Thread Moderation

[Maelynn Cheung]

Hello all! I just wanted to post to let you know why we recently pulled a thread from the Other Stuff forum.

We have always taken a stance of standing back and letting our wonderful community members post freely with very little moderation. We encourage debate, discussion, witty banter, etc. And I know, even from my days many years ago as Editor of CookingLight.com, that we occasionally have threads that get a little heated. In those instances, CL has sometimes locked a thread and deleted just a few over the years. But it's rare.

When a thread takes a turn from heated to hurtful, or if it's doing more damage than good to the community as a whole, we take a closer look at it. When we get multiple complaints from users about one thread it also throws up a red flag for us because we rarely get complaints. The most recently deleted thread is an example of this.

I only post this now because there have been several questions on this topic in the past few days. We are not changing the way we moderate our boards. You still have the freedom and flexibility you've always had. I thank you for understanding our position on this. And thank you for making this community as terrific as it is.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to send me a message.

Thank you,
Maelynn

[funniegrrl]

It would be helpful if you could post a message when a thread is pulled and state in general terms the reason -- i.e., numerous complaints. That would probably cut down on the ongoing speculation and retain an open atmosphere. Otherwise it feels like it was a KGB operation in the dead of night, ya know?

[testkitchen45]

What thread title was it? :confused:

Thanks, Maelynn, for your post!

[Hammster]

What thread title was it? :confused:

Thanks, Maelynn, for your post!

I believe the one being referenced was JMarie's "Our God...." thread. But the message is more of a general one so people won't speculate as to what happened.

Maelynn, I think it could be good to know if a thread were pulled as funniegrrl has suggested.

[Kay Henderson]

CL's hosts my all-time favorite bulletin board. Do whatever you have to do to keep it the class act of the Internet.

Am I arguing for wimpiness? No, for I LIKE vigorous debate, particularly on political and social topics. But personal attacks, etc. make controversial threads much less useful, as people understandably get defensive and the thread wanders off course into deep you-know-what.

I appreciate you sharing why the thread was pulled.

Kay

[misskitty100]

CL's hosts my all-time favorite bulletin board. Do whatever you have to do to keep it the class act of the Internet.

Am I arguing for wimpiness? No, for I LIKE vigorous debate, particularly on political and social topics. But personal attacks, etc. make controversial threads much less useful, as people understandably get defensive and the thread wanders off course into deep you-know-what.

I appreciate you sharing why the thread was pulled.

Kay

Amen (pun intended! ;) )....personal attacks shouldn't be tolerated!!

[Maelynn Cheung]

I believe the one being referenced was JMarie's "Our God...." thread. But the message is more of a general one so people won't speculate as to what happened.

Yes, that was the thread.

Maelynn, I think it could be good to know if a thread were pulled as funniegrrl has suggested.

And yes, we'll do that, though again, this is a rare occurrence.

[luv2cook]

i didn't even open that thread because while I hate to use the word "offensive" I just "choose" to not open anything that remotely smells of religion...as far as I'm concerned, people can believe what they want to believe or not believe and I would just as soon not talk about it.

But, yes, I agree that if a thread is pulled, CL should state why & I'm glad you've decided to do that!
:)

[Autumn]

CL's hosts my all-time favorite bulletin board. Do whatever you have to do to keep it the class act of the Internet.

Am I arguing for wimpiness? No, for I LIKE vigorous debate, particularly on political and social topics. But personal attacks, etc. make controversial threads much less useful, as people understandably get defensive and the thread wanders off course into deep you-know-what.

I appreciate you sharing why the thread was pulled.

Kay

My thoughts exactly, Kay.

Abby

[Terrie53]

Thank you Mae! This is not the forum for religious issues.

[Robyn1007]

Thank you Mae! This is not the forum for religious issues.

I hate to turn this into a debate thread but why can't we discuss religion here? :confused:

[testkitchen45]

I hate to turn this into a debate thread but why can't we discuss religion here? :confused:

What she said. That's why it's "other stuff." ;)

I hope the other thread was deleted b/c it got over-the-top mean-spirited or something (I didn't read it), not b/c it was religious or controversial--or not about food. :)

[Hammster]

yeah, why can't we discuss religion?
And it really did turn mean spirited and that's the real reason it was pulled from what I can gather.

[MikeC]

Thank you Mae! This is not the forum for religious issues.

Um, why not? It seems that almost everything else has been discussed here. The heading of the thread is "Other Stuff."


I hate to turn this into a debate thread but why can't we discuss religion here? :confused:
I agree. From what Maelynn said, I don't think it was pulled simply because it was a discussion about "religion," but because of the turn that it took, with people sniping at each other.

[Terrie53]

Quite frankly, I did not join this site to talk about religion. Cooking light and religion? Please tell me what the connection is there so can understand. To me my religious beliefs are personal and private and I would not try to persuade any of you to know what that is to me. Maybe I am way off base, but I am hopeful you feel the same way.

I want to talk mostly about cooking. That's why I'm here.

[armel]

I want to talk mostly about cooking. That's why I'm here.

And you can. Just stick to Great Food Forum and you should be safe.

But for folks who enjoy cooking but ALSO want to talk about other stuff and engage in meaningful debate, they can, on the Other Stuff Forum.

[Hammster]

Quite frankly, I did not join this site to talk about religion.

Then don't. No one makes you open a thread or read it or reply to it. You choose to do those things.

As armel said, just stay in the Great Food forum if all you want to do is talk about cooking.
But, you did say: I want to talk mostly about cooking.
So, does that mean you don't mind talking about other things also since you used the word "mostly".

Again, no one makes anyone open, read or reply to a thread. It's a choice one makes.

[DmOrtega]

Quite frankly, I did not join this site to talk about religion. Cooking light and religion? Please tell me what the connection is there so can understand. To me my religious beliefs are personal and private and I would not try to persuade any of you to know what that is to me. Maybe I am way off base, but I am hopeful you feel the same way.

I want to talk mostly about cooking. That's why I'm here.

This bb is open to all. Whether you choose to particiapte or just lurk is up to you. So, if you don't want to talk about religion, don't. Seems simple to me.

[badunnin]

So, does that mean you don't mind talking about other things also since you used the word "mostly".
.

Oddly enough, she does about half her posting on the Other Stuff board.

[jmarie]

It's ok to talk about religion. And, I guess it's ok to talk about any religion as long as it is not from a personal viewpoint.

And I do agree, that just like it is better to go to the "Great Food" Board to discuss and find and get recipes, it wouldn't be to your advantage to do that on the Other Stuff Board. Two separate Boards with two separate reasons for existing.

Terrie53, like some of the others said, you will find many topics to your liking on the Other Stuff Board. I don't read every thread that is started, only the ones I find interesting. Skip over the ones you aren't interested in and you will be less likely to be offended. Skip over certain members and any thread that person starts, such as myself, and you will be less likely to be offended. It's about learning your way around...the longer you are here, the more you'll learn what to stay away from and you won't even have to protest!

God speed.

[semmens]

You just can't help yourself, can you?

[Terrie53]

Terrie53, like some of the others said, you will find many topics to your liking on the Other Stuff Board. I don't read every thread that is started, only the ones I find interesting. Skip over the ones you aren't interested in and you will be less likely to be offended.

jmarie,

I totally get the difference between the boards. Really! And I post where I feel I want to contribute to threads I find interesting. I thought this one would be interesting.:confused:

Oh, and I'm not offended by anything religious! :)