Jump to content

Deleting of posts


GeoBain

Recommended Posts

I took a year (more like 11 months) off from the forums. At some point during that time there seems to have been a change in policy; post deletions.

 

As long as I can remember we have always been told to be careful what you post because mods would not edit your post after the regular edit period expired. I also recall that threads were locked, but not removed.

 

I may be going crazy, but there seems to be a lot of post removals occurring.

 

I understand when there is a rule violation and a mod pm's you to either tell you to remove something or if they go ahead and edit it and then send you a warning. We may not agree with the warning, but at least we are aware that the mods view it as a violation.

 

But there was a thread that was heavily edited today that I know I made a couple of posts in that were removed and I am positive that my removed posts were not in violation of the guidelines. One was asking people to please step back and take it easy because newbies may not understand. The other was a reminder that it is better to let the mods deal with sock puppets.

 

I don't see how either post would be a rule violation and I received no direction from anyone explaining how it was a violation or why it was removed.

 

I've kind of noticed this here and there for a while, but since I don't have the best of memories, I just assumed I was nuts.

 

So my question is when did this policy change? Has anyone else noticed this or am I just crazy?

Link to comment

This is not accurate. Any posts that have been removed do not meet our forum guidelines. And as this conversation is taking place on a privately-owned site, it is reasonable for us to enforce the guidelines of our forum.

 

I get that it is there forum and they can do what they want. I also get that it is proper to enforce their guidelines. I'm not arguing that.

 

I am just wonder when the enforcement policy changed. For those that have been around a while, pre-summer of 2010, this was not the general mode of enforcement.

 

And it seems that there are posts that are being removed that are not in violation of the guidelines of the forums. If they are violations, it would be helpful to know why they are violations.

 

It makes me want to periodically save a copy of interesting threads because you never know when posts will just go poof.

 

The forums are also being so strictly moderated that it is hard to know what is considered acceptable these days.

 

Something definitely changed. I have been here since summer of '05 and I do not remember it being so strict.

Link to comment

If there are posts getting deleted, that's news to me and I worry that it might be a bug. We will sometimes hide a post (or move it to a forum subsection only visible to moderators), but the post has to be a gross infraction in order for that to happen.

 

Can you point to some examples of disappearing posts so that I can investigate?

Link to comment
And it seems that there are posts that are being removed that are not in violation of the guidelines of the forums. If they are violations, it would be helpful to know why they are violations.

...

The forums are also being so strictly moderated that it is hard to know what is considered acceptable these days.

 

There's your problem. The "forum guidelines" can be interpreted to mean anything. Someone doesn't like your post? Well, let's just pick any random guideline and say it violates that. Maybe it was insulting or disrespectful? Or maybe it was just off topic? Who are you to argue against that?

Link to comment

 

So my question is when did this policy change? Has anyone else noticed this or am I just crazy?

 

NO you are not crazy, i will do my best to refrain from getting started on the subject...it will not be pretty :lol:

 

If there are posts getting deleted, that's news to me and I worry that it might be a bug. We will sometimes hide a post (or move it to a forum subsection only visible to moderators), but the post has to be a gross infraction in order for that to happen.

 

Can you point to some examples of disappearing posts so that I can investigate?

 

its not a bug, i had one removed just the other day

 

i will not post here the details but if you wish i can send you the reply i got from the staff member that deleted it

 

meanwhile a while back when i asked for one to be removed i was pointed to the guidelines that state that posts are never removed and we should think before posting

Edited by t4e
Link to comment

If there are posts getting deleted, that's news to me and I worry that it might be a bug. We will sometimes hide a post (or move it to a forum subsection only visible to moderators), but the post has to be a gross infraction in order for that to happen.

 

Can you point to some examples of disappearing posts so that I can investigate?

 

I pointed out 2 posts that I posted in a recently edited thread in my OP.

 

It's not a bug. Sandy said she moderated the thread. But I know that at least 2 posts were removed that were not forum violations.

