WebSleuthsReviews 106

The concept of this site is terrific, but execution leaves much to be desired. It's great that they make the attempt to confine discussion to what they consider fact, but they declare mainstream media to be the only justifiable source to verify fact all while acknowledging that most of what is promoted by mainstream media today has little credibility due to bad reporting, incorrect "facts", and inconsistency. Users are constantly reminded that social media can't be used to substantiate factual information, yet readers are constantly pointed in the direction of interesting tidbits seen on sites such as Facebook -- there are threads that have little to nothing to do with coming together to help the victim, but instead are just post after post telling the reader to go get info from Facebook. Do yourself a favor and never read a thread about a missing child, because you will be subjected to a never-ending Greek chorus about the failures of CPS or the ruthlessness of CPS or the ignorance/laziness/corruptness/cruelty of CPS for not being omniscient (because moaning about it always helps find a missing child...) Add to that the never-ending chain of "that child should have been taken away and given to me, I would have loved it" and that good old standby "RIP" and you'll want to rip your own face off after a while. Websleuths allegedly does not allow discussion of sleuthing individuals not named as persons of interest, yet they have over 100 threads for Gabriel Petito in which it's a free-for-all bashing the boyfriend's family and sharing their personal details, that whole mess should have been a shameful embarrassment yet moderators were standing there shoulder-to-shoulder with the others slinging mud and posting an endless litany of "Kill the monsters" and "Poor Gabby" and similar drivel. In its defense, the site does offer the opportunity for people to bring together skills from all different walks of life, and information is shared that can lead to real solutions in some of these cases -- many unidentified individuals have gotten their names and dignity returned to them, and clues have helped law enforcement make progress in solving murders or finding missing persons. And the moderators do help to keep the crazies at bay, at least those that are obviously wearing tinfoil hats. The site does offer a large number of resources for families of those who are missing, and can be a really good source of support. There's a lot of good, but you have to wade through an endless amount of hooey to get there.