JUST TAKES THE ONE TO RUIN IT FOR THE MANY. The ever-popular Eau Claire Foodies Facebook page has been archived after harassing messages were sent to the group's administrator. (Screen capture via Facebook)

The popular Eau Claire Foodies group is off the Facebook menu – at least temporarily – after a series of harassing messages, its creator says.

Allyson Fredrick, who created and moderates the group, took to Facebook on May 13 to announce that Eau Claire Foodies – which has more than 23,000 members – is “taking a break” after she received threatening and harassing messages from group members.

In a May 13 post, Frederick wrote that she was putting the page on pause for the time being. (According to a notice at the top of the page, the group has been “archived,” which means users “can’t create posts, like, comment or add more members, but ... can still view all posts.”)

Eau Claire Foodies was created two years ago and has exploded to include 23,735 members. The original intent of the page was to offer a space for locals to share their favorite eats in the area, boosting support for the wide array of locally-owned restaurants. Lately, though, there has been an uptick in negative posts and comments, often creating arguments within comment sections.

Administrators and moderators of the page will often delete posts or comments on the page when there are repeated posts made about the same topic or if someone does not follow the first rule of the page, which states: “Be kind to one another! No bullying, racist/homophobic/transphobic comments! We're here because we love food and love sharing food and promoting our favorite meals at our favorite places.”

Screenshot of one message received.

Some extremely harsh members of the page have taken to privately messaging Allyson to voice their displeasure over their comments and/or posts being deleted. For example, one recent message read, “You’re such a single mama bimbo. Dumb f’in c**. You can’t delete posts because they prove you’re wrong and spreading false info. I’m going to follow your page and intentionally give your favorite restaurants a bad name. And it’s all your fault. You’re not going to be a good mom if there are the lessons you’ll teach. You’re pathetic.”

Allyson also said that people have gone so far as to threaten her infant daughter, prompting her to archive the group. She says she isn’t sure how long the group will be in limbo, although her hope is perhaps a month. However, deleting the page as a whole is a very real possibility, she said.

Hopefully anybody who feels the need to harass others behind their keyboard learns a valuable lesson they clearly were never taught: Be kind or be quiet.

See the post at facebook.com.