This isn’t really a complaint about the board or mods, but it’s not really ATMB material, either.
I’ve noticed a trend of late of deleting threads outright. In the past, threads were locked with an explanation, but now I’m seeing more and more threads (and, to a lesser extent, individual posts) outright deleted. Certainly some of them, like how to make cocaine in your bathroom sink, deserve it. But others? For example, B&B was obviously someone’s sock puppet, but out of his 13 posts (banned in 13 - well done!), only one remains. But of the two threads he started before he was banned that I read, neither seemed worthy of being deleted. Inane, insensitive, trollish, yes, but what was the element that brought about deletion? I’ve always thought it was a good idea to keep that stuff around for both amusement factor and as a warning/example of what not to do.
So what’s the deal? Is it new policy? Are the mods getting delete-happy? Just a phase? Is it a bandwidth issue?
why would you want to reward an obvious sock/troll with letting them continue to see their work product when you could simply delete it? This one in particular was such a flash in the pan (timing wise) that it’s likely that not a lot of attention had been garnered. The threads were short, only a couple of posts. And, I’m sure you’ve noticed the lure of locked threads. So, now, in this case the poster cannot even sit and watch w/glee while their work was viewed several dozen times, and then, of course asked about and commented on.
Dammit, wring beat me to most of the good points again!
One that I can add is that I think that it’ll frustrate the hell out of trolls for them to do whatever amount of work they do before a post only to have it vanish on them.
Not that I think they’re doing research or anything, but…
This could also be an bonus of additional administrative options available due to a faster board. When the board’s slow, easier to lock; now that it’s cooking along (more often, anyway), more processing-intensive alternatives are available. Just a WAG.
Deletion certainly seems like a bucket of cold water on the egos of the Puppet Masters. I chanced onto an eruption of puppeteering just as it started, and while it was fun to watch, even participate in while it lasted, I don’t miss the threads. They didn’t contribute anything, except perhaps a bad example.
Question: If you reply to a thread which gets deleted, does your post count go down?
I deleted a couple of em because they were too stupid to live. And because I can. There’s plenty to read here that’s dumb enough to be funny, but those weren’t even funny. - Jill
We keep a very light finger on the “delete” key but sometimes it’s gotta be used for boring, masturbatory idiocies: wastes of server capacity and poster patience.
Envision if you will (gaaack, I sound like Rod Serling) the worst sterotypical chat room excesses you’ve ever read. Beavis and Butthead played for real, without the slightest self parody or awareness. Forget basic coherence, forget content; it’s grindingly STUPID and annoying.
I suspect we’re experiencing what journalists call the “silly season”. It’s hot, empty time weighs heavily on some folks and the results are…variable.
That’s basically it. Sometimes, too, you’ll come across a locked thread without explanation. Usually, but not always, it’s because the thread was started by a troll, or a troll was heavily involved in it. We don’t want to give the trolls/socks the attention they crave.