Closed Menopause Matters Thread

Red_Doe

(copy/pasted from elsewhere onsite)

Not sure if this is the right place, but it`s certainly a vent!
Can someone please tell me why this thread was closed? No explanation has been given on the thread unless one was sent to Bronnie, who began the thread.
Have to say I`m beginning to really be disillusioned with this site (yes, I know, plenty folks will no doubt tell me to bu**er off )
as for one tiny thread, with no aggression, personal attacks or banal topic matter in it, some simple chat around the main subject of how the menopause affects our lives financially, was not allowed.
Or that`s the way it seems, if anyone can tell me different, please do.
In so many of the other threads on this board, there ARE, like it or not mods, plenty of instances of chatty support and in some occasions, outright nastiness and attacks. And yes, I know you said you can`t read every thread, but some of these threads have been going on for a loooong time.
If it`s a purely "no medical advice" issue, surely it can`t be hard to allow whomever starts the thread to state some kind of disclaimer that no-one is qualified to give any and any comments are purely personal opinion? You could put it in bold even....
If it`s the chat, well, if you don`t allow a mixture of chat and practical advice, it`s bloody robots you want here, not real people.
I don`t expect this will last long either, but I would like others to see how disheartening it is for women going through a crucial, life AND economically changing, period in their lives, to be ignored..oh wait..wasn`t that one of the chattier issues in it? Tsk...

Browntoa

board guides are not allowed to "moderate" so threads may get locked and referred to the abuse team for a decision who then decide if its correct to remove/edit/leave alone and re-open

I assume the thread you mention is on the health part of the forum which has rules concerning medical advice

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/31048

What is and isn't acceptable on this board.

I think it is important for me to clarify exactly what is and what isn't permissible on this board.

What it is for

This board is a discussion of all issues surrounding health, diet, nutrition and how they relate to MoneySaving. Discussing medical insurance policies, cheaper ways to see consultants, cashback for alternative health treatments, how to get specific medication cheaper (legally) are all perfectly acceptable forms of discussion.

What it is not for

It is very specifically and strictly not for the discussion of what to do in the event of certain medical problems. Please do not ask questions about this. If you're having problems use facilities such as NHS direct and your doctor to go and talk through what you should do.

Even though there are medically qualified people sometimes visiting these forums, I would ask them to restrain from answering specific medical questions.

Even though you know you are medically qualified, others don't. There is no way of proving it and this leads us open to somebody coming on, pretending to be a doctor when they're not and giving advice.

As such it is very important there is a blanket rule that nobody no matter who (not even Robert Winston) should be giving any form of medical advice or detailing what to do on these boards.

Bronnie

I can accept the medical advice/ money-saving reasoning behind closing threads, however what I don't understand the inconsistency of permitting many threads on the Health and Beauty Board that are not directly moneysaving or are chat/support type threads for health issues but picking out this one for closure.

There is no need to read every post to know these threads are not about money-saving either. They are often long-standing threads and their support nature is apparent from the thread title.

The opening post of this thread is a good example

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1817971

or this one, which also has a vested commercial interest

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2705971

choille

People were sharing what works for them.

To refer to a normal phase of a women's life as a medical condition is not enlightened and can be taken as offensive. To mention that on the thread & for the thread to then be locked could be taken as draconian. To then point a finger at me and another and state that bacause of the posts we'd made the thread was then locked.

I feel rather sickened by the whole thing.

Browntoa

I'm not making any comment on that, purely pointing out the thread on the health forum

Browntoa

BOARD GUIDES
The Board Guides are volunteer users who help to keep the forum running smoothly. They do not deal with abuse - and are totally separate to the forum team.
Brief Role Description

• They focus on a few boards - not the whole forum
• Keep threads on topic and boards running smoothly (including moving non-MoneySaving related discussions to Discussion Time/MoneySaversArms where appropriate)
• Delete spam and report the poster to the Forum Team
• Help newbies find their way around
• Point site users to relevant main site guides/news stories/blogs
• Merge/link together duplicate threads
• Sticky the best threads to the top of the board
• Lock contentious threads and report to the Forum Team

choille

Lock contentious threads and report to the Forum Team
Please define contentious & please explain who found the thread contentious.

The menopause is not contentious - or shouldn't be viewed as such. It is a perfectly normal transitional stage in most women's lives.

fermi

Threads where medical advice or opinion are being offered are one of the special cases where, as said, the forum has to have a blanket ban.

That is done for legal reasons as far as I know, and is very different from a policy on what might be a moneysaving thread and what might not.

As such, I would certainly close and refer to Martin's forum team and thread I thought breached that line.

As said, it is then for them to decide.

They may decide to re-open such a thread.

Just my option from reading the rules........ I don't get onto those boards much.

choille

So that means a blanket ban on pregnancy, dental problems, skin complaints, allergies, depression, diet etc etc?

fermi wrote: »

Threads where medical advice or opinion are being offered are one of the special cases where, as said, the forum has to have a blanket ban.

That is done for legal reasons as far as I know, and is very different from a policy on what might be a moneysaving thread and what might not.

As such, I would certainly close and refer to Martin's forum team and thread I thought breached that line.

As said, it is then for them to decide.

They may decide to re-open such a thread.

Just my option from reading the rules........ I don't get onto those boards much.

joyfull

Can I respectfully suggest that those who are defending the closure of the menopause thread please read the thread AND THEN read the many other threads on diets, dentistry, clothes, pregnancy, parenthood and then point out where the menopause thread differed from all these others?

If the rules are to be applied then for consistency many many other threads must also be closed.

We know the rules so WHY THE INCONSISTENCY?

Sorry for shouting, but something very obvious is being brushed under the carpet.

pondskater_2

I would like to add my voice to this. I cannot see any good reason for specifically targetting these menopause threads when they are no different from many others that are allowed to continue unabated. With great respect, please reconsider, we really need this resource.