That's very kind of you!
I think the issue here is two fold:
One, I think there is a line of tolerance that may be drawn between negative reviews and statements deemed critical of E. There is no doubt that posts have been deleted and topics locked - it's a forum, it's bound to happen. However, I do not think it fair to suggest that they are so thinned skin that anything at all remotely critical is going to get the heave-ho.
Nevertheless, if I were someone who made a post that was deleted or led to my banishment and I read that someone wrote: "Oh that never happens." I think I may feel the need to say something to counter that claim. Of course it happens, it's a private forum run by a profit making organization. My personal issue is with honesty. To deny this happens is dishonest. To embrace it, and take whatever criticism which might befall you, is the honest thing to do and in the long run will earn far greater respect of those who might even feel wronged. To deny that what they experienced never happened...that leads to these kinds of disputes.
Second, the official policy - and the restrictions placed on most moderators there - may limit their abilities and prevent them for deleting posts. I have no doubt that Steerpike, for example, has never been told to delete a post because of critical content. However, as we all know, that does not preclude other people in the organization from doing so.
However, if I were Steerpike or Sleeping Jag, if I were to read something that implied that moderators on my forum were deleting posts, and I knew I had not, I might feel a touch indignant, perhaps even outraged. To read this almost implies that I have engaged in this act. And that would be a faulty conclusion for one to draw.
As is the case in so many of these discussions, it is perhaps best if we do not let things affect us personally. A criticism of a forum is not always a criticism of people who work on that forum. A criticism some actions of a forum should not be taken to apply to all actions of all moderators.
In short, I think that to deny that people have had posts removed - to those people who have experienced it - is to deny them their truth in reality. Likewise, to accuse (or implicitly accuse) all moderators of deleting all posts critical of the company is also to state a claim that is probably inherently untrue to most of those people's experiences.
I think it is fair to conclude that some people here have had posts deleted which they felt were rational, reasonable, and critical of E; and that there are well meaning moderators who are interested in fair posts who have not been told to delete critical comments.
Brad Henderson
