Livechat Issue

 

The two HPANWO Radio live programmes, The HPANWO Show and The Gas Spanner, include a livechat service to allow listeners to talk to myself and each other during the broadcasts. This service is twofold. There is a public chatbox powered by Tlk.io, see:  https://tlk.io/hpanwo#_=_. This is free for anybody to join and say whatever they like. There is no membership system; you just put a name in the box and start typing. This system is ideal for new people who have just discovered HPANWO Radio and do not know anybody else in its community; also for people who might want to give information or ask questions anonymously, which might be appropriate in some circumstances. The obvious problem is that this system can be abused by trolls and I will always remove any material that is openly destructive and hateful. Sometimes angry arguments can break out between members, and this is tricky because a lack of membership means there is no block function; but I believe it is not my place to intervene if both parties are being equally aggressive. During last night's live HPANWO Show a person joined the livechat calling themselves "L Monster" and several other usernames as they came and went from the box during the evening. This person quickly identified herself as a former friend of mine with whom I had fallen out several years ago. She then went on to interact in a friendly manner with some of the other posters. I myself only spoke with her briefly when she asked if I minded if she used the chatbox. I replied in the affirmative and explained the policy of the Tlk.io chat that I've outlined above. However, I personally felt very uncomfortable with her presence there and so did several other members. A long time ago somebody advized me in private to delete "L Monster's" posts as soon as she makes them. This is tempting, but in my view it would definitely cross over the line into censorship, and I will never resort to that. I don't believe I have the right to ban somebody from using the chatbox just because I personally dislike them. Apart from answering "L Monster's" housekeeping questions I decided the best defence was to ignore her; and I offer this advice to any other members who object to the presence of somebody they don't personally like in the livechat. There is another another solution. As I've said above there are two tiers to the HPANWO Radio livechat; the other is our Discord server, see: https://discord.com/channels/887345047534710795/1308161974302937139. This is a completely private server that is strictly limited to my invitations only and cannot even be seen by non-members. I never make the offer to somebody to join unless I know exactly who they are. Once in the server, members can block people they don't personally get on with. For this reason I ask every regular HPANWO Radio listener who has been a member of our community for a long time and is acquainted with me personally, please to join the HPANWO Radio Discord. That way we all have a place we can gather if the public livechat becomes unbearable. Thank you.