How do Discussion Threads disappear?

Beesie · May 2017

Mods, what are the rules on that?

There was a thread that was very active recently. Some of the discussion was contentious, but there were also many comments from readers saying that they found the topic and the discussion to be important and informative. There were comments made that some of the posts were not appropriate for the particular forum in which the discussion was taking place; perhaps there might have been another forum more appropriate for the topic being discussed. A few people suggested that they might delete their posts because of this reaction, but they were urged by others to keep their posts in the thread because they were valuable as part of the important broader discussion.

Now the entire 6 page thread is gone.

I can appreciate that as individuals, we all have the right to delete our own posts.

I have seen some situations where individuals who have started a thread later choose to delete the originating post (admittedly, I usually find this annoying and confusing).

There are some cases where discussions get too heated and the Moderators lock the thread, ending the discussion but leaving the thread available to be read (but it usually drops down the 'active list' pretty quickly).

Sometimes posts are edited by the Moderators, or deleted by the Community, because they do not abide by the rules.

That all makes sense. But what causes an entire thread to disappear? When so many people are participating in a discussion, and particularly when so many people talk about the importance of the discussion, how does the whole discussion just get wiped out? All the time, effort and thought that people put into their posts... wiped away. And an important topic of discussion is lost.

What's the process for the deletion of an entire thread? What are the considerations before the decision is made to do this? If there is a desire to end the discussion, but if the thread and the posts within the thread don't violate any of the rules of the board, why would the Moderators choose to delete the thread rather than just lock it?

I would appreciate learning more about the process surrounding this type of action.

exbrnxgrl · May 2017

Beesie has asked some excellent questions. What say you, mods

cive · May 2017

There is another way threads can be deleted according to help file. That is when the originator of the thread decides to resign from BCO and asks to have their threads deleted (in help file). It is possible that whoever originated the thread asked to have it removed. Sometimes you can find the thread on google.

Artista928 · May 2017

I know which thread Beesie is talking about. I was in it too. The OP has not left the board. I've never seen a thread deleted. I've seen it locked. Why was it deleted mods? A simple lock would have sufficed?

BarredOwl · May 2017

I don't recall what anyone else may have said. However, I saved out a copy of the final version of my second post of two in that thread. For the record, here is exactly what I said regarding Forum:

-----"Yes, this Forum is public and yes the discussion is free-flowing. That reconstruction is a reasonable and excellent choice for many was a pertinent point and has now been made eloquently several times over. There is no prohibition on discussing reconstruction options or the basis for electing reconstruction here, and some "living with" may still be considering reconstruction. On the other hand, I think there may be other places on these boards that are probably better suited to discussing individual decisions to reconstruct, rationale, and related decision criteria, those places have more information, and they are more heavily frequented by people with relevant experience."-----

To express my personal opinion that "I think there may be other places on these boards that are probably better suited to discussing individual decisions to reconstruct, rationale, and related decision criteria" is not the same thing as saying that such posts are inappropriate in the "Living Without Reconstruction After a Mastectomy" Forum. I did not suggest that anyone delete their post. From my subsequent request regarding word choice ("I would also ask those who chose reconstruction to consider the possible impact of their word choice when posting in this segment of the community"), it seems clear that I expected the discussion to continue in the same vein.

Beesie · May 2017

BarredOwl, when I didn't see the thread on the 'active' list for a couple of days, I figured that it had been locked. That wouldn't have surprised me and that would have been fine.

When I checked the "Living Without Reconstruction" forum and I couldn't find the thread, I figured that it had been moved to a different, perhaps more appropriate forum. That wouldn't have surprised me and that would have been fine.

When I checked my own list of posts and found that there was no record of any of my posts in that thread, I realized that the thread had been completely deleted. That did surprise me and I am not fine with that.

If there were no rule violations, how is it okay for everyone's contributions to be wiped away permanently? How does that decision get made and what are the considerations in doing this?

exbrnxgrl · May 2017

Mods,

Can you please give us an explanation ?

Thanks

AmyQ · May 2017

hmmm, interesting there's been no response yet.

Amy

Artista928 · May 2017

It is odd that no final warning was given. In the Obamacare thread that eventually got locked there was a final warning beforehand.

Beesie · May 2017

Mods, anybody home? 🤔

BarredOwl · May 2017

My post above was only intended to clarify what I had said regarding Forum. I took no position on the question posted here.

Moderators · May 2017

Folks, our apologies for only now seeing this thread. We were not trying to ignore you; just simply overwhelmed with the many many other discussions going on here and did not see this post. In the future, if there is a concern you'd like addressed immediately, always feel free to send us a Private Message so we will be immediately notified.

As for the thread in question, the OP had asked that her posts be deleted; including the original post, which we as the Mods agreed if were removed, along with the rest of the member's posts, would leave huge gaps of information missing and the thread would unfortunately no longer make reasonable sense. We did attempt to persuade the member to leave her posts, as the discussion was civil and did contain important information, but at the insistence of the member, we obliged to her request.

We apologize for any information you feel was lost. If you'd like to continue the discussion, you may feel free to start another thread addressing the issues discussed there.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation in this matter,

The Mods

Beesie · May 2017

Mods, the thread went for 6 pages; the OP had maybe a dozen posts though-out, and there were extended discussions among others for periods of times where the OP did not participate at all.

