Moderator/Administrator abuse of power v. Deletion/Moving

Moderators and Administrators have the ability to delete threads and posts or move threads, in rather limited circumstances (or at least this is the impression I have been given). However, I don't believe it is and I know it should not be possible for mods and admins to delete or move threads or delete posts for personal reasons, as regular users are not afforded this particular ability.

We all make mistakes and occasionally post things that we regret later. It is par for the course when it comes to posting on a message board. When you come to regret the things you have said, you can have the thread locked and, possibly, the content from your post removed. It is not so easy, however, to have your thread deleted entirely. For this reason, I do not believe it should be possible for a mod or admin who makes the same mistake (as recently occurred on the JCC) and then use his/her mod powers to do anything that would not be allowed for a normal user. (In this case, deletion of the thread.)

I know that in special cases, moderating teams have decided that it would be in the best interest of their forum to delete threads, but as far as I know these sorts of decisions are made after some discussion and not just by one person.

I am not familiar with official policy on thread deletion, but I know that as users, we are not encouraged to ask for such services from our moderators and I am under the impression that the general rule is that threads will not be deleted upon request. Is this still the policy of the JC? Has this policy been changed recently or is the moderating team planning to make any changes to this policy?

 

I'm sorry but I fundamentally disagree.

When I'm head admin, I fully intend to delete at least 50% of threads posted. Not my own, granted, and mostly with the justification that they're not about poop or gorillas fighting bears but - even so - if this results in some policy that limits mod powers in the future, I will be disgruntled.

Also, I feel that someone who installs keyloggers on family computers is definitely someone who can be trusted to behave responsibly with mod privileges. It shows Good Judgement

 

I want every embarrassing thread I've ever made, deleted immediately. It should take me a few days to compile said list, but I want it taken care of, after submitting, stat.

 

FYI, the mod in question was NOT the one that moved the thread.

 

What's the policy on users requesting their threads deleted? I'm not sure I've ever seen it happen before.

 

It sounds to me like you're upset a problem was fixed in a timely matter.

 

We can request to have embarrassing threads moved?

 

Post/thread editing/deletion will depend on the content contained therein.

Edit: Because SLG's post appeared between the phone call I took: It will depend on the contents of the thread. What is it that is contained in the thread and is it a fair thing to leave out there publically or should it go? By its very nature that is something that can only be assessed on a case-by-case basis, as are any requests that people make for the editing of content from their posts are.

 

No, because I've seen it requested several times and flat out denied. And of course HE didn't move it, but why do admins get special treatment?

I'm glad the thread is gone, but seriously it should never have been made in the first place, especially by the person who made it. I can't believe he could be so blatantly stupid as to think that he could post something like that in the JCC, especially when he's posted similar things in the past, without getting criticized.

Like I said, I'm glad it's gone, but I think if a regular user had posted it, it would have been locked at request and allowed to float down.

I like it when mods and users can be open about certain aspects of their personal lives, but imo, that thread was inappropriate from the start, and since mods are supposed to be held up to higher standards, I think maybe some inside ms policy might be visited upon when it comes to issues like this.

 

I'm not sure what the specific incident that started this thread (didn't see it and haven't had time to catch up and find out yet) but in general, whether it gets edited/locked, etc. will depend on the content. I know there have been times that threads made by regular users have been moved/deleted on request, though its not something that's going to happen every time - its going to depend on the particular thread in question.

 

I think the thing that's standing out as weird in this situation is how quickly it happened, and the bit that Juli mentioned - that a regular user would just have it locked and float down the front page. Because he's an admin, it got to disappear immediately and he was saved the embarrassment. Ideally it would be nice to think that would happen for a regular user as well, but the reality is that if one were to contact a mod/admin about it, they'd just be told that it would have to be discussed with others first. Meanwhile, what's the point of having it moved if it's going to take a couple hours (at the very least), and still having it there for everyone to laugh at and whatnot.

It's tricky.

 

Ok, well, explain why that's the case then please. If a user didn't get banned for said thread, but decided it was a mistake, given content, why shouldn't they be able to have it deleted too?

 

Unfortunately, because making a fool of yourself is not a bannable offense. Yet.

 

The admin started a thread about a key logger he used to spy on his wife, and found that she'd been researching divorce lawyers... embarrassing, sure... but I think the point many people in this thread are making is - we've all posted threads that we regretted / were embarrassed by later... but they do not get deleted. I guess the purpose of this thread was to find out why some people get "special" treatment.

That's what I've gathered from the thread content, anyway.

 

harps, I don't think that's the thread in question.

1) that was posted quite a while ago, and it sounds like this is something more recent
2) that thread is still in JCC. Locked, but only because of the auto-lock after 6 months of inactivity.

 

Yeah... I just found out - it was a thread he started about his daughter posting webcam nudes.

Can I make a suggestion? A person who does not have the common sense to practice discretion when his wife and family are concerned, probably isn't the best choice to be in such a "high" position on an internet message board. I imagine (would hope) that a person in such a position would have to have some sort of common sense.

This is pretty tricky... on one hand, the thread should not be online - what kind of father exposes his child like that? On the other hand, see what I said above about common sense and people in high positions.

Dunno.

 

The question is why it was moved/deleted instead of just having the offending content edited out. If the person finally felt sufficiently embarrassed about what he had done after being convinced by the amount of dismay that was being shown in the thread, then why didn't he just edit the content in his initial post and lock it instead of hiding it - a privilege that non-admins aren't afforded.

 

Yeah, This was Keylog Thread 2: Spy on the daughter


And my point isn't the thread itself, but the ease at which it was allowed to be moved, when if a regular user had made it I don't believe that courtesy would have been extended.

You realize that in a community that was vastly betrayed for years by the inability of anyone to do anything about our glorious former head, people might be a little upset that some things like this look like they're being swept under the rug to make a ms member, and the ms as a whole look better? Especially, when there's a good number of users that didn't see it, therefore never got to form an opinion either way?

 

What's that in fish years?

 

[image=http://knowyourmeme.com/system/icons/15/original/orly.jpg]

 

ppl don't like old internet memes around here

not even the intro to zero wing

Anyway, I really don't know why I post in comms. Not only do the mods not know a Fantastic Business Opportunity with Joey Deacon Enterprises ltd when they see one, but also they don't understand how to run a message board.

I mean, if they gave me an admin panel, I would abuse the power so badly that they'd all look really good in comparison. Hell, people wouldn't even notice anyone hiding threads about people planning divorce on webcam or whatever it was. Although, on that subject, did it occur to anyone else that Mrs Halibut's google interests may have been motivated by an affair with TheBiggerFish? Deductive reasoning at work.

 

I bet you'd be able to successfully move the boards to another location though - so your abuse could totally be overlooked.

This is a bit off topic, but I'm wondering if we're planning some sort of festivities to celebrate the one year anniversary of the announcement that we're moving.

Back on topic - I'm compiling a list of threads that I would like to have deleted and / or moved... who should I give it to?

 

i asked a mod to delete one of my posts once, and he did! it was way cool, dude.

 

Why are you so efficient? Damn you Jello with your robotic replies pwning us all