 

In the thread about the cacher that passed away Snoogans noted that the thread was being pruned. Sandy stated that posts that had been removed were forum violations.

 

But I know there were serveral posts that were removed from that thread that did not seem like forum violations. I wasn't saving the contents so I can't tell you what the posts were.

 

And when I say deleted, I am speaking from an end user point of view. Mods may call it hidden, but to us it just went poof.

 

My point is that this was not the policy for the first 5 years I was here. You may be warned or banned, but that posts were not deleted/hidden. But maybe they were but it was so seldom as to be unnoticeable.

 

But it is done with such frequency now that it is very noticeable.

 

It just seems that somewhere in the last year that there was a policy change. I'm wondering when and why the forums became so strictly moderated.

Link to comment
And it seems that there are posts that are being removed that are not in violation of the guidelines of the forums. If they are violations, it would be helpful to know why they are violations.

...

The forums are also being so strictly moderated that it is hard to know what is considered acceptable these days.

 

There's your problem. The "forum guidelines" can be interpreted to mean anything. Someone doesn't like your post? Well, let's just pick any random guideline and say it violates that. Maybe it was insulting or disrespectful? Or maybe it was just off topic? Who are you to argue against that?

 

I guess you're right. I've also noticed that there is a much bigger presence of lackies in the forums than I remember. In fact, it seems there is more lackey moderation these days than volunteer moderation. Perhaps that explains the change.

Link to comment

meanwhile a while back when i asked for one to be removed i was pointed to the guidelines that state that posts are never removed and we should think before posting

 

That is the policy I was referring to. Thanks for posting that.

 

As long as I can remember that was always the stated policy. It is definitely NOT the current policy.

Link to comment

I took a year (more like 11 months) off from the forums. At some point during that time there seems to have been a change in policy; post deletions.

 

As long as I can remember we have always been told to be careful what you post because mods would not edit your post after the regular edit period expired. I also recall that threads were locked, but not removed.

 

I may be going crazy, but there seems to be a lot of post removals occurring.

 

I understand when there is a rule violation and a mod pm's you to either tell you to remove something or if they go ahead and edit it and then send you a warning. We may not agree with the warning, but at least we are aware that the mods view it as a violation.

 

But there was a thread that was heavily edited today that I know I made a couple of posts in that were removed and I am positive that my removed posts were not in violation of the guidelines. One was asking people to please step back and take it easy because newbies may not understand. The other was a reminder that it is better to let the mods deal with sock puppets.

 

I don't see how either post would be a rule violation and I received no direction from anyone explaining how it was a violation or why it was removed.

 

I've kind of noticed this here and there for a while, but since I don't have the best of memories, I just assumed I was nuts.

 

So my question is when did this policy change? Has anyone else noticed this or am I just crazy?

I agree yours wasn't anything like the other side of the arguements but I have seen postings on other threads that I was amazed had gotten as far as they did. I started that thread basically to get an answer and to find out what others thought. I didn't expect that it would get out of control.

Link to comment

Funny this thread has popped up, I had a whole thread deleted yesterday for mentioning a competing website, which, I understand can violate the guidelines of the forum...however, there are posts galore about this site (the *other* game, with barcodes...) on the forum, with posts being made to them talking about it as recently as 2 days ago. I know it might have violated, but good lord, I wasn't rallying a revolution to ditch this forum for the other! I wasn't even advertising it, it was in regards to me finding a game piece to this other game where a Geocache should have been, and I knew nothing about this other "competing game", so I made a thread in case anyone else had run into this particular scenario, and their thoughts on it. I asked the mod that issued the warning, about the other posts on here and did not receive an answer, so all I can come up with is this is a new guideline/rule or something. Kinda sucks as it was my first thread, and I viewed it as a good enough basis to post it as such since I couldn't find a straight answer out of the other threads made about it.

Link to comment

Update for the users here:

 

You may have seen more moderation of our public forums in the past months/year for a few reasons.

 

We had a forum software update about a year ago whereby we now have a forum report center which is far more user-friendly and clearly shows all pending reported threads and posts. This means that designated Mods in each forum section or Lackeys can easily respond to these reported threads and posts. They also receive email notifications about these reports.

