The mods seem to be relaxing all the rules around here lately. Now, Samclem says that as long as it’s not a life or death matter, it’s allowed.
I would like some clarification on this. Is it now okay to ask for medical advice? And I would imagine since legal issues aren’t usually life or death, it’s okay to ask for legal advice here now, too?
From the FAQ:
We relaxed on closing zombie threads, a minor bit of housekeeping.
You probably won’t die or lose something serious if we let an old thread live on the board; you might if you’re foolish enough to look for answers concerning potentially serious situations without personally consulting real-life professionals.
Apples and oranges.
That doesn’t really answer the question,** TubaDiva**.
Here, Samclem says it’s okay to ask for medical advice, which has long been against board policy, as long as you put it in IMHO, not GQ. Is that correct?
I haven’t had to apply the rules very often because I’ve never moderated GQ, which is where these rules are usually enforced. But here’s the way I understand it: we discourage people from using the boards instead of consulting a doctor or lawyer. That’s just a bad idea because even though we have doctors and lawyers posting here, you may get very inaccurate advice if you don’t give people all the information about your situation. But if people are asking for more general information, especially they are already talking to a doctor or lawyer or vet, then there is no problem and the thread will probably be left alone. Does that help?
No, not really. In the linked thread, the OP complains of “severe pain”, and asks “what is wrong with me”? I had been under the impression all this time that requests for diagnoses was a no-no here, and frankly, I’m kind of pissed now, that I have spent all this money seeing real doctors all this time, when I could have just posted my problems in IMHO and gotten medical advice for free.
Plus there’s the lack of consistency in the rules on this board- what’s okay for some is not okay for others.
Anyone who is foolish enough to look to strangers on a message board when they have a serious problem probably deserves exactly what happens to them.
The rule on medical questions is a General Questions forum rule: Factual Questions Rules & FAQs - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board
There is no rule on the topic in IMHO. The language quoted by **TubaDiva ** is the rule for the rest of the board, except for General Questions.
IMHO has been host to numerous legal advice threads. In both cases, the IMHO moderators have the discretion to close threads. But they aren’t required to do so.
Gfactor
Administrator
I see, so anything goes on the rest of the board. I did not know that. Thanks for clearing that up.
You’re quite welcome.
Like most things, you get what you pay for. Free medical advice you get from a message board is worth exactly nothing.
Requests for diagnosis, in lieu of seeing a medical professional, are still not OK in General Questions. The rules are a bit more relaxed in IMHO.
I presume this means that you feel you personally were unfairly treated by having a thread about a medical issue closed. Could you link to it please?
No, not me personally. As I said, I see real doctors for medical problems. But over the years, I have seen all kinds of medical advice-seekers shot down and threads closed.
In past times we were more proactive about wanting to keep people safe. Some might even say “nanny-ish.” And we wanted to discourage armchair doctoring and amateur lawyering.
There’s also a big difference between soliciting information or diagnoses in General Questions and relating anecdotes/giving opinions/sharing personal experiences, as often happens in IMHO.
And when did “past times” come to an end? Yesterday? In 2005?
This reads like Alice the Goon is asking a valid question, and the mods are circling the wagons madly, trying to convince her that this policy has not been changed very much, until recently, when it has been made more flexible, although the policy has remained essentially consist throughout time. IOW, goobledegook served up quick and dirty.
I’ve seen threads shut down by the dozen, simply because they seemed to be asking for some sort of general medical guidelines, now you’re saying that asking for specific, but non-life threatening medical advice is just jim-dancy. Are you seriously asking for a cite for medical-advice threads you’ve closed down in the past, while admitting that you’ve been accused of being nannyish in your policy against such threads?
Puh- lease.
Here’s the official board policy as of November 2008: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=10406759&postcount=7
And I noted the distinction between the General Questions rule and the board policy about a year ago, here: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=11523155&postcount=22
And, exactly as if you give a shit, here’s just one cite from this spring of a thread being closed in IMHO for soliciting medical advice on a non-life-threatening problem:
Just out of curiosity, BTW, how was Samclem able to discern for a fact that Cubsfan didn’t have a cancerous tumor in his leg that required an immediate visit to a board-certified MD? Coulda been life-threatening, you know.
Which proves:
And is consistent with **Ed’**s post from November 2008.
Know what–he/we DO give a shit. Life ain’t perfect.
Part of mod powers. We get them when we’re “made.” Pretty incredible, actually. Why, right now, I can see by your post that you…Sorry, I"ve said enough. :eek:
I really don’t get how you’re any better off allowing medical threads in IMHO. The whole problem is legal, as indicated by the various other dangerous topics that are left open. Why do you think someone who was going to sue for advice in GQ would not sue for advice given in IMHO?
We are constantly told that a suit doesn’t even have to have grounds–if there’s any legal trouble at all, this place will be shut down. While I’ve always thought admitting that was a recipe for disaster, so far, it’s worked out. What I fail to understand is why medical threads would work out in IMHO, but not in GQ.
It seems to me that, for something like this, you should have very specific rules, and not rely on mod discretion, which is highly volatile. You can’t even always depend on the same mod to make the same decision with the same information.
They’re not. This whole thing is just mods covering for the bad decision of another mod. In other words, standard operating procedure around here.
Yeah, whatever. SOP is to stand on the fence and piss while turning circles?