# What does it mean when a thread vanishes? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [January 15, 2022, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-when-a-thread-vanishes/957824 "2022-01-15T03:26:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-when-a-thread-vanishes/957824/1 "2022-01-15T03:26:00Z")
When a thread completely disappears what’s gong on? There isn’t even evidence that I responded to it in my activity log. I didn’t think there was anything trolling about it. The OP was concerned that his neighbors were letting their land get junky and the neighbor was acting weird and paranoid. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-when-a-thread-vanishes/957824/2 "2022-01-15T03:33:52Z")
The OP was likely a sock and all their posts and threads started were vanished. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-when-a-thread-vanishes/957824/3 "2022-01-15T03:37:13Z")
Wouldn’t it be better for a mod to post it was a sock and lock the thread so those of us that were following the thread aren’t left scratching our heads? BTW, how do they know when someone is a sock puppet? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-when-a-thread-vanishes/957824/4 "2022-01-15T03:39:45Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > BTW, how do they know when someone is a sock puppet? - The mods don’t like to talk about the different tells but writing style and/or a pet topic are pretty obvious. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-when-a-thread-vanishes/957824/5 "2022-01-15T03:45:19Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Wouldn’t it be better for a mod to post it was a sock and lock the thread so those of us that were following the thread aren’t left scratching our heads? Apparently not, since if that’s what they thought that’s probably what they’d do. The original rule was to PM a mod if you’re curious about the fate of a disappeared thread, because we don’t give socks and trolls any quarter. They cease to exist and are completly cast down the memory hole. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-when-a-thread-vanishes/957824/6 "2022-01-15T06:55:27Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > The mods don’t like to talk about the different tells but writing style and/or a pet topic are pretty obvious. I think it’s more common to check if their hair looks suspiciously like yarn. > [@gnoitall](#): > > The original rule was to PM a mod if you’re curious about the fate of a disappeared thread, This is still the rule, AFAIK. They don’t mind explaining to you in a PM, they just don’t usually do it publicly. > [@gnoitall](#): > > because we don’t give socks and trolls any quarter. They cease to exist and are completly cast down the memory hole. I don’t think this is usually true. There are any number of banned socks or trolls that you can still see all their posts and read their profiles. If the thread was corn-fielded, it’s probably something like a returning banned poster who has socked up multiple times. Yes, this is apparently a common thing, one that I don’t understand at all. At any rate, just PM a mod from that forum, they’ll tell you what it was about. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-when-a-thread-vanishes/957824/7 "2022-01-15T07:14:14Z")
Did you do a search for it? Sometimes people accidentally set a thread to muted–and if a thread is muted it seems to have vanished. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-when-a-thread-vanishes/957824/8 "2022-01-15T12:17:14Z")
But wouldn’t it still show on my activity log that I posted to it? Either way, thanks for all the responses. I thought I had gone daffy for a moment. All these years and I think this is the first time I noticed this happening. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-when-a-thread-vanishes/957824/9 "2022-01-15T12:53:06Z")
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**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-when-a-thread-vanishes/957824/10 "2022-01-15T12:53:55Z")
@pkbites I sent you a PM. Note to everyone, if you have a question about why a thread or a user disappeared, please contact a moderator via PM.