LoveShack.org

I was quite a regular member at Loveshack and enjoyed reading and contributing to the forum. Have only just noticed however that the domain is no more, so I'm assuming either the actual owner or William or Robert had taken it down. Shame... seemed abit random as there were plenty of active users and I don't even think a few reviews on corrupt staff tarnished the reputation of the forum at all.

Miss loveshack.org. Was on it 8 years. Became too busy with becoming a podiatrist to post any more, nor did I need loveshack anymore for my 3 year relationship which is still going strong. I did however just love reading about other situations, I learnt so much, I learnt such key fundamental dating tools that lead me to meeting the right guy in the end. It really reinforced good dating standards.

Just wanted to say goodbye.

From Leigh 87.

Ah, so many people's sagas--I'm already forgetting the names. There was a lot of wisdom on that site, and it probably helped curtail some of my foolishness. Don't know much about moderation, but I loved Carhill's posts... I took a star off because it is kind of nice to have a clearer head... I was addicted, like one gets to soap operas.

I also joined LS in 2015 after the end of a bad relationship. It's weird the site is suddenly gone, I know people did pay money to be members, I wonder how that works. I understand why people who did not experience the things we did, judge us, but the site gave us a place to speak freely. It would be like shutting down AA because you did not approve of alcohol. Drinking would still go on.

I am thankful for the people that I met through Loveshack and who helped me through a difficult time. There were a lot of different opinions and strong personalities, and a lot of thoughtful posters as well. I didn't experience any issues with the mods like other posters. It's unfortunate that the site has disappeared without any warning. I would have loved to say some personal thank yous!

Hey everyone! Heavenonearth here... I kinda miss Loveshack! One day it was just GONE -- I don't know why but I hope it will come back one day. I think it is odd that I was frequently talking to so many strangers on there who had a bit of a glimpse into my life - and now these people will forever be strangers. Anyway, I recognize a few names on here who have eulogized LS in their own words. Peace and hugs to everyone! Heaven.

Good grief, Loveshack had been around for so long - what? 15 years? More? There were some incredibly insightful posts in certain forums. Study in human nature if you hung around long enough to see the patterns and repeat circumstances.

Yeah, it got bogged down in repetition, and sometimes the moderation seemed arbitrary. But not really. The moderators had a thankless job. Can't imagine what they got out of it, but I always respected the herculean effort. There was a vision of sorts.

I was so shocked at what Paul P. Said about the invite-only forum pulling LS members away. So that's where they went! This all now feels like middle school. Real life is better, but it's still disappointing.

And compromising the anonymity of members? That's scary, but how? I'm a bit skeptical about that.

I loved Candle's review. I'm proud to admit I used the report post button many times. The reason why the moderators were very "strict" is because of all the abuse going on in the forum. When the new moderators started going to work, there was a lot of flaming, trolling, and cyberbullying. People would insult each other. I've saw one troll intimidate his victim by starting an account pretending to be the victim's mother. I also remember how one woman looking for advice became upset when a vigilante accused her of being a troll. I've also seen people get mobbed.

Kudos to the moderators for cleaning that place up. They decided to center the forum around people looking for advice and support instead of the Jerry Springer crowd that treated the website as a place of entertainment. The last things people going through difficult times need are to be harassed and ridiculed. I didn't give the forum five stars because people in position to give great advice don't go to relationship forums to give advice because they're too busy with their significant others.

Through a simple system of reporting posts for flaming, rude posts, and trolling, the moderators started weeding out all the undesirables. If you want to laugh at people's expense and harass people through the safety of your computer screen, you can go to all the forums that allow people to harass each other. Sorry, but I don't think it's funny when someone talks about castrating the OP of a thread or ridiculing an OP by intentionally giving crude, bad advice like groping his crush.

The moderators were trying to protect the most vulnerable people in the forum I'm going to end my review with my favorite phrase whenever I saw a rude or inappropriate post from a keyboard warrior.

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I posted there for 5 years, and I have a soft spot for it. It certainly had its legitimate issues, but some posters really helped me during a rough time in my life. Towards the end, I enjoyed the forums that were not related to relationships. I liked the political and religious forums and had some really good conversations with some people.

The moderation definitely had favorites. There was no doubt about that. I figured the forum would go away one day because there were only two moderators. I wonder if they didn't want the site to go bust, so they could get away from it. My big regret is not getting the emails of a few people to keep up with them.

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.

Eh, I was occasionally moderated like the rest of you, but having run a site myself before, I get it. I like Carhill just fine, though his mod personality was necessarily annoying because who likes criticism, right? There were some stupid rules, as if this site wasn't for 18 years old and over but for grade school kids. My biggest gripe is I think adults should be able to use the same cuss words you can see nightly on prime time tv, as long as they're used passively rather than for name calling at the person. I was once moderated for using the word "cucumber." Really? It takes all the humor out of it.

That said, when I ran a site, my site was a total dictatorship. People whined about their "freedom of speech" and I quickly told them my site wasn't a democracy and then banned them if they kept it up. This would mostly be people I found annoying or who challenged everything anyone said. That site, due to the subject matter, attracted lots of trolls (you can't say "troll" at Loveshack) and I know how big a job it is to keep track of them and research and ban them, so I have some sympathy for mods. And as they said over and over, they had to go by the owner's rules.

The mods said back a few months when the site was down for a couple of weeks that it could just vanish one day, and it has. We'll see if anything else happens, new site, whatever. I mean, that one did need to be updated some way. There was an app but it was hard to read on. If I knew how to make an app-friendly site, I'd do it myself. Might anyway sometime when I'm not so busy. If I do, I'll come on here and let people know. I don't have anyone's email.

What I liked best: I thought as a whole, there was usually a very good consensus of advice, especially on serious matters.

What I liked least, people who came on there making basically the same post over and over, got sound advice, ignored it, and kept posting hoping for someone, anyone, who agreed with them. Broken records who would never take advice, who thought everyone in the world was wrong and they were right, would never seek professional help, as is too often the case of people who need it worst. These people were just like a rat on a wheel, hoping to somehow get what they want with no effort or taking responsibility for their own situations. They need someone to be honest with them instead of just sympathizing because they're their own worst enemy. I'd ban those people once it became a hopeless pattern if it was up to me because it demoralizes those trying to help. And sometimes I think LS did. But not enough.

Another thing is you can't judge that a person is a loser because they post a lot. Some of us type as fast as we think. One such person is home with a special needs child. You really want to act like she's nothing because she posts good advice for you on a regular basis? Another was a professional, and she posted excellent advice. These people aren't idle or losers. They're smarter than you and a lot more productive, apparently.

It made me feel good on the rare occasion when someone came on there with a big real-life problem (instead of one in their head) and the forum was able to really support them and show them the way out. It's worth putting up with all the rest if you think you might have really made a difference in one person's life.