Some of mine have been totally deleted, or had the pics removed. Some others which commented on that fact that my pics made them laugh have also gone… not floundered, just… deleted…[/quote]
Btw, as Bu Lai En mentioned mods don’t delete entire posts. They either get floundered or sent to a flame forum which can only be viewed by mods. If someone makes a post and part of it is on topic, then only the part that is off topic or offensive may be edited out by a mod. If you have any questions, you can always ask.
I do not understand the need for “snap decisions”. Unless something is seriously wrong with a post or thread, why even touch it? All you should be doing, with your power to wipe out posts, is keeping the traffic flowing. Anything more, including deciding what constitutes “discussion” and what constitutes “chit chat” is beyond your prerogative and mandate. If you really think it is your mandate to control what is discussed and censor that which you disagree with (beyond the obvious obscene or hateful), well, then I think a visit to the drawing board might be in order.
BTW, given the amount of profanity used on this site, I don’t believe many threads are “safe for work,” so you might want to revisit that logic as well.
As to whether Discussions about condiments, aliens, or asexual reproduction are safe for work or “appropriate” for a forum that will not be incinerated in 15 days…no, I’m not buying. I think it’s more a matter of a wayward auto dealer imposing his/her concept of what we should be driving.
As to whether Discussions about condiments, aliens, or asexual reproduction are safe for work or “appropriate” for a forum that will not be incinerated in 15 days…no, I’m not buying. I think it’s more a matter of a wayward auto dealer imposing his/her concept of what we should be driving.[/quote] Don’t believe everything you read. I started a thread entitled 15=26 in the flounder forum it was a reference to the days before the threads had disappeared. A few days later I expected to be not to be a backseat modearator but no-one except maybe me understood the title luckily. Anyway if you post on the thread that you interests you in flounder its life is renewed. 15 days isn’t necessarily two weeks and one day on forumosa flounder forum.
We also accidentally delete stuff now and then.I’m trying to get those back
No, it’s not that. It’s just a consensus that the Forums are more useful to everyone if they’re properly organised into Forums and threads. So we move things from one forum to another to try and help with this. That’s where the snap decisions come in. For example. I don’t spend too long deciding whether somethign should be in ‘Open Forum’ or ‘Living in Taiwan’. I make a quick decision. But I think it is better for the usabiltiy of the forums, that such decisions are made.
No, no, I’m not talking about that kind of maintenance at all. I’m talking more about “right to live” issues for posts and threads, and what comprises the decision to pull the plug, and, to extend the metaphor, how much power moderators should have to play God.
Now that I’m on a roll and enjoying this metaphor, I think the forums should, to the greatest extent possible, exist under the Divine Watchmaker principle. The forum owners created the clock by setting up the site, and the rest should largely unfold on its own. This view is opposed by the Divine Interventionist model, which argues our world, including its clocks, posts, smileys, and everything else, should be overseen by Divine Deleters and Divine Flounderers.
But seriously though how many great posts would a posting poster post if a posting post could post posts without fear of being deleted.
[/quote] :bravo: :bravo: :bravo:
Jefferson makes some good points. Bu Lai En, you have made some reasonable comments. You also have now and in the past responded to posters’ complaints or questions on related topics in a “I don’t care, so it isn’t important enough to consider” way. I think that falls short of the mark. I understand your explanation, but I think there is another issue here of greater importance.
The founders, operators, and moderators of Forumosa.com are providing a service. A much appreciated service – a comment that has been made repeatedly by many posters, including me. That said, they are service providers to service consumers, or customers. Non-paying customers in most cases, but customers nonetheless. As such, when a customer tells a provider that a problem exists, the right response on the part of the provider is to give the complaint serious consideration and to try to address it to remove the cause for complaint.
You may not think that the “deleted posts” issue is important. Some of your considerate customers think otherwise. As a provider, that means you need to give it more thought and attention until you can determine where the problem lies, without assuming that it is only difference of opinion.
Some of mine have been totally deleted, or had the pics removed. Some others which commented on that fact that my pics made them laugh have also gone… not floundered, just… deleted…[/quote]
It rarely happens that a situation exists on Forumosa that Goose Egg and I haven’t given any thought to. And it’s not that we don’t care when we implement the suggestions of others, it’s that we don’t agree. This is a website for the community to use, to be sure, but as the owners, obviously we want to have some say in the direction it takes. We’re willing to compromise our positions sometimes, and sometimes we’re not, but we never dismiss people’s opinions as unimportant.
