Deleted Threads

[Levi the Leopard]

If a thread becomes a heated argument or sways off topic, does the entire thread get deleted?

I was following a thread and it's existence seems to have disappeared...

I know I'm not crazy, so I assume this means a moderator can delete an entire thread if they feel the need to. ??

 

[mainey34]

Yes, it did get deleted. You are not crazy. Someone decided to remove it without. Reason.

 

[yagyujubei]

Why even have a debate section?

 

[Neal]

Sometimes the mods will take down a thread that is spiraling out of control and sort the posts out into a couple of different threads that are similar in topic so that it's more informative. Sometimes the thread is gone forever. My guess is that it's being sorted through which, according to Yvonne's thread, might take some time if it's just the two moderators working on it. I'm sure we can all guess the thread your talking about, and it definitely was confusing and by the end was completely bizarre.

I hope they bring it back and separate some of the different issues discussed.

 

[JoesMum]

Sometimes it takes too long for our mods to sort the good, the bad and the ugly in a thread and it's easier to delete the whole thread.

It is possible to have debate without it turning sour, but if the children won't play nicely they get separated... and the thread will be locked or deleted.

Our mods are not paid for the work they do, as far as I'm aware, and managing a forum this size is hard work at the best of times.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

got it.

i'm not crazy

Thanks for filling me in

 

[yagyujubei]

)

Sometimes the mods will take down a thread that is spiraling out of control and sort the posts out into a couple of different threads that are similar in topic so that it's more informative. Sometimes the thread is gone forever. My guess is that it's being sorted through which, according to Yvonne's thread, might take some time if it's just the two moderators working on it. I'm sure we can all guess the thread your talking about, and it definitely was confusing and by the end was completely bizarre.

I hope they bring it back and separate some of the different issues discussed.

 

[Baoh]

Why even have a debate section?

I am barely bothering to even engage anymore. There is little point. Someone volleys. Another person returns. One salvo is eventually deleted. Another may not be. Even if several are, decent posts or valuable chunks of exchanged information become casualties in mass deletion. I have never desired the deletion of any post and that includes those which may be diametrically opposed to my point of view. Posts take time and different perspectives provide the fertile context for critical thought on the part of innovative keepers. Especially if they are thorough or technical. Or passionate. So if you type something out and it just gets wiped away, you ended up wasting your time. I see folks with illness questions and other things that are so very easy to address, but I am soured enough by deletions in other areas that I decide not to even bother with a response in completely separate ones. It is a shame to see people left confused and animals sometimes go downhill or die, but there never was any obligation for assistance. I save assistance mainly for my customers, my vet contacts, and a few select others these days.

One example could be the Impressa thread. I doubt the OP wants to have to shovel through it if 1) he is met with heavy opposition from the get-go instead of letting people agree to disagree without a fight (which could be cultivated in a separate thread and the fever left to run its course) and 2) posts are deleted. Speaking to the latter, the "last word" can be seen by neophytes as endorsed by those with actual expertise or by those in site-wise authority, which is then effectively an appeal to popularity and agreement over what is correct based on a popular vote has serious pitfalls (see bad humors, spontaneous generation, geocentric theory, and more). Hubris overtakes people slowly.

I feel bad for the animals and keepers both when I see even the superficial extent of loss, a quality which can never be fully appreciated.

However, it is not our playground. Someone else owns it and someone else makes the rules. We are free to choose not to engage at any time if something does not suit our fancy.

 

[Jacqui]

I am sorry for those of you who feel I should have left the threads which were getting out of hand. I did not delete them, they are saved. At the time I was getting complaints about the behavior in those threads. I was here by myself trying to keep the forum going as smoothly as possible. When faced with trying to keep the debates on track and following forum rules, I had to decide if my time should go to keeping the debates clean or approving new members so they could ask the questions they needed to ask in order to help their animals. I thought the new folks with urgent needs were more important then the debates. I am sorry that you all feel your debates should have come first.

