Sockpuppets on t'other forum

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Bluesman
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Location: Honor Oak

Re: Sockpuppets on t'other forum

Post by Bluesman »

stuart wrote: 20 Jul 2019 12:17 Do we let it continue? Do we have a choice? Rachael may be right the only person who can stop it is CB himself. But is it possible to persuade him it is in his own interest? That's the really hard question.

Stuart
Agreed that this is the nub of the issue but I think there are always choices. I, for one, will revert to boycotting .life unless this issue is resolved in a transparent manner.

CB has a supreme sense of entitlement and the community could try and encourage a change of heart. Could a petition to plead that he sells the SE23 site work? If he refuses then other options are available.
hotterthanurex
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Re: Sockpuppets on t'other forum

Post by hotterthanurex »

Boycotting also but what is worrying is there is absolutely no transparency whatsoever. Bloke who owns it involved in some shady stuff, and the community who use the site by and large unaware as discussions are shut down immediately. There's no evidence Nicola has done anything illegal, and she's not been contacted by the police. So if there is a police investigation presumably it's Chris being investigated? Don't SE23 Life posters have a right to know about that?
JGD
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Re: Sockpuppets on t'other forum

Post by JGD »

hotterthanurex wrote: 20 Jul 2019 13:16 Again... biggest question. Where does this guy find the time? Or the energy? Does he work? Has he amassed a huge property fortune after successfully gentrifying Forest Hill with a web forum with nicer interface?
As has been said earlier, the report of appalling and possibly illegal actions that are now attached to his online persona will seriously impact on any assessment of his integrity made by a potential new client or new employer. Quite some price to pay for what Chris Beach thought was a well hidden predilection. The owner of a civic forum using that forum to persecute and inflect fear and harassment in his community. Not easy to explain away.

Perverse, some might say.
JGD
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Re: Sockpuppets on t'other forum

Post by JGD »

rod taylor wrote: 20 Jul 2019 13:59 VERY excited about Flava Baker! Yummy! It's just what Sydenham/FH needs.

Any news on when it's opening? :D
I think you need to be more specific - do you mean in the real world that most of this community inhabits or the fantasy dystopia-like world of Chris Beach.

In ChrisBeachWorld - any time soon - coming to a main street near you.
stuart
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Re: Sockpuppets on t'other forum

Post by stuart »

Inaccurate JGD. FIFY:
JGD wrote: 20 Jul 2019 14:17The owner of three civic forums using those forums to persecute and inflect fear and harassment in our communiies [definitely not his].
Or am I wrong? According to his multiple fake accounts on STF he lives not in Tunbridge Wells but in Sydenham, Penge and other undisclosed places. Methinks he sleeps around too much - well in his imagination anyway. Pity, if he had turned his fancy from sockpuppets to ladies he might have beaten Boris to Number 10.

Stuart
brazil nut
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Re: Sockpuppets on t'other forum

Post by brazil nut »

rod taylor wrote: 20 Jul 2019 13:59 VERY excited about Flava Baker!

Any news on when it's opening? :D
When they've #PaidTheirInvoices!

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/ ... clnk&gl=uk
brazil nut
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Re: Sockpuppets on t'other forum

Post by brazil nut »

hotterthanurex wrote: 20 Jul 2019 13:16 Does he work?
Have you not been following anything Hotter? He's a Social Media Manager! Tun Up! :lol:

JGD
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Re: Sockpuppets on t'other forum

Post by JGD »

Day 2 of a request to the @moderators on SE23.life in the form of an open - and honestly stated - appeal to them.

It is more than a day since my post appealing to @Moderators on SE23.life to reach out to all of the "disaffected", "detached" and non-participating members to return to the fold in SE23.life.

At this time no statement of rejection or acknowledgement of the appeal has been forthcoming in any form either direct or indirect in response.

To the @Moderators I say, it cannot be beyond your collective or individual reasoning to realise that your actions and silence give all the appearance to the community of you withdrawing into a circle of wagons or a laager camp. Refusing to acknowledge that anything serious is happening and refusing to say anything, creates significant problems for the community about how you plan to deal with the problem that is Chris Beach’s ongoing presence on the forum, This has dire consequence for the wellbeing and existence of the forum in that the community is turning to and may reach a conclusion that their voice is not being heard and is possibly being silenced.

