Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

About the recent deletions of Daschle's anthrax posts
FreeRepublic ^ | 10/15/2001 | sidebar moderator

Posted on 10/15/2001 10:16:24 AM PDT by Sidebar Moderator

In the 10 minutes since the President announced that Tom Daschle had received a possible anthrax letter, no less than 10 threads appeared to that effect.

The moderators moved quickly to pull the duplicates and that spawned 4 threads asking what happened to the threads.

Multiple threads on a topic not only waste bandwidth, but spread the discussion over too many threads to follow.

Please, before posting about an event like this (or for any story) do a search. Check the sidebars, or if you have sidebars turned off, refresh the latest articles or latest posts page to see if your topic is already posted.


TOPICS: Breaking News; Free Republic; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS:
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 121-135 next last
Because the duplicate threads were coming so fast and there are multiple moderators working, ALL of the posts were deleted at one point and the oldest has been restored.

We also decided to leave a second post, containing a pulished story on the subject in breaking news. Normally it would be better to have the full story added to the original thread, but in this case the original thread had many replies and the full story deserved to be available.

1 posted on 10/15/2001 10:16:24 AM PDT by Sidebar Moderator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Sidebar Moderator
i think that if you look you'll note that the threads were being simultaneously composed, which means that a search wouldn't have accomplished anything.

dep

2 posted on 10/15/2001 10:18:47 AM PDT by dep
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dep
I appreciate the efforts you take to focus threads
3 posted on 10/15/2001 10:19:44 AM PDT by Ingtar
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: dep
To some degree, yes, it is unavoidable. However, some were posted a full 5 minutes afterwards.
4 posted on 10/15/2001 10:20:54 AM PDT by Sidebar Moderator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: dep
i think that if you look you'll note that the threads were being simultaneously composed, which means that a search wouldn't have accomplished anything.

You are correct for some of them, but for some of the later ones, it would have.

5 posted on 10/15/2001 10:21:02 AM PDT by Sidebar Moderator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Sidebar Moderator
I agree with your actions, and wish that everyone here would check ON EVERY STORY they post whether it has been previously posted.

It's no fun to finish composing a brilliant reply only to discover that the thread has been deleted, or that there are five other threads running at the same time on the same story.

6 posted on 10/15/2001 10:29:49 AM PDT by Dog Gone
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sidebar Moderator
Thank you for responding, and for the hardwork, in a flurry of postings.
7 posted on 10/15/2001 10:29:54 AM PDT by KeepTheEdge
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sidebar Moderator
Thanks for the explanation. You folks do fine work.
8 posted on 10/15/2001 10:30:35 AM PDT by rainingred
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sidebar Moderator
There may well have been a time lag - but I suspect it is equally likely to have been caused by the different internet routes to the site. A great deal of the 'net has been disrupted lately.

Whether it was a failure to search or a slow refresh, I have been around here long enough to see that FReepers are pretty grown up about rearranging themselves to one main thread. Absent an imminent threat to crash the server, I think a little less "quick on the draw" deletion would serve the forum well.

9 posted on 10/15/2001 10:30:45 AM PDT by Nora
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Sidebar Moderator
Thanks. We are all impatient and a little apprehensive.
This is one of the few places we trust.
10 posted on 10/15/2001 10:32:05 AM PDT by ScholarWarrior
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sidebar Moderator
When will we be able to do title searches again? That's by far the easiest way to see if a story has already been posted.
11 posted on 10/15/2001 10:32:15 AM PDT by aristeides
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dep
Even though the threads were posted essentially at the same time, there is no excuse for failing to to another search just before hitting the "post" button. (Open a new window to check this.)

It is "vanity" to try to be the first, at the expense of the system's resources and your fellow members' time. There is nothing wrong with waiting 5 minutes to see if it was posted. There are no "winners" in the race to post first. Only losers.

12 posted on 10/15/2001 10:32:36 AM PDT by Henry F. Bowman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Sidebar Moderator
Because the duplicate threads were coming so fast and there are multiple moderators working, ALL of the posts were deleted

Does this not strike you as a serious design flaw?

13 posted on 10/15/2001 10:32:54 AM PDT by Ratatoskr
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sidebar Moderator
Is it possible to close duplicate threads to new posts, with the final reply linking posters to the active thread? That might eliminate the confusion generated when posters are unable to locate the undeleted thread. Perhaps the duplicates could be deleted at a later time.

I'm just throwing the suggestion out there for argument's sake. I think the moderators do a great job given the volume of posts on this forum.

14 posted on 10/15/2001 10:35:30 AM PDT by NittanyLion
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Nora
Absent an imminent threat to crash the server, I think a little less "quick on the draw" deletion would serve the forum well.

So you would rather have 5 threads get multiple replys on them and then get deleted? The whole idea to pulling threads is to keep the discussion centered. I'd hate to spend time composing a reply to a thread that gets deleted on down the line.

Let them do their job.

15 posted on 10/15/2001 10:35:36 AM PDT by TomB
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

Comment #16 Removed by Moderator

To: Ratatoskr
Humans are a design flaw, whether they be moderators, or members in a headlong rush to be the "first" to post what they hear on the radio.
17 posted on 10/15/2001 10:36:04 AM PDT by 1rudeboy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: Nora
That does happen when a 'hot' story breaks as in the Daschle threads. We do our best to try to keep the first one posted, the one with the most activity or a sited source as the main thread. In this case, they all came pretty close together. It happens, and we try our best to deal with it. When we make mistakes, we just blame Jim! LOL!
18 posted on 10/15/2001 10:36:27 AM PDT by Sidebar Moderator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: aristeides
It still works. Daschle
19 posted on 10/15/2001 10:36:39 AM PDT by Senator Pardek
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: Ratatoskr
Does this not strike you as a serious design flaw?

We're human and we make mistakes. We don't try to hide them and we correct them when we become aware of them.

I don't think I could get far enough away from John Robinson to avoid the fallout if I asked him to write code that would prevent what happened here, briefly, this time. :o)

20 posted on 10/15/2001 10:37:21 AM PDT by Sidebar Moderator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 121-135 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson