Deletion of threads lowers quality of postings.

tomstickland

I just want to express my opinion on deletion of entire threads.
Sometimes I spend a lot of time researching, quoting and composing responses. When an entire thread then dissapears due to a single issue/complaint then that work is lost. It means that I don't feel inclined to make so much effort in future threads.
Hence, there is a risk that the quality of threads suffers due to the "lazy" deletion of entire threads.

Rex_Mundi

It just shows you how this site attracts such a wide variety of opinion.

I actually think that the starting of some threads (I'm thinking especially DT/Arms) leads to a lower quality of posts on this site.

meher

tom, you sure the thread in question was deleted and not merged?

dmg24

Rex_Mundi wrote: »

It just shows you how this site attracts such a wide variety of opinion.

I actually think that the starting of some threads (I'm thinking especially DT/Arms) leads to a lower quality of posts on this site.

So because someone disagrees the thread should be deleted? Makes it sound pretty pointless even bothering to post!

Incisor

meher wrote: »

tom, you sure the thread in question was deleted and not merged?

If that happens, how is anyone to know?

Rex_Mundi

dmg24 wrote: »

So because someone disagrees the thread should be deleted? Makes it sound pretty pointless even bothering to post!

Martin and the team have made many statements in the past about threads in DT/Arms. It has always been very clear to me that these boards cause so many problems from such a small minority of the overall membership of this site.

I don't understand what people cannot understand in this comment from Martin about DT/Arms (made a very long time ago)...........(quote).............

The non-MoneySaving boards are add-ons, non-core, here for fun, to build community. I hope people enjoy them. Yet even though in percentage of users they are very small, the resource drain from them is huge - often 50% of all abuse complaints.

So what do i say to the forum team. "We can't afford to spend too much time. If you have to delete or lock threads on a cursory glance, and focus resources on MoneySaving boards, which provide benefit to many more people and life changing information to many."

Then i come to the forums (again) and ask everyone to calm down. And yet then more revolt about the rules.

Let me make it plain I cannot afford to give you the moderation you need. I cannot justify deleting. This isn't a democracy. It is a private forum. I've made it plain these aren't free speech boards. I can't afford the legal bills if they were. This is about helping people save money.

If you dont like the way the Arms and DT are moderated, then i would ask you don't visit. I cannot afford it and i never want to charge.

This message is so plain and clear, I don't understand what the problem is. If you don't like what's being said there. If you don't like threads being deleted when they cause problems. If you don't like the way these boards are run..........Stay away from them. It really is that easy. The vast majority of this site is used by many tens of thousands of people everyday without any problem at all (and helping them out in many many ways).

Threads like this from such a very small minority of users do this site no favours at all.

meher

Incisor wrote: »

If that happens, how is anyone to know?

good question because I would know only if I've posted on it by running through my own posts or if I have a vague idea of the topic and if I find a similar thread running I'd check on it

tomstickland

Rex_Mundi wrote: »

This message is so plain and clear, I don't understand what the problem is.
...
Threads like this from such a very small minority of users do this site no favours at all.

Oh, I have no problem understanding what the message is.
However, I do feel that if someone was to spend a little bit of time weeding out the problem posts rather than deleting a whole thread it would be better. Maybe the software could be improved so all entries by a problem user could be deleted from a thread.

I don't understand what you mean by "threads like these". By definition, me posting one thread is going be "a small minority".

Rex_Mundi

tomstickland wrote: »

Oh, I have no problem understanding what the message is.
However, I do feel that if someone was to spend a little bit of time weeding out the problem posts rather than deleting a whole thread it would be better. Maybe the software could be improved so all entries by a problem user could be deleted from a thread.

I don't understand what you mean by "threads like these". By definition, me posting one thread is going be "a small minority".

The team (not BGs) can already select all of a members posts and delete them in one go, but what do you do if the member has already made sensible posts on other boards? Do you delete them as well, or do you trawl through their posts to only delete problem ones? Then, what do you do about all the following posts in a thread that have quoted the problem post/posts Do you trawl through the thread to delete these single posts as well? Believe me, this can take a lot of time. Martin and the team have made very clear more than a few times that they are not prepared to devote this amount of time to the non monysaving boards (a very very small part of a very useful site for many people).

My small minority comment was aimed the amount of threads questioning the disappearance of threads that we see on this (and the associated board) because of what has gone on in DT/Arms. I was generalising about threads like this, not being specific about this one.

LimeLight

Can't we have mods dedicated to just the Arms and DT?

Anthillmob

id like to know why a thread about my cousins baby was deleted. im outraged. in no way was i asking for medical advice. yes i may have asked if anyone knew of similar but that was all.