Closing Threads - A question

TGS · 06-09-2010, 05:59 AM

Netseeker said, when closing a thread recently:

Quote:

MobileRead, (including its moderators), does not welcome its forums being used to express political views and ideologies by all available means and at any perceived opportunity.

If you take this seriously then why wasn't the thread closed after Post #1 - which contained ideological and political statements no less than any other post in the thread - albeit more genteelly expressed than some others - rather than waiting until Post #335?

netseeker · 06-09-2010, 08:13 AM

Very reasonable question, i know. I asked myself the same question when i closed the thread finally.

We moderators are'nt robots and can't read any new thread immediately. And even if we do, then there is still a fine line between censorship and moderation. We have (and want) to be very careful in such situations and try to take every post with a pinch of salt. Such situations are not just a matter of good or bad. There is no pure "right or wrong" and our posting guidelines are, well, just guidelines that leave enough scope in both directions. The lounge, where "friendly banter and discussions unrelated to e-books" takes place, is naturally a especially difficult section in this regard.

If you really want take such a closing message seriously then please consider too what happened before such a message was posted. We have a "tactic" which was called "informal policy of eternal optimism" recently.

Almost all of our actions are discussed in the moderators suite first and closing a thread is one of the last options. Before closing a thread we usually send private messages to certain members regarding our concerns and/or post warning comments ("Play nice messages"). If nothing helps then we have to close such threads.

MobileRead is our all baby and we have to take care of it together, right? I like the idea of trusting any MobileRead member doing the right thing in such situations (discussions). Sometimes this doesn't work unfortunately. That's life and then one of us moderators has to step in. And yes, even moderators can be wrong (at least i know that i'm not perfect) but we are learning every day and we try to do the right things.

TGS · 06-09-2010, 08:30 AM

Thanks for your considered reply netseeker. Hope I didn't give the impression that I am not appreciative of the difficulty, nay impossibility, of Mods being right in everyone's eyes all the time, nor of the time and effort you all put into this place.

As I pointed out somewhere in the thread, the Lounge is intended for "friendly banter and discussions unrelated to e-books", and sometimes I think it's the tone rather than the topic that gets out of hand.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Closing The Gap	indie	Self-Promotions by Authors and Publishers	6	09-25-2010 02:04 AM
Closing duplicate threads.	daffy4u	Feedback	41	12-12-2009 12:15 AM
Closing Threads	tompe	Feedback	21	03-22-2009 10:29 AM
iLiad How to get 2.7.1 without closing holes	Mike Kostousov	iRex Developer's Corner	7	10-25-2006 01:17 PM

06-09-2010, 08:13 AM	#2
netseeker sleepless reader Posts: 4,763 Karma: 615547 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Germany, near Stuttgart Device: Sony PRS-505, PB 360° & 302, nook wi-fi, Kindle 3	Very reasonable question, i know. I asked myself the same question when i closed the thread finally. We moderators are'nt robots and can't read any new thread immediately. And even if we do, then there is still a fine line between censorship and moderation. We have (and want) to be very careful in such situations and try to take every post with a pinch of salt. Such situations are not just a matter of good or bad. There is no pure "right or wrong" and our posting guidelines are, well, just guidelines that leave enough scope in both directions. The lounge, where "friendly banter and discussions unrelated to e-books" takes place, is naturally a especially difficult section in this regard. If you really want take such a closing message seriously then please consider too what happened before such a message was posted. We have a "tactic" which was called "informal policy of eternal optimism" recently. Almost all of our actions are discussed in the moderators suite first and closing a thread is one of the last options. Before closing a thread we usually send private messages to certain members regarding our concerns and/or post warning comments ("Play nice messages"). If nothing helps then we have to close such threads. MobileRead is our all baby and we have to take care of it together, right? I like the idea of trusting any MobileRead member doing the right thing in such situations (discussions). Sometimes this doesn't work unfortunately. That's life and then one of us moderators has to step in. And yes, even moderators can be wrong (at least i know that i'm not perfect) but we are learning every day and we try to do the right things.

06-09-2010, 08:30 AM	#3
TGS Country Member Posts: 9,058 Karma: 7676767 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Denmark Device: Liseuse: Irex DR800. PRS 505 in the house, and the missus has an iPad.	Thanks for your considered reply netseeker. Hope I didn't give the impression that I am not appreciative of the difficulty, nay impossibility, of Mods being right in everyone's eyes all the time, nor of the time and effort you all put into this place. As I pointed out somewhere in the thread, the Lounge is intended for "friendly banter and discussions unrelated to e-books", and sometimes I think it's the tone rather than the topic that gets out of hand.

Advert