Why does this site censor hot topics.?? If one doesn't wish to be part of a specific discussion, just change topics... I find it humorous, we debate over wether the Patriot act is good or bad, then lock/delete Topics, edit replies, etc..

Read our http://www.thoughtvent.com/forum-rules.html.

We don't censor Topics for the most part. We censor comments that violate the rules of use and posting.

I've gone through this "censorship" confusion on a number of boards over the last 10 or so years.

First, it is extremely difficult to find any board that does not have certain Rules (sometimes referred to as "Terms of Service (TOS)". These rules describe the conduct that a member must follow on that particular board.

You can read Thoughtvent's h e r e.


Often, members who do not follow those rules complain that they have been censored when in reality all that has been done by the admin/mod staff is to enforce the rules either by deleting a part of a post, an entire post, or deleting/closing an entire thread.

There probably are some boards that essentially will allow anything to be posted in an "anything goes" manner. This is not one of them. We want this board to be enjoyable to the many people who would like to enjoy thoughtful discussions within the guidelines/rules we've provided.

If they are not acceptable to a member then that's one of the great things about the Internet - you can pretty much find anything or any site that will work for you.

What rule was broken with the last "Iraq war" topic I posted..? That topic (previously) was getting a lot of attention, then all of a sudden, the entire topic was locked..???

The Moderators here bend over backwards in an effort to maintain freedom of expression and discussion. However, this lattitude does not include discriminatory slurs, name-calling, or offensive and personal attacks upon other Members.
When examples of these infractions of Forum Rules are found, the offensive remarks may be edited out or Moderators may close or make an entire thread invisible until a common decision about the action to be taken can be made.

I, for one, would not characterise common politeness and courtesy found in civilised discourse to be eggshells.
Zarathustra
Global Moderator

This post has been edited by Zarathustra: Dec 7 2007, 05:27 PM

Again, I ask the same question...

Well if you remember the topic ,i did state that another warning would not be forthcoming.
And if you read what the warning was for, then read the following replie's you will have the answer to your question.



However back to the topic in hand ,Thoughtvent topic's are only censored when rule's are broken ,simple as that .
As 2 mod's have posted the link to the forum rule's ,i do not feel the need to post it again.
Just remember that what some people find funny other's do not ,and all we ask is for everyone to abide by the forum rule's and then censorship will not be an issue.

Mz30

This post has been edited by mz30: Dec 7 2007, 05:28 PM

Despite several Moderator's warnings to cease personal attacks, some continued with such in the thread that was pulled.

Thaddox - you need to check your PM's on the ThoughtVent.

The second thread on that subject was pulled because of another's comments that were inappropriate.


The first topic on the Iraq War may return after some serious editing of very poor comments and personal recrimination's.

'There will be no posts meant to offend or hurt any other member, in a manner which is offensive or inflammatory. This includes flaming or instigating arguments.'


This is probably a good rule.

I made a point of reading the rules on first encountering TV. I am not a computer type person, but have found this site most interesting and friendly. I believe the abolition of the above rule, amongst others, would perhaps ruin this site. I have since noticed there are many sites in this genre that are far more confrontational and frankly quite distasteful.

I also managed to break one rule regarding signatures!

This post has been edited by The Colonel: Dec 7 2007, 05:35 PM

I understand, and I agree, about the whole politeness and courtious thing.. In fact I think that was a well crafted sentence, I'm not sure what it had to do with the question I was asking, but it sounded good..! Anyway, why would you delete an entire topic about the Iraq war..? It had 1 reply with-in 25 seconds, and it was gone...!!! There was no name calling, nobody had been discourtious, and it is, not only a valid topic, but the most main stream topic in the world today...!!!
Now, I'm sure I'm about to see another fancey sentence, that essetually depicts me as a Rogue., But the question is valid... Specifically, what was the rule that got broken..? I just scanned over them myself, and couldn't find one that pertained to it... Was it because people were actually starting to vent on the same topic previous to that one?

Sincerely,
Bewildered & Confused

That's cool, I'll let it go.. In all honesty, I was trying to get an emotional debate brewing.. However, I don't beleive one has to be rude, just because they feel strongly about something... My bad

Good Day monitors and Thad,
I would like to agree with the Colonel, I have not been a member long but as I've stated before for the most part people vent in this community without resorting to Jerry Springer Show and Crossfire style debating, and although we have become accustom to hollering at each other or talking over each or just being mean and spiteful in our language to avoid open debate, I choose to step over or not respond to such taunts because the subject at hand is too important and I rather we holler at each other than not talk at all.
Having said that it is my hope that after the moderators have had an opportunity to review the thread that they will decide to open forum back up, hopefully unscrubbed.
Respectfully
Jo4Peace

Jo, I love your style

Lets just be adults and not behave as school children. Just be nice

This post has been edited by Vicki: Dec 8 2007, 10:30 AM

Just for clarification what is "flaming"? The only thing coming to my mind is an extremely pro-gay comment.