Preventing Deleted Threads

[other one]

1 minute ago, Yowm said:

The Moderators have the final say as to the fate of a thread. The Watchmen can report and throw in their 2 cents before the decision is made.

 

I don't believe I have claimed any kind of longevity, only that I am not above the fray when it comes to personal attacks, including baiting and teasing if that is what you are implying.

I'll speak for myself. I don't like getting into the personal jabs, I'd rather stick to the topic and attempt that to the best of my ability.

We don't have free reign nor see private messages to mods, only the reports.

Well pardon me for being upset if you get a thread deleted from a personal attack....   LoL

[Debp]

5 hours ago, Yowm said:

The best way to prevent a thread being deleted is to refrain from personal attacks...period.

Amen!   Let's be respectful to each other, speak the truth in love.

17 hours ago, Debp said:

Just a suggestion for all of us, myself included.    I see another good thread has been deleted....the Sharing Christ with Muslims at Christmas.   Let's all try to stay on the topic of the threads and be respectful to each other so they won't be deleted in the future.   

I know everyone put alot of work into following the topic and answering.   I was sorry to see it deleted when I checked in now.

We won't have too many interesting threads if they keep getting deleted! 

Just a reminder...my topic is about how we as members can prevent deleted threads.   I was not attacking the moderators.

[angels4u]

22 minutes ago, other one said:

if a thread reaches it's ending usefulness, it should just be closed and not deleted...   I have no problem with that at all...   as a matter of fact if many of the deleted threads had been closed earlier, all our work would be reserved for people stopping by to read...       when we post here there are a lot of people who read and never really join in...   some reach posts on threads from google searches....

Some topics are just locked if they get to their end but when threads are becoming just arguing forth and back, they sometimes get deleted but at other times the mods clean them up and leave them up, don't forget everybody in the ministry  volunteers  and not everybody has much time to be here all the time to read every post. Everybody is volunteering in their free time.  

 

[RockyMidnight]

16 minutes ago, Debp said:

Amen!   Let's be respectful to each other, speak the truth in love.

Just a reminder...my topic is about how we as members can prevent deleted threads.   I was not attacking the moderators.

Oh Oh! Watch and see how the thread on deleted threads gets deleted!!!! 

Cheers!!! 

[Omegaman 3.0]

1 hour ago, Neighbor said:

Okay thanks for sharing of that.

Now I have new additional question. If it is best to report a issue  "privately"as has been suggested or demanded I can't remember which, then does a watchman get to enter into the thread with his own postings or do the moderators handle the issue of contention privately? Or neither? 

Seems to me that a watchman must have of necessity a higher esponsibility than to simply claim longevity as though that has some merit in of itself and then join the fray. Perhaps a watchman should not engage have the "fun" of baiting or teasing others with quips and chides, or do they have free reign plus get to see private messages to moderators and then get to run with their own thinking on a thread too? ????

 

Mostly I  don't have a problem,  ( I think the message Board to  be pretty good!) but I do often read what is a flat out deliberate tone of arrogance with in some posters declarations based upon their own sense of their own "longevity". It is as though they feel threatened  by spreading and sharing of the message board with newer members.

Spreading/expanding of the community of saints, andsharing the gospel of our Lord is what I think the board is set up to try to do. Being arrogant to newer members seems a counter productive mission. Kind  of like they want to be the greater disciple by having fewer participants and or converts to our Lord's blessing upon us all.

 Ya know I think I'll report this post on myself in hopes of getting some clarification. Thanks for reading.

ps oh will I see a report post on my own posts? ???

pps  yep it worked.

Edited 1 hour ago by Neighbor

Though I have quoted you above, Neighbor, this is not so much a response to you, as it is providing information to all, by addressing some of the points you raised.

Much of the time, threads start out fine, but if there is controversy in them, they draw in people who love the debate. That can get pretty active, very quickly. There can be several pages in a thread, before any moderator is even aware of the thread,, if indeed we are ever aware of it. The momentum builds, and some do not seem to understand the necessity of civility, at it begins to get person, becomes infighting and people lose sight of the fact, that there is even an actual topic sometimes. 

Now, consider that there are only a handful of moderators to oversee the 200 or so people who post on a given day, many of whom post multiple times a day. Many of these people apparently have a lot of time on there hands, and spend more time on Worthy that the moderators do. The moderators have real lives outside of Worthy, and cannot or choose not to spend every spare moment here. The moderators are volunteering their time as a service to the Lord, His church, and those who do not yet know the Lord. Simple put, we are just outnumbered.

This is where the report function fits in. When a post gets reported, we (moderators) are alerted to a possible problem, and when we get the time, one of us (sometimes more) will look into it, and see what is going on. In this way, the regular members assist the moderation team, by being our eyes and ears alerting us to issues that should be dealt with, and we are grateful for the help. By the way, if one reports a post, if is very helpful if the reported also informs us, of what they think the problem is. Sometimes there is a report, and there is nothing that identifies what the problem is. Sometimes, it totally eludes us, what the problem is. It seems at times, that there are some, who prowl the forum, looking for ways to report specific posters, they sort of stalk them and report people because, I don't know, they don't thing that person is right or nice or something.

Merely being wrong, is not something we police, unless it gets to be heretical doctrine or spreading lies, etc. We also do not consider ourselves the enforcers of niceness. We expect that most people who post, will be Christians, and that the default behavior of Christians, will be respectful and that they will adhere to the Terms of Service they agreed to follow, when they signed up, and keep up to date on what those terms of service are. That is the responsible thing to do, and to disregard the terms of service, can be a form of dishonesty and a breaking of the covenant that the member made with Worthy, that is the basis for the privilege of posting here.

