Syd A.

Before you join Lifestyle Lounge, you need to know that they filter communications between their members. Their filtering practices of email, forum posts and blogs will be a problem to any paying member of their site.

If, for example, you use certain keywords in either email, forum or blog posts on their sites they will intervene and automatically delete this information before other members even have a chance to read them.

Lifestyle Lounge replied to concerns from its members that it was intering with private communications between members because: "For site security and member protection our system looks for, malicious code. Certain words that are well known words used by spammers, in the context where they are used for malicious purposes, such as Nigeria, bank account, Viagra, Kasidie etc. When found these emails are deleted to protect all interested parties."

So basically in order to exchange communications on this site, you cannot use certain words. This practice is utterly ridiculous. How on earth are members supposed to know what list of words or phrases cannot be used? For example, if you send an email on their site and use the word 'Viagra', your email will get deleted. What does Lifestyle Lounge expect its users to do - say 'blue little pill' instead? Huh?

Regardless of the rationale for why Lifestyle Lounge is doing this, it clearly is ridiculous to expect users to know what words their software is filtering and considers "BANNED" and which ones it does not.

There is only ONE reason why customers pay to be on this site and that is to COMMUNICATE with other like-minded individuals. If Lifestyle Lounge restricts communications between its members because it does not "like" certain words, then its confusing what services they are really offering.

We were members of their site dating all the way back to 9/6/2002 and up until today have been pleased with our membership. In our opinion Lifestyle Lounge crossed over the line deleting personal email messages.

It is clear that this practice is not being done out of concern to "protect members from spam"; it is done to serve a single-minded purpose = to restrict information from being shared amongst its members. Lifestyle Lounge does not want its members discussing competing websites, even if these communications are done in private member to member via email.

This kind of mindset can only harm their company, not enhance it and their ignorance of this fact is confusing.

Before you begin your membership, consider this fact: do you want to pay a premium for a service to communicate with other like-minded members that is being filtered for keywords and those communications deleted. Why would you?