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Thread: Why are threads deleted?

  1. #16
    Doug, when I see that a valuable thread is about to end I start writin' it down on archival parchment ...with acid free
    indelible ink. Then I donate them to the Smithsonian. But that's just me...

  2. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tony Joyce View Post
    Typical reaction, I'm supposed to leave, because I don't want to see these threads, but you do.
    Hold the phone...

    I have no interest in approaches that require expensive equipment and therefore never haunt those sub forums.

    How is this different?

  3. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tony Joyce View Post
    Typical reaction, I'm supposed to leave, because I don't want to see these threads, but you do.
    I don't follow your logic. Nobody is asking anybody to leave. Follow the threads that interest you, ignore those that don't.

  4. #19
    Friends, please remember that our Moderators do this for free, and in addition to their regular day jobs. In my opinion, their good work is what makes this such a pleasant place to hang out. I feel like they do their best to edit threads, But if they delete a thread sometimes, maybe that was the most expedient fix. It really didnt hurt anything, did it?

    Fred
    "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

    “If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”

  5. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Frederick Skelly View Post
    Friends, please remember that our Moderators do this for free, and in addition to their regular day jobs. In my opinion, their good work is what makes this such a pleasant place to hang out. I feel like they do their best to edit threads, But if they delete a thread sometimes, maybe that was the most expedient fix. It really didnt hurt anything, did it?

    Fred
    I agree the mods do a good job but deleting an entire thread which dozens of people posted thoughtful, polite, useful posts in and dozens more read and learned from without posting because a couple of people were out of line is punishing the majority for the sins of the few. Warn the offenders, delete their posts, suspend them and then ban them if necessary so the rest of us can share our ideas and enjoy the give and take.

  6. #21
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    Those threads spiral, people choose sides, there are pages and pages of posts, it gets ugly. Moderators shouldn’t have to spend lots of time on on thread that only a few are super interested in. I’d suggest if you wanted to continue the debate, ask for people’s contact info and take it off SMC. Or look for another forum or Facebook group specific to those types of discussions. Stick around here for woodworking.

  7. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mel Fulks View Post
    Doug, when I see that a valuable thread is about to end I start writin' it down on archival parchment ...with acid free
    indelible ink. Then I donate them to the Smithsonian. But that's just me...
    lol but I like sarcasm. I had a Medicare question thread deleted recently after many posts. No explanation. I assume it got testy. I was disappointed but understood. Life goes on. Can’t be easy running anything with people involved. I greatly appreciate the lack of conflict in an otherwise conflicted online world. It’s a safe haven for me. Appreciate the intelligence level and there are some fascinating characters here.
    My three favorite things are the Oxford comma, irony and missed opportunities

    The problem with humanity is: we have paleolithic emotions; medieval institutions; and God-like technology. Edward O. Wilson

  8. #23
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    Doug,

    I don't remember the thread you refer to.

    Individual posts and threads are moved or deleted if they violate the Terms of Service, link at the bottom of the page, or here: https://sawmillcreek.org/terms.php
    Perhaps review it and see if there might have been posts or discussions that were prohibited.

    Things like discussions of politics, religion, foul language, and personal attacks on others are triggers as are reports by members (the little triangle at the bottom of each post). The volunteer moderators try to keep this a pleasant, family-friendly place. Offenders may have their posts removed or edited and are sometimes warned or gently reminded of the rules, but in rare occasions some get angry and hostile and switch to attacking the moderator.

    As for editing threads to remove just the violations I don't know who has enough extra time to study each post and do the precision surgery that might be needed to clean up long threads that had degenerated. Could the climate change thread have been one of those?

    JKJ

    Quote Originally Posted by Doug Garson View Post
    Looks like another interesting thread with lots of excellent posts has been deleted (again on climate change). While I agree there were some posts that deserved to be edited or deleted and posters that deserved to be warned or given a time out, why delete the entire thread? The majority of the posts were well within the forum guidelines (or else the thread wouldn't have lasted so long )and many contained excellent arguments with links to informative articles or else it wouldn't have attracted so many posters.

    Why not delete or edit the offending posts, warn the offenders(maybe suspend them for a week or more if they are repeat offenders), freeze the thread for a few days to let people calm down and the reopen with a warning? A lot of effort by posters to research and communicate their points of view went into their posts and deserves to be left up.

  9. #24
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    I know the thread you're referring to & read most of it, but didn't participate. I can imagine that it would be quite a job to go through each post, assign it a "nasty" score, and then decide which ones to delete & which to keep. There were many posts that contained good info, but were maybe not as mannerly as they could have been.

    So it's a shame that all that good info had to go in the bin, but I do understand why it did. The problem starts when one of the trolls posts & then other members, who have been posting excellent information, respond by taking off the gloves.

    So to keep it from happening again remember the old rule "DON'T FEED THE TROLLS"
    Last edited by Frank Pratt; 10-09-2020 at 11:57 AM.

  10. #25
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    Or how about suspend the trolls for a week first offence, month second offence and ban them the third time so the rest of us can have a civilized discussion. Yes it was the climate change debate.

  11. #26
    One man's "thoughtful and useful" opinion may be another man's "what an affront to my intelligence" opinion and yet another man's "how dumb is that?" opinion. The opinions ran off the rails in this thread LONG ago- the problem was when the 'secondary' opinions, which were tissue-thinly veiled insults, became more and more frequent...

    So how does a moderator, with his/her own opinions, judge which posts to keep and which posts to throw? Doing that inevitably will lead to angry "why did MY post get deleted and not HIS??" followup posts.

    Most logical action to take: Dump the whole batch.

    Of course, all this is just my opinion
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  12. #27
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    I agree dump the whole batch of trolls so reasonable people can share ideas. But that's just my opinion.

  13. #28
    "Most logical action to take: Dump the whole batch."

    Yep. It's like when some salt gets spilled into the sugar. You are too busy to separate it and your
    wife just flat refuses.

  14. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by Doug Garson View Post
    Or how about suspend the trolls for a week first offence, month second offence and ban them the third time so the rest of us can have a civilized discussion. Yes it was the climate change debate.
    Think about the work and monitoring that would take from a moderator.

  15. #30
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    Threads that are being considered for removal are moved to our Moderators Forum and there is a group discussion to decide the appropriate action. This procedure has served us well for many years. We generally find that if one of us fails to understand a comment or misinterpret intent the majority will catch the error, our first obligation is to save every thread if possible.

    During the course of a conversation we do edit posts when necessary, up to a point. If things just get out of hand and we feel that we cannot keep up or that one of more people fail to heed our warnings the thread is removed for group consideration. At the same time we may very well be receiving complaints that add to our task evaluating the issue. Last but not least we do not have unlimited time to dedicate to saving a thread and we have to consider if any legal issues might cause problems such as a legal challenge from a lawyer or a warrant from a judge. Private messages involving complaints will often be received by one or all of us, email from an outside source generally comes directly to me and I share the contents of those communications with the group.

    Removing someone's access here is even more complex a decision with one exception, the final decision is mine alone.

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