Obedient Christians, want to love not only their brothers and sisters in Christ, but love their enemies as well. Certainly, people can disagree, without being vitriolic, or is that too much to expect?

So, what often happens is, a thread becomes long and ugly, and someone reports a post. We (moderators) then attempt to discover the problem, and use our best (an imperfect) judgement on how to deal with the problem. Not everyone will disagree with our decisions, why would they, the cannot even agree with each other. If there are contentions, we can either ignore them, and let the thread and the forums degrade into a "wild west" brawl, or we can step in and try to intervene. If we intervene, someone will be upset with what we decide. It is just something that we live with.

When we look into that large and contentious thread, sometimes it is so messed up, filled with anger and off topic content that it is impossible or us to recover, we just do not have the time. I know that I, and others, have literally spend hours going over single threads, trying to clean them up, because there is good content and a lot of effort put in by responsible posters. We hate to see that lost, but as I said, time is a limited resource. Sometimes a thread get deleted. Sometimes we lock it, shut it down to further comments because it has just run it's course and people are going round and round, repeating themselves and not adding anything new. Sometimes, threads are hidden, not deleted, in order to buy us some time to look them over, edited them if needed (removing offensive posts or ones not in compliance with the terms of service). It takes a lot of time. Consider, that there may be a post, that has to go. People often have responded to that post, and now, without the context of the post, their reply makes no sense, so, we have to fix that also. Sometimes people quote the bad post, and we need to find those quotes, otherwise the post is still there, preserved in someone's reply. Hopefully you can understand how time consuming it is for the moderation team.

Now, it happens, that sometimes, a person or persons, decided that they have not been heard enough yet, they are not through, perhaps they need to hear themselves talk, or be seen to feel validated. I do not know what is going on in the heads and hearts of some people, but I do see their action, and the fruit of their posts. If they have just gotten caught up in the contention, and want to stir more, they might get banned from the thread.

Sometimes (very often in fact), these same people will look for another, similar thread to infect with their ranting, or even start their own new thread. For those so inclined be careful, you might be on a path that will eventually lead to other actions that you may not like. A common recourse that we take, is putting such people on Moderator Review. What that means is that they are no longer allowed to post, without a moderator first looking at the post, and then approving it. If it is more trouble making, then the post will be deleted, not approved for publication.

We do not like to do this. It is not in the best interest for those on MR, because it means that IF their post is approved, it might be hours, or even days, before it is approved, again, because we do not have the time to deal with it. Nothing personal, it is just practical, and in the best interest of the forums and the well behaved members of the forums. We do not think that the responsible users, should pay the penalty for the irresponsible users, but sometimes that is what has to happen. Best if you all avoid moderator review.

Moderator review, does not last any particular time. Basically that is up to the moderators to determine, you can think of it as permanent or indefinite, until a moderator thinks the person may be ready to cooperated with the goal of MR, that of insuring a better environment on the forums. It would be nice, for those who just and peruse the forums, to see that the Church of Jesus, the Messiah, is not full of bickering and spiteful people.

When we suggest taking an issue up with a moderator privately, we do not mean using the report feature. There we mean that you should send us a private message. That is when you have an issue with the moderator personally, you think there is something to sort out, between you and they. You are aware, that that is the biblical model. Have in issue with a brother, go to them one on one. If you cannot sort that out between the two of you, then we bring a few others into the discussion. There is not reason to drag these things (typically) into the public arena.

As far as the watchmen, they are independent of the moderators, and help us to have some accountablilty, in case we moderators get so narrow-minded that we cannot see our own faults.

Watchmen, and moderators alike, participate as forum members themselves, with their own opinions and views. For example, when I express my theological opinions, they are MY opinions, I am not speaking on behalf of Worthy Ministries, I am only expressing my personal views.

[Omegaman 3.0]

32 minutes ago, RockyMidnight said:

Oh Oh! Watch and see how the thread on deleted threads gets deleted!!!! 

Not impossible!

[Steve_S]

Joh 13:34-35  A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  (35)  By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
 

People contemplating those two verses every single time they are about to click the "submit" button on a post would probably eliminate 70 or 80 percent of deleted threads.

[Omegaman 3.0]

6 minutes ago, Steve_S said:

Joh 13:34-35  A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  (35)  By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
 

People contemplating those two verses every single time they are about to click the "submit" button on a post would probably eliminate 70 or 80 percent of deleted threads.

 . . . and Col 4:6:

Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.

[Pure Waters]

1 hour ago, Omegaman 3.0 said:

Obedient Christians, want to love not only their brothers and sisters in Christ, but love their enemies as well. Certainly, people can disagree, without being vitriolic, or is that too much to expect?

 

I feel like some people forget this so often, they lose themselves in some self righteous debate and do everything to prove themselves right in the pursuit of telling "their truth".

Why cant people have a discussion with someone and refrain from personal attacks? If I notice that someone is starting to get very emotional and provocative, I just dont continue.

Im glad that there are mods that clean up threads. Its not doing anyone a favour when there are threads filled with name calling and insults.

[ayin jade]

1 hour ago, Pure Waters said:

Why cant people have a discussion with someone and refrain from personal attacks?

 

Because people are human and still prone to the flesh nature, the natural man (or woman).