Does anyone else not care much for Wrong Planet?

[oregano]

When I first joined WP in 2008 it was a pretty good site. But by the time I finally left for good in 2017 it was a mess. Alex Plank seems to just pay the server fees and handle the Google ad feed. Even the mods have a terrible time getting him to respond to anything.

There's no "hierarchy of banning" like on other sites where a user will get banned for a week, then a month, etc. With WP, once you're banned you're toast, all bans are permanent. And the only recourse you have is to email Alex, who never responds. At one point I was banned, and I had no clue why. A day later it was reversed.

Alex kept dragging his feet on a new software platform, and when he did debut it it didn't work right. Instead of just buying a license for Xenforo which is the most commonly used forum software, he hired some programmers to reinvent the wheel. The result was so buggy he had to hire other programmers to fix it...while he was running the forum off it.

The mods have pet users and outcast users, there's a lot of favoritism and drama there, it's basically an online high school without the classroom part. It got to the point where the only users were trolls, bots, and some very lost teenagers who constantly whined about teenage drama.

Alex only seems to care about his offline career, apparently he lives in Beverly Hills and is a consultant who teaches actors how to play autistic characters on film. He has all this money and power and has let WP rot.

 

[Ezra]

WP. Drama, trolling, lots of creeps. Whats not to like?

Exactly. It can be quite entertaining.

 

[Ezra]

There's no "hierarchy of banning" like on other sites where a user will get banned for a week, then a month, etc. With WP, once you're banned you're toast, all bans are permanent. And the only recourse you have is to email Alex, who never responds. At one point I was banned, and I had no clue why. A day later it was reversed.

I've known of several who have been given temporary vacations. Anywhere from 3 days to a month. And that's usually after a few warnings were given.

 

[Ezra]

Ironically I just got banned from Wrong Planet for a month.
I guess for posting the meme below. Because there's a member with the username Fnord.
So they thought it was a personal attack.

Apparently whoever doesn't know the made up word "fnord" is a reference to the Illuminati.
In other words it might as well say "illuminati personified". The meme (which I didn't create) has to do with the word, rather than the WP member. Saying that Donald Trump is that member personified doesn't even make sense.

For some reason the image isn't appearing. It's a picture of trump and says Fnord Personified.

 

[tree]

I didn't know that word, even though it's apparently
rather "old."

"Fnord" (/fnɔːrd/) is a word coined in 1965 by Kerry Thornley and Greg Hill in the Principia Discordia. It entered the popular culture after appearing in The Illuminatus! Trilogy (1975) of satirical and parody conspiracy fiction novels by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson. In these novels, the interjection "fnord" is given hypnotic power over the unenlightened, and children in grade school are taught to be unable to consciously see the word "fnord". For the rest of their lives, every appearance of the word subconsciously generates a feeling of unease and confusion, and prevents rational consideration of the text in which it appears.

The word has been used in newsgroup and hacker culture to indicate irony, humor, or Surrealism.[1] Placement at the end of a statement in brackets (fnord) explicitly tags the intent, and may be so applied to any random or surreal sentence, coercive subtext, or anything jarringly out of context, intentional or not. It is sometimes used as a metasyntactic variable in programming.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fnord

 

[Ezra]

Someone started a thread about "Fnord" and started posting memes. So I just typed the word into images and got the one I used. But I also saw images having to do with illuminati. So that's when I looked up the word. I'm guessing that meme I posted was the so called personal attack since that thread was removed.

Needless to say I am aggravated.

Edit: The person who started the thread pretty much confirmed it:

I have now had a personal warning for using a certain word as apparently it's a personal attack when I use it

 

[GrownupGirl]

Why don't you create new topics?

Because I feel weird when I create my own topics, and I worry no one will reply to them.

 

[Progster]

Because I feel weird when I create my own topics, and I worry no one will reply to them.

Don't worry, unless it's something really obscure, like "Crystal Thoughts or Purple Overdose - which do you prefer?" or "Any Bolton Wanderers fans here?" you'll likely get some some replies

Btw I prefer Purple Overdose.

 

[WildCat]

Based on the overwhelming amount of responses from people saying that it's not a good place to be, I think Wrong Planet is starting to live up to its namesake. I think Alex had incredible foresight there when he coined that term.

