Questionable moderation?
Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)
Posts: 23,514
I really hate to have to post this, but there are two threads that I believe have been inappropriately moderated:
https://forums.parallax.com/discussion/168235/strange-phenomenon
This is a thread that I actually requested be sunk, since it had devolved considerably into valueless haranguing. However, I also requested that it be sunk with an explanation, not subversively. Unfortunately, the latter seems to have been done. May I remind the admins again, please, that stealth thread-sinking is just plain evil administrative behavior and should never be tolerated in an open forum. We forumistas, who contribute a wealth of information and assistance to this forum, deserve an explanation when any moderation takes place -- unless, of course, it's just to ban spammers, i.e. the scum of the earth.
https://forums.parallax.com/discussion/136714/what-are-some-good-gifts-for-the-wife
This thread was actually closed. I can't for the life of me figure out why. And, again, no explanation was given. I would hate to accuse the forum admins of arrogance or hubris, but actions like this do make it tempting.
So, you wascally admins, what's up with this stuff? And how can I convince you to moderate with a more open hand? Enguiring minds want to know!
Thanks,
-Phil
https://forums.parallax.com/discussion/168235/strange-phenomenon
This is a thread that I actually requested be sunk, since it had devolved considerably into valueless haranguing. However, I also requested that it be sunk with an explanation, not subversively. Unfortunately, the latter seems to have been done. May I remind the admins again, please, that stealth thread-sinking is just plain evil administrative behavior and should never be tolerated in an open forum. We forumistas, who contribute a wealth of information and assistance to this forum, deserve an explanation when any moderation takes place -- unless, of course, it's just to ban spammers, i.e. the scum of the earth.
https://forums.parallax.com/discussion/136714/what-are-some-good-gifts-for-the-wife
This thread was actually closed. I can't for the life of me figure out why. And, again, no explanation was given. I would hate to accuse the forum admins of arrogance or hubris, but actions like this do make it tempting.
So, you wascally admins, what's up with this stuff? And how can I convince you to moderate with a more open hand? Enguiring minds want to know!
Thanks,
-Phil
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
If not closed, the bot swarm would try again, and again, and again...
True enough. But still, an explanation for closing the thread was called for. Just banning the bot that reopened it and letting the thread live on would've been the more logical course of action, methinks.
-Phil
As for political correctness @Phil might be right that a comment to describe the reason for closing would be nice, but what should a Moderator write?
"Closed because not Parallax related"?
"Simply pay more attention to your wife, so you know what she MAY would like to have"?
I am really glad of the moderators we have here, this forum is the nicest one of all I visit, they do a tremendous job cleaning all the spam and bot entries.
But asking them to defend and comment every decision goes to far, methinks.
Mike
Firstly this is a technical forum so it's a good place to be setting straight technically incorrect ideas. I guess debunking over unity devices might be stretching a point, unless they use Parallax products.
Secondly the thread was not opennened with the intention to discuss a "Magic Discovery about hydrogen". The question in the OP was about Van Ver Waals forces and what effect magnetism may have on them. Which I think is pretty interesting.
I'm not going to worry about the ""what gift I can give to my wife" thread.
As for the OT threads. Well nothing much interesting is happening here. We either stay and chat about nothing or move on. Forumistas that move on don't usually return, and we've lost way too many of them!!!
Sometimes the slightly off-topic threads have value; I happened to learn about gauge blocks and "wringing" thanks to the "Strange phenomenon" thread.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gauge_block
C.W.
Moderators follow the rules published at this forum, so you can always refer to those for some explanation of your questions. If there are certain rules you'd like changed, then please contact Parallax directly, or use the moderators@parallax.com email address.
Whilst I dislike citing rules as an answer (solutions are better), it is true that one of the rules states that threads may be moderated without notice. You have to consider that moderators are busy, and we don't always have time to wrap our actions in a pretty box, with a bow on top. (Although most times we do try).
At the end of the day, it is clear that those topics are not what this forum needs to focus on, and also contain some unpleasant undertones. Sometimes these sorts of threads need to be closed, and we move on. I think the OP of one of those threads also made very clear that he felt the topic was pushing the limits of acceptable content here!
Come on Phil! Please don't burden your mind too much on these things, and go do something fun and interesting today instead!
I'm off to do some gauge block wringing experiments.