 

There are far more users in our forums than ever before. More user activity means more inappropriate behavior, more reports and more moderation.

 

We have added to our moderator team to handle the increased need for moderation and in doing so are addressing best practices of 'consistency' and 'applying the forum guidelines'. We are not always getting it right, but we are working towards a goal of consistent moderation.

 

What some users will consider 'heavy-handed' is either Groundspeak or a Moderator removing content that violates the forum guidelines. If something is moderated, it is because it has been reported and the moderator or Lackey has assessed that the content does violate one or more of the guidelines.

 

Essentially, this is our back-yard, and we welcome you to play in it, but we want you to play by our rules and be nice to the other kids. If you don't, you may get a time-out, we may clean up after you, and in extreme cases you will be asked to leave the playground for good.

 

I understand that the opening poster thinks that things are being made to mysteriously disappear, but this is not the case. This X-File can be closed.

Link to comment

 

What some users will consider 'heavy-handed' is either Groundspeak or a Moderator removing content that violates the forum guidelines. If something is moderated, it is because it has been reported and the moderator or Lackey has assessed that the content does violate one or more of the guidelines.

 

 

why?...the forum guidelines say just the opposite...or "edit" equates "removal"? :unsure:

 

11. Any messages you post in these discussion forums will remain available to the public for as long as this discussion board is online. Once you have posted your message, it will stay online. Please post carefully and with due consideration to the content of your post. We will not edit the content you wrote unless it does not conform to the forum guidelines. In the unlikely event that we do edit your post and you do not like the changes, we can delete the message at your request.

 

i agree that is your "playground" but citing unrelated forum guidelines in a warning or a suspension makes no sense

 

i have personally seen a few of the guidelines, and most often the one about "sock puppets" being interpreted in a million different ways depending on who's at the receiving end ...either sock puppets are allowed or not...there is no such thing as "different shades of sock puppet" as i was recently told

Edited by t4e
Link to comment

What some users will consider 'heavy-handed' is either Groundspeak or a Moderator removing content that violates the forum guidelines. If something is moderated, it is because it has been reported and the moderator or Lackey has assessed that the content does violate one or more of the guidelines.

 

 

why?...the forum guidelines say just the opposite...or "edit" equates "removal"? :unsure:

 

11. Any messages you post in these discussion forums will remain available to the public for as long as this discussion board is online. Once you have posted your message, it will stay online. Please post carefully and with due consideration to the content of your post. We will not edit the content you wrote unless it does not conform to the forum guidelines. In the unlikely event that we do edit your post and you do not like the changes, we can delete the message at your request.

 

i agree that is your "playground" but citing unrelated forum guidelines in a warning or a suspension makes no sense

 

i have personally seen a few of the guidelines, and most often the one about "sock puppets" being interpreted in a million different ways depending on who's at the receiving end ...either sock puppets are allowed or not...there is no such thing as "different shades of sock puppet" as i was recently told

 

"In the unlikely event that we do edit your post and you do not like the changes, we can delete the message at your request."

 

And we will be updating the guidelines in the coming weeks, as the current practices of users have necessitated that we revisit them. A timely comment, t4e, and I hope you read the rest of the post with as much interest.

 

Cheers.

Link to comment

 

"In the unlikely event that we do edit your post and you do not like the changes, we can delete the message at your request."

 

And we will be updating the guidelines in the coming weeks, as the current practices of users have necessitated that we revisit them. A timely comment, t4e, and I hope you read the rest of the post with as much interest.

 

Cheers.

 

i do get the blue part, however my post was not edited but rather deleted right off the bat without me ever requesting it

 

and that just because it was off topic...i can point you to someone's post with insulting comments addressed at another user that has never been removed

just doesn't seem right and makes it hard to ever get a grasp on what/how we're supposed to follow the guidelines

 

i do look forward to seeing the new guidelines, perhaps they will be aimed more towards treating us like adults

Edited by t4e
Link to comment

 

Essentially, this is our back-yard, and we welcome you to play in it, but we want you to play by our rules and be nice to the other kids. If you don't, you may get a time-out, we may clean up after you, and in extreme cases you will be asked to leave the playground for good.