Now that I've gotten a glimpse of extraterrestrial life I can safely lay to rest my childhood plans of moving to another planet.

 

[NothingToSeeHere]

It was the first autism form I joined , and I left very quickly due to how overwhelmingly negative it was, haven't been back for years. It seemed to be largely populated by trolls, incels, and whiny 'victims'. Sounds like it hasn't changed much.

 

[Butterfly88]

I figure one interactive web domain for we on the spectrum is plenty. And this one fulfills that role.

Not for me, I can be a real chatterbox. Often I wish this place was enough for me because I've run into some not so nice people elsewhere online.

 

[Isadoorian]

It was the first autism form I joined , and I left very quickly due to how overwhelmingly negative it was, haven't been back for years. It seemed to be largely populated by trolls, incels, and whiny 'victims'. Sounds like it hasn't changed much.

You're right on the money on that one... hasn't changed since I left either

 

[GrownupGirl]

I did have at least one guy personally attack me, just because of my belief that dogs and cats should be spayed or neutered. Of course, he got banned. But maybe I shouldn't have sort of joked that some humans should be spayed or neutered as well.

 

[Icequeen]

It was the first forum I found back when I was newly diagnosed and looking for information. It was helpful at the time, but the dynamics seemed to change over time for me, people left for other places, I followed a few out of shear boredom.

Seems to be mainly the younger set now...I think it still serves a purpose but I can't get back into it.

Then there was the color scheme.

 

[Mr Allen]

I did have at least one guy personally attack me, just because of my belief that dogs and cats should be spayed or neutered. Of course, he got banned. But maybe I shouldn't have sort of joked that some humans should be spayed or neutered as well.

Hardly surprising that you got bullied for that particular opinion, it is rather controversial and likely to "ruffle feathers".

No disrespect intended.

 

[Misery]

I have a major problem with WP, the reason I am here.
Specifically: The more active moderators have no integrity.

The problem is, most of the mods a very left-wing, and abuse their position against anyone who doesn't agree with them, to the point of making up an excuse to ban someone.
A friend of mine even had some posts edited surreptitiously and I am sure this has happened to me too.
There have also been occasions where a thread was removed altogether because it criticised the left, legitimately.
I have no idea why Alex lets this happen. Surely he must have some idea of what they are doing?

BTW, is it against policy here, to name the mods involved?

Nah, it has nothing to do with politics in an overall sense. For some individual mods, perhaps, but overall, not really.

I'm not "left" or "right", or diagonal or whatever.... frankly I dont even know the difference (and I genuinely dont want to know). I hate politics with an undying passion and refuse to participate. So, the only thing I ever displayed on that forum was my interest in video games, and general sarcasm, which I attach to literally anything (yet I dont insult anyone, it's not THAT sort of sarcasm).

Still got attacked by the mods. That didnt actually WORK, but they tried it a few times anyway.

Frankly, alot of the mods there are simple bullies. And when bullies find something they can use to attack, they will do it.... regardless of their own thoughts on the matter. If attacking one "side" wasnt working, they'd simply fire at the other side. I've seen their sort more times than I can count. It's why nothing they tried on me ever worked: They were just that darned predictable.

I always got the impression that the mods on that site were.... well, acting out of frustration. People who got bullied alot themselves, and when they found a place they could "control", they didnt hesitate to run rampant in doing so... striking out and becoming what they so hated. That was always one theory of mine, anyway.

As for Alex, well.... just because someone MADE a site, doesnt mean they know how to RUN it. I always got the impression that he never ACTUALLY expected the site to get anywhere and just made it for the heck of it, and when it DID get somewhere... he didnt know what to do. He sure as heck has no idea how to manage admin duties of any sort. Or anything else on that site, for that matter. Which isnt saying anything against him as a person, mind you. I wouldnt know how the heck to do admin stuff either.

Even if it wasnt for all of that, it's best to avoid the place anyway, as it is not exactly the safest site. "Security" is just one of it's many, many, MANY problems. There was a reason why it used to get overrun by bots on a regular basis.


None of that junk happens on this site. Well, not that i"ve seen in my time here, anyway.

 

[Misery]

Not for you, perhaps. But I eat, sleep and poop politics and generally, freedom of expression.
The ideal aspie values truth and fair-mindedness highly.
The mods I am talking about fall far short of that.
Presumably, they are very damaged individuals who need their mod powers to fill an emotional void.
What can you do?