[quote=“Maoman”]but we never dismiss people’s opinions as unimportant.[/quote]Except of course when someone criticizes your personal behaviour (or other posts which you classify as legal, because it’s legal in some 3rd world country, just an excuse because you like breaking that particular law) which could get someone killed. I make exceptions to the personal attack rules when someone puts my life in danger, it’s a lot less than they deserve. For for some reason giving out numbers of prostitutes is different, there’s nothing illegal about talking to someone who happens to be a prostitute.
Except of course when someone criticizes your personal behaviour (or other posts which you classify as legal, because it’s legal in some 3rd world country, just an excuse because you like breaking that particular law) which could get someone killed. I make exceptions to the personal attack rules when someone puts my life in danger, it’s a lot less than they deserve. For for some reason giving out numbers of prostitutes is different, there’s nothing illegal about talking to someone who happens to be a prostitute.[/quote]
What are you talking about? :s [url=Cell phones when driving and fines - #12 by Big_Fluffy_Matthew post is still there[/url]. I deleted the phrase “You fucking wanker” or “You bloody wanker” because it was a personal attack directed at a member of the Forumosa community (me!) and that is clearly against the rules. The rest of your post is still there in its entirety.
While people who put your life in danger are deserving of your outrage, I’m sure, there are no provisions in The Rules for exceptions. Fortunately, you were articulate enough to get your point across in the rest of your post - the personal attack was just gratuitous expression. Anyway, my usage of a cell phone while driving and Forumosa policy aren’t exactly related topics, are they? :s
Nothing illegal about talking to drug dealers or hitmen either, AFIK, but we’re not about to allow numbers of dealers and assassins to be listed on Forumosa either.
[quote=“Maoman”]I deleted the phrase “You fucking wanker” or “You bloody wanker” because it was a personal attack directed at a member of the Forumosa community (me!) and that is clearly against the rules.
[/quote]
No, say it isn’t so. BFM called someone a “fucking wanker”. If that is true then my faith in Man has just taken a serious blow to the scrotum section. :s
[quote=“Durins Bane”]No, say it isn’t so. BFM called someone a “f***ing wanker”. If that is true then my faith in Man has just taken a serious blow to the scrotum section. :s[/quote]Maoman destroyed mine, which caused me to take extreme measures, the exact phrase I used is “Stupid selfish twat” when he showed off how me likes to put people in danger, and then a “Wanker” when he compared that to eating before swimming. Is that isn’t morally unburdened, I don’t know what is.
This is why I disappeared for a month, to stop myself saying what I meant, I knew Moaman would defend his actions to the end, but yet use the rules against me.
[quote]Nothing illegal about talking to drug dealers or hitmen either, AFIK, but we’re not about to allow numbers of dealers and assassins to be listed on Forumosa either.[/quote]But you allow other instructions on how to break the law, saying they have legal uses too. Am I the only one who sees a double standard here ?
[quote=“Bu Lai En”]loundering: The Open Forum is for discussion. The Flounder Forum is for chit-chat and the like. Obviously there is a fine line a lot of the time, and (speaking for myself at least) we don’t think it’s really worth agonising over such details as whether or no the condiments thread was serious discussion or not.[/quote]If you were not sure if it was a serious discussion, then perhaps the right thing to do was to just let it be. Besides a mod posted that thread(condiments) so I think he would know better than to post in the wrong forum. [quote] Snap decisions are made, so there will be inconsistnecies and mistakes. We put more serious thought and careful consideration into the more important things such as banning decisions. Whether something goes in Flounder or Open is really not that big a deal.[/quote] As seeker4 pointed out, others disagree with you about that Brian. I for one find it redundant and a careless response on your part. You know, there are plenty of posters who would appreciate your position. I don’t like snap decisions. If you find your work overwhelming to the point where you make snap decisions, it’s ok…But If you respond like this everytime and refuse to merge the threads back, that’s not cool. Now you’ll say that you are busy and can’t be bothered as it is not that big a deal. To be honest, I find other mods are much more careful and it makes their forum more inviting. Up to you to do what you want with that.
To summarize how I feel about this issue is simple. You pretend to care for this site but you make snap decisions. If you’re decisions aren’t agreed upon, then you say it doesn’t matter a great deal anyways and you refuse to cooperate and fix what you yourself consider “mistakes”.
How about something simple like:“Sorry, I didn’t think you cared that much but now I know and I’ll merge it back when I have time.”
You have time to post as a poster but you don’t have time to avoid snap decisions as a mod? How about you stop posting? That should give you more time to avoid making them snap decisions which many of us do not appreciate. As I said, many posters here would take a great deal of time moderating the open forum to avoid such confusion and negative, almost bias feel to one of the most interesting forum on this site.
Slow down your decision process and send a pm when in doubt. No time for that? Someone else does.