 

 

WOW! Now that is extreme, and i am really amazed that a GC.com employee or Lackey would even say these words to the geocaching community. I'm sorry i even clicked on the link and peaked at this topic!

 

I agree though, just like Admins reviewing caches. Are they really going by the guidelines, or by how they interpret the guidelines!

Link to comment

 

Essentially, this is our back-yard, and we welcome you to play in it, but we want you to play by our rules and be nice to the other kids. If you don't, you may get a time-out, we may clean up after you, and in extreme cases you will be asked to leave the playground for good.

 

 

WOW! Now that is extreme, and i am really amazed that a GC.com employee or Lackey would even say these words to the geocaching community. I'm sorry i even clicked on the link and peaked at this topic!

 

I agree though, just like Admins reviewing caches. Are they really going by the guidelines, or by how they interpret the guidelines!

 

+1, that was juuusttt a little overboard IMO. This should be an area where we can come to discuss all things geocache; our agreements, disagreements, confusion on things, and opinions and so forth. I believe posts and threads that are interpreted as threatening, degrading, or offensive toward another user, mod, employee, or the site/forums as a whole, should not be tolerated, for obvious reasons. However, posts/threads being deleted on grounds of being off-topic, mentioning competing sites, or any similar circumstance, should not warrant a deletion...Last time I checked, there are a significant number of cachers on here, and I don't believe any amount of posts or threads made mentioning "competing" sites would cause even a handful to leave and go to the other; in fact, it seems people enjoy them both equally, but favor Geocaching more still. Regarding off topic posts, when does that ever NOT happen? People are going to post other questions in threads containing different questions, and make mention of things that are off topic, that is inevitable. Bottom line, everything in moderation, INCLUDING moderation! ;)

Link to comment

Essentially, this is our back-yard, and we welcome you to play in it, but we want you to play by our rules and be nice to the other kids. If you don't, you may get a time-out, we may clean up after you, and in extreme cases you will be asked to leave the playground for good.

 

 

WOW! Now that is extreme, and i am really amazed that a GC.com employee or Lackey would even say these words to the geocaching community. I'm sorry i even clicked on the link and peaked at this topic!

 

I agree though, just like Admins reviewing caches. Are they really going by the guidelines, or by how they interpret the guidelines!

 

For context I should have started with, "We created this playground for you to play in. We do want you here; we do want your contributions."

 

And the aim is consistent interpretation, so thank you for this thought.

Link to comment

 

Essentially, this is our back-yard, and we welcome you to play in it, but we want you to play by our rules and be nice to the other kids. If you don't, you may get a time-out, we may clean up after you, and in extreme cases you will be asked to leave the playground for good.

 

 

WOW! Now that is extreme, and i am really amazed that a GC.com employee or Lackey would even say these words to the geocaching community. I'm sorry i even clicked on the link and peaked at this topic!

 

I agree though, just like Admins reviewing caches. Are they really going by the guidelines, or by how they interpret the guidelines!

GeoLobo, what's wrong with that? We do need rules, don't we? Your interpretations of the guidelines maynot be necessarily right.

 

Sandy, well said. Great example!

Edited by TheCacheSeeker
Link to comment

Essentially, this is our back-yard, and we welcome you to play in it, but we want you to play by our rules and be nice to the other kids. If you don't, you may get a time-out, we may clean up after you, and in extreme cases you will be asked to leave the playground for good.

 

Maybe kids has a different meaning for you (or in North America in general) than it has for me. While I agree that Groundspeak sets the rules, I do not like to be referred to as a child (not even in a figurative formulation involving playgrounds). I am here to discuss issues and not to play.

 

I understand that the opening poster thinks that things are being made to mysteriously disappear, but this is not the case. This X-File can be closed.

