| Posted by rahouls, 01-25-2006, 11:20 PM | | Hello,
Is it ethical and common for web hosting companies to wash their forums of inconvenient posts? the most glaring example is of serverdivision.com. i have been following their forums at http://forums.serverdivision.com and today was the last straw. their forums do not have any messages. just one old message.
Is this ethical and common?
Thanks.
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| Posted by bear, 01-25-2006, 11:35 PM | | The forum belongs to them, and they can do what they like with it. Of course, it doesn't look good to potential clients to see that, but that's their choice.
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| Posted by JSpired, 01-25-2006, 11:38 PM | | I completely agree! While they have every right to police their forum any way they see fit, customer complaints/concerns that get deleted always shine badly on the host!
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| Posted by whatever, 01-25-2006, 11:58 PM | | It depends on the integrity of the post as well - would you like it if someone who had you confused with another company posted negatively on your forum or posted SPAM? Some factors to consider.
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| Posted by JSpired, 01-26-2006, 12:05 AM | | Very true!
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| Posted by DreamHost-MikeS, 01-26-2006, 12:23 AM | | Hosts can do whatever they want with their forums.
They should keep in mind that copies of posts and mention of the deleted posts will most likely surface on other web hosting forums not policed by the company, like WHT.
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| Posted by rahouls, 01-26-2006, 01:01 AM | | and what if there are is no spam and most (though i agree that some could be whimsical or just to harass the company) are genuine issues with the host?
maybe they also lost their complete data and so all the posts are missing. but then this again reflects badly on their ability to take and keep backups.
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| Posted by davgeener, 01-26-2006, 02:16 AM | | i think it is a bad idea to flush posts from a board. questions are bound to be asked again and again. having old posts around will allow people to search for their answers before starting another thread.
however, useless replies including advertising and spam should definately be deleted as they offer no value to the readers.
but those companies own those boards. they can do whatever they want really.
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| Posted by Aussie Bob, 01-26-2006, 03:01 AM | | If you run an active community, and you're a host, then you're going to have to delete/trash some posts. When I owned HTTPme, the community was very busy, and never would I delete a valid complaint thread, and there were plenty of those, although the post trash can had hundreds of threads in it. Mostly spammers etc.
If you try and suppress that kind of interaction, you'll kill the spirit of the community. Having the self confidence not to suppress negative interaction, will win