and this thread is about forum comments not threads anyway...

so it is just a personal stab at people who have joined.

way to alienate the entire 'new' audience and participants.. lawl