Are they really this crass?

It has been a long time since I even bothered to look in at (another forum, removed by moderator). It has gone from the home of the academic phonies to something that is close to libelous. Who are these people that I don't even recognize their screen names? It is just an endless diatribe of scurrilous comments that have nothing to do with education.

(Posts removed by moderator)

Maybe it is time that we do something about all these lies and hatred. Former moderator Greg DesElms used to caution members to avoid mentioning the phonies but he's long gone while they are still around. Instead of ignoring them maybe we should document their posts and inform the appropriate authorities and seek to shut them down permanently.

 

Which authorities? Malaysian? (Where the website is located.) You can essentially say anything on the internet anyways.

 

Gregg may be gone, but that degreeinfo policy continues.

When a widely read board such as degreeinfo posts information about insignificant boards (such as the one you mentioned) whose only purpose is to advocate unwonderful programs and spread false or otherwise deceptive information, we don't do anything but give them more publicity, and increase their search engine rankings.

 

As a long time poster I have a different view on these boards. I think many take them more seriously than they take themselves – take a look at their screen names, they are not names you would take seriously. As I have mentioned on another board, most of what they write is satire and I fully expect to read, “Bat Boy enrolls in online degree program” there at some point. Is it humorous? I guess that depends – there is a lot on Saturday Night Live and Family Guy that I do not find in particularly good taste.

Do some of the posters on these boards cross the line as to what is acceptable? In my opinion yes, but you can also find posts on those same boards where the regular posters feel the same way. We forget that those that post on those boards are involved with academia, looking for or hold an advanced degree and have a job. Their online persona is not what they are like in person – and I have advocated we have a meet up for all the boards at some neutral location for some time. On another board I posed the question – “who would be the most interesting table of six?”

I disagree with Chip about the linkage since I feel sites like the one described have actually done a service to the other boards. Their comments have encouraged someone interested in distance education to visit the boards they criticize – and review the posts of those they satirize. While it is probably not their intention, writing about the more prolific posters on the other boards has probably helped many make a more informed decision on their choice of schools.

 

We've actually had F2F meetings... back in the days of the Gang of Six, any time two or more people from AED or Degreeinfo were in or near the same town at the same time, we've met up, and I think there was a movement at one of the other boards for a meet-up, though I don't know if it happened.

I really can't see much value in most of the postings on the board in question, at least not as far as making informed decisions.

The only exception I could see to this is people who are seeking a degree from one of the now very, very few legitimate but unaccredited schools out there, or one of the many unwonderfuls or worse; DegreeInfo's editorial bias has never been a secret in that we (the owners as well as the moderators) have never advocated or recommended unwonderful schools or mills, and only very, very rarely any unaccredited schools, and so positive discussion of unwonderful programs, while those opinions are certainly tolerated here, will almost always get drowned out by the many more voices of our members who dislike them.

I suppose that if someone is seeking a fake or unwonderful degree, then looking at the board in question might be a good source, but as I used to say on AED, if one is seeking a fake degree, one is better off to design (or find a template for) their own fake school diploma and print it out on the color laser printer at Kinkos; a degree from an unwonderful or mill isn't any more valuable.

Perhaps there's something I'm missing

 

The one thing missing is someone to verify the fake degree. I do remember one diploma mill that offered to verify your degree from anywhere for a very nominal fee. I found that amusing and was wondering if perhaps they verified anything/everything without even checking any records which would allow people to print their own diploma and get verification for it without paying anything. I never called them and tried to verify any diploma though. So I don't really know if that plan would work. I would consider this liine of thinking similar to people claiming degrees from diploma mills that they never paid any money too. It's amusing to think about, rarely done, and while better than paying a con-artist, it's still a bad idea.