why do you keep locking most interesting threads

oldric_naubhoff

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like above. yesterday this fate met "are separates on borrowed time". if it goes on like this there will be no other threads but "complete newbie wants to buy his first hi-fi on the budget" kind of threads. utterly boring. nothing to discuss about. is this the direction WHF forum wants to go?
 

John Duncan

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We don't 'keep' locking threads. There have only been about three in the last three months and, whilst I didn't see the final straw on that one, it was clearly locked because - as was the case with all the others- it descended into personal abuse. Note that it had gone on for about 40 pages before it did so, so we can hardly be accused of stifling free speech...
 

fr0g

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John, could we perhaps get personal abuse warned and edited out rather than a thread lock. that way someone can't "get a thread locked" out of spite...:)

Although in that case, I do think we were at the bottom of a rather tall helter-skelter.
 

Clare Newsome

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Indeed. After a certain point the thread was bound to be on borrowed time (even if it eventually established that separates were not. I think!)
 

Clare Newsome

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oldric_naubhoff said:
lif it goes on like this there will be no other threads but "complete newbie wants to buy his first hi-fi on the budget" kind of threads. utterly boring. nothing to discuss about.

How very welcoming for new members wanting advice :O

Please don't be over-dramatic - as John said, thread lockdowns have been a real rarity in recent months. And long may that continue :)
 
FWIW (not much coming from me) I've always believed threads should be locked after 50 posts. The reason is because many, including mine, tend to go way off topic and, generally, ends as a collection of mass egoes. The original subject becomes a memory.
 

BenLaw

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Clare Newsome said:
Indeed. After a certain point the thread was bound to be on borrowed time (even if it eventually established that separates were not. I think!)

Eventually?! Did that on the first page! ;)

I would often have agreed re locking, but that thread had got tedious many posts back. Note also this thread discussing moderation has been allowed!
 

oldric_naubhoff

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Clare Newsome said:
How very welcoming for new members wanting advice
shock.png

nothing wrong with this kind of threads. it's just that some like to talk about what speakers should go with this or that amp or vice versa. and others like to talk about how it's made and works like.

Clare Newsome said:
Please don't be over-dramatic - as John said, thread lockdowns have been a real rarity in recent months. And long may that continue
smile.png

it's true that it doesn't happen on a daily basis. but this fate always meets the more interesting (IMO) threads.
 

Paul.

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idc said:
If we had the vote on this issue

A - lock the thread

B - delete the problem posts

I would vote B

There is a question of practicality though. WHF have their brand attached to this forum so need to keep it ticking over nicely, but can they be expected to have to stay up all night deleting insults from people misconstruing statements? That thread was way past friendly... Locking it was the only practical thing to do as it was never going to slow down.
 

Clare Newsome

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Quite rightly, one of the moderators felt it wasn't "good fun" when personal insults started flying fast, from several directions.

The House Rules of this site have recently been relaxed, but they still don't allow for personal attacks.
 

Andy Clough

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fr0g said:
John, could we perhaps get personal abuse warned and edited out rather than a thread lock. that way someone can't "get a thread locked" out of spite...:)

With regard to your first sentence, that's often what we do. And as for your second, we don't lock threads "out of spite". In fact, since we moved to a policy of external moderation, fewer threads have been locked and there's usually a discussion among the mods before doing so. In this particular case, we all felt it had gone on long enough, was going round in circles and had become abusive.
 

Alec

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Andy Clough said:
fr0g said:
John, could we perhaps get personal abuse warned and edited out rather than a thread lock. that way someone can't "get a thread locked" out of spite...:)

With regard to your first sentence, that's often what we do. And as for your second, we don't lock threads "out of spite". In fact, since we moved to a policy of external moderation, fewer threads have been locked and there's usually a discussion among the mods before doing so. In this particular case, we all felt it had gone on long enough, was going round in circles and had become abusive.

fr0g meant that users can do things that they know will get the thread locked, not that you, WHF, have locked it out of spite.

The thread in question should have died long before it did. The reason why it did not is because the mods did a great job of trying to avoid a thread like this one.

We all know how threads like that go, and certain other threads too, and it impresses no one (no, it really doesn't). Indeed, it makes many posters look pretty bad.

So there. In future, I shall only enter such threads to mock those who seem to think it's so important.

So there; I have spoken, and it will make no difference, just like when you* speak.

*No, not him, everyone.
 

fr0g

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Andy Clough said:
fr0g said:
John, could we perhaps get personal abuse warned and edited out rather than a thread lock. that way someone can't "get a thread locked" out of spite...:)

With regard to your first sentence, that's often what we do. And as for your second, we don't lock threads "out of spite". In fact, since we moved to a policy of external moderation, fewer threads have been locked and there's usually a discussion among the mods before doing so. In this particular case, we all felt it had gone on long enough, was going round in circles and had become abusive.

Of course I am not suggesting WHF would lock it out of spite. But while some people enjoy the banter of such threads, others get quickly irritated and could simply throw out a random insult to get it locked down.

And while the main function of the forum is undoubtably for advice and suggestions, these threads provide the social meat and vegetables for the advice-givers for better or worse. :)
 

Clare Newsome

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Understood your point re an individual dropping an insult bomb to get a thread closed - but there were insults flying from several sides in this case. Even after some pruning they kept coming: at that point the mods agreed there was no option but to lock.

If everyone keeps it civil - as the vast majority of members manage to do - we wouldn't have to lock anything. :)
 
T

the record spot

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Must admit, I'd have shut that thread down long before the WHF moderation team did and while I was obviously one of those who'd casually lobbed in an "insult bomb" (or two...*cough*), the content of the thread itself had long since passed it's useful phase (IMO of course). I think the previous ten pages had more or less been repetition of the same question.

I can understand the POV that threads like it might well be the meat and bones of internet discussion, that doesn't mean they carry on ad infinitum; you end up with a handful of threads that are as boring as the supposedly "boring" threads asking for advice from new people and I know what I'd rather have. And in any case, thread locking is a rarity in this place, but there is a need for it.
 

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