Here is a small sample of comments from people who were not necessarily hostile to the forum.

Homecroft said,
“Many people past and present have put a lot of time and energy into creating the wealth of information and discussion that the forum now is. To see all that content go to waste because of the selfish and obsessive actions of one person (albeit the owner) would be a travesty.
Unfortunately, all the attention seems to be on protecting his "good name" whilst making sure everyone believes the blame lays with the other party. This is far from the case, as many have said. Neither an isolated, nor a harmless incident.”
And
“I'm sure most are more than happy to give the mods the time and respect they deserve. No one wants anything to happen over night, just a little actual acknowledgement that something went badly wrong, and that they know it needs addressing. So far it has all been a little, "oopsie daisy that was an unfortunate hiccup."
I hope sincerely that the right solution can be found to keep the much loved forum running, and no more nasty little hiccups.”
Satchers wrote,
“I’d really love there to be a forum for se23 that didn’t have these problems.
Rachael said,
“Running around the internet kicking the sand over your digital footsteps is not exactly the actions of a person who made one sleep-deprived mistake, is it?”
And
“what has become abundantly clear to me is that SE23 Life will never be a safe space as far as I am concerned. If, as suggested there, Chris gave up control and sold it on to a new admin, do we suppose he would just leave it alone? Or would his focus switch to destroying SE23 Life in its turn? For those of you with access to Nicola’s twitter account, she has laid out in forensic detail ways in which he used sock puppets and regulatory bodies to attack and force the hand of the SE23 com admin. And that was two years ago. All the time he was attacking the SE23 com admin for underhand tactics, he was doing the same and worse. There is no reason to suppose this pattern of behaviour would change no matter how far he was removed from the running and/or ownership of SE23 Life.
While it’s easy to say this is just about a local forum and why worry, the fact is that his manipulative behaviour hurts people. Real people, real pain.”
I attach an extract from an item in the DM from last year. It has been published by me on STF during Chris Beach’s foray onto that forum when he made a crass attempt to inflict the “principles” of his SE23.life style stewardship on Stuart and the Admin of STF. His freakish demands that both individuals should obey his unreasoned ultimatums were rejected and his increasingly garrulous voice and presence was ejected from the forum. I asked for the post to be removed after his ejection.

It describes a pattern of behaviours that I invite you to examine. And ask yourself if you can see comparisons with Chris Beach’s behaviours. I would offer you this – many respected voices in our community have now begun to see how duplicitous Chris could be.

Image

And as has been said before, it can be sensed that huge disappointments are doubly palpable for those who put the same amount of effort as Chris Beach into the creation and roll-out of SE23.life.

It may be the case that whatever disorder or dysfunction may be at the root of Chris Beach’s behaviours, the arising actions cannot be offset against the consequences of real harm caused to real people in our community.

And in such volumes too.

To extend your silence will be a mistake. People might go further and begin to question why the moderator team did not query Chris beach’s repeated attacks on his selected targets in the community. Why did they not prevail in any intervention that should have been more effective in stopping them?

The request that you reach out to and begin an open discussion on what you feel you can do next is made once more.

There are plenty of channels you can trust amongst them former moderators, The Forest Hill Society and the owner of the adjacent STF forum.

The clock is ticking.
pablo
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Re: Sockpuppets on t'other forum

Post by pablo »

Not long before Chris Beach = Data Breach in rhyming slang
brazil nut
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Re: Sockpuppets on t'other forum

Post by brazil nut »

pablo wrote: 20 Jul 2019 16:19 Not long before Chris Beach = Data Breach in rhyming slang
Well would you Adam and Eve it, there is in fact a Cockney Sock Puppet YouTube sensation!

michael
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Re: Sockpuppets on t'other forum

Post by michael »

