Deletion of entire topics (Page 3)

duncan124:

...there are some demons over in the racially motivated threads. Why have n't you deleted those threads?

"Like one, that on a lonely road
Doth walk in fear and dread,
And having once turn'd round, walks on
And turns no more his head:
Because he knows, a frightful fiend
Doth close behind him tread. "

Wireclub Admin: Most likely because not enough people have reported it, we don't look at threads unless a certain number of unconnected users report it

StarryStarryNight: @ Admin

I sent a message to the forum mod seeking clarification as to why the thread was deleted. She explicitly told me it was because Colin deleted posts of users who disagreed with him. She made no mention about other users misbehaving in the thread that caused her to delete it.

Did she lie? She clearly expressed to me that thread was deleted because Colin did something wrong. But he didn't do anything wrong.

And given the small but devoted number of followers of that thread, I can't imagine how there can be so many reports on that thread from unconnected users. Except towards the end, when the 3 troublemakers entered the thread. And I know for sure that two of them are not unconnected. They are friends.

The part I really don't understand is they weren't even given any warning or suspension for their misbehaviour! If anything, it looks like Colin got punished for THEIR misbehaviour by his thread getting deleted.

Wireclub Admin: No, she did not lie, she most likely acted based on different motivations than mine, but ultimately the outcome would be the same.

Our privacy policy prevents me from commenting on the actions we take towards members that breach our ToS, but keep in mind that a lot of we do is not visible to the community so you shouldn't assume that nothing was done

Wireclub Admin: On a final note and for the sake or transparency, let me explain our current predicament regarding the forums:

First, a very small percentage of our members use the forums (less than 1%). Because of that, it is hard for us to justify the allocation of development resources to make it better.

Second, we receive a disproportionate amount of reports regarding forum content, this means that a portion of Wire that is used by very few members generate more ToS violations than other portions of the site that serve significantly more members.

Given this situation, I have to admit it myself that often our approach to handling the forums can be compared to doing delicate surgery with an axe. There is no time for a careful consideration of the past of a thread or on the value of existing posts.

I am sorry about that and all I can do is to promise to do better from this point on, although within reason

StarryStarryNight: I would say her motivation for deleting the thread was unjustified.

I'd share that Colin actually ran into two of the troublemakers in the Wordy room and had a little chat with both of them. Yup, both felt that they did nothing wrong. One was even bold enough to say that she was never contacted by staff here and doesn't expect to be.

I'm still puzzled about the number of reports from unconnected users. Can you share the number of reports received on that thread from unconnected users? Like I said, that thread had a small following to begin with.

StarryStarryNight: Axing an entire thread because of the actions of a few vandals is tantamount to rewarding them for their misbehaviour. It's no brain surgery, it's simple. You punish the vandals, and not the creator of the thread. But seems like what's happening here is the opposite. Sigh.

Oh, did I mention that one of the vandals said she can't wait for Colin to post another thread. Obviously, so that she can be rewarded for vandalizing another thread. Who's the winner here? Wire, the thread intended for genuine and serious discussions or the vandals?

I say, the vandals.

Mimee_red: I am glad that Wireclub Admin took the time to make a few things clear, including the lack of developmental resources to manage forums and threads . Inadvertently that leaves the carefully constructed discussions open to mischief makers.

I would like to propose a simple solution. Why not make a thread inaccessible to those who do not belong to the friend list of the creator of the thread. That way, the Admin do not need to spend any time at all in monitoring the forums. Anyone who is interested in a topic could search it out and read all the threads under that topic. But if they wanted to post something, they would need to be 'friends' with the creator of a thread.

calybonos: They already have that feature.

It's called your wall.

Mimee_red: Yes I know..but the same thing should be done here to keep out miscreants

calybonos: This is the forums. They are open to everyone.

Mimee_red: Well the Admin is clearly not going to do anything about it. They might have their reasons, but none of them justify vandalism and leaving loopholes for mischief makers.

calybonos: Welcome to the internet.

