S/O Locked topic - can we see why?

[Ziggy Stardust]

I really don't think it's fair to suggest people who are curious about a thread they were interested in or who want to avoid causing trouble on the board are trying to undermine the moderators or pry in things that aren't their business. The vast majority of people here, I assume, like the forum and want things to go well.

[Clara Bow]

Read the thread up until the point that it was locked after a quick read through of the forum rules. You can usually piece together what went south.
A lot of times the mods or The Dame herself will tell exactly why a thread's being locked there at the end, or somewhere in the preceeding material a warning from a mod will be given. If said warning is disregarded, expect to see a lock.
Since the new "vent" rules there are a lot more locks, but that is just people getting used to a change....I hope....

[Vegemite Girl]

Actually, what gets me is when a thread completely disappears with no explanation. it doesn't seem to benefit anyone as no-one can go through the posts and see what went wrong.

[Bethalize]

I think it would be helpful for everyone's understanding if a note was posted on the bottom of locked threads. I don't think it's very realisitic to expect people to read the whole of a locked thread, re-read the terms and conditions and guidelines and re-interpret and then apply them. A note would serve to remind people of the reasons.

I also think that within an online community, members generally appreciate the courtesey of the communication. Finding a thread that one was reading quite happily is locked without explaination leaves me feeling a bit like the teacher has endeed play time because a small group were doing something wrong. I have no idea what went wrong and therefore I am less likely to refrain from it myself.

[cass2591]

Does anyone remember the scene from one of the "Indiana Jones" movies where he found himself in a duel with a bad guy? I'm paraphrasing here, but instead of getting into the duel he just said "oh the hell with it" and shot the guy.

Sometimes it's like that. If we get a zillion violation reports, or for whatever reason a thread is going south and/or is inappropriate, I have to admit there are occasions that I'll just say "the hell with it," lock the thread and be done with it. Usually it's because I don't have time to explain or it's too complicated, but action needs to be taken. Could I go back and explain later, someone will likely ask, and the answer is yes I could, but I don't because frankly, I forget about it.

[penelope2017]

Does anyone remember the scene from one of the "Indiana Jones" movies where he found himself in a duel with a bad guy? I'm paraphrasing here, but instead of getting into the duel he just said "oh the hell with it" and shot the guy.

Sometimes it's like that. If we get a zillion violation reports, or for whatever reason a thread is going south and/or is inappropriate, I have to admit there are occasions that I'll just say "the hell with it," lock the thread and be done with it. Usually it's because I don't have time to explain or it's too complicated, but action needs to be taken. Could I go back and explain later, someone will likely ask, and the answer is yes I could, but I don't because frankly, I forget about it.

Thank you very much. That is a great explanation.

I am sorry if my post offended anyone. I wasn't trying to pry into other people's business or start trouble. In fact, my motivation was exactly the opposite.

Thanks again for this - it answers my question perfectly.

[ShadesOfGrey]

I think it would be helpful for everyone's understanding if a note was posted on the bottom of locked threads. I don't think it's very realisitic to expect people to read the whole of a locked thread, re-read the terms and conditions and guidelines and re-interpret and then apply them. A note would serve to remind people of the reasons.

I dont really think it is unrealistic though.  People who post here know the rules - new or veteran posters.  They are clearly stated and pinned in the first board on the forum - and as with any forum, they should have been read before posting.

Most topics that I see that are locked, it's pretty obvious the reason - venting, sensational news stories, topic done to death, politics/religion, etc.  I have seen maybe 1 or 2 topics that were locked that I wasnt sure why, and my only thought then was "Hmm, wonder why that was locked? Must have been something going on there." The truth is, if you have time to peruse the forum, you have time to review the rules to figure out why a thread was locked.  The moderaters have chosen to spend time moderating, rather than explaining.  Fair enough. 

Yes, sometimes it makes me nervous to see threads locked down (especially since there have been so many lately).  But I know the rules and I stay within them, and typically I can identify the rule being broken from the first post.  And if I'm not sure, I go review the rules.   I'd imagine that a gagging would come with an explanation, or at least a few warnings beforehand, so that the poster would know what they did that was outside the rules.  Other than that, I dont see why a poster would really need a mod to explain things.  Yes, it would be nice, but certainly not necessary. 

[ch1pch0p]

I think it would be helpful for everyone's understanding if a note was posted on the bottom of locked threads. I don't think it's very realisitic to expect people to read the whole of a locked thread, re-read the terms and conditions and guidelines and re-interpret and then apply them. A note would serve to remind people of the reasons.

I dont really think it is unrealistic though.  People who post here know the rules - new or veteran posters.  They are clearly stated and pinned in the first board on the forum - and as with any forum, they should have been read before posting.

Most topics that I see that are locked, it's pretty obvious the reason - venting, sensational news stories, topic done to death, politics/religion, etc.  I have seen maybe 1 or 2 topics that were locked that I wasnt sure why, and my only thought then was "Hmm, wonder why that was locked? Must have been something going on there." The truth is, if you have time to peruse the forum, you have time to review the rules to figure out why a thread was locked.  The moderaters have chosen to spend time moderating, rather than explaining.  Fair enough. 