A more reasonable and fair solution would have been to delete the OP's posts, as she requested, and let the rest of us decide if we wanted to keep out posts intact, or delete or edit them. Some of my posts likely would not have been relevant without the context of the OP's posts, and I may have deleted those, but some of my posts would have made sense and stood up fine on their own.

Why should anyone spend the time and effort to participate and contribute on this site if our posts might just be deleted based on someone else's request? (For the record, that's a rhetorical question.)

Artista928 · May 2017

While the discussion was a good one the putting down of recon folks and hard sell against recon was a over the top by the OP. I've seen some of OPs other threads. Not cool. So in a way it's good it's gone. Maybe lesson learned.

Moderators · May 2017

Beesie, we appreciate your opinion.

Since the OP would have been gone, then the subsequent posts answering her post would not have a reference point, and to save newbies/lurkers confusion on the topic at hand, whether they found the thread via google search or otherwise, we felt the integrity of the boards was at risk -- if we left a thread filled with holes on our boards, we wouldn't be doing our job of maintaining the discussion threads.

In addition, as Artista referenced, because of the contentious tone of the thread, and to keep the community friendly and safe, we felt the benefits of removing the thread outweighed the drawbacks.

If members feel they are posting a valuable message and don't want to risk it being deleted, then we suggest to store their posts in personal word documents to be at the ready if they ever feel they should be shared further.

Thank you again for you cooperation and understanding in this matter.

--The Mods

wrenn · May 2017

Mods, I think you just muddled your message by bringing up the "contentious" and "keeping community safe" angle.

Icietla · May 2017

I am glad it has been removed. This website should be a safe place for any persons personally affected by breast cancer concerns.

Artista928 · May 2017

Wrenn- Safe also means not making fun of others/putting down for the choices we make. The OP wrote some things that were a slap in the face because she felt one choice is much better than the other. And not just that one deleted thread. Putting down one group to boost your own thoughts is not giving a safe place for open discussion of both sides.This is a discussion forum, not a members only for a specific topic. That's how we learn is hearing both sides to make our own choices but should be without using words like unnatural and mounds in a derogatory way to reflect an entire group rather than saying "for me". Hence why there were many posts trying to show the wrong in that, only we didn't put down or offend anyone for choices they made different than our own while doing so.

wrenn · May 2017

I have no opinion on the thread since I don't remember what was said (shitty memory). My point was that the mods said the thread was removed because the OP had requested it. But in a follow up they then mentioned keeping the community safe and that the thread was "contentious".

Beesie had asked why the thread was removed and the answer is unclear now. I think the response needs clarity for members posting in the future. Will contentious threads be removed or just threads an OP has changed their minds about?

Just curious.

Cowgirl13 · May 2017

I understand the 'safe' issue. I hope she is permanently out of BCO because of misinformation and her angry, angry posts. Yes, there was much good info in the posting but it certainly wasn't from her.

Luckynumber47 · May 2017

I want to express my disappointment that the thread has disappeared and also my sadness at many of the derogatory comments directed at the OP. She and I joined BCO at nearly the same time and it's been very educational to me to read her posts and all the replies. Not only do I agree that more information about going flat should be given to those newly diagnosed, I applaud the OP for sticking her neck out, trying to get the message out there.

What I don't understand and actually find deplorable are the personal attacks on the OP. If you don't like what she says, simply block her. Just because you disagree with her doesn't mean she's bad or wrong. I have found a lot of encouragement on this forum over the past year but I find it very upsetting when I read threads where posters attack each other.

MTwoman · May 2017

Luckynumber47, I agree that this site provides a wonderful resource as well as outlet for discussions from several perspectives. I completely and utterly respect each woman's right to make her own choices. I also find it very upsetting when posters attack each other. The other thing that I find really difficult to understand is when one woman tells others (especially newbies who are still reeling from their initial diagnosis) that they should do one thing or another or should never do something. And the more aggressive the tone of the poster, the bigger my internal reaction has been. There really are no always or nevers with bc. It makes it seem as if there IS a right answer, when there are so many individual factors that influence our options.

I'm not really sure even which thread is now gone, and whether I participated in it or not. But I have read some posts where individuals have really pushed for a woman to consider an option that happened to be their personal choice. Persuading others to consider or choose any option isn't my idea of why we're here. Discussing the pros and cons can be extremely helpful, and I embrace that. But I have read posts that have made me very uncomfortable. Would I encourage those to be removed? No.

"Not only do I agree that more information about going flat should be given to those newly diagnosed, I applaud the OP for sticking her neck out, trying to get the message out there." But there is a forum for going flat, I see posts on it every day. If someone wants to consider that, they can easily go to the threads on that forum. I'm not sure that hijacking other threads with that agenda is the best way to "get the information out there". just my humble opinion

nihahi · May 2017

Well at least I now know what happened to the thread. I have been confused!!! I shared on that thread that I have for various reasons been through almost every stage of no recon and recon and recon failure and recon retry and recon complication and finally a different recon. When I tried to check back in case someone had questions...everything had disappeared. I'll never know if I could have helped someone based on my personal experiences...which is my reason for staying on bco.

How do Discussion Threads disappear?

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