Aden/Belle discussion issues

[Eli]

Lately there has been quite a lot of discussion related to whether certain topics, mainly related to the Aden/Belle relationshipm, are being used for what they are intended for. After numerous unofficial warnings about spamming, SPAG and personal attacks, we have now given several members a final warning before we take further action against them (if they cross the line again). These members have been notified, and they have been made aware of why this has been done; on what grounds we've decided to step in; and what will happen if they still fail to follow our rules.

There have been made allegations that people are being punished or favoured because of their personal opinions, and although we feel no need to justify our decisions, as they are made by a whole team consisting of different people with different opinions; we do feel that there's no need to keep quiet to you about the facts.

- There have been many reports about members breaking our rules related to these discussions, and it is based on our perception of each individual case that we have decided to take action and issue warnings.

- The allegations have been made by both fans and those who don't like the Aden/Belle pairing, just like the decisions have been made by a team consisting of staff of equally different opinions.

- The main problem related to these discussions, although we have also noted other offences; is spamming.

- No allegations or complaints have formally been made to us about the number of Aden/Belle fan fics; this is purely a rumour. People are welcome to post as many Aden/Belle fics as they like.

- All members still have a right to express their opinion about Aden/Belle, and all other storylines for that matter. Nobody in the staff thinks any different, and allegations made by members about others' opinions, have like everything else been dealt with individually, and in the cases of the staff finding the allegations unfair, no action has been taken against the reported members. This has gone both ways, as we have had reports we have ruled erroneous from both fans and non-fans.

Like stated earlier, the main problem has been spamming, and in case there is still confusion about this, here's another explanation:

Spamming is when a member repeatedly posts short, useless posts either unrelated to the discussion, or that simply can't be seen as any contribution to an ongoing discussion. This being said, we're not saying that it's not okay to write "I love Aden and Belle!" etc., because that's not spamming. However, if your posts mainly just consists of that same sentence, or just various versions with the same bottom line, it is considered spamming. A short, not very in-depth post every now and then is okay, but many of you have been taking that way too far.

There have also been made allegations that staff are keeping an extra eye on the Aden/Belle fans. This is somewhat correct, but not really the full story. After numerous reports, complaints and disagreements, we have found it necessary to keep an extra eye on certain discussions, which again has lead to us finding it necessary to keep an extra eye on certain members. However, this has nothing to do with the fact that we alledgedly somehow decided to "get" the people discussing Aden/Belle. When the problems seem to be in these threads, we keep an eye on them, regardless of what our personal opinions might be.

Lastly, as much as we hope that this can be over with this, and that we can go back to having good discussions about Aden/Belle, and Home&Away in general, we would like to make it clear that more warnings will be issued unless the situation in these threads improve significanty very soon. We recommend that everyone take a look at our rules. Some of you are still tiptoeing very close to the line, and we will keep monitoring the situation.

If you have any questions or anything else you would like to discuss regarding the situation, please contact a member of staff by PM, rather than carry out this discussion in this thread; and remember that the board rules also applies to PMs, and not just posts.

Thank you.

On behalf of the BttB staff,

Eli (Moderator)

(This announcement will be x-posted to most of the threads of our concern shortly.)