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So much for "community".
BPL has finally fallen victim to the entropic degeneration of online community. Without its core, it'll lose its cohesion. I've been both a moderator and member if several communities that imploded like that, and unless the creators step in to infuse new life into it, it will inexorably fall apart.
BPL would do well to take a look at the GG newsletter model if they want to remain a business and have control of the information that's presented. If they'd prefer to let "members" be autunomous and act as a community, then they'd be wise not to interfere too often in what members want to talk about. They can't do both, unless they are willing to hear and see the less favorable and more critical side of what members want to say. Considering that these are PAYING members, discussing WHAT THEY PAID FOR, I think it is particularly inappropriate that the thread was deleted, I don't care how "unfavorable" the discussion was. Members are dissatisfied. As a business owner who depends on the payment of the customers, the management's response should have been to address the discontent, not try to silence it. Silencing will only make the dissatisfied members more dissatisfied.
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