Am I losing my marbles or is my sight failing... 23 January 2018 at 12:21AM in Over 50s MoneySaving 41 replies 7.6K views

Pollycat

Then there's nothing more I can add.

Buggins

Can't someone start a new thread. It bothers me that some people who have previously been following it may actually be in need of it as newly bereaved and it's not available.

Pollycat

Buggins wrote: »

Can't someone start a new thread. It bothers me that some people who have previously been following it may actually be in need of it as newly bereaved and it's not available.

Of course anyone can start a new thread.
Personally, I don't feel it's my place to do that as - as I've said previously - I'm just a lurker on that thread.
I only got involved as chesky asked where the thread had gone and I'd had previous experience of missing theeads that I thought might explain why (but it seems that the explanation isn't believable).
And I do know that the person who originally started the lost thread has 'moved on', as has another regular poster.
I don't think it will be long before the regulars miss the thread.

Pyxis

What some long-running threads do is to create a Part2, Part3 etc thread after around 10,000 posts, and then link the old thread to the new one in the new one's first post.

Then the board guide is asked to close the old post, but it is still available to read.

Pollycat

Pyxis wrote: »

What some long-running threads do is to create a Part2, Part3 etc thread after around 10,000 posts, and then link the old thread to the new one in the new one's first post.

Then the board guide is asked to close the old post, but it is still available to read.

Yes.
But if the old thread is closed automatically, it is lost forever.
So nobody has the chance to start 'part 2', 'part 3' etc of a thread.
And no chance to ask a board guide to close the thread.
And it's not available to read.
Not at all.
The thread does not exist.

Katiehound

One of the threads that disappeared recently was on the Savings & Investments Board which listed all the best regular savings accounts! There's no way that that could be considered spam. The thread has been 'rebuilt' which I think has taken quite a bit of effort.

A bit strange that it all happened pretty much at the same time- soon I shall be spouting a conspiracy theory!

Pollycat

Katiehound wrote: »

One of the threads that disappeared recently was on the Savings & Investments Board which listed all the best regular savings accounts! There's no way that that could be considered spam. The thread has been 'rebuilt' which I think has taken quite a bit of effort.

A bit strange that it all happened pretty much at the same time- soon I shall be spouting a conspiracy theory!

Have you read the posts in the link I gave in post #3?
It really hasn't happened 'all at the same time'.
And it really isn't about what is and isn't spam.
It's about posts being marked incorrectly as spam.
However, some posters have their doubts about that. :cool:
Whatever..... perfectly innocent threads are being lost forever.

jamesperrett

It also seems that MSE have received some dubious legal advice that, if they re-instate threads, they would be seen as the publisher and would be liable for all advice given. I'm a moderator on another forum and it is standard practice for us to simply delete individual spam posts rather than whole threads so this behaviour from MSE seems odd - almost as if they can't be bothered. Mind you, it was the same with the banning of DunstonH and it took an appeal to Martin himself to reinstate him so I do wonder if Andrea and her team make a habit of trying to take the easy way out.

Pyxis

jamesperrett wrote: »

It also seems that MSE have received some dubious legal advice that, if they re-instate threads, they would be seen as the publisher and would be liable for all advice given. I'm a moderator on another forum and it is standard practice for us to simply delete individual spam posts rather than whole threads so this behaviour from MSE seems odd - almost as if they can't be bothered. Mind you, it was the same with the banning of DunstonH and it took an appeal to Martin himself to reinstate him so I do wonder if Andrea and her team make a habit of trying to take the easy way out.

I don't think it's a question of just taking the easy way out.

As I understand it, the board guides are volunteers? Plus there aren't that many of them compared with the number of posters and threads. This is a huge forum.

I don't know how many of them might be paid employees, if any.

I daresay that in those circumstances, it is just impossible to go into the detail you are advocating.

I don't like it, and 'injustices' often seem to occur, but on such a massive, free forum, with relatively few 'staff', maybe it is inevitable that sometimes the baby goes with the bath water.

What might be useful would be for there to be some sort of appeals system, so that if some reporting is considered malicious, that could be looked into.
However, even that might just be too onerous and time-consuming a task for a small number of (unpaid) individuals.

It's a difficult conundrum.


Do correct me if I'm wrong about any of this, though.


.

Pollycat

Pyxis wrote: »

I don't think it's a question of just taking the easy way out.

As I understand it, the board guides are volunteers? Plus there aren't that many of them compared with the number of posters and threads. This is a huge forum.

I don't know how many of them might be paid employees, if any.

I daresay that in those circumstances, it is just impossible to go into the detail you are advocating.

I don't like it, and 'injustices' often seem to occur, but on such a massive, free forum, with relatively few 'staff', maybe it is inevitable that sometimes the baby goes with the bath water.

What might be useful would be for there to be some sort of appeals system, so that if some reporting is considered malicious, that could be looked into.
However, even that might just be too onerous and time-consuming a task for a small number of (unpaid) individuals.

It's a difficult conundrum.


Do correct me if I'm wrong about any of this, though.


.

The board guides are volunteers but the MSE team aren't.
Chapter and verse on the difference:

• What's the difference between the Forum Team and Board Guides?
  FORUM TEAM
  
  The Forum Team is employed by the site and paid to read and deal with reports sent to [EMAIL="forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com"][email protected][/EMAIL].
  The team members don't moderate the site and they don't read the several thousand posts on this forum every day. Instead they rely on users to report posts under the "report a post system". If users don't report, the team remains unaware.
  None of the team post with any identity other than Forum Team 1, 2, 3, etc. This is in their employment contract.
  The Forum Team staff are employees of MoneySavingExpert.com. Like all employers, we have a duty of care to protect them in their work roles (think of the signs on buses). To ensure this happens, we have a zero tolerance policy on any personal abuse aimed in their direction.
  For the vast majority of users this isn't an issue, as they'd never dream of being rude to the team anyway, but it's important it's said.
  BOARD GUIDES
  
  The Board Guides are volunteers who help to keep the forum running smoothly. They do not deal with reports made - and are totally separate to the Forum Team. Instead, 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/MoneySavers Arms 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 and blogposts
  • Merge or link together duplicate threads
  • "Sticky" the best threads to the top of the board
  • Lock contentious threads and report them to the Forum Team.
  
  The board guides aim to help newbies, guide people in the right direction and cut the number of different posts on the same topic.
  When someone says "I've searched everywhere and can't find the information", they post links to the relevant guides, news stories or blogs on the main site, or point them to the article links at the top of individual boards.
  When identical topics have been duplicated, they merge the threads to help forum users find the info.
  If you think a thread should be removed, would get a better response on a different board or should be merged because it's been duplicated, send a private message to the relevant Board Guide. Remember, there's no such thing as a "wrong board", though.
  Board Guides are listed at the bottom right of their boards. They can only take action on their own patches.
  Threads are only moved if they're obviously not MoneySaving or the Board Guide feels the person asking the question would get a better response on a different board.
  If a Board Guide spots a contentious thread, they should report it to the Forum Team, just like any other user would.
  What a Board Guide isn't/can't do
  
  • Board Guides are not moderators. They don't deal with contentious posts; that's the Forum Team's job.
  • Board Guides are not experts. On some boards a specialist knowledge is useful. Usually, just being interested in the subject is enough, although it's not a pre-requisite.
  • Board Guides are not techies, although being happy to play with technology helps.
  • Board Guides cannot see reports to the Forum Team (only the Forum Team and some MSE Team members can see those).

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/site/forum-faqs?_ga=2.223106331.1078233825.1515832885-423494737.1487771712