Why was this specific thread locked?

[LBTRS]

Originally Posted by Colt Cassidy

I agree. Observer is/was the best moderator C-D has ever had.

She grew into the role, the beginning was a bit rough for those around at that time. Used to open the forum and there would be 10 -15 closed threads at all times but that may have been her fellow moderator and not her. She ended up being a great moderator and wish she was still doing it for us.

[DetroitN8V]

They are all a bit heavy handed. This is a discussion forum and topics can stray a bit from the OP but still remain relevant. Censorship kills valuable discussion and they'll begin to lose traffic. Sounds like that may already be happening.

[PhoenixSomeday]

Originally Posted by RenW

If a thread is going to be locked it would be nice to have a message from the moderator indicating exactly why it was locked.

Originally Posted by Bondurant

As a matter of courtesy a moderator should indicate why a thread is being locked. In many cases I believe that happens.

REAL forums I've been to always do this, no matter how obvious it is. "It should be obvious" is a lazy excuse. Maybe it's someone wanting to hide behind anonymity (then again, maybe not). If the forum software was updated with a feature to automatically show who locked a topic, just watch how fast the admins would install a mod to "fix" that.

Originally Posted by JGMotorsport64

This board doesn't have a dedicated moderator. So we get stragglers who come in and close threads seemingly at random and also sanction people at random.

That last bit. If someone has time to worry about "OMG mild swear word!!!11one", they have an easy life and I hope I get to that point someday (the easy life, not the overly easily offended bit).

Originally Posted by madison999

This. A mid gets butt hurt and goes on a rampage closing threads for reasons unknown. You'll probably get a suspension for even asking.

The censorship and heavy-handedness is why I can't take any part of the leadership/admin/mod chain seriously. "You aren't allow to question what we do. If you do, we'll sanction and ban you." Do you know what kind of government and person that sounds like? Rhetorical question, because everyone knows. I continue to come here though because many of the posters and their info/advice are often very helpful and invaluable.

[animalcrazy]

Well lets not forget that the moderators aren't paid for reviewing threads. I was asked to be a moderator for which I declined. I simply can not devote that much time to reading all of those threads. Imagine the hours and hours of free time they give to keep the forums from turning into a hate fest. Ever been to the political forum? I think a lot of the mods are seniors. They look at things differently then a younger person would. Yes, I've seen a few that were too hard core and that stifles creativity. All in all I think they do a good job, and like with anything else you get for free, you have to take the good with the bad. Nothing is perfect and never will be.

[JGMotorsport64]

Originally Posted by animalcrazy

Well lets not forget that the moderators aren't paid for reviewing threads. I was asked to be a moderator for which I declined. I simply can not devote that much time to reading all of those threads. Imagine the hours and hours of free time they give to keep the forums from turning into a hate fest. Ever been to the political forum? I think a lot of the mods are seniors. They look at things differently then a younger person would. Yes, I've seen a few that were too hard core and that stifles creativity. All in all I think they do a good job, and like with anything else you get for free, you have to take the good with the bad. Nothing is perfect and never will be.

I don't think anybody is disagreeing with you.

[observer53]

Originally Posted by RenW

At the risk of getting this thread deleted and/or locked I do want to know why the below thread was locked.

https://www.city-data.com/forum/phoen...-thirties.html

It seemed like a valid question to me and I wanted to respond.

If a thread is going to be locked it would be nice to have a message from the moderator indicating exactly why it was locked.

Speaking of which are there stated rules of the forum somewhere?

The Rules are in the About the Forum section, at the bottom of the main forum page.


Sometimes, the mods don't explain why a thread is locked. I agree with you that it's better that they do. Sometimes, it's just temporary, to give the mod time to review the thread and remove or edit posts as appropriate. Since this forum doesn't have an assigned mod, it's hard to know who did it. And yes, it is a time consuming volunteer job.


And you are right, discussing moderation in the forums is one of the things that is prohibited under the rules.

[in_newengland]

https://www.city-data.com/forum/faq/

That's the mod list. It's located in About the Forum.

Since this forum is team moderated, I don't know why it was closed except that, looking back at that previous thread, it seems to have turned into a political fight somewhere on page 2. If things get too political, they need to go into Politics & Other Controversies, not in a state forum.

I hope that answers the questions and I will now close this thread. BTW, this kind of thread is also not allowed because it is "discussing moderator action." Read the rules in About the Forum. Instead of starting a thread like this, just ask any mod and they will look into it for you.