AIBU to hate the way MNHQ delete threads

[UmbridgeD]

You get threads with hundreds of thoughtful posts. People sharing their own experiences and giving thoughtful and heartfelt advice which can be useful to anyone else in the situation.

Then suddenly it disappears because the op might not be real. Everything else is real but all gets flushed down the toilet.

Then there are clearly silly threads which provide comic relief, funny witty replies. Also deleted.

Why not instead highlight the Original Post and OPs replies in red or something and have an MNHQ warning saying ‘we have reason to believe the op may not be genuine so please bear that in mind in this thread.

While they’re at it, lock threads after 3 months so Zombie 2011 guff stops popping up.

Not in the same vein but I think posts in Chat should stay up forever or for at least 180 days. I think that's why so many post in AIBU instead.

yabu, troll threads should be deleted

presumable the deletion is to stop some of the more "emotional vampire" type trolls from admiring their handiwork and to not encourage others to do similar. I take your point though OP, it is annoying when a thread you have been invested in suddenly goes up in smoke.

It's the only forum I'm on that does it and I don't really see the benefit.

This is the only forum I'm on that deletes Active attacks, but leave Passive ones and yet allows the word "cunt" to be thrown around with gay abandon.

Add in the fact that each moderator seems to have their own criteria & sometimes I wonder how it even works.

It's more annoying when there's a long genuine thread, containing thoughtful, and often unanimous, responses that don't fit with the OP's way of thinking, which is summarily deleted because the OP is suddenly 'concerned about privacy issues'.

Not as bad as when the OP throws her toys out the pram and insists that her thread is ‘too identifying’ and must be deleted because she doesn’t like the replies she’s getting. This happens far too often and is incredibly frustrating.

It might be a good idea to make people starting threads to positively click an agreement indicating that they realise that they are posting on the internet and that they have no control over the content after they’ve posted it. Then MNHQ can respond to deletion demands with ‘well you agreed to it; please don’t post things you aren’t comfortable being in the public domain’.

Totally agree or a thread you are saving to read later , as it is going on pages and pages ,when you have time and it is totally gone.

It might be worth asking for this thread to be moved to Site Stuff. I agree its worth discussing, have been thinking about raising it there recently.

Especially since a thread with with several hundred very civilised discussion posts and really useful content for older women in divorce was taken down after the OP had a hissy fit about the answers. HQ agreed it was not identifying but then apparently were bludgeoned into taking it down. I know its difficult for HQ - its easy for an OP to claim identification but it makes it feel pointless trying to contribute to threads at times.

What UnimaginativeUsername said.

YABU.Threads are usually deleted for good reason and if you let troll threads stand then the site will be inundated with them.
If you don't care about reading fiction then there are lots of fiction sites on the internet. That's not what MN is supposed to be.

its easy for an OP to claim identification but it makes it feel pointless trying to contribute to threads at times

I really do think a much clearer steer that posters are responsible for ensuring their own privacy is the way to go. If people are worried about being identified, they shouldn’t be posting on the internet about it.

Yep. They delete threads far too readily and it's extremely annoying, has made me consider leaving the site a few times.

if you let troll threads stand then the site will be inundated with them

Are you somehow under the impression that MN is not?

Threads are usually deleted for good reason

Nope, the thread I'm thinking was not a troll and had loads of really valuable content. OP had hissy fit. HQ agreed it was not identifying but as a compromise were going to move it to limited life (90days or 30 I think). OP has more hissy fit and thread disappears.

That was 450 odd posts of good and informative discussion, maybe a handful were a bit snarky. That was a lot of time and useful contributions to be discarded at the OP say so.

I felt it was waste of time trying to offer information. OThers provided far more and their efforts were wasted.

Can’t be a two way thing. Either you’re happy to put up with trolls or you’re not. You leave one troll thread up, then it’s a free for all. For all the ‘funny’ trolls, there’s also a million pee/school trolls or ones about how horrible women are. The more trolls there are, the more troll hunting there will be, eventually the forum will be ruined for everyone.

If you feel there’s a valuable discussion that stems from a troll thread, start your own discussion on the matter.

Which thread was deleted?

Can’t be a two way thing

Two different issues.

Troll threads - I agree, should generally go unless there is some overriding issue meriting retention

OP changing their mind threads - mostly these happen where the OP doesn't get the answer they want. Its nearly always possible to remove key parts of OP posts if they are genuinely identifying but the whole thread goes.

It seems inconsistent with some of the really GF threads which are left to stand, despite large numbers of borderline ist posts where might be disability, race or any other common area of discrimination.

An OP posted highly selective and incomplete information about her partner’s divorce settlement with his ex wife (importantly neglecting to include a business worth hundreds of thousands of pounds in the settlement). This made the settlement sound horribly unfair to the poor OP’s husband.

She wanted people to confirm that her husband should reduce his ongoing payments to his wife (who she demonised in various ways) because he’d mishandled his tax bills and they’d over-extended themselves in buying a house.

Posters worked out what the omissions were and didn’t give her the answers she wanted. They posted lots of useful info for women going through a divorce. So the OP had a caps lock tantrum and demanded her thread was pulled. MN initially decided to move it to 30 days only but then deleted it (presumably due to further tantrums).

Usernames (both!)

Yes it was notable simply because it was so clear and informative and had so little in the way of snarky comment (other than from the OP).

That’s the thread a PP was referring to. But it’s far from unusual. Threads are regularly deleted as ‘identifying’ because an OP doesn’t like the responses. The MN line is some nonsense about how they’re here to make parents’ lives easier, but they’d save the moderation team a lot of work (and not annoy loads of posters) if they took an ‘it’s your own responsibility’ stance.

OP changing their mind threads - mostly these happen where the OP doesn't get the answer they want.

It is very bloody annoying when that happens, I don’t deny it. However, if they claim ‘it’s outing’ or whatever they want to peddle to have it removed, what can MNHQ do? Under those circumstances, they don’t have many options.

The amount of racist/disableist/ageist etc threads allowed to stand at the moment is astonishing though. Especially currently about the upcoming royal wedding, it’s honestly sickening. Not just the threads either, but certain posters who continue to be able to post, when others have been banned over practically nothing.

The thread was also notable for the weird assertion that a net family income of £30k (after paying a £40k a year mortgage!) was some kind if poverty, which some people seemed to accept. That was a bit like falling down a rabbit hole.

It was amazingly polite, despite the OP getting ruder and ruder. And would have been very informative for lots of women undergoing divorce.

The one that just got deleted, ''are the irish less sensible with money than the english'' it's a pity she didn't title the thread ''irish attitudes to money versus english attitudes to money'' because there were some interesting points made on the thread and it hadn't descended in to a bun fight. Then ppppoooofffff it was gone.

The amount of racist/disableist/ageist etc threads allowed to stand at the moment is astonishing though

Yes I agree. I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly the English/Irish thread was taken down earlier but note that a disablist one is still standing with large numbers of lazy, stereotyped assumptions about disabled people. The OP was unsurprisingly a new name who fired and OP, stoked it an hour later and then disappeared.

Hissy fitters should not only not be deleted, they should be stickied so we can all point and laugh. Then a little doodah should pop up when you hover over their name saying "this is the toys out of pram privacy poster from the X thread"
That'll learn 'em.