Yes, sometimes it makes me nervous to see threads locked down (especially since there have been so many lately).  But I know the rules and I stay within them, and typically I can identify the rule being broken from the first post.  And if I'm not sure, I go review the rules.   I'd imagine that a gagging would come with an explanation, or at least a few warnings beforehand, so that the poster would know what they did that was outside the rules.  Other than that, I dont see why a poster would really need a mod to explain things.  Yes, it would be nice, but certainly not necessary. 

In that case, new posters, you can usually guess that it was something behind the scenes that the mods needed to take care. It doesn't effect us, so we don't need to know. Just live in the happy, pretty world out here. It's nice.

[snowball's chance]

It's my unqualified opinion that the issue with the Shaving Legs thread was also a problem that is often shared with Children getting hair cut or getting piercings.  Even when it starts out with an etiquette question ("Does Grandma have the right to get Susie's hair cut while she's baby-sitting?"), every thread like this evolves into dealing with Parenting Choices as opposed to etiquette, and there are plenty of parenting boards on the net if people wish to debate what children should/not be allowed to do and at what age.

[Ehelldame]

If a thread has been locked or deleted, 9.9 out of 10 times fellow forum members have drawn moderator attention to it by reporting for a variety of reasons.  The moderators cannot be everywhere reading everything and therefore nearly all moderation occurs at the request of or as a result of reporting by members. 

Discretion is called for in a variety of situations.  Reasons to be discreet include not wanting the drama to continue, not wanting to feed the troll*, to not further embarrass someone, to protect privacy, not wanting to give away anything a troll could use as ammo, etc.  Sometimes the OP asks us to close the thread and we oblige with no additional obligation to explain to the world why. 

Locking threads is probably the most benign moderation action that is taken.  As Cass says, we lock it and forget it.  I'm sure I speak for the others that once I lock a thread, I often have no idea who started it and typically don't care who started it or who is involved.   Members get on the mod radar by repeatedly starting threads that repeatedly get locked or who repeatedly are involved in contentious threads. 

* There is a thread in this board archive asking the equivalent of, "Why was my thread locked?", and the OP was a troll who we banned ages ago and who keeps showing up under new IDs that also get banned.  He had been skating under the radar with his new ID UNTIL his need for attention drove him to question the moderation. 

[kareng57]

I think it would be helpful for everyone's understanding if a note was posted on the bottom of locked threads. I don't think it's very realisitic to expect people to read the whole of a locked thread, re-read the terms and conditions and guidelines and re-interpret and then apply them. A note would serve to remind people of the reasons.

I dont really think it is unrealistic though.  People who post here know the rules - new or veteran posters.  They are clearly stated and pinned in the first board on the forum - and as with any forum, they should have been read before posting.

Most topics that I see that are locked, it's pretty obvious the reason - venting, sensational news stories, topic done to death, politics/religion, etc.  I have seen maybe 1 or 2 topics that were locked that I wasnt sure why, and my only thought then was "Hmm, wonder why that was locked? Must have been something going on there." The truth is, if you have time to peruse the forum, you have time to review the rules to figure out why a thread was locked.  The moderaters have chosen to spend time moderating, rather than explaining.  Fair enough. 

Yes, sometimes it makes me nervous to see threads locked down (especially since there have been so many lately).  But I know the rules and I stay within them, and typically I can identify the rule being broken from the first post.  And if I'm not sure, I go review the rules.   I'd imagine that a gagging would come with an explanation, or at least a few warnings beforehand, so that the poster would know what they did that was outside the rules.  Other than that, I dont see why a poster would really need a mod to explain things.  Yes, it would be nice, but certainly not necessary. 

I agree, locking a thread is not necessarily the same as banning a poster.

I think that thread-locking happens fairly frequently on moderated forums.  It doesn't necessarily have anything to do with how long a thread is getting (look at the baby-names thread for example) but if the responses keep going round-and-round, everyone keeps posting the same kind of replies - really, why keep it going?

[Hanna]

I view the Forum as a Salon and eHellDame as our salonnière.  If something unpleasant happens in one's drawing room, they put an end to it and clean it up as rapidly as possible with out drawing attention to the issue.

Certainly we all are curious to know what happened whenever there is a scene, but to tug on the skirt of our hostess and demand an explanation doesn't seem to be in good form.  And saying "I must know, so I don't repeat the mistake" seems a bit silly unless you found yourself chucked out of a drawing room before.

[Clara Bow]

I also think that publishing the details of every single thread shutdown is a veritable petri dish for gossip and backbiting to grow in. I stopped going to a forum that did public bannings and where the mods called people out publically because I felt that it was bullying, rude and in some cases unfair.
Better a thread vanish than a bunch of rumors and backstabbing go flying around.

[Shortcake]

Hanna and Auntie Venom, you both have very good points.

[Audrey Quest]

Just for the record, sometimes there are VERY good reasons for threads that disappear completely.
 
Google caches everything we post here and some things need not be accessible.