Edited because the Poll is no longer on the front-page.  If you're looking for it, you can find it HERE.  If that link doesn't work click the Poll tab and look in Featured Polls.  It should be there.

There is a poll about the chats on the front-page. And whatever your stance, I do urge everyone to vote as we all have a part in making this site what we want it to be.

That said, I'm against locked chatrooms. I have been since the first one appeared. Now I'm going to explain why. 

Witchbook is an awesome site that is open to everyone. It's, I think, one of the most friendly and welcoming pagan social sites on the internet. Unlike other places that are clogged with trolls, Lady Gaga worship and endless drama *cough*paganspace*cough*. This makes Witchbook some place I'm happy to recommend to others.

But then I go into the chat room. Oh there is no one there, well that happens. I look over to the list of rooms, I see there are 4 people in one of the locked chatrooms. Now I DO have the password to the Van (but not the Corner). But that password is only given out to those who ask and only if they are over 18.

While I can understand the desire to have "adult" discussions, I think this is  the worst way to accomplish that on a site that is supposed to be welcoming and open to everyone.

What happens when someone new (over 18) wanders into chat and there is no one there to tell them the password? How do you think they feel, not being able to talk to other pagans they can SEE are there?chatroom they can't even GET the password to? Is it really that hard to imagine the dejection and resentment of those confronted with these situation? Is it really that hard to understand how having locked chatrooms undermine the whole idea of "open and welcoming"? And what about the teens? We have people of all ages coming in, looking for answers or at least someone to point them in the right direction as well as dicussion on all manner of subjects. How do you think they feel when they can't talk to people because they are in a locked chatroom that they can't even GET the password for?

I want to talk to people. All people. Not just those that know the password to get into the locked clubhouse. That is the whole point of my coming on a social networking site.

To my mind, the solution is get rid of the locked rooms. Then, it's up to a combination of moderator presence in the chatroom and the users being sensible. We have visible ages with the usernames. So there is no question of not knowing what age a person is (and if they lied about their age, there isn't anything anyone can do anyhow). We have a Whisper function and private chat with a given user if someone just HAS to tell someone else the juicy NC-17 details. Never mind the IM in the dashboard. And it's not that hard to keep discussion of interesting topics G-Rated. Even things like menstruation, fertility religions and romantic relationships.

The only question now is:

A)Is it more important that Witchbook is an open and welcoming site?

B)Or is the "convenience" of a locked chatroom that only some can get to more important?

I'm voting for A.