Wireclub Admin: The problem is that the only bulletproof solution I can think of to prevent these kinds of conflicts is to disable the forums completely, which is something that would break my heart

Calybonos is right regarding the wall, that is a place that was designed to enable private conversations among groups of friends.

calybonos: The white zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only.

There is no stopping in the red zone.

calybonos: Okay, I don't know where that came from...

I must have gotten confused after being told that I was right about something.

It's a pretty rare occurrence.

StarryStarryNight: @ Admin

With regard to insufficient resources, isn't the idea of allowing the creator of threads to delete posts meant to allow them to police their own threads? And thus, requiring less resources at your end to do the policing? I thought that was a good development from before. You empower thread creators to delete irrelevant and abusive posts so that the staff here need not have to be burdened with monitoring every thread. And things were going fine. Until a thread that should not have been deleted, was wrongfully deleted.

And do you intend to share how many reports were received on the Philosophy of Mind thread?

anym: Admin:
When I first joined I almost gave up completely because even though registered I was somehow unable to post. Only much later and virtually by accident did I find the information hidden away - I think in a Ruby blog? - that there's a 10 day waiting period. That information should be up front on the registration instructions. I wonder how many people register, try unsuccessfully to post for a couple of days, and never come back,

Now here's reference to another "undocumented feature" - The wall. Where can I find a description and some clues on how to access and use it ???? And how many other features are to be discovered only by accident?

~LoisLane~: Airplane Caly, Airplane

calybonos: Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit bath salts.

calybonos: "I just had to let it go."

-John Lennon

lori100: Keep the forums please...they are more interesting than the chat rooms where people talk about what they had for lunch or what profile name is more stupid than another one....

Corwin: @anym - regarding the elusive and mysterious "wall" feature:

This feature has been intentionally designed to be hidden by new users in the hopes that they will use this powerful and formidable tool for good rather than evil purposes. Once a user has passed a probationary period (of an undisclosed length of time), the password and unlocking key is given to the member via your message box.

But, as I'm in a good mood today, I'll tell you how to unlock this feature right now... it requires a couple of steps:

Step [1]
- When you first log-in to Wireclub, you will see a list of the new conversations that you have started in the forums - at the top of this list you see a small duplicate of your profile picture and a white rectangle to the right of it, that has the words [Share Something] in it.
This is a code-word that actually means [Enter Password].

- Click on the rectangle, and the words [Share Something] will disappear, and be replaced with your password entry cursor -- you may now enter the password.
The password is Klaatu_Barada_Nikto
Once you have typed the password, a blue box to the bottom-right of the rectangle appears that contains the word [Post] which is code-word for [Enter]. Click on that, and Step [1] is complete.

Step [2]
Look on your computer keyboard for a button that has the letters [Fn] on it (it's a couple of buttons to the left of your space-bar) - press and hold down this button, and at the same time press the button marked [F4] (it's along the top row of your keyboard).
This will activate the "Wall" feature - your screen will go dark for a moment, but don't worry - it will take a few minutes for the program to boot up, especially if you've never activated it before.
Make yourself a cup of coffee while you're waiting... like I said, it may take a few minutes.

sprocket girl:
Just a thought but could someone just restart the thread kinda where it left off?
I know a lot of the posts had value and are gone but moving forward is best done not looking over ones shoulder. While running ahead looking back can lead to one heck of a collision.

I think Admin explained this very well.... A bunch of folks flagged posts it was excesive so best sollution was delete the thread.

Personally I love the forums but can see the pain they are for admin. My sollution is as users we ignore trolls instead of making admin regulate them which can lead to thread deletion. Just my opinion. Make it where admin has no reason to worry about a thread, simply quit reporting offensive posts. Just do not read or respond and trolls go away. Or report them and just be aware that if it gets bad enough the thread may be deleted.

I am a rebel and fight athority almost always but on this one I am with admin.... Honestly I personally feel a thread being deleted has been way blown out of proportion. Just make a new one.