 

Actually, there has been a thread a few days ago that disappeared for users like myself twice within a period of about 30 minutes, in between the two disappearances that I noted the thread was once visible and open and once visible and closed - so there were at least 4 different states involved. I did not believe that something mysterious happened, but found the situation quite inconvenient and confusing. For a moment I thought that something is wrong with my brain as I thought that something should be there which was not there.

 

Cezanne

Edited by cezanne
Link to comment

Essentially, this is our back-yard, and we welcome you to play in it, but we want you to play by our rules and be nice to the other kids. If you don't, you may get a time-out, we may clean up after you, and in extreme cases you will be asked to leave the playground for good.

 

 

WOW! Now that is extreme, and i am really amazed that a GC.com employee or Lackey would even say these words to the geocaching community. I'm sorry i even clicked on the link and peaked at this topic!

 

I agree though, just like Admins reviewing caches. Are they really going by the guidelines, or by how they interpret the guidelines!

 

For context I should have started with, "We created this playground for you to play in. We do want you here; we do want your contributions."

 

And the aim is consistent interpretation, so thank you for this thought.

I like this playground. I've never had a problem playing here, but maybe that's cause Mommy and Daddy taught me to play by the rules.

Link to comment
GeoLobo, what's wrong with that? We do need rules, don't we? Your interpretations of the guidelines maynot be necessarily right.

And neither may be their interpretation. But of course it's them who make the rules, so back to square one.

They made the rules, they decide how to interpret them. The rules just didn't appear out of nowhere.

Link to comment
GeoLobo, what's wrong with that? We do need rules, don't we? Your interpretations of the guidelines maynot be necessarily right.

And neither may be their interpretation. But of course it's them who make the rules, so back to square one.

They made the rules, they decide how to interpret them. The rules just didn't appear out of nowhere.

Which was exactly my point. They don't like something, they can do whatever they want. They could make a new rule first, but why even bother? In effect, it means that there are no rules.

Link to comment
GeoLobo, what's wrong with that? We do need rules, don't we? Your interpretations of the guidelines maynot be necessarily right.

And neither may be their interpretation. But of course it's them who make the rules, so back to square one.

They made the rules, they decide how to interpret them. The rules just didn't appear out of nowhere.

Which was exactly my point. They don't like something, they can do whatever they want. They could make a new rule first, but why even bother? In effect, it means that there are no rules.

No. There are still rules. And if they don't like something, isn't it either against the rules or against common sense?

 

If their are no rules, then it means one can do anything they like without consequence. Is this true right now?

Link to comment
No. There are still rules. And if they don't like something, isn't it either against the rules or against common sense?

 

If their are no rules, then it means one can do anything they like without consequence. Is this true right now?

 

No, it means that they can do anything they like without consequence. Which obviously is true. Who's gonna ban the banners?

Link to comment

I don't really care for the child/playground metaphor, either. Very few of us are children (although we may act like it at times). And some of us come here for more than simply to play. Some come as volunteers to help you guys out by answering questions. Some come to ask questions. Some come to share stories that help keep others enthused with the activity that gives you your job. Now, that may have simply been a poor choice of metaphors, but at times, it feels that is the official perception.

Link to comment
No. There are still rules. And if they don't like something, isn't it either against the rules or against common sense?

 

If their are no rules, then it means one can do anything they like without consequence. Is this true right now?

 

No, it means that they can do anything they like without consequence. Which obviously is true. Who's gonna ban the banners?

If someone gets banned, is it the banners fault? I doubt that they even want to ban people.

Link to comment
No. There are still rules. And if they don't like something, isn't it either against the rules or against common sense?

 

If their are no rules, then it means one can do anything they like without consequence. Is this true right now?

 

No, it means that they can do anything they like without consequence. Which obviously is true. Who's gonna ban the banners?

If someone gets banned, is it the banners fault? I doubt that they even want to ban people.

 

That depends. I don't know. They could just delete all those posts here that we've just made. They could say it's off-topic and that's why they got deleted. You don't think it is, and I don't think it is, but what are you gonna do about it?

