As far as deleting of individual posts is concerned: I don’t understand what the uproar is about. I am not offended by language, content, etc. If a post is making an actual, valid point…I read it. If someone is attacking, swearing, trolling, etc. for the express purpose of throwing a tantrum or flaming someone…I don’t read the post. EASY!! If I come to the pit and check out threads I may find some interesting topics, I may find pointless rants. Some or all of the posts may be informative or enlightening, others may be, in my opinion, childish foot-stomping. Whatever it is, I expect to see offensive entries in this forum. I simply skip the posts that have nothing to do with anything outside the person doing the spewing. Regarding the present target…I may have found flaming or playing devil’s advocate to often be the case with Con #3; I choose to approach his/her (sorry, I don’t know which) posts with “awareness”. If I sense flaming…I skip it…if I don’t…I read with the expectation that there is a point, not with the assumption that it’s crap. Just as I would anyone else. I don’t need someone else to protect me from this. I do, however, appreciate the fact that they can and do delete posts that are clearly nothing more that personal attacks. These do nothing but degrade the threads and prevent an open exchange of actual thought. I also know that moderators have to power to delete, so if they choose to be offended by language or ideas, they will do so. If any of these people were actually face to face with someone they would attempt some other, more immediate, way to “erase” what was said. (if they could get away with it)
BTW: I have been turning this whole thing over in my head this past week, spending time at other forums and lurking around here. It’s been good. I have a new perspective on SD and, with that in mind, have decided to continue to frequent these boards. Those moderators that enjoy wielding power, sticking blindly to a decision or who have personal agendas will continue to use (or not) policies and guidelines arbitrarily, to those ends. Those that don’t, won’t likely start. While there are some folks that I have been disappointed by, there are, by far, many more that I enjoy conversing with (although some aren’t around much these days, I think they might be lurking too, and maybe will return)and even more I have yet to meet. I figure; ignorance still needs to be fought, we just need to realize that it exists everywhere, even among the staff and “powers” at SD. They are, after all, the minority here. (I say that only because they have chosen to present themselves as a group with a collective mind, in terms of each other. They mustn’t ever disagree in public.) So what? I have found the members here to be, consistantly, far more enlightening and enjoyable. The exceptions to that were Melin and Jill. Ones gone and the other showed a side I hadn’t seen before. Maybe it’s always been there and I didn’t see it…maybe she, like most of us, has too much emotion tied up in the topic in question…maybe her and Melin had other problems and this was a catalyst. Who knows?
I have found some interesting and worthwhile forums that can provide what this doesn’t. So, when I want to engage in a specific serious, open dicussion, without being flamed, attacked or deleted, that’s where I will go. I will continue to attempt those same types of discussions here, with lesser expectations for now. Though, I realize that a lot of problems could be solved if folks would take the time to read an entire thread b/4 jumping in with knee-jerk responses.
It would all be so much simpler if one could
if we took things in context…oh well…
Just a Dreamer