Threads disappearing

[speedog]

So I come a visiting the Sonic owners forum this fine Calgary morning and lo and behold, there's this thread (mod hate ftl - page 2 of that thread is safely stored away on my hard drive) started by someone that is somewhat critical of the forum and in particular, called out one of the senior members/mods. For such a short time, there had been a lot of discussion in this thread - most of it quite healthy that very well could have led to the the thread's OP maybe reconsidering their original position if they sat back and looked at things with a clear head.

Fast forward to a little bit later on this fine morning and the thread is gone - now that is very unfortunate. IMHO, the deleting of such threads can start creating a poor image of a forum's character - over zealous moderating can easily drive people away. At the same time, it is a difficult thing to be a mod on a forum - ya gots to have a thick skin, have been a mod on several forums in the past and have been the president of a union local IRL and can easily talk from experience.

Never the less, all members have a right to their opinions and a voice and this deleted thread in the state I last saw it was definitely no where near the point that it should've been even considered for deletion. Now there may have very well been a post created after I last visited this thread that as not in line with the posted guidelines, but then just modify the particular post and have a discussion with the offending party/parties on the side.

In addition, I believe the mods here do a great job, but deleting threads in their entirety is dangerous territory to be swimming in - it can create the perception that only a certain type of opinion will be tolerated. Personally, I'd like to see that thread re-instated including the OP's original post and to have some more healthy discussion around the OP's concerns and finally for the record, the following was my only post in that now deleted thread...

Been on this forum for a while, have a 1.8 auto and can say that there is a bias against Sonics just like mine. Never the less, I test drove a variety of Sonics and Cruizes and what I got fits my needs to a tee - had a 2.4l auto HHR before and am loving this Sonic even more except for the reduced storage space.

To the OP, grow a thicker skin - it is what it is on this forum. Tons of people are gonna mod their Sonics and some of them will be critical of those that don't, but who really cares - my Sonic will remain stock as I got too much other **** in my life that needs extra attention as opposed to my car. My Sonic - it's a DD conveyance tool that will see 95% city driving with a fair bit of crappy stop and go **** thrown in for good measure and the 1.8l auto fits that need in the city that I live quite well.

Anyhow, for those that did not have the good fortune to see this now deleted thread, it created by a member who had posted concerns about a bias against 1.8 owners in this forum (have sensed that myself), but the thread's OP IMHO went too far in singling out one particular member - that in itself is probably worthy of some discussion to the side, but the deletion of a whole thread up to the point where I had last seen it at 7:29AM Mountain (Sonny@bnr had the last post) certainly did not appear warranted at that point in time.

 

[Mr4thQuarter]

bottom line is that the members are what makes the forums what it is. not the mods. the mods can sit in their basement all day and type each other. but it's us, who want to build up the site to everyone's benefit. It's very easy for most of the members to completely forget about this site if everything goes south. But let's hope it doesn't get to that point.

The thread should have never been deleted. Only reason it was removed because a certain individual did not like what several users had to say. At the end of they day, it's just an OPINION. So do what u got to do to get over it.

 

[Sonic]

The thread in question was moved to the Moderator Thread for Mike's review, since there are people who have hurt feelings. It was not moved for any other reason. And it was not deleted.

Let it go people. As several members have pointed out, this is an internet forum and people are going to have varying opinions on things, and not everyone is going to like what everyone else likes. Everyone grow thicker skin and get on with things.

 

[Danny5]

In the end, a properly run forum is a business.

I am willing to bet the thread removal was done by *senior* management.

 

[speedog]

The thread in question was moved to the Moderator Thread for Mike's review, since there are people who have hurt feelings. It was not moved for any other reason. And it was not deleted.

Let it go people. As several members have pointed out, this is an internet forum and people are going to have varying opinions on things, and not everyone is going to like what everyone else likes. Everyone grow thicker skin and get on with things.

Everyone grow thicker skin and get on with things - has this been politely pointed out to the "people with hurt feelings"?

For sh*t sakes, this is an anonymous on-line forum and to get hurt feelings over a post that should've been thought out a bit more, c'mon. Man, I'd be significantly more wealthy if I had $10 for every time I might have got hurt feelings after someone went after me in the union based forum I used to be a mod for or for when I was the president of a union local while we were locked out/on strike.

Yeah, this is an internet forum, but does it wish to be known as a heavily moderated one or one that is more open minded and accepting? Another auto-enthusiast forum I am a active member of has very little apparent active moderation and that forum (forums.beyond.ca) has almost 22,000 active members (logged in within 30 days) - if anything the members there govern themselves accordingly and anyone that steps a bit out of line (read: personal attack) is usually dealt with by the active members in the thread that the attack was made. That said, it is up to the mods/admins of this forum to plot it's future path and if that includes deleting/hiding threads because someone's feelings were hurt, then so be it - but if that is what this forum is to become, then I sense a little bit less active participation by more and more members in the future.

Not everyone sits back and rereads a thread they're starting or a post they're putting on a forum - certainly everyone should, but not everyone does. At the same time though, any type of moderating that could be viewed as censorship isn't going to gain any forum a great reputation either - this is a new forum and it is still taking baby steps and here's to hoping that things like are being discussed in this thread are not "to be just let go".

 

[Timesgodjillion]

The thread in question was moved to the Moderator Thread for Mike's review, since there are people who have hurt feelings. It was not moved for any other reason. And it was not deleted.

Let it go people. As several members have pointed out, this is an internet forum and people are going to have varying opinions on things, and not everyone is going to like what everyone else likes. Everyone grow thicker skin and get on with things.

Saying we should let it go and have thicker skin and then moving the thread is counter-intuitive and backwards from each other...

 

[Sonic-Mike]

For now, I will not be restoring the previous thread.

There is nothing wrong with constructive criticism and every forum operates differently. Also, with each forum comes different moderators and ways to handle threads, members and posts.

If anyone has any concern about any Moderator on this site, I highly suggest they contact me directly either by PM or email - mike@sonicownersforum.com - we can discuss the issue in a civil matter and come to a proper resolution. I will make sure I handle each issue, as no member should think they feel unwelcome because of their opinion, car they drive or what they post as long as it follows the forum rules.

I will also keep this thread unlocked and allow discussion - I will be monitoring it

Thank you
Mike
SonicOwnersForum Admin