I don't have any gauge blocks to hand but I do have some very flat and very smooth surfaces, the platters out of old hard drives. I think it would be neat if one could demonstrate some Van Ver Waals forces with those.
Don't worry. I wasn't planning to make a big deal of it beyond stating (again) that it's a policy I don't like. I promise not to bring it up again unless I feel it's being wielded abusively, but I don't expect that to happen.
Have you ever opened a box of brand-new microscope slides?
Alright, folks, move along. Nothing to see here!
-Phil
Yeah well I'm off to invent some Gecko gloves and shoes so I can scale walls like Spiderman....see where these OT threads can lead?
But now you mention it, I recall some weird stickiness going on between glass plates when I was a kid. They were for medium format camera transparencies I think. Certainly Van Ver Waals was not in my head at that age.
@Mickster, I see what you mean. I'd better keep my experiments secret, in my secret bunker. Otherwise DARPA and the Man will me hunting me down for their human Gecko project.
Gonna make a zillion bucks off these babies and fund the P3. Then I'm gonna come here and say "how do you like me now?"
I always thought the glass thing was a vacuum?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_contact_bonding
Aarrgh I'm too late!
Yes, kudo's to the Mods for generally being fair and giving people the benefit of the doubt.
Thread sinking/closing is just as lame now as it was a couple/several years ago at the last update in my POV.
That this is still happening though a good percentage of people have expressed distaste for it means someone at Parallax feels there is some need for this behind the scenes manipulation.
I've noticed very few threads closed or sunk outside of spam, so either I am dense, or this option is rarely used.
So if it is rare, why exactly is it such a big deal for a Mod to add hitting the Reply button to type in a sentence before hitting the button to Close the thread?
Literally 10 seconds of additional work, done -rarely-.
A Mod took time to make a decision, then took time to sink or close a thread, however he doesn't have time to communicate to us exactly why he is shutting down a conversation?
"Too busy" Sure, now pull the other one.
If a Mod can't simply point to a TOS violation, then its just as likely that the real reason is they're tired of a discussion taking place, disagree with it, or perhaps the person who started it or is most active.
Of course we'll never know, because once or twice a week that extra 10 seconds is just a bridge to far to expect from someone who's a volunteer I guess.
This feels very Apple forums/Facebooky
@Heater, why is it always "the MAN"? That could be considered biased old school thought. It could be the ________ (place selected gender identity here).
If 10 seconds was all at stake, then I wouldn't disagree with you.
Too busy - actually YES.
Imagine this.... Right now we are finishing a major new product. It's a huge elaborate puzzle, which requires total focus and concentration.
Along side that... The forums need checking often, to keep things clean and tidy for the community- (this morning already deleted 6 spammers for example, etc.. etc..). That can mostly be done without distracting my thoughts (without losing place in my work flow, so to speak), as simple binary tasks here require mainly experienced judgment, not thought. It's a win-win for everybody (we can work and have a safe, clean, tidy forum community together)
However- to formulate replies (of any sort), does involve thought, which does distract. Furthermore, some replies can lead you into an endless pit of further replies. It's easy to lose a lot of time- far more than 10 seconds. And getting back into a work-flow once concentration has been broken is usually far more time costly. Bottom line- sometimes we can't just give that time away- AND especially not when the thread in question has established members (who know very well the rules here) being rude to one another, or blatantly ignoring rules about content- even essentially discussing between themselves that they are in violation. If one doesn't respect the community and moderators in their actions, then it probably shouldn't be demanded in reciprocation!
That said, and in general, we do try to keep things open (and most times we succeed - as is the Parallax ethos), but the rules clearly state we don't need to for good reason- as experience shows that on occasion that is the best way. Often posting warnings also inflames reciprocal comments which need further moderation, and cause distraction for a lot of members.
Back to this topic, all I can say is thank you for all the feedback- which has most certainly been noted- and I'd ask that any further requests or questions about the rules should be sent to moderators@parallax.com, or directly to your preferred Parallax contact. The moderators are happy to listen, to help, do our best for the community, and follow the rules set by Parallax here.
With regard this thread, I will ask your indulgences today, and will close it now. You will all understand in a few weeks why distractions are not our guests right now! -critically so! And I hope you accept this closure so we can focus on creating stuff- although feel free to PM me or any other mods if you have questions.
Michael.
ps. If you want to carry on the OT side debate about microscope glass/etc.. , then please do that in a new thread.