About the recent deletions of Daschle's anthrax posts

FreeRepublic ^ | 10/15/2001 | sidebar moderator

[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.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Thanks. My only suggestion is to put out a message in these circumstances to alert WHICH thread is the "official" thread. It was pretty hairy for about 5 minutes.

[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.

Posters are mandatory. Moderators are not.

[Irma]

Thanks! You're doing great under very unusual and trying circumstances.

[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."

I don't have that answer, but maybe the big guy does?

[truthkeeper]

I appreciate having the responses posted on only one or two threads. Good work.

[technochick99]

Kudos to you. Keeping FR from becoming a jumbled mess is a thankless job.

[Redcloak]

Personally, when I'm about to post a "breaking" story, I always open a second browser window and do one last refresh before hitting the post button. Even then, sometimes it's possible to miss a thread that's only a few seconds old. Multiple posts are just part of the game. I, for one, am glad to see the moderators trying to keep things tidy. However, I do have an idea that might be better than just deleting them. (And thus sending some individuals running for the Reynolds Wrap.) Is it possible to turn off a thread so that no further posts are possible? If that can be done, then the moderator on duty could post one last message to each duplicate thread directing people to a single thread. After that, no more posts would be possible. The conversations would have to continue on the target thread. This would cut down on the duplicates without some people peeking out the shades looking for the black helos.

[mad_as_he$$]

IMO the Terrorist are incompetent. They missed the Capitol and congress on 9/11 and then missed both Brokaw and Daschel. They need better targeting systems..sarcasm off

[Sidebar Moderator]

Putting out a message is an interesting idea, but not possible at the moment. If we post to the threads we are going to pull, then we can't pull them while we wait for everyone to read them. If we post to the article that is going to remain, then those that are going to post new articles or reply to the new articles won't see it..... not a solution now, but I will flag John Robinson so he can consider it.

[Nora]

It is a relatively new job - and still getting its kinks worked out. I do not think constructive criticism stands in the way of getting the thing to work as intended and am sorry you do.

I have had experiences with "multiple" posts on the same topic. I know that if I post the same article as someone else, after it is up - and despite having searched just before posting, I hit "abuse" and ask that my own article be removed. On the other hand, in this case, there were several different sources, with slightly different content being posted (as best I can remember, given that they are all gone now). That is easily solved after a few minutes by the posters crosslinking their threads as as often been done in the past.

Another approach to solve the deleted thread problem would have been to pull all the duplicates from the sidebar, but leave them on the board, so that if you want to go back and compare how the initial reports came out, the information would be there.

One of the great features of FR is being able to go back and grab that unspun snapshot of a breaking story. There is a quote floating around the net that the only facts you can get are the ones in the first few days - after that it is all spin.

I have great faith that the moderators selected for the site are tough enough to withstand any sense of hurt feelings that other folks have ideas about how to prevent problems.

[John Robinson]

Yes, that is very possible with the current software. Mods, please see my abuse report on this thread, details how to do it.

[Sidebar Moderator]

We can 'lock' threads and speaking for myself, it's not something I have considered doing. I am sure we moderators can discuss this and come to a consensus. Thanks.

[flamefront]

Thanks for your conscientiousness regarding replying to the confusion. I must note that while all this occured the presumably RESTORED thread continued to show up as deleted even when refreshed. I felt totally locked out like a second class netizen as I watched the replies to the thread continue to be announced on the LATEST POSTS thread. Something to consider for the next time you try to RESTORE a thread with such urgency. Thanks.

[1rudeboy]

Posters are mandatory. Moderators are [necessary].

10 threads on the same subject diminish the value of this forum, which is a place where people gather articles, and then themselves gather for discussion. Your "anarchy" system would quickly prove unworkable, and you know it.

[Ratatoskr]

Your "anarchy" system would quickly prove unworkable, and you know it.

It worked wonderfully here for several years. It's been working for Usenet much longer than that.

[subrosa sam]

How does one turn off the sidebar?

[Taliesan]

Thanks for all the deletions, and ignore the yapping. You guys are doing fine.

[IVote2]

Being a moderator on another website, I understand the problems in keeping the site working.

My thought is this.. you don't need to explain further. This is Jim's site, and these are his guidelines, and you guys and gals are just doing what he asks you to do. Nothing more needs to be said.

If we don't like the rules, we can leave or we can support you, and I do.

Jen

[Harrison Bergeron]

Hi SM, nice to meet you.

Why was the AP story about the World News/Landlord/terrorist connection yanked sfer the second post? I couldn't find a duplicate story to save my life.