JGD wrote: 20 Jul 2019 15:19 To extend your silence will be a mistake. People might go further and begin to question why the moderator team did not query Chris beach’s repeated attacks on his selected targets in the community. Why did they not prevail in any intervention that should have been more effective in stopping them?
I think that is unfair on the moderators who i know have previously done quite a bit behind the scenes to reduce and even prevent some of CB's attacks. But they, like the whole community, have been victims (some of them quite directly). We have possibly all been a little too trusting of one person who has run a technically very good forum, even if we disagree with him on plenty of other issues - but that was tolerated.
What is difficult to tolerate is the efforts he went to to attack and stalk others and inventing false personas to do this.
A forum moderator must be trusted and I'm pleased he has stepped away from this role, but others have raised reasonable questions about the powers of a forum admin and potential access to private data and messages. Like others i have always given him the benefit of the doubt and accepted his assurances that private messages remain private. I can no longer personally give CB the benefit of the doubt, and I'm not sure where that leaves me or my use of se23.life.

So i agree that the se23.life moderators need to be clear how they see the future of the forum. I don't think they should rush this process or carry out any knee-jerk reactions. But they need to restore trust or recognise that they are responsible for a forum that is difficult for many to trust. And unlike faceapp, any one of us could be individually targeted for attack, abuse, sockpuppets trying to break up our friendships.

I look forward to hearing about the future plans for se23.life because i still trust the moderators, even if i don't entirely trust the site.
JGD
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Re: Sockpuppets on t'other forum

Post by JGD »

michael wrote: 20 Jul 2019 19:15
JGD wrote: 20 Jul 2019 15:19 To extend your silence will be a mistake. People might go further and begin to question why the moderator team did not query Chris beach’s repeated attacks on his selected targets in the community. Why did they not prevail in any intervention that should have been more effective in stopping them?
I think that is unfair on the moderators who i know have previously done quite a bit behind the scenes to reduce and even prevent some of CB's attacks. But they, like the whole community, have been victims (some of them quite directly). We have possibly all been a little too trusting of one person who has run a technically very good forum, even if we disagree with him on plenty of other issues - but that was tolerated.
What is difficult to tolerate is the efforts he went to to attack and stalk others and inventing false personas to do this.
A forum moderator must be trusted and I'm pleased he has stepped away from this role, but others have raised reasonable questions about the powers of a forum admin and potential access to private data and messages. Like others i have always given him the benefit of the doubt and accepted his assurances that private messages remain private. I can no longer personally give CB the benefit of the doubt, and I'm not sure where that leaves me or my use of se23.life.

So i agree that the se23.life moderators need to be clear how they see the future of the forum. I don't think they should rush this process or carry out any knee-jerk reactions. But they need to restore trust or recognise that they are responsible for a forum that is difficult for many to trust. And unlike faceapp, any one of us could be individually targeted for attack, abuse, sockpuppets trying to break up our friendships.

I look forward to hearing about the future plans for se23.life because i still trust the moderators, even if i don't entirely trust the site.
Michael - whilst I agree with a large part of your post, it is not unfair on moderators. Your stated trust in all moderators is misplaced - and evidence is present to explain why it is mis-placed. It only has to be read in the posts.

It will certainly be the case that there may be examples of incidences where some mods have ameliorated the worst of CB's duplicity. But at least one moderator has written privately to Nic in the last week on the current CB attack matter, accusing her of failing to respond positively to his efforts to negotiate between her and CB and repeating CB lies. No mention on his part of CB's iniquities either then or now. No apology now, no explanation by him why he accused Nic of failing - his assumption, of course, being that CB's farrago was an accurate depiction of how CB had been wronged and therefore the mod was justified in traducing Nic's position.

That is why all of the moderators are at risk of failing to persuade our community that they acted in the best interests of our community whilst they choose to remain silent. And to continue to discharge some hidden-agenda like loyalty to defend CB in all circumstances.

As others other than just me have said, the moderators cannot hide behind some depiction of CB's actions as just being something that CB has done that is a just a little bit wrong.

Of the current batch of moderators I know of, none is a victim. If they do consider themselves victim, let them come forward and respond to my appeal. Equally if they are victims why do they choose to be still in role ?

