You are unknown over in Dear Prudie, I'll bet most them don't even know that there is such a thing as an editor.

How about you pop over there & let them know that you are deleting their posts & why.

I must have misunderstood, but I thought you posted at one time that you would give people a heads up first.

Right now you are looking like a hit & run chicken.

No kidding, I've seen so much cra...crud? on the boards I wasn't aware there was one. I didn't even know of this Jeremy being behind posts vanishing until Messy clued me in.

Was there some announcement somewhere that posts would be zapped without warning starting this week? I looked in the Fraywatch archives and didn't see anything for 2009 since Jan.

Speaking of, does Prudence know you just deleted away half her regulars?

I have said that I would give fair warning when banning people (aside from blatant spammers). I never said I would give fair warning when I delete posts that do not comply with the rules of the road.

In the past I have answered people who have emailed me or posted here with questions about why specific posts were deleted. While this is not a policy, I think it can be constructive and will try to continue to answer those requests when they are reasonable.

What I don't understand is (1) why you've (Slate collectivvely) let it go so long if it was such an issue, (2) why similar posts/behaviors seem to be considered perfectly acceptable on some boards but horrific on others, and (3) why in the past people who complained of blatant rules violations were summarily banned themselves, leaving the ones causing the trouble to merrily post their nefarious drivel.

In other words, why now? Why these posters? Why certain boards and not others? I am a grown-up, and am perfectly capable of reading a bad word now and then without nuclear meltdown, or choosing to ignore posts/posters with whom I have issue. I know it's Slate's boards and all, but it has been literally months since any editor has seemed to grace certain boards. Is the WP trying to remove all semblance of liberalism by chasing its more liberal posters? What's the deal?

Jeremy, I'm having a hard time seeing this as not being personal, especially since you seem so selective about who you're deleting. Is this a matter of editorial policy, or are you making these decisions on your own? It would help to know which one it is. I realize that people either like me or don't - that's deliberate on my part. Generally when they don't like me on a personal level, they tell me. Right out in the open. (paragraph inserted here) For example, I have posted on other people's threads a couple of times today, and when I post, there are no paragraph divisions. I know for a fact that it's not my computer doing it, so I'm forced to conclude that you've done this for reasons of your own. I did not swear, I was polite, and responded ONLY to what others said. (paragraph inserted here) If you want to ban us, fine. We're big now, we can take it.

What I would like to know is why the rules are now being applied more strongly all of a sudden. Had the MO always been that a post which violates the rules was deleted, then there wouldn't be such a uproar. But in the entire time I've posted here (~3 years) I haven't had a post deleted until recently. I know that my style hasn't changed. And certainly some of the posts were a bit snarky. But why now?

Considering that DP was one of the most active boards here at Slate, I would have thought that continuing the status quo was in the best interest of the moderators. However, it appears that this isn't the case. I'm willing to give it a little time, but if the heavy handed moderating continues, I will move on to greener pastures. People use internet forums to burn off a little steam because the anonymous nature means that there aren't the same consequences as there are in real life. So, I suspect that I will not be the only person heading off into the sunset if the actions of the past two weeks are continued.

A cop shambling out of the donut shop a few days each month for a stakeout to make his arrest quota.....

Judge Roy Bean the Circuit-Riding Martinet just rolled up for a few days of Justice in your neck of the woods.....

Godzilla on a destructive wade-through after his restive slumbers were disturbed.....the victims, whatever noise or shiny objects catch his baleful eye....

A lazily credulous Complaint Department paper-pusher taking revenge on the subject of unwished-for Reports of Problems, of whatever provenance, which dared to interrupted his bureaucratic stasis.....

Or, last but not least......

A dedicated, diligent webzine professional takes reluctant action against content which crosses the line into inutility......

Hmm, if those are my options I'm torn between donut cop and Godzilla.

Clearly you do not read DP at all if you're arguing moderating on 'utility'. Given the general topics of Prudie to begin with it is inherently not family-friendly and has little utility beyond giving a group of people a place to chat, post ridiculous advice, and poke fun at each other.

Plus, the moderation has been inconsistent and over the top. I'm shocked to learn PhysicsGirl lost any posts given her most 'offensive' writing is just giving someone's ideas a much-deserved logical smackdown. SmagBoy actually posts useful advice (bless his kind soul) and got deleted. Yet I suggest a letter writer murder her husband and my post is one of the handful from last week that survived :P

Plus, the big issue was there was no message to the community saying this is why a huge number of posts vanished. The least he could do is post a thread saying he moderated the boards and his reply above says he's unwilling to even do that.

if you didn't realize that "last, but not least" was utterly facetious.

As the song goes, "Meet the new boss....."

Oh, I get it now --- thanks for filling it in, SOMEONE WHO IS NOT THE EDITOR.

I was wondering why there were no entries from the last week or two, since (as others have pointed out) one of the joys of DP are the many counter-opinions, discussions, etc.

Which, in case you didn't notice, keep people on the board ALL DAY. - If this goes away (and it sounds like it will), then it doesn't make much sense to hang out after reading DP, does it?

This sounds like something an old person would do - either age old or mentally old, because otherwise intelligent people would not squash entertainment on an entertainment website.

All I'm asking of people in the DP Fray is to be respectful of their fellow readers and the author. Criticism, humor, and adult discussion have not been banished from that board.

I don't think the standard of "don't be rude" is too high, and I don't think it will squash the entertainment on that board. As I've said before, there are several boards where the "don't be rude" standard is not in effect and posters are free to leave DP and post on those boards if they don't want their comments to be removed.

Best,
Jeremy

I don't know of which boards you speak - not on Slate, I assume?

Further, while there has been marked disagreement between some, I'm not sure I've ever thought anyone's crossed a line - I suppose it depends on your definition of "don't be rude," but foul language is not, in itself, rude, if that's what you lean toward...

But I digress: I understand your point about rules; I just think you're judgment is wrong when it comes to the Fray on DP. You can censor however you wish - it's your site - but don't delude yourself into thinking it's the same good 'ol fun it was - it clearly isn't. If it were, you wouldn't be getting these responses, would you?

JeremyTheModerator:

I don't think the standard of "don't be rude" is too high, and I don't think it will squash the entertainment on that board.

It already has. Do you wish for me to do a statistical analysis?

JeremyTheModerator:

As I've said before, there are several boards where the "don't be rude" standard is not in effect and posters are free to leave DP and post on those boards if they don't want their comments to be removed

Oh, come on Jeremy. There's a reason people post on DP. To snark about the people who write letters to DP. If all they were interested in was a free for all, they'd stay on BOTF or whatever. The whole point of the board for the last few years has been to be a bit rude.

You're certainly free to take your ball and go home if the rest of us don't play by your rules, but don't be surprised when no one wants to play with you in the future. Everyone who has brought it up doesn't seem to like the change in the status quo, so it doesn't seem very smart on your part to change it.

Jeremy, look at the numbers?! I mean, seriously! Normally by this point in the day on Thursday, we'd be pushing three pages of posts and just getting warmed up for the week! Look at what's happened over the last two weeks since you've arrived. The DP Fray had been operating just fine for years, with its own snarky gravitas that only DP Fraysters know and understand. And it was awfully good. Perhaps you should have read for a few weeks before coming in with such strong edits/deletions? You may think you're being reasonable, but, to seasoned DP Fraysters, you really have destroyed the place. I wish you no ill will. Nor any ill will for Slate. Nor any for the Fray. Quite the opposite! The DP Fray was the greatest place on the 'net as far I'm concerned. I'm genuinely sad to see it so changed. But if you edit one of us, you edit all of us, so, I guess that's that?