# Did a thread get completely deleted?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-thread-get-completely-deleted/964387
**Category:** About This Message Board
**Created:** [May 13, 2022, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-thread-get-completely-deleted/964387 "2022-05-13T20:54:31Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2022, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-thread-get-completely-deleted/964387/1 "2022-05-13T20:54:31Z")
I recently posted a message in a thread about relationships and differing risk assessment with respect to Covid.
I could tell from the response after my post that the thread was likely going to be derailed. The OP was… fairly combative.
A moment ago I saw a numbered notification on my user profile and when I followed the link I got an error, and now nothing about it shows up in my user profile.
But I wasn’t aware that threads just got deleted completely. I am disappointed that I spent some time on a response that I think was decent and it’s just gone. I don’t know where it went, but I’ve seen some pretty nasty stuff get locked and stay up.
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### Author:  [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2022, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-thread-get-completely-deleted/964387/2 "2022-05-13T20:57:24Z")
It is in the cornfield. The user was banned. For being a “[spammer, sock or troll](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/registration-agreement-rules-and-faq/823562/3)”.
updated to clarify with link and more exact verbiage
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### Author:  [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2022, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-thread-get-completely-deleted/964387/3 "2022-05-13T21:14:58Z")
“He was a bad man! He was a very bad man!“
Stranger
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2022, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-thread-get-completely-deleted/964387/4 "2022-05-13T21:16:15Z")
Heh. I could actually kinda relate. I only read the OP, but was planning on going back.
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### Author:  [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2022, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-thread-get-completely-deleted/964387/5 "2022-05-13T21:20:52Z")
You saved me from replying.
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### Author:  [@Mr.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.E)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2022, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-thread-get-completely-deleted/964387/6 "2022-05-14T00:22:00Z")
Yeah I saw that post before it had no replies and was wondering what had become of it. Probably for the best, I couldn’t imagine a thread based on the tone and content of that rant going anywhere good. One of a few instances today I’ve seen of folks telling people online what they should be keeping with their therapists.
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### Author:  [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2022, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-thread-get-completely-deleted/964387/7 "2022-05-14T00:24:46Z")
For the uninitiated: a thread is never deleted per se: the mods have their own private forum for such silliness (the “cornfield” **WE** alluded to above; depending on who you talk to, said term was inspired by either Field of Dreams, Children of the Corn, or the old Twilight Zone ep. It’s A Good Life). HTH.
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### Author:  [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2022, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-thread-get-completely-deleted/964387/8 "2022-05-14T01:55:15Z")
I’ve always thought it was a Twilight Zone reference.
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### Author:  [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2022, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-thread-get-completely-deleted/964387/9 "2022-05-14T02:08:38Z")
Definitely from _The Twilight Zone_:
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxTMbIxEj-E)
Stranger
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### Author:  [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2022, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-thread-get-completely-deleted/964387/10 "2022-05-14T03:03:14Z")
You’ve been on this forum for over 20 years, made 14,000+ posts, and you’ve never seen this happen before? It’s a frequent event. I’ve had threads I was following disappear a hundred times, at least a dozen while I was drafting a response.
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### Author:  [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2022, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-thread-get-completely-deleted/964387/11 "2022-05-14T03:10:00Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#):
>
> I’ve always thought it was a Twilight Zone reference.
But the Twilight Zone episode was based on the acclaimed 1953 sci-fi short story, _It’s a Good Life_, by Jerome Bixby.
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2022, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-thread-get-completely-deleted/964387/12 "2022-05-14T12:28:23Z")
(S)he Who Mods Behind The Rows
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### Author:  [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2022, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-thread-get-completely-deleted/964387/13 "2022-05-14T15:22:08Z")
Truly. I’ve seen lots of things get locked. I don’t often follow threads that closely (I’ll just open what looks interesting, or respond if I see a notice that someone has responded to me) so maybe they disappeared and I just didn’t notice. Maybe I just don’t usually participate in the more contentious ones?
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### Author:  [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2022, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-thread-get-completely-deleted/964387/14 "2022-05-14T15:41:29Z")
golf clap
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### Author:  [@SpacemanSpiff\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpacemanSpiff_II)
#### Post date: [May 16, 2022, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-thread-get-completely-deleted/964387/15 "2022-05-16T14:53:56Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#):
>
> The user was banned. For being a troll or sock.
How is it possible that you had enough confidence that the guy was a troll or sock to ban the guy over it, but still can’t tell which it is?
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### Author:  [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)
#### Post date: [May 16, 2022, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-thread-get-completely-deleted/964387/16 "2022-05-16T14:59:38Z")
Maybe **WE?** didn’t do the investigation or banning? I don’t think he’s one of the QZ moderators.
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### Author:  [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)
#### Post date: [May 16, 2022, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-thread-get-completely-deleted/964387/17 "2022-05-16T15:21:44Z")
Correct, also generic statements are generally better as we don’t like to assist Trocks in their future endeavors.
Though for Trocks and Socks, the forum doesn’t really matter. Unless it is an obvious troll, it usually takes a few mods to a majority of mods to make the banning decision. It depends on many factors, especially active time on the board
FTR: I did the cornfielding once the user was banned.
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### Author:  [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)
#### Post date: [May 16, 2022, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-thread-get-completely-deleted/964387/18 "2022-05-16T19:30:43Z")
I think the response is based on the following rule, from this post:
> [@Terms of Service and FAQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/registration-agreement-rules-and-faq/823562/3):
>
> Q: I’m a new user and I have not received my confirmation email. What do I do? A: : If you do not receive your confirmation email within an hour or so after your initial registration, check your spam filter; often the confirmation email gets stuck there. If you do not find the confirmation email in the spam trap, contact engineer\_comp\_geek via e-mail at [EngineerCompGeek@gmail.com](mailto:EngineerCompGeek@gmail.com). Q: What’s the difference between Guest, Member, and Moderator? And what’s SDSAB? A: Guests are people who don’t…
> [@](#):
>
> Q: What happened to a particular thread or poster? They seem to be missing or banned without notice?
> A: **If you are curious about a particular thread or poster, please PM a moderator.** In probably 95% of such cases, the thread or poster that vanished was an attention-seeker – a spammer , sock, or troll. They’re out for any attention, even negative attention, and we don’t want to give it to them. They disappear, as do their posts. And as do posts about them. **Please do not post a public inquiry.**
**Emphasis** added.
In other words, the fate of trolls, socks, generalized miscreants, and their confielded posts is not supposed to be a topic of open discussion. The less said out loud about them the better.
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### Author:  [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)
#### Post date: [May 16, 2022, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-thread-get-completely-deleted/964387/19 "2022-05-16T20:56:16Z")
> [@gnoitall](#):
>
> In other words, the fate of trolls, socks, generalized miscreants, and their confielded posts is not supposed to be a topic of open discussion. The less said out loud about them the better.
Absolutely. The more info you give about how a person is identified makes it easier for them to evade you next time. And naming folks just gives them the attention they’re seeking with this behavior.
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### Author:  [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)
#### Post date: [May 16, 2022, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-thread-get-completely-deleted/964387/20 "2022-05-16T20:59:16Z")
Apologies, then. I honestly didn’t realize threads got disappeared, and figured ATMB to be the place to ask. The question has been answered and now I know, so we can let it go. I don’t care about the details; I just didn’t know that disappearing threads was a thing.
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