New message board welcomes users

In the aftermath of a flap over Glen Ellyn's popular on-line message board is a new one: www.nwburbs.net.

It's been up since January and has slightly more than 100 registered users, but half of them are disgruntled users of www.glen-ellyn.com.

That 12-year-old site was briefly taken down earlier this month because its administrator, Ted Eselgroth, said some comments, many about village leaders, organizations and businesses, were getting too nasty and personal. He now vows to censor anything he believes crosses the line.

Meanwhile, Rob Oliver, a Glendale Heights resident and math teacher at Hubble Middle School in Wheaton, has launched nwburbs.net and has branched into other communities, encouraging residents in dozens of towns to post their thoughts.

Because of the recent influx of Glen Ellyn members, Oliver's made additional, detailed social threads for residents within the village.

While Eselgroth has tightened the rope on his policies, anything goes on Oliver's site.

"I really don't care if it's positive or negative," said Oliver, 34. "I try to stay unbiased in that respect."

Eselgroth thinks posts on his site got meaner and meaner over time, but doesn't consider the new changes dramatic.

"I've always had the rules of what's appropriate and what's not," he said. "What I'm really going to be doing is just exercising those a little more firmly."

Oliver would like his site to grow, but didn't expect it to get this big this quick.

"I just wanted something I could be in charge of and something I could do in my spare time," he said.

Neither man considers the other a competitor.

"I have nothing against Ted; I don't even know him," Oliver said. "I didn't know he was around until after my board was created."

Eselgroth said his site's more of a resourceful tool, while Oliver's seems to be strictly for complaining.

"They're two different services for two different reasons, and that's the beauty of the Internet," Eselgroth said. "There's something for everybody out there."