General

Best I can understand it, it comes down to the moderator's judgement, how often they are paying attention to the forums, and if the thread has necroed.

I do know that lately admin has been more vigilient since years past.

Two things can happen to a thread: getting locked or deleted. Getting locked is more common than getting deleted.

A mod will have to provide further insight, but from what I've seen, the following are the most likely to get locked or deleted:

Soliciting users for money
Scams/spam
Harrassment, especially towards one user
Dogpiling, especially towards one user
Any thread where emotions are high
Post containing blatant bigotry (e.g. racism, sexism, agism, homophobia)
Posts soliciting advice on secret feedings
Posts bashing FF or admin

There might be more, but this is what I can recall witnessing. I know that you can also report a thread to admin. If they deem it necessarly, they will lock it.

I wouldn't mind hearing more about this, myself. Particularly about the bits where supposedly, "the posts that COULD justify some moderator comment remain unacted upon."

I can assure everyone that none of the moderators are on a power trip. We do however, uphold the rules to the best of our ability as time permits. This includes attempts at deliberate harassment and bigotry. We do try to be proactive, but there is no 24/7 coverage, so we do rely on other members to point out questionable content.

On occasion, preemptive action might be taken. There was that one thread that somehow devolved and derailed into a discussion about Nazis. While it had remained civil, one could just sense a high degree of emotions, and there's the vibe that it might go off, like a ticking time bomb. Particularly if it seems that everyone involved is just angry and emotionally very invested. One of those types of arguments where it seems like everyone loses.

While we do try to avoid false positives, and I think we have done a very good job at this - sometimes there could be questionable gray areas and sometimes taking action can rely just on gut feelings. Although, I haven't seen a really bad call get taken lately.

I’m pretty much of the mind that unless it’s about size acceptance or other weight related political issues, there’s the ENTIRE REST OF THE INTERNET to talk about politics. It’s inescapable. This site can be an oasis from that. But just my opinion.

gotta agree with you. You can find anything you want on the internet. This is a very specific site. If someone wanted to talk about a sensitive social or political issue then they can take it somewhere else. I know that Some of my friends here and i have "met" on other chats and forums to discuss things that dont belong here.
The other side is just skip over things you dont want to read and realize its all right ot be offended

Yup, absolutely. Half of the annoying slap fights could be avoided this way.

I don't enjoy talking politics on here. Only time I do is when you have bigots bigotting. Other than that, I talk about it elsewhere.

ok

It's everyone's responsibility to keep discussions civil on the internet, not just the moderators. If someone is being an asshole or bigot, it's not your job to police the discussion, confront them, or put them in their place. First, not everyone is a skilled communicator, misunderstandings can happen, so asking for clarification is a good idea. Beyond that, you should calmly state your disagreement in a non-accusatory manner, and if they're over the line, report them to the mods. It's this attitude exactly that I've seen time and time again will cause a discussion to escalate to the point where the thread needs to be locked in the first place. All of this is spelled out explicitly in the website rules.



This rule still applies to you, even if you're well-intentioned, and even if somebody else breaks it first.

Ok, but you're explicitly violating TOS. What you're saying might be true for disorganized communities, but not here. This isn't society at large, and this isn't a place for internet activism. In this case, tolerance actually DOES mean tolerating the intolerant until you can get a moderator to act on your behalf. It's literally their job to do so. When you confront people, you're actually being counter-productive to what you want, because all you succeeded in doing is getting the thread closed, while they still remain a member and will continue to post. That doesn't actually scare the trolls at all. If I'm wrong in my interpretation of the rules, I'll gladly accept that correction from a moderator.

I'll edit to add an analogy. If you're part of the gaming community, and someone is acting disruptive, then yes, people should do some gatekeeping on their own. But if you're part of an after school club, and someone says something out of pocket, then by rising up and yelling at them, it only makes you look like you're just as disruptive and part of the problem. But if you turn to the club president and tell them that person is turning this into a toxic environment, then thy have an excuse to act and bar that person from future meetings.

Wouldn't it be ironic if this thread gets locked?