Political discussions are not allowed here

Paul, would I be out of line if I requested that you add a poll to this thread?

Golf is the backup cure when there are no baseball games on. For those who are sensitive and could suffer the side effects of death from boredom if they use either of these cures, there's the milder cure of watching the station test pattern.

Bruce, "Priceless?" Hardly. "All the time." Not even close. Make those "useful" and "occasionally" and you've got a statement that has some bearing on reality.

The overwhelming majority of direct moderator intervention (as separate from member moderation) is in the form of individual post deletion. ALL member moderation is single-post based.

If the single post in question is a thread starter that violates the rules, it does take out the thread. That is not a problem, as I see it.

Entire threads usually get taken out for a few reasons. The biggest, outside of forbidden topics, is a subject that has a high probability of generating a lot of heat and very little light, or that degenerate into such discussions.

The rest are mostly trolling, pointless griping, meaningless and completely offtopic conversations, and other discussions that would generally be considered "noise."

Yes, some folks do make a point of griping about deletions. The ones who do it on their own, and in a straight forward way, are not as big a deal as some of the other stuff that goes on. They're a PITA, but they're easily handled.

There are quite a few little groups here (some consisting of a single person with multiple accounts, and some being groups of surprisingly senior members) who view any direct action that can be interpreted as individually targeted as a basis for a mini-revolution. Others will, as individuals, spend a great deal of time and energy nursing their grudges and dragging them out every chance they get.

Each moderator has a different way of dealing with these situations, all of them valid in their own right. Some warn first. Some are quick to ban. Some will tend to confront people directly.

When you're talking about large groups, a certain amount of friction will inevitably occur, even without any kind of sneakiness or bad intentions. When it's that kind of thing, and the ensuing arguments would be matters of ego, rather than substance, the excuse (the thread) is removed. Why create a running fight and bad feelings over something that is simply not worth the aggravation to anyone?

The informational content of any given thread is always secondary to the overall well-being of the group.

These are all judgment calls. Necessary parts of the process of moderating. And, given the volume of information in question, seeking perfection is not only counter-productive, it is not possible.

Arguing for the impossible is one of the reasons that threads bashing moderation efforts are usually just deleted. Anyone who doesn't want to accept that you can't please everyone is usually not going to listen to any answer other than, "Sure. We'll do it your way."

You've been around this and other forums long enough that you know all of this, Bruce. There's nothing in this thread that's new to you. Which makes me wonder what your desired result is in perpetuating this part of the conversation.


Paul

Lance - I am completely offended by that remark sir.