Locks and deletes

[Joe Friday]

I guess this is an open question to the moderators.

Why is everyone so quick to lock/delete threads? Most of the “heated” conversations either get locked or just disappear into the ether.

The more dialog the better - and dialog sometimes breeds disagreement. As long as a topic doesn't degrade into personal attacks and name calling, then I don't see the problem with letting a topic live on. As said in the FAQ by Ceobob, “Disagreement often leads to informative, lively, and meaningful discussion of the issues.”

If the powers-that-be with this discussion-forum want to have, well, more discussion – then why not let topics continue as long as they remain civil? Disagreements, topic diversions and arguments happen in real life. Life cannot be completely sterilized of these; I doubt a discussion forum like this can be either.

In the end, less thread locking/thread disappearances would help to build a more loyal audience base and encourage more content contribution.

Thanks,
-Joe

[dmclark]

Joe: From my perspective, as long as things are civil, there's no sweat. Continual postings can't exceed 6 pages and only other reason would be the obvious hijacking of the thread.

Most shutdowns I've seen are due to civility. And that's posted AND PMd. DM

[DelC]

. . . Why is everyone so quick to lock/delete threads? Most of the “heated” conversations either get locked or just disappear into the ether.

The more dialog the better - and dialog sometimes breeds disagreement. As long as a topic doesn't degrade into personal attacks and name calling, then I don't see the problem with letting a topic live on. . . . why not let topics continue as long as they remain civil? . . . “The primary purpose of this message board is to give members the opportunity to ask questions and furnish information pertaining to law enforcement hiring processes and other criminal justice issues.”

We do let topics continue on as long as they remain civil and stay relevant to the subject matter of the Thread starter post.

Having said that, let me say this; I’ve never seen a “heated” conversations stay civil on this board. And, I’ve been here almost since the beginning. (My posted Join Date is not accurate) Almost always, disagreements turn into personal attacks, name-calling or uncalled for, spiteful remarks, such as; “Want a cookie?”, etc.

As far as, “Disagreement often leading to informative, lively, and meaningful discussion of the issues”; (which is all well and good in theory) I have to say, in most cases the opposite happens. From what I’ve seen, most LEO’s have a tendency to be very defensive about their ideals, about their profession, about LE in general, etc, etc. It seems to be the nature of the beast.

Plus, this board was not intended to be a debate board. Thus, those that want to use it as such would be better off going somewhere else. So, we encourage them to do so. To do otherwise would be a disservice to the purpose of this board.

Hope this answers your question.

[krellum]

As long as a topic doesn't degrade into personal attacks and name calling, then I don't see the problem with letting a topic live on

Just going to add - the only threads I've ever locked were ones where it DID get to the personal attack-phase. I have yet to see a thread get shut down while it was still civil (other than for unrelated reasons such as irrelevance to the original topic, digging up a thread that's been dead for a while, etc.).

You have to remember that sometimes, ya'll may simply see your last civil post and then a message from a mod that says "thread closed", causing some head-scratching and some questioning as to why it was shut down. What you often DON'T see are the nasty comments or the personal insults that we deleted and which caused the thread to be closed to begin with. It's not us who caused the thread to go away - it's the person who lost their professional cool (and usually their posting priveleges at the same time).

k

[wannaBatf]

While we are on the subject, I have a question for the moderators...

I had a post deleted and I am guessing it was because I mentioned the name of a "well-known satellite TV provider." I was just mentioning how nice it is now a days to be able to watch your football team even when you are outside the viewing area...I apologize if I broke the rules, I was by no means advertising, just having a friendly conversation about football. :D

[ksallin]

Can people be unbanished from the board? I don't plan on being banished; I'm just curious about whether or not it can happen.

[DelC]

Can people be unbanished from the board? . . . Yes, they can, but I've never seen it happen. However, the ban can be 30-days, 60-days, 6-mo's, 1-year or forever.

[DelC]

I had a post deleted and I am guessing it was because I mentioned the name of a "well-known satellite TV provider." Did you just "mention" the provider, or did you insert a live link? (See Below)
------------------------------
Rules of the Board - Rule B-1

B. PROHIBITED CONTENT

1. Links to Commercial or Controversial Websites: Please do not post active links to these types of websites unless the information is requested by a member in a prior post.

.

[wannaBatf]

Nope, no link...just mentioned it.

It's really not a big deal, I was just curious...

[ATF SAC]

If you don't get a pm or the mod doesn't leave a note in the thread, your disappeared post may be board gremlins. Happens from time to time that the mods go looking for a missing post and just wind up scratching our heads.

Some topics are going to be closed almost whenever they start. Polygraph unfair threads, X agency sucks theads are finished almost as soon as a mod comes across them. At the same time, there have been threads on abortion, racism, gun control, politics and religion that went on for weeks because folks talked about the issue and not each other. Probably a good way for folks to look at this is that we are like the Booster Club for the Recruiting Office. The mods may talk a little trash about the job from time to time, but don't forget that each of us is at the bottom a junkyard dog for our agency and the profession.