LoveShack.org

Thought the place was pretty cool on the whole; lots of larger than life characters, great wealth of experiences, good banter (thanks for the laughs, Haydn), though a bit too conservative for my liking in terms of politics - got a 'temporary restriction' on my account in early 2017 for saying something a little naughty about the USA Prez and was still unable to get back onto the site by March this year, so obviously 'temporary' is subject to interpretation ... Never been in trouble previous to that - thought the mods were pretty harsh on that one :( . No regrets though, the mods got to do what the mods got to do!

I didn't like the armchair mental health diagnosing at all (my bug bear) or the political echo chambers on either side of the political spectrum (civilised political debates were near impossible) but I'll definitely miss getting so many perspectives on the same issue (all very informative and a huge help in trying to make sense of human behaviour).

I joined LS back in 2005 when i needed relationship answers. It really helped me in some ways. Yet too many posters were younger and not even married, and they still joined in with advice.

For ten years, I enjoyed the camaraderie and debates in the many forums. I gave my opinions and advice. Hopefully it helped someone.

Then it seemed to change. Fewer members who were knowledgeable gave advice and more who were biased did. I never had problems with the mods. I liked William and Art and a couple of others.

Today I went there after not posting for many months. I see it is gone. I admit that it does make me sad. There were many good members there, and I made many friends. Some I still communicate with today via email.

It truly was a good forum in its day.

Mods on this site block, erase, and manipulate threads to protect members from hearing the truth to protect their feelings. Almost every man and woman on the site believes they are a 10 and deserve a 10 particularly the women. The advise to each other is to acquire the top 10% of men and don't settle for less giving false hope to many of these young ladies. The OM/OW is mostly filled with arrogant wives chasing their bosses or some doctor and warned how it will blow up in their face and 99% of the time it does. The infidelity thread is filled with men with the latest spy gear and phone tracker to bust their wives.

The worse part is the female nazis that spend all day calling the mods to erase your post or get you banned because they think the world a soft and cuddly place and get offended by reality.

It used to be a site I couldn't stay away from, but it became very boring and with the heavy handed moderation. Especially since this last presidential election.

Not only were we stifled (even on the political forum) - but I began to loose interest because others were not allowed to express themselves completely - or had to watch what they said.

Post after post of Trump bashing or America bashing was (however) permitted.

We appreciated your posts Carhill, but would have loved it more had you and yours allowed others to post as well. And without threatening members posting privileges.

I would guess LS had the most rigidity on conservative politics' posting than any other site. Ridiculous. Reasons were under the guise of 'off topic' or talking about the previous (Obama) administration when asked not too, etc.

Probably, members would report posts to mods that they didn't agree with. And attach it to LS reasoning.

Some reviewers names are familiar, others, not so much. For the ones who are familiar, glad to see that you're all alive and kicking. The site was massacred through over-moderation and especially, by his petty lordship carhill/William. If for nothing else, must admit that I'm experiencing some schadenfreude over the loss of his imaginary fiefdom.

There were some good and bad times. A chapter long forgotten until I happened on this review by accident so I joined to say "hi" to some of you and to add to the chorus of dissatisfied old members... haha.

I wanted to find a forum where I could discuss relationship issues with others in a safe, friendly and supportive environment. This is how it is advertised. While there were some members who were supportive and helpful, and some challenging, but not threatening, it quickly descended into a hatefest against me, including some quite serious defamations and libels that were not being tackled by the mods, and may even have been perpetrated by them. For example, my admission that I find a 24-year-old woman attractive was turned into suggestion that I was creepy and a paedophile. This is the level it descended to.

Many people who frequent sites such as these are emotionally vulnerable, and while it may be gratifying to demolish them in public, it is really quite harmful, in violation of their own terms of use, and probably verging on the criminal. I dread to think how many suicides these people are sparking off by their nasty comments.

I had deactivated my account and asked for all my records and the thread I initiated to be deleted from their server. Whether it will be or not remains to be seen. My guess is that they will crosslink the vile things said about me across social media, and I could face a Twitter storm of hate in due course, which is perhaps what these people enjoy doing to others.

Avoid this forum like the plague!

The above describes my experience in a nutshell. While I commend the vigilance and attentiveness employed in maintaining the site, favoritism seems to run rampant, and if you're a sporadic poster, not one of moderators' valued members, they will flag you and silence you like it's no one's business. An established poster can unapologetically reply with a "LOL wut" to your message, but if you 'reply in kind', you will be deemed hostile and argumentative. The reasons as such given will be vague, applied arbitrarily, and your requests for elaborating will fall into a non-acknowledged trashbin.

Established members can also run free with a one-size-fits all approach on any issues from a post with barely any acknowledgement that they have read the finer points, and if someone challenges the notion using language as 'flagrant' as "yeah, right...", that someone will be silenced.

Do not recommend unless you have very thick skin, enjoy seeing people with legitimate issues thrown to the virtual mob, or your discussion style is basic with a healthy dose of fake moralising.

I am really sad that loveshack is gone i have been a member since 2007>im really hoping that no one has died and that some sort of statement can be made to know exactly why loveshack is no more... i would love to know why... maybe they are just hunting for another domain... i have also been a paid member of the site... i support what i believe in... and i believed in loveshack... there were solid caring funny posters on there... and i myself enjoyed trying to make someone felt understood or cared about,... i don't know where ill go now to find another site to join or belong to... ill miss the peoples who posted there,... maybe theres a forum for people who are getting over forum closure without apology or reason... ill google it...: 0) good luck love shackers who come here to say goodbye... hugs from me to you. Signing out after 11 years... ellipses and all... todreaminblue... aka... deb... xo.

I think Michael O has it spot on, though I'd say his one star rating is a bit unfair. William, the head moderator, is also the prolific poster known as Carhill. A character who likes to present himself as an expert on various matters, his ego is indeed an extremely fragile item.

However, he is a diligent moderator who has gathered a band of other moderators together to ensure that spams, obvious trolls and any hint of drama are deleted without delay. Credit to him for that. Nobody can accuse him of not being a stickler for the rules, but the site is a dull and humorless thing compared to what it once was.

Three stars, because it's really not a bad site - but back in the day before William or Carhill took over, it was a five star site with a really good line up of regular posters. Loveshack is the internet forum equivalent of a once great sitcom that has jumped the shark.