Banned Again

[FP]

So I asked the question again in a completely non chatty way, ie.  What Musical Instruments do you play.  Again this has been banned!  I can only assume this is personal now and would ask the Editors to grow up. Goodbye.

[FP]

This has just proved what I suspected that the editors do not act in a professional or businesslike manner.  If you delete this it will be seen as an easy way out of an explanation that I think is now owed to me.  I do not want to communicate by email.  I want you to be upfront about this.  If you want to ban me totally for this mailing, please feel free.  I have done nothing to abuse the rules of this site.

[becks]

Hi FP, I've emailed the Eds this morning about my question that was above yours about who would play you in a film. I feel that the editors have randomly deleted our questions, which were legitimate and had answers. This is a question and answer site and how we phrase our questions should have nothing to do with it. What has annoyed me most is the pathetic "Sorry we can't answer personal questions blah blah blah." This is totally unfair - we have no recrimination for anything that the Eds do yet they can delete threads, questions and answers without having to justify at all. I said all of this in my email, which undoubtedly won't be replied to so have no qualms sharing it here. Without wishing to sound petulant, i'll head off somewhere else if this arrogant "we can delete what we want and not have to tell you" approach continues. I would rather have had no answer from the Eds than the generic one produced.

[bernardo]

I think that there might be a gremlin somewhere rather than the Editor doing it.  I have just noticed that another of my answers has been un-bolded for no good reason, in adition to the one I noted yesterday.

It is totally inconceivable that the bold bits in the two answers concerned could possibly have been considered to be inappropriate or offensive in any way, and there would be no reason for the Editor to waste his/her time interfering with my answers in such a way; therefore it was almost certainly a gremlin in the system rather than a human doing it.

[bernardo]

If you, AB Editor, have got the time to delete questions which were perfectly valid and reasonable in the first place, then by definition you have also got enough time to give a proper specific explanation in this particular case*.  If you do not have the time to explain why you have deleted a reasonable and fair question, then by definition you do not have the time to go to the lengths of deleting the question.
 
* (you will have noticed that I have very carefully and deliberately NOT suggested that you should give an individual explanation in every case of a question or answer being deleted.)
 
And if you, Fakeplastic, want to ask your question again then I am sure that we will be happy to re-submit our answers.

[Greedyfly]

He he he

[smudge]

If you read the comments on the question above this one, you will see you are not alone.

[FP]

Thanks Bernardo, but I don't want to ask the question again!  I am fed up with it all.

[FP]

But I really want to know what musical instruments people play!!

[ezapf]

     I've got it!

     Perhaps the AB editor does not have the time (or desire) to read every thread to choose which ones must go.

     Every question/answer has a "Report this question/answer" link.

     Perhaps the AB editor only has the time (or desire) to read (or just delete) the reported questions/answers. This would answer Fakeplastic's question to the editor as to why not remove all threads which seem chatty. If the thread is never reported, it does not get deleted. If it is there two weeks before it is reported, then it is there two weeks before it is removed.

     Perhaps AB is not policed by the editor at all. Perhaps it is policed by the users and merely reacted upon by the editor.

     Perhaps the generic, non-specific explainations provided by the AB editor are meant to protect the guilty.

 

Just a thought, perhaps I am way off base.

[j2buttonsw]

Just post the question on late Friday afternoon and it will be off the top 20 by Monday morning (unless it is in the News section) and there will be so many other reported questions over the weekend (from naughty people who aught to have their questions removed) it may slip through the net.

[FP]

But why would anybody report a question such as 'What Musical Instruments do you Play'?  Perhaps I have an enemy out there somewhere!!  I'm quite intrigued.  Oh well, perhaps the editor might just reply today!

[smudge]

'What musical instruments do you play' is no different to 'Blue Eyes - What colour eye shadow? - strange!

[Lindy Loo]

Maybe ezapf has the answer.... perhaps it is a case of threads/ answers being reported and as the Ed has said himself, the reported Q's and A's get attention before the rest do.

 

If that is the case, then the person who has a very happy 'Report this Question' finger, must either be very bored or maybe has a grudge against some ABankers.

Whichever it is, if that is the answer, it's a rather childish attitide.

[smudge]

Yes, rather like being back at school Lindy Loo!

[Hgrove]

Thinking of ezapt's message, it seems to me, if one person is reporting q's or a's they don't approve of, or even bear a grudge against someone, it is still just one report - a drop in the ocean with so many users.  I hope the Ed. does not rush and delete posts with just one or two reports against them.  I hope the Ed. ultimately exercises his/her own judgement.  My own impression is that the Ed. (possibly on his employer's instructions) is coming down on anything which is not a "hard" question - i.e. in which year did Kennedy die?  In which year did man land on the moon?  I had not seen the q. "what musical instruments do you play" (I don't play any by the way) and it seems to me, if my reason above is correct, the Ed. is being overzealous at the moment.

[Bangkok]

This raises a question that may have been addressed before, if so, sorry.  How does the Ed make his/her crust.  There are not a lot of ads, and no subscriptions.  Is there a benevolent benefactor promoting knowledge?  Is the Ed altruistic?  Is the sum of our knowledge being sold? 

[Robinia]

Hi Fp - I've just had a Q banned that I asked two weeks ago!  There was no chit-chat, it was a reasonable question - I think ezapf is right.

[booksworth]

Yes, Bangkok, I've been wondering exactly what the machinery is. I think there is something sinister about it all - apparent communication between virtual people. Perhaps you and I are the only real ones involved, and all the other names made up by - what?

[AB Editor]

TheAnswerbank is designed as a knowledge exchange. That sum of knowledge is driven by the people who post to it. It is of worth to those who visit it, if the knowledge itself is of worth. As such, there aren't many alternatives online.

 

There are many places on the Internet where you can 'meet' and 'make friends' and ask each other which instruments people play (to use the example quoted above): why should this have to be another one?

 

If you cannot see that as a 'chatty' question, if you regard the editing of this site as unprofessional, random, pathetic and arrogant, if you are fed up with it all, if you feel that the editors of this site aren't devoting enough time to dealing with your queries, that is a shame. We don't want to lose any users, regular or irregular, but we'd prefer not to lose sight of what TheAnswerbank is about either.

[FP]

Be consistent then and take out all such questions, not just the ones you pick on randomly.  You have allowed this to happen over a long period  and have even answered an email of mine saying just to ignore.  You seem to have suddenly taken a stand and reversed your policies.  Sorry, but it's a communication problem on behalf of AB management.  It is down to professionalism.