I was a member of MDJunction for a year and loved the site. I have been through many challenges in life, and I thought this was an ideal place to meet others who have been through some of the same things. I thought it would be a safe place to go for support and friendship.
I did meet many very nice people who were encouraging and helped give me strength.
However, one member and a couple of her friends were able to completely taint the entire site and quickly turn it from a place to find comfort to one that induced anxiety, stress and abandonment.
This is what happened:
I came across a discussion topic called "Opinions" and began to read it. I found that one member in particular, who is a group leader nonetheless, was bullying other members there. I was appalled to see this kind of thing on a site like this, so after some thought, I decided to say something rather than stand by and let someone abuse another member like that. I simply posted a comment in that thread stating that I thought that this discussion topic had most likely veered off from its intended meaning and now that people seemed to be using it as a place to trash talk other members, we should consider removing it. That was all it took put the target on me as the next bullied victim.
Over the course of several days I had my posts removed for no reason, was told to stop "spamming" the diary thread (I didn't really know what that meant...I was writing in the diary feature about every other day, but I guess this person thought that was spamming), was privately and publicly humiliated, and ultimately, had my account banned and placed "under review."
All of this was done without one single bit of communication about what was going on.
I contacted one of the site owners,...SEVERAL times, because I thought he would be interested to know something like this was going on at MDJunction. After a few emails, I got a reply that simply said, "I'll look into it." Days passed, the bullying continued, I sent more notices to the owner that were not answered, and ultimately, as I said, I was (hopefully temporarily) banned.
The other person who wrote on the ReportScam website about MDJunction was being harassed by the same member. It is beyond me how this can happen, be brought to the site owner's attention, and yet be allowed to continue.
Recently, that person made rude comments about one of the member's appearance in her profile picture. That kind of immature behavior should not be tolerated at ALL on a site whose motto is "People helping People!"
I was also publicly ridiculed about the amount of medical issues I deal with.
Even though we use made up usernames for the site, mine is a name I use often for other things and a person can easily find my identity. There are pictures and names of family members, etc. Not only is the behavior uncalled for, unprofessional and appalling, it is defamatory and slander as far as I am concerned.
If I site like this is going to exist, it needs to have an effective system of checks and balances. Group leaders who do not follow the guidelines and act the way this person has should not only be asked to step down from the group, they have their accounts banned.
If the owner does eventually review my account (since it says "account being reviewed") I am 100% confident that I never said anything inappropriate or behaved in any way that would hurt other members. In the midst of being bullied, I continued to reach out to that individual by sending "hugs" and telling her that I was not her enemy. For some reason, this only escalated matters.
I still love MDJunction and am very much hoping that I will get an apology and that the offending member/group leader will be the one who has her account banned.
In the meantime, I would caution anyone who is considering becoming a member. Until the management does something about this issue, it is truly not a safe place to go for support.
I have been a member of MDJunction for quite some time. The owner of the site contacted me a while back and asked me to be a group leader for the RSD caregivers and supporters forum which I gladly did, since my husband has RSD.
After some time I also joined the alcoholism forum where I was also asked to be a group leader and I accepted the positon. From my first day as a Group Leader on the alcoholism form I was badgered and harassed by a group leader of another group, not the alcoholism group. She would come on the group and make horrific reference to AA and 12 step programs being cults and so on, which we tried to assure her that all forms of recovery were welcome there.
After speaking to several other group leaders I discovered this was not the first time she had tried to "run off" good group leaders who were there to provide help and support for people coming to get help.
I took a break where I quit posting on any forum, but checked in everyday to see how things were going. One day I really did need some support and we to find my account had been deleted. Everything was gone. I re registered with a different email address and the same name and within minutes was banned. I continued to re register and was banned over and over most of the time without much chance to even post.
I have sent multiple messages to the site owner who goes by the name of roy. Alon is the other username for an administrator. Both had assured me that one account would not get banned, so I started the process of rebuilding it. Everyting went well for about 4 days, I was waiting to get my Group Leadership back, continuing to help people answering posts and so on, I was answering a post to someone who was reaching out, when I hit the submit button my account had been deleted again. That sent me into an anxiety attack brought on by the stress of dealing with someone that is breaking the very terms and conditions that the site owners say they take very seriously.
My only thought on this matter is that this livinginablender often boasts about her "clients" so wonder if she is a big contributor finacially to the site and thus is allowed to abuse mentally ill people for her own benefit. She appears to be a big supporter of Moderation Management and is often posting quotes and links for those sites.
My main concern in reporting this issue is that people go to that site for help on support for a variety of reasons. It is obvious that if you say anything that one of their "contributors" finds offensive or is in anyway a disagreement to what they are trying to promote you are banned without cause or reason, and if you are fortunate enough to become a group leader your account will be deleted if you disagree with anyone, even if you are active but not actively posting. If they want you gone, you will be gone.
I feel that if they are going to write a terms of service they should honor it for everyone, and if a group leader is abusing people who come there for help they should be held accountable. Defamation of character, slander, and verbal abuse should not be tolerated by a group leader who is supposed to be an example to everyone.
I should also state that this person is not the "group leader" for the alcohol forum, but has the ability to ban people from any group at will.
I can only hope there is something that can be done to stop this treatment of people who come there for help. I strongly feel that if MDJunction is going to advertise as a place for someone to come and get help and support, but they allow this kind of treatment of their visitors, they should be shut down permanently.