All my problems were the result of not embracing left-wing politics.
I used to frequent PPR until The_Walrus persistently abused his mod powers.

The 3 partisan left-wing amigos are: The_Walrus, B19 and Kiprobalhato.
What is infuriating is they have minions who are used to entrap people.
Total corruption. Total hypocrisy. No integrity.

I honestly thought autistic people were better than that. I have had to reduce my expectations as a result of my experience with The Wrong Planet. But to be fair, I did gain a hell of a lot, initially.
Sadly, it is time to move on from there because the silly ageist left-wing mod kids that have taken control.
I think it is ultimately short-sighted. The website is dying as a result of their nonsense.

Honestly, that site had been dead for a long time before now. Years, I'd say. It's nothing but a shambling mass of dark gibberish that helps nobody.

It seems some things must have changed though since I was last there. I can remember.... certain mods... I DEFINITELY remember Kipro. But the other two are foreign to me. Indeed, the worst users I remember were actually not mods at all. I wont list names here. But they werent mods, and politics definitely wasnt their agenda. They had... other means. To say I had a low opinion for them is an understatement. They were, frankly, the final straw that got me to say "screw it" and just leave. I really dont like to speak ill of people, but that's just me being completely honest.

Now that all being said, I think you'll find that aspies (or whatever term is being used these days, I usually just say "autistics" because I bloody well can) fall into an extremely wide spectrum of personality. On this site as well. Indeed, those that value pure logic exist. And, those that have other values. Honestly, I think this is a good thing. Not everyone needs to be Spock (or whatever ultra-logical character you might think of). Wrongplanet though didnt really leave room for many of those types that are out there. Belong to very specific personality types, or you'd just have a bad time.

I know I sure didnt fit in. I can be very logical, but often in a twisted and abstract way, and I tend to be open-minded about almost anything (as to me, NOT being so is illogical, simple as that). That all plus my dark personality, chaotic nature, and sarcasm (and, if I'm being open and honest, my gender issues) was, well.... nothing but trouble in that place. I certainly understand any frustration you or others faced there. But you know what, it's never been a problem on this site. I think I had ONE nasty arguement with a user on here, awhile back, but the mods here were extremely helpful in resolving it. I think you'll like them.

In any case... I think you'll find it's a great forum, and a good place to come for help whenever needed.

 

[Aspychata]

I started reading the above post and said this is Misery. Like their writing style!

 

[Misery]

I'm guessing you didn't venture in the forum abomination call PPR (Philosophy, Politics, Religion)?

Ye gods, no. Wouldnt touch that with a 2000 foot pole. As I said, I dont do politics or anything that even remotely goes near it. To the point where people in my personal life have learned not to even discuss such things in my presence, lest I launch some random object at them. Granted, I might do that anyway if someone walks towards me for any reason, but still.

May I ask why? Is there a policy against using real fake avart names? I've noticed others here using nicknames, so I decided to do it myself. Cathartic.

No policy. Mostly it's, well.... I've been on the internet for a very long time. Since it started, really. Combine that with the fact that I have nothing but free time, all the time, and there's alot of room for "experiences". Something I've learned is that supposedly "fake" names, like those seen on the Net, arent necessarily quite as fake as they seem. Even if the name is something like LOLZORS185 or something silly like that. It's hard to explain just what I mean, I'm sure I'm not phrasing this correctly. Some names in particular (such as mine on here) will have a particularly strong connection to the user it's attached to.

And use of names in the wrong places can come back to bite. Everyone always has this tendency to think they're invincible on the Net because "anonymity". Or that, for the same reason, the things they do or say cant have "real" consequences. I can say from experience that both of these are incorrect.

As a rule, then, I dont use names (other than my own) unless I have one heck of a good reason to.

Besides, for those particular individuals I'm thinking about, well... they sure as heck dont need extra attention. Granted, for all I know maybe they've left WP, but I dont care quite enough to go check.

 

[tree]

@Rake

"...though I am not here for help, just self-expression and refining my thinking."

Both of those experiences fall within the province of "help."

Help is not always the act of being told what to do or how to do it.
Help/assistance/support comes in many forms.