MNHQ here: removing the 90 day limit on _Chat threads

I know klutzy

No worries at all, Pan!

Basically, from Monday, don't post anything in chat as it'll be searchable for ever and make it easier for people to search your history, gather pieces, put them together and out you.

Of course you could change your username, but doing that strips any familiarity away from people. Some of whom you recognise and trust the advice of.

Seems a poor idea which ever way I look at it but I'm sure MN has 'Reasons' that aren't financially motivated.. Becca how ever could you think such things.. tut tut...

@Polter

"Bizarre idea. Why not just subsume 30 days into Chat, make Chat threads auto delete after 30 days, and encourage people to use topics.

AIBU threads should auto delete too."

spot on! And the topics need to be slashed, but I guess MNHQ won't do that. It was a bit weird finding book chat under "W" for "What we're reading"!!

I also think this is a rubbish idea. I am on a chat thread where one or two of the posters post things, happy in the knowledge that after 90 days their posts will be gone. Another bad idea from MNHQ.

MN aren't going to make more areas where threads are deleted because threads appear frequently in Google searches for various things and that generates ad revenue. Most forums don't have areas where threads disappear for this reason.

Chat threads are also been picked up by papers because they are one of the areas of the site that are advertised frequently in discussions of the day or on the MN social media and people will come here from those sources to read threads.

Yes, I'm cynical!

My apologies, Tooth. You are right, I had misinterpreted your comment. I'm sorry

I think all threads should disappear after 90 days especially in relationships where sometimes very personal things are shared.

I think either you’ve misread my comment or I wasn’t clear, Pan. My comment is exactly what you’re saying. With a 90 day limit you can have a longish running thread (one that fills up quickly, i.e. within the 90 days) then someone starts a new one and you all move over there, safe in the knowledge that the older threads will eventually disappear.

30 days isn’t usually enough to fill one of those threads (there are exceptions) and people might not want to post if their comments are going to be around forever so it removes that particular function, which is v annoying!

Yeah, I've just been to check & noticed PanPing.

Useless.

"And have you actually posted on Chat to let people know this?"

No, of course they haven't, extinct

You are a genius, Minge!!!

Bad idea MNHQ.

I almost always start a thread in Chat BECAUSE I know it won't stay around forever.

I'm sure I'm not the only one.

How about consulting your members first before making such a big decision?

And have you actually posted on Chat to let people know this?

You should really give 90 days notice of this. I know you say threads can be moved to 30 days, but you wouldn't know if anyone has posted within the last 90 days expecting it to be deleted and doesn't cotton on.

What do you mean, Tooth? Those threads will stay here forever - that's the point of MNHQ's decision to let the Chat threads last forever, rather than just the 90 days. I'm a bit by your comment.

Threads in Chat do disappear after 90 days at the moment, but they won't in the future- they'll be here for perpetuity.

I agree with PPs, we can all talk rubbish on Chat knowing it will go in the end

I don't like this idea either I'm afraid MNHQ. I quite often post on a thread because it's in Chat and I know it will disappear. I've always considered 30 Days Only to be for more serious/sensitive/potentially identifiable threads so I don't think I'd use it in the same way. That might just be me though...

kate if you want to improve user experience then I suggest you get tech to fix the glitch on getting started where the threads in the trending box/discussion of the day are years out of date. I've been reporting it for over a year and nothing's being done about it. I've sent many emails and started a thread about it but nothing has been done.

That'll be more frustrating for new users than a minor issue with chat.

(Apologies for boring those who have heard me on this subject,
repeatedly before).

Deleted threads can easily be removed from searches as well.

This is really shitty. It means we can’t have long-running threads which move quickly but disappear once they’re full and the 90 days has passed.

I may be in the absolute minority here, but I'd rather the site worked completely the opposite way around.

Every thread should have a cut off, after 10 days without a new post, it vanishes for ever. The only exception would be threads votes into classics, because they're funny, or a new topic called something like 'Wise words' for threads with good advice.

But that's just me.

drama me too. Though I post on other areas as well I'm more select about what I out there than in _chat.

I'm disappointed with this decision. I like posting in Chat because I know the rubbish I spout will disappear eventually. It's going to make me think twice about posting to be honest.

I assume that the pre-weekend release of this info, just on Site Stuff - but not in Chat - was to promote a debate before MNHQ returns on Monday morning?

X-post thanks kate I do think 30 days isn't long enough, it's not often used and _chat has pages and pages just with 90 days. Personally I always found that 90 day limit helpful when asking for help.

I post threads there delibrately because of the 90 day rule. 30 days isn't always enough and I do not want them hanging around long term so three months is perfect.

I need to know if those in chat currently will be removed or not, please, as I have one in there I do not want left there for good reason.