MDJunction.com Reviews
"people hurting other people"
I was a member of MDJunction for a year and loved the site. I have been through many challenges in life, and I thought this was an ideal place to meet others who have been through some of the same things. I thought it would be a safe place to go for support and friendship.
I did meet many very nice people who were encouraging and helped give me strength.
However, one member and a couple of her friends were able to completely taint the entire site and quickly turn it from a place to find comfort to one that induced anxiety, stress and abandonment.
This is what happened:
I came across a discussion topic called "Opinions" and began to read it. I found that one member in particular, who is a group leader nonetheless, was bullying other members there. I was appalled to see this kind of thing on a site like this, so after some thought, I decided to say something rather than stand by and let someone abuse another member like that. I simply posted a comment in that thread stating that I thought that this discussion topic had most likely veered off from its intended meaning and now that people seemed to be using it as a place to trash talk other members, we should consider removing it. That was all it took put the target on me as the next bullied victim.
Over the course of several days I had my posts removed for no reason, was told to stop "spamming" the diary thread (I didn't really know what that meant...I was writing in the diary feature about every other day, but I guess this person thought that was spamming), was privately and publicly humiliated, and ultimately, had my account banned and placed "under review."
All of this was done without one single bit of communication about what was going on.
I contacted one of the site owners,...SEVERAL times, because I thought he would be interested to know something like this was going on at MDJunction. After a few emails, I got a reply that simply said, "I'll look into it." Days passed, the bullying continued, I sent more notices to the owner that were not answered, and ultimately, as I said, I was (hopefully temporarily) banned.
The other person who wrote on the ReportScam website about MDJunction was being harassed by the same member. It is beyond me how this can happen, be brought to the site owner's attention, and yet be allowed to continue.
Recently, that person made rude comments about one of the member's appearance in her profile picture. That kind of immature behavior should not be tolerated at ALL on a site whose motto is "People helping People!"
I was also publicly ridiculed about the amount of medical issues I deal with.
Even though we use made up usernames for the site, mine is a name I use often for other things and a person can easily find my identity. There are pictures and names of family members, etc. Not only is the behavior uncalled for, unprofessional and appalling, it is defamatory and slander as far as I am concerned.
If I site like this is going to exist, it needs to have an effective system of checks and balances. Group leaders who do not follow the guidelines and act the way this person has should not only be asked to step down from the group, they have their accounts banned.
If the owner does eventually review my account (since it says "account being reviewed") I am 100% confident that I never said anything inappropriate or behaved in any way that would hurt other members. In the midst of being bullied, I continued to reach out to that individual by sending "hugs" and telling her that I was not her enemy. For some reason, this only escalated matters.
I still love MDJunction and am very much hoping that I will get an apology and that the offending member/group leader will be the one who has her account banned.
In the meantime, I would caution anyone who is considering becoming a member. Until the management does something about this issue, it is truly not a safe place to go for support.
I have been a member of MDJunction for quite some time. The owner of the site contacted me a while back and asked me to be a group leader for the RSD caregivers and supporters forum which I gladly did, since my husband has RSD.
After some time I also joined the alcoholism forum where I was also asked to be a group leader and I accepted the positon. From my first day as a Group Leader on the alcoholism form I was badgered and harassed by a group leader of another group, not the alcoholism group. She would come on the group and make horrific reference to AA and 12 step programs being cults and so on, which we tried to assure her that all forms of recovery were welcome there.
After speaking to several other group leaders I discovered this was not the first time she had tried to "run off" good group leaders who were there to provide help and support for people coming to get help.
I took a break where I quit posting on any forum, but checked in everyday to see how things were going. One day I really did need some support and we to find my account had been deleted. Everything was gone. I re registered with a different email address and the same name and within minutes was banned. I continued to re register and was banned over and over most of the time without much chance to even post.
I have sent multiple messages to the site owner who goes by the name of roy. Alon is the other username for an administrator. Both had assured me that one account would not get banned, so I started the process of rebuilding it. Everyting went well for about 4 days, I was waiting to get my Group Leadership back, continuing to help people answering posts and so on, I was answering a post to someone who was reaching out, when I hit the submit button my account had been deleted again. That sent me into an anxiety attack brought on by the stress of dealing with someone that is breaking the very terms and conditions that the site owners say they take very seriously.
My only thought on this matter is that this livinginablender often boasts about her "clients" so wonder if she is a big contributor finacially to the site and thus is allowed to abuse mentally ill people for her own benefit. She appears to be a big supporter of Moderation Management and is often posting quotes and links for those sites.
My main concern in reporting this issue is that people go to that site for help on support for a variety of reasons. It is obvious that if you say anything that one of their "contributors" finds offensive or is in anyway a disagreement to what they are trying to promote you are banned without cause or reason, and if you are fortunate enough to become a group leader your account will be deleted if you disagree with anyone, even if you are active but not actively posting. If they want you gone, you will be gone.
I feel that if they are going to write a terms of service they should honor it for everyone, and if a group leader is abusing people who come there for help they should be held accountable. Defamation of character, slander, and verbal abuse should not be tolerated by a group leader who is supposed to be an example to everyone.
I should also state that this person is not the "group leader" for the alcohol forum, but has the ability to ban people from any group at will.
I can only hope there is something that can be done to stop this treatment of people who come there for help. I strongly feel that if MDJunction is going to advertise as a place for someone to come and get help and support, but they allow this kind of treatment of their visitors, they should be shut down permanently.