# Deleting obscenely titled posts **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [April 20, 2003, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deleting-obscenely-titled-posts/169836 "2003-04-20T11:20:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ChalkPit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@ChalkPit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChalkPit)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deleting-obscenely-titled-posts/169836/1 "2003-04-20T11:20:24Z")
I take it that once an obscene post in an improper forum has been replied to, this makes it impossible to delete completely ? IMHO Closing them isnt enough. They are still there, in the list. Just wondrin’ ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deleting-obscenely-titled-posts/169836/2 "2003-04-20T12:35:13Z")
There is always _the forum that cannot be named_. Seriously bad posts end up there, but it’s a lot of work for the already overworked hamsters, so mildly bad posts are just locked and drift gently down the page like a lead balloon ---
**Author:** ![Osip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4491bb/32.png) [@Osip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Osip)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deleting-obscenely-titled-posts/169836/3 "2003-04-20T13:33:39Z")
I have always wondered what determined when a Thread was deleted or when a thread is just closed. I have posted, started and/or seen threads where they enter the land of no more. (deleted) While others are locked and let to slide down the pages. I am not questioning why these threads are either a) deleted or b) just plain locked. I just wanted to know how the mods decided which to delete and which to just lock. thanks Osip ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deleting-obscenely-titled-posts/169836/4 "2003-04-20T19:02:57Z")
The question of whether to delete a thread or just lock it is determined by Rule 42(b)(iv)(3), which is too lengthy to quote here. Summarizing, however, we’d say common sense usually dictates – if the offending thread is something that should be seen by others as an example of what NOT to do, we’ll lock it. If there have been enough substantive comments and debate, for instance, we lock it. If there has been no substantive posting (e.g, if the only other posts are “I wonder how long this will last before a Mod sees it?”), then it vanishes. The vanishing process is complex, but involves anti-clockwise motion in the Northern Hemisphere. ---
**Author:** ![Osip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4491bb/32.png) [@Osip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Osip)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deleting-obscenely-titled-posts/169836/6 "2003-04-20T21:26:04Z")
Thanks I have a better understanding now. Bad useless threads _poof_ Bad threads that can still be an example of bad threads _locked_ Got it! ---
**Author:** ![Rockford](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac8455/32.png) [@Rockford](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rockford)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2003, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deleting-obscenely-titled-posts/169836/7 "2003-04-21T03:01:34Z")
So is there any way for non-moderators to access the erased threads forum? I know that what’s in there is there for a reason, but what if I was to sign some kind of contract saying that I couldn’t discuss anything that was in there? ---
**Author:** ![wolfstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2003, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deleting-obscenely-titled-posts/169836/8 "2003-04-21T03:11:52Z")
I highly doubt it, **Rockford**. First, your contract is pretty hard to enforce… second, the point of putting those threads out of view is to keep them from view. And most of it is probably just vitriol and spam. Oh, and the threads where they make fun of us. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2003, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deleting-obscenely-titled-posts/169836/9 "2003-04-21T04:05:57Z")
Having access to that forum on a different board, I can tell you that it’s depressing. Did you ever watch a real trainwreck of an argument that you weren’t involved in? They’re bad news. And yeah, an Admin. can give you individual access to such a forum – but why would they? The whole point on having a locked-off forum like that is to keep such threads out of public view. (What **Wolfstu** said.) BTW – we’re talking several different things here: a Mod. or Admin. can delete a thread entirely – just toss it in the “bit bucket” – and this is done where the hamsters hiccup and the same thread, say, “Can **Manhattan** swear when closing a thread?”, gets opened as a new thread two to five times instead of just once – the dupes go bye-bye. But anything substantive that needs to be closed down, temporarily or permanently, gets moved into a Mods-only area for discussion and probable dead storage. The effect to the rest of us is the same – thread X vanishes from human ken.