At least two former moderators have been subject of the worst of CB's activities and unfortunately also had to endure the attentions of his out-of-town wingman in his trademark twofer style attacks.

And Michael, If you have information about what CB's attacks on his targets entailed and encapsulated in his vitriol and just as importantly why moderators did not or were not able to prevent him carrying out these attacks, the community has a right to know from you. His victims will want to know why CB held to a position that he felt he had a right to inflict fear and harassment on his targets.

Otherwise the moderators must engage candidly and with appropriate detail about what they know - or indeed did not know - and again much more importantly how moderators recommend the position is to be moved forward.

I could not state this more clearly to you. It is inappropriate for anyone to make a defensive posture - prematurely and without evidence in the public domain - such as the moderators may have - or may not - seem as if it has some validity, especially in advance of a reasonable accounting of their actions and when it is the moderators and the moderators alone who must explain their role and any failure in it.

All hope has been abandoned that Chris Beach will ever honestly provide an account of his attacks on so many of the members of our community.
JMLF
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Re: Sockpuppets on t'other forum

Post by JMLF »

All I think is that it’s pretty despicable behaviour on all accounts and I find it highly highly suspicious that 1. CB gets caught out lying directly to members of the forum 2. Is caught making up a fake account to use to his own benefit, something he has been repeatedly accused of in the past. 3. The mods acted extremely swiftly to try to lock/hide the thread within about 12 hours of it all blowing up 4. When some users felt that this was hasty/unfair/not productive a poll was used which was about 2/3 in favour of it staying open but then it got locked/hidden away anyways due to him reporting the stalky/threatening message he received by posing as an imaginary Caribbean food outlet to be opening in FH.

I’m not saying that he shouldn’t flag that sort of behaviour to the police but, admittedly not knowing much about crimes and processes, I would be extremely surprised if the reported information to the police would go to court and then require a jury who may be influenced by the thread in question

All reeks of trying to hide what has been found out about the whole bizarre situation.

Doubt those that use the forum will be entirely trustful of users/moderators to a certain extent due to it which is a shame as forums as a whole should and could be really important and useful to communities.

Edit*: Just to clarify the named reason for the thread being locked away out of view is that it’s been reported and should it go to trial and a jury they may be influence (I didn’t just make that all up!). Also as a side note it says it’s been locked but not deleted and certain individuals can “opt-in” via selecting the correct group. I am listed as a “highly trusted” member but yet can’t find the thread when following the instructions. Again, not to fan the flames but just stating more facts - more evidence that appears to fit with my thoughts of everything being a bit of a damage limitation exercise.
Last edited by JMLF on 20 Jul 2019 22:08, edited 1 time in total.
Homecroft
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Re: Sockpuppets on t'other forum

Post by Homecroft »

Bravo! Spot on.
JMLF wrote: 20 Jul 2019 21:32 All I think is that it’s pretty despicable behaviour on all accounts and I find it highly highly suspicious that 1. CB gets caught out lying directly to members of the forum 2. Is caught making up a fake account to use to his own benefit, something he has been repeatedly accused of in the past. 3. The mods acted extremely swiftly to try to lock/hide the thread within about 12 hours of it all blowing up 4. When some users felt that this was hasty/unfair/not productive a poll was used which was about 2/3 in favour of it staying open but then it got locked/hidden away anyways due to him reporting the stalky/threatening message he received by posing as an imaginary Caribbean food outlet to be opening in FH.

I’m not saying that he shouldn’t flag that sort of behaviour to the police but, admittedly not knowing much about crimes and processes, I would be extremely surprised if the reported information to the police would go to court and then require a jury who may be influenced by the thread in question

All reeks of trying to hide what has been found out about the whole bizarre situation.

Doubt those that use the forum will be entirely trustful of users/moderators to a certain extent due to it which is a shame as forums as a whole should and could be really important and useful to communities.
RJM
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Re: Sockpuppets on t'other forum

Post by RJM »

Update from Twitter - SE23life CB:
"I’m taking a break from Twitter for a while.
I made many friends in SE23, but also picked up some enemies (eg by banning one or two abusive members of (link: http://SE23.life) SE23.life).
Some of those enemies became obsessive and built a lynch mob fueled by hearsay."