 

[wellington]

I think you did the right thing Jacqui. I only wish I knew what thread you were referring to. I missed the mud slinging

 

[Baoh]

I am sorry for those of you who feel I should have left the threads which were getting out of hand. I did not delete them, they are saved. At the time I was getting complaints about the behavior in those threads. I was here by myself trying to keep the forum going as smoothly as possible. When faced with trying to keep the debates on track and following forum rules, I had to decide if my time should go to keeping the debates clean or approving new members so they could ask the questions they needed to ask in order to help their animals. I thought the new folks with urgent needs were more important then the debates. I am sorry that you all feel your debates should have come first.

I do not see in this thread where anyone has said a debate comes first or should come first relative to other threads.

 

[yagyujubei]

Unless something happened after the last time I saw that thread, I was surprised it was removed. Only one person seemed upset, and all in all, I thought it was pretty civil. Maybe, in the future, we should just all agree while in the debate section.

 

[Josh]

The mods are 100% volunteer and I am confident they all do their best with the TFO community as a whole in mind. Thank you all for understanding and appreciating what a difficult job we have moderating such a large and diverse group of tortoise keepers. No decision is meant to be taken personally and when a thread/post is removed from view we have comprehensive discussions about the pros and cons of bringing it back.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

I am sorry for those of you who feel I should have left the threads which were getting out of hand. I did not delete them, they are saved. At the time I was getting complaints about the behavior in those threads. I was here by myself trying to keep the forum going as smoothly as possible. When faced with trying to keep the debates on track and following forum rules, I had to decide if my time should go to keeping the debates clean or approving new members so they could ask the questions they needed to ask in order to help their animals. I thought the new folks with urgent needs were more important then the debates. I am sorry that you all feel your debates should have come first.

Jacqui, I had no clue until this morning that you had been running TFO solo. My first thought was "on no, that means the whole thread in question was solely up to you!!" and I felt for you.

I am new to forums so when a certain thread I was looking for couldn't be found I was thrown for a loop and so I asked this question...

I now realize everyone seemed to know that can/sometimes does happen except for me.
I now know too

So thanks for answering

 

[LuckysGirl007]

Jacqui, I agree that you made the right decisions. As entertaining as it was to read it was getting out of control. It seems, as I said in another thread, lately a lot more babysitting by the mods has been needed. I am sad that others are arguing on here. Debating..ok. But the thread I am referring to was not originally in the debate section. It was just an innocent question (I assume) by a newer member asking about a product. There have been several other posts I have seen on new members threads NOT in the debate section that were getting out of control. I hope that any new members that have had their threads turned into debates understand that that is not how most of us on here are. It seemed almost like someone posted only to start a debate.

 

[RedfootsRule]

If we're all talking about that same thread....
Jacqui, I'm happy you deleted it. To much conflict....A shame no conflicting opinions can be shared without personal attacks. I got some pm's afterwards thinking there was "questionable moderating" but then I saw Yvonne was in the hospital so I figured you were all alone. Those debates that are beneficial should be kept...That one really was not.

Yagyujubei,
Were you in a different thread then me? My credibility and personality was attacked on countless occasions, and almost everyone involved was upset. "Civil" is the last word I would have used to describe it...

 

[Levi the Leopard]

I wanted to know if a thread can be deleted and I was answered.

If anyone would like to discuss a particular deleted thread, what happened in the thread or how one was treated, etc. please do so in the chat or in your own thread.

I do not want to be responsible for starting another "issue" by asking my question.

As a new forum user I was sincere in my asking about a missing thread.

 

[Yvonne G]

Thank you, Heather, for reminding me that we need to all stay on topic, and your topic is stated very nicely in the previous post.

Notice:

Any posts after this one not pertaining to the question of why threads are deleted will be deleted.

And for all your information, I have gone through the thread from the last time I saw it on the 7th and split off all posts that I thought were argumentative or denigrating or just plain stupid. (Oh no! Did a moderator just call us stupid?) I'm waiting for ALL the other moderators (read Jacqui) to come on and tell me if they agree what I've done, then the original part will be put back, I'm thinking, into the debate section. But how much more is to be debated I certainly can't see it.