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See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Original poster

Clarification please

766 replies

Hullygully · 05/12/2013 16:25

So I come back to find that you have deleted my thread asking why my Santa thread was deleted.

Of course it was a thread about a thread, it was asking a question about the thread.

Wtf else is one supposed to do?

I put it in site stuff.

It was also a really nice friendly thread full of poetry and laughs. Why why why why was it deleted? What the hell is going on there?

Secondly, if one wants to talk about something, and that something has been deleted purely owing to others mischief, does that mean that one is never to talk about that subject again??

How mad is that?

OP posts:
sunbathe · 05/12/2013 22:59

I can't read bunfight without imagining a load of elephants waving their trunks at each other and flinging buns about.

Fairenuff · 05/12/2013 23:00

If a thread gets deleted because of a bun fight that is not the OP's fault. It would be perfectly reasonable for them to start the discussion again in the hope that, this time, it does not get derailed.

youretoastmildred · 05/12/2013 23:01

Got it, thecat. A genetically sound, wriggling, idea delivered by a mutant stork / carrier pigeon

My battery is on the nasty red bit and I have to go to bed. Lovely to chat to you all. Peace and love to everyone

youretoastmildred · 05/12/2013 23:01

cut that last comma

curlew · 05/12/2013 23:01

What's so wrong with a bunfight? 1000 posts and it's over.

IamtheZombie · 05/12/2013 23:02

Zombie was at the meet up. She met all of the MNHQ staff who came along. They were lovely and certainly gave no impression of being there under duress (or because they drew the short straw). A good time was had by all.

She suspects that because Rown is quite rightly upset by the frankly nasty comments by a few posters about her colleagues that "gave up their Friday (sic) night" was simply a poor choice of words in the heat of the moment.

Having said that, she doesn't agree with the deletion of Hully's second thread.

Original poster
Hullygully · 05/12/2013 23:03

exactement fairenuff

OP posts:
Maryz · 05/12/2013 23:03

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Mintyy · 05/12/2013 23:04

Succinctly put Faire dear.

MNHQ
RowanMumsnet · 05/12/2013 23:04

@curlew

What's so wrong with a bunfight? 1000 posts and it's over.

Because the aim of MN is for people to share advice, support, debate and laughs. We think bunfights are a bit unedifying. It's part of our general philosophy - always has been. Robust debate - brilliant. Posters repeatedly attacking other posters - not so great.

usualsuspect · 05/12/2013 23:04

That seems to be the standard deletion message these days.

I've seen that message when the thread has been deleted for trolling.

Original poster
Hullygully · 05/12/2013 23:04

yy mary

OP posts:
BriarcliffBelle · 05/12/2013 23:04

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
Hullygully · 05/12/2013 23:06

Agreed Rowan, what do you think about the idea for a debate topic?

Because everytime I start a debate, people start with the attacks and it all gets deleted.

I'd love to be able to debate robustly in a section where it wasn't threatened with pas and deletion. See above, some while ago.

OP posts:
SconeForAStroll · 05/12/2013 23:06

I would have thought a stern ahem would have bought enough time for the more urgent items to have been dealt with.

In no way individually criticising a member if hq, but threads do meander given time.

p.s. Tech needs a new hammer for Christmas I think. It possibly a sonic screwdriver.

reelingaroundthechristmastree · 05/12/2013 23:07

I think there may be a few knives out for MNHQers that people met at the Meet Up, usual.

Absolutely no way, what a nasty thing to say.

MNHQ
RowanMumsnet · 05/12/2013 23:07

@Maryz

I think the personal comments about mnhq are unfair, but they are brought about through frustration.

The last time we had a discussion like this, loads of us were saying it was different in the old days, blah, blah. And then Justine came on and clarified a few things, and some of us felt that we were right, and the delete button is being overused.

At the moment it feels as though report = delete, and also that those of us who don't name change are being reported a lot. It makes me, anyway, feel very defensive.

I think a lot of threads that would have ended up ok are being deleted at the first sign of an argument, which is going to make the site very bland. And I think that people reporting everything is overloading the report system - so mnhq are getting zillions of "she is being meeeaaannn" reports and are thus unable to sort out the real horrors and deal with them.

Actually, when we analysed the stats we found that the deleted post:post ratio had gone down over the last few years.

It's not - and never has been - a case of 'it's been reported so delete it'.

We're also not at all inclined to delete threads at the first sign of an argument - sorry but I just don't recognise that at all.

And it doesn't matter how many times Poster X is reported - if we think Poster X's post was absolutely fine, we'll let it stand.

youretoastmildred · 05/12/2013 23:08

Maryz, yes
(I know I said I was going to bed, but -)
I work in a job where I have to make decisions about things being approved or rejected and I find that the more hectic it gets, and the more ALWAYS FIENDISHLY URGENT stuff is being thrown at my head, the more I am inclined to just lock things down because I feel my judgement being warped by stress and it seems easier to be negative than positive under pressure. So a slightly dodgy thing becomes "Oh god no that could go wrong" and gets cut off, whereas under more relaxed circs I could be all "there is something interesting about that. Let me see how to temper it so I can allow it without getting the sack"

So I think all the reporting, reporting, reporting (and in this case pressure from IT issues too, which makes everything super stressy) leads to an over-negative, over conservative, over-deletey mindset

SO in other words everyone needs to back the hell off and stop bothering them with whining, unless it matters, which, frankly "hully said santa isn't real boo hoo" doesn't (rolls about smacking the floor in hilarity again)

Original poster
Hullygully · 05/12/2013 23:08

But those of us who have been here YEARS aren't mad, we know a change when we experience it.

OP posts:
MNHQ
RowanMumsnet · 05/12/2013 23:09

@SconeForAStroll

I would have thought a stern ahem would have bought enough time for the more urgent items to have been dealt with.

In no way individually criticising a member if hq, but threads do meander given time.

p.s. Tech needs a new hammer for Christmas I think. It possibly a sonic screwdriver.

We did post an ahem (on the first thread) - it did nowt. (Although you're right, this is often the first thing we do and is often effective.)

ButThereAgain · 05/12/2013 23:10

Its a huge shame that one or two posters have made nasty and unnecessary remarks about members of mn staff, largely because that must be incredibly upsetting for those staff members, but also because it has deflected attention from addressing what really does seem to have been a bad moderating decision.

The disappearence of that second thread completely surprised me. I truly thought mn would come back and say whoops, sorry that was a slip.

Original poster
Hullygully · 05/12/2013 23:10

I do think by the way, that it's a bit odd to pretend that different mods don't operate in different ways, some more trigger happy than others. You're not clones. Justine acknowldeged as much on the recent discussion thread.

OP posts:
BriarcliffBelle · 05/12/2013 23:10

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

usualsuspect · 05/12/2013 23:11

It seems to me that some threads are now deleted because it's the easy option for MNHQ.

Which is fair enough if that's how you want to run the site now,but that will piss long standing posters off who know that moderation on here was not so heavy handed in the olden days.

SconeForAStroll · 05/12/2013 23:13

There was a time when people would deliberately rock up to a bunfighting thread and derail it with larkiness and banter. Then that became frowned upon.

It would seem like it might be worth reinstating this as a strategy to ease the pressure on hq.