So it's all our fault, folks. I suspect he'd only know about the Twitter side if he's created yet another sock puppet, as the majority of people who have been discussing this on Twitter have him blocked and have their accounts on restricted view. And instead of trying to give a decent explanation to the users of SE23.life, he's hiding and blaming others - again.

I feel very sorry for the majority of those involved in SE23.life, as it was such a good idea and a good forum but is now very hard to trust.
Rachael
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Re: Sockpuppets on t'other forum

Post by Rachael »

If anyone reading this thread still thinks that all this has been stirred up by a few disaffected former forum members and their cronies, then they have truly drunk the CB Koolaid. I am truly staggered (if JGD’s information about emails to Nicola is correct) to hear at least one of the mods, with all the information now publicly available, is still peddling the line that CB is more sinned against than sinning. If y’all are hoping the current mod team are going to set things to rights, I think you’re in for a big disappointment.

Meanwhile, the unwitting still continue to post on the forum, and the mods who should be protecting them are instead exposing them to risk. I’m ashamed of the lot of them.
stuart
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Re: Sockpuppets on t'other forum

Post by stuart »

Rachael wrote: 20 Jul 2019 22:40Meanwhile, the unwitting still continue to post on the forum, and the mods who should be protecting them are instead exposing them to risk. I’m ashamed of the lot of them.
Not on SE26.life Rachael. It's been dead for three days now. A bit suggestive that most posts might have come from one now disrupted source.

To be generous I can believe that decent mods couldn't imagine the true horror that is now belatedly being exposed. It's hard to shift loyalties. The temptation to simply walk away must be there. I'm guessing the remaining may be splitting into 'save SE23' or 'Save Chris' camps. They may need to resolve that before anyone dare reach out.

Stuart
Homecroft
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Re: Sockpuppets on t'other forum

Post by Homecroft »

Rachael, Stuart, both powerful and frank statements which I believe there are a lot of people now who would support you both on.

It's sad to see the mods almost unwittingly end up being the focus of attention because of CB's wrongdoing. However I completely understand why this has happened.

I genuinely hope that Stuart is right on this, and that mods are giving long and hard thought to their next moves. As CB continues to shrink away from it all, and leave them to sort out the mess, I really hope that he is simply told, stand up and be counted, or we are off!

Quite sad really that while pretending to be staying away, there is heaps of proof that it is not the case, and that other methods are still being used to try and keep things going. Post bumping, watching via other accounts on all platforms and I am sure much more.
Rachael
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Re: Sockpuppets on t'other forum

Post by Rachael »

RJM wrote: 20 Jul 2019 22:14 Update from Twitter - SE23life CB:
"I’m taking a break from Twitter for a while.
I made many friends in SE23, but also picked up some enemies (eg by banning one or two abusive members of (link: http://SE23.life) SE23.life).
Some of those enemies became obsessive and built a lynch mob fueled by hearsay."

So it's all our fault, folks. I suspect he'd only know about the Twitter side if he's created yet another sock puppet, as the majority of people who have been discussing this on Twitter have him blocked and have their accounts on restricted view. And instead of trying to give a decent explanation to the users of SE23.life, he's hiding and blaming others - again.

I feel very sorry for the majority of those involved in SE23.life, as it was such a good idea and a good forum but is now very hard to trust.
If anyone becomes aware of, or even suspects an account of being, a CB sock puppet on Twitter, it would be helpful to post the information here. I have 2.7k twitter followers and while my account is locked down now, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if CB hadn’t planted a puppet in there a long time ago, but weeding it out manually will be tortuous.
stuart
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Re: Sockpuppets on t'other forum

Post by stuart »

This thread has now trumped the se23.com - an exile from the north speaks out in length. In only 9 days against 7 years!

Given that there must be a lot more to come it sort of indicates that what was thought at the time to be serious issues with SE23.COM are paling in comparison by the day.

Anyway get to bed everybody. Your partner needs you ...

Stuart
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