Why was my post/thread locked/deleted?

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Re: Why was my post/thread locked/deleted?

Postby HarpingCarp » Fri May 17, 2013 8:28 am

I second what the other mods have already said.
However, I'd like to elaborate on a few points and add a couple more that I feel are necessary to follow in the "Current Affairs and Serious Stuff" forum.

Here are some of my (personal) criteria for locking a topic or warning a user:

Opinion vs. Perspective

I'd consider a lock or a warning when a topic eventually is whittled down to exploring a specific person's opinions as opposed to questioning and debating their perspective. This really becomes an issue of "X camp vs Z camp" which, frankly, is terribly boring to witness and be a part of. Feel free to question conditioning, feel free to question our social construct, feel free to dig deeper into why we form the opinions we do, but once the debate is about "This is my opinion about X topic, I challenge you to change my mind", it's already beyond discussion. There is no room for the discussion to grow.

That's my problem with posting extremely loaded topics, if the answer to what you personally seek is painfully evident to you, then what's the point of the discussion? Remember, no one "wins" a discussion, you don't go home and tell your mother you won a discussion on the internet. It never is about sneaking the right point in for internet glory. For me, a discussion is about questioning my own motives, where I come from and get a better understanding of myself. It pushes me to dig deep and critically analyze my own perspective. Call me selfish or cynical, but at the end of the day the only thing I can take away from any discussion is the way I reacted to it. That's the only reason debate on any topic still goes on. Special brownie points if you manage to slip in a dick joke or two.


Stay on Topic

This one is especially important when it comes to dealing with volatile issues. I'd rather Godwin be delayed or denied rather than welcomed. And I would warn against shoehorning your own agenda into a seemingly unrelated topic.

Repeating Yourself

aviel wrote:Okay, those are some nice criteria, though I'd like to specify that I only repeat myself if I've been ignored, not if somebody disagrees with me. For all I know, I made a convincing point and the other person didn't even hear it. I think that's reasonable: we aren't obligated to never say something ever again if a person misses it, right?


I request you to not to repeat yourself over and over again, regardless of whether the other person chose to willfully ignore it. That's why we have moderators, we'll jump in and guide the discussion. If we feel a particular point was missed, we'll bring it up. Please don't take it upon yourself to keep hammering in the same point.


Those are some of the issues I could think of now, if there are some more, I'll make sure to add it.

I'd like to stress on the fact that these points are more or less exclusive to the "Current Affairs and Serious Stuff" board. Simply because we are talking about a lot of sensitive issues there and a lot of what is said is taken seriously. The same criteria does not apply to other boards.

Apologies for not being clear on that thread, I was going to address it sooner rather than later, I just have a lot on my plate currently.
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Re: Why was my post/thread locked/deleted?

Postby Learned Nand » Fri May 17, 2013 7:52 pm

Those seem mostly reasonable, but I have a small objection: maybe you don't win discussion, but you can resolve them. That's occasionally (albeit not often) a victory in which another person admits he's wrong and you're correct. More usually it's a lopsided middle ground (i.e. one party is mostly right with some small caveats or considerations). When you lock a thread, you should do so knowing you're preventing a resolution.
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Re: Why was my post/thread locked/deleted?

Postby Lindvaettr » Fri May 17, 2013 7:59 pm

The issue in the thread in particular question, the Gay Marriage Thread, doesn't really come down to preventing a resolution. There were points to be made, and those points were made. I was involved in the thread, too, if you recall, and I dropped out of it when I realized it was going in circles. Regardless of whether points were being ignored and repeated, or repeated for the sake of repetition and arguing, the same arguments were being made constantly, with no new points or discussion topics being added. I feel that I can safely say that there was going to be no resolution to that particular thread. It's unfortunate, but that's really the way it is.

If a thread spends days being posted in, but all the posts are making the same argument, it's just distracting from other, more productive discussions. When the same posters keep making the same arguments, and no one else is contributing in any meaningful way, a thread is always going to be locked, and will stay locked. It isn't preventing a resolution if there's no resolution to be had.
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Re: Why was my post/thread locked/deleted?

Postby deathknight928 » Fri May 17, 2013 10:13 pm

Well I do disagree that no new points were being made. Heck I just got shown a (sarcastic) list of 10 talking points. I was about to address the video. And I was waiting to hear a response on how gay marriage is not protected by the 14th amendment. But again what's done is done. Most forums wouldn't even allow a "why did my thread get locked" thread.
But I can see your point. In a philosophical argument such as this there will really rarely be winners. All I was hoping to achieve was for everyone to gain some perspective on the other's side of the issue.
We could actually have actually debates with rules and a mod for a judge. But I think simply discussing different view points in a calm and respectful manner is enough.
Guiding the debate is great. I would hate to see another debate get cut short but honestly this one could have gone on forever and had most of the forum howling for my blood! No Ill will all around I hope. So till next time.
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Re: Why was my post/thread locked/deleted?

Postby Rebo » Fri May 17, 2013 10:32 pm

After reading this thread, it is clear that both sides are unable to agree. The only reasonable action is to lock this thread.

(I'll save you the trouble- )
Image -by Strant


Seriously, I hate when threads get locked. Just despise it. I understand when they completely devolve, but otherwise it is just aggravating. I think it would be worth considering creating a subforum where people can argue over pointless things forever and ever. Make it REAL CLEAR that flaming isn't OK, and anything NSFW, but otherwise, leave it basically unmoderated. Put a big bold warning on it so new people don't get confused. I mean, if we are being honest, that is one of the biggest problems people have with PWoT.

Finally, I want to know why these posts were deleted -

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Re: Why was my post/thread locked/deleted?

Postby Learned Nand » Fri May 17, 2013 11:03 pm

First, new points were being made. Second, I was offering a general consideration: know that when you're locking a thread, you're removing any possibility of a resolution.

But Rebo also brings up a good point. Let's say the thread's going nowhere. So? What advantage does locking it bring? Clearly the people in the thread don't mind carrying on, and whether it's locked or just a long thread, other people are unlikely to join. So why lock it?
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Terry Pratchett wrote:The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it.

Click for a Limerick
OrangeEyebrows wrote:There once was a guy, Aviel,
whose arguments no one could quell.
He tested with Turing,
his circuits fried during,
and now we'll have peace for a spell.
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