Edited by dfx
Link to comment
They don't like something, they can do whatever they want.

You say that like it's a bad thing. While it's true that Groundspeak created this forum as a place where we can gather and compare thoughts on various geocaching related issues, the fact remains that it is their forum. Groundspeak paid for it. Groundspeak created it. It belongs to them. If TPTB suddenly decided that avatars depicting cartoon characters dressed up as public servants were not up to snuff, my options would be, A ) change my avatar, B ) find another forum to play in, or C ) build my own forum to compete with this one. Since B doesn't exist sufficiently to satisfy my needs, that one is out. Since C is way outside my paygrade and abilities, that one is out. What's left? Changing my avatar.

 

Make no mistake. This is their playground.

 

I'm just grateful that they let me play here... mostly. :unsure::ph34r:

Link to comment
No. There are still rules. And if they don't like something, isn't it either against the rules or against common sense?

 

If their are no rules, then it means one can do anything they like without consequence. Is this true right now?

 

No, it means that they can do anything they like without consequence. Which obviously is true. Who's gonna ban the banners?

If someone gets banned, is it the banners fault? I doubt that they even want to ban people.

 

That depends. I don't know. They could just delete all those posts here that we've just made. They could say it's off-topic and that's why they got deleted. You don't think it is, and I don't think it is, but what are you gonna do about it?

There are unwritten rules in every place, including here. People think everyone should follow them. For example, when you find a cache, it's common sense not to break the container or throw it in the garbage. When such things happen, people get angry. Right?

Link to comment

If there are posts getting deleted, that's news to me and I worry that it might be a bug. We will sometimes hide a post (or move it to a forum subsection only visible to moderators), but the post has to be a gross infracti on in order for that to happen.

 

Can you point to some examples of disappearing posts so that I can investigate?

 

:unsure: I think it is a MAGOR bug.

 

But the bug was great when several someones came on the forums only to disrupt and left terrible photos for all to see, you guessed it, those were "hidden" or "moved to a forum subsection only visible to the moderators".

 

Moun10Bike - you are great! :laughing:

 

Yes GeoBain, you did miss a terrible time in that year you were gone. It was started when we had some very rude people appear that had only disruption on their minds. But, you did not catch the joke that Mr. Moun10Bike posted, due mainly to your absence of a year.

 

This is the time period when they placed this -> [#10230] You are not permitted to view our online list. <- -on the "Show By: Last Click or Member Name" that is still there at the bottom our forums.

 

I enjoyed this feature by seeing who was viewing what, but others misused it and the permission was withdrawn. I missed it at first, but I do not miss the peace of mind that I have now, knowing that nefarious people would not abuse the forums any longer by stalking certain players or placing those horrible pictures any longer (or if we see them-we report them and almost instantly and they are gone). Gory pictures, people who wanted the worst for all of our community and yes posts and even whole threads have disappeared.

 

Yes....MAGOR bug, but a lovable one that we all should be glad for.

 

Shirley~

 

JC_cookies.gif Here have one of Granny's famous cookies.

Link to comment
No. There are still rules. And if they don't like something, isn't it either against the rules or against common sense?

 

If their are no rules, then it means one can do anything they like without consequence. Is this true right now?

 

No, it means that they can do anything they like without consequence. Which obviously is true. Who's gonna ban the banners?

If someone gets banned, is it the banners fault? I doubt that they even want to ban people.

 

That depends. I don't know. They could just delete all those posts here that we've just made. They could say it's off-topic and that's why they got deleted. You don't think it is, and I don't think it is, but what are you gonna do about it?

 

Show me an online forum community where this is not the case and I'll trade you that cow for some magic beans.

Link to comment
There are unwritten rules in every place, including here. People think everyone should follow them. For example, when you find a cache, it's common sense not to break the container or throw it in the garbage. When such things happen, people get angry. Right?

It's nice that you so blindly trust and obey authority. I don't.

Link to comment
GeoLobo, what's wrong with that? We do need rules, don't we? Your interpretations of the guidelines maynot be necessarily right.

And neither may be their interpretation. But of course it's them who make the rules, so back to square one.

They made the rules, they decide how to interpret them. The rules just didn't appear out of nowhere.

 

and that is exactly what is fundamentally wrong...i agree to follow the rules when they are black on white and clearly spelled out, when they are being interpreted in a million ways there are NO RULES anymore just random acts enforced by those with the power to do so

 

so...from that follows that if they can make the rules as they go how do you expect a community to follow them? how am i supposed to know that i am doing something wrong until someone decides so

if i do it on purpose i should suffer the consequences but when i have no guidelines to tell me that in advance why should i have to find out the hard way? :unsure:

Link to comment

You may have seen more moderation of our public forums in the past months/year for a few reasons.

 

We had a forum software update about a year ago whereby we now have a forum report center which is far more user-friendly and clearly shows all pending reported threads and posts. This means that designated Mods in each forum section or Lackeys can easily respond to these reported threads and posts. They also receive email notifications about these reports.

 

This may be the explanation. I missed the update. I did notice the look had changed but did not realize that a forum update had finally occurred.

 

And now that you mention it, I do believe that in order to get our threads closed (think cheese counting) that we had to pm a mod and wait. The inclusion of a report button probably does up the number of reports and if mods are now receiving emails that probably ups their awareness of issues.

 

Please allow this thread to remain open though as long as posters remain on topic. You've pretty much answered my question but reading through I can see others have a few questions closely related to mine and on topic to the overall thread.

Link to comment

You're not crazy. This forum is and has always been heavily over-moderated.

I think the opposite is true.

 

For the most part, the forum moderators let us say whatever we like, and sometimes the tone of the discussion becomes argumentative.

 

It is a fine line to decide when some speech is an attack or just a simple disagreement over a matter of personal taste.

 

That being said, you are all fine people and I enjoy hearing your thoughts about geocaching and seeing your pictures of geocaches.

Link to comment

There's nothing wrong with a healthy discussion about a different perspective or disagreement.

 

Most often moderation occurs if there are things like personal attacks/verbal abuse (even if not intended, it may appear that way) foul language or somthing offensive.

Sometimes a conversation goes on a tangent and a topic is 'split' into a new thread.

 

On occasion, folks try to talk about compititors. That can go away quickly.

 

If these forums were censored as much as some folks purport it to be, this thread would have 'disappeared' a long time ago.

Link to comment

 

Essentially, this is our back-yard, and we welcome you to play in it, but we want you to play by our rules and be nice to the other kids. If you don't, you may get a time-out, we may clean up after you, and in extreme cases you will be asked to leave the playground for good.

 

 

WOW! Now that is extreme, and i am really amazed that a GC.com employee or Lackey would even say these words to the geocaching community. I'm sorry i even clicked on the link and peaked at this topic!

 

I agree though, just like Admins reviewing caches. Are they really going by the guidelines, or by how they interpret the guidelines!

 

Its how it is. Which is why I rarely visit these forums. The rules are far too strict, they close threads for stupid reasons, and yes they move/delete your posts when they get wrapped in fights.

 

But thats how it is.

Link to comment

So, to answer OP's question, Sandy seems to indicate that it had been six months to a year since the change in forum administration. For instance, spam logs used to be locked, and fall off the bottom of the page. Now, they disappear completely. No loss there. But, yes, I have seen many messages disappear. Sandy plays the trump card and says that they are in violation of TOS. The fact that no one else thinks so is irrelevant, I guess.

But, yes. It is obvious that messages are being deleted.

Link to comment

I am not a moderator here, but I do moderate other forums. Sometimes, when I have to clean up a thread, I end up hiding messages that didn't themselves violate the TOU. However, these messages were posted in reply to messages that did violate the TOU, and without the TOU-violating messages, they make no sense. I assume that the authors of such messages would rather have them hidden, than for me to leave senseless non sequitur posts visible in the thread.

 

I don't know that that is what happened here, but it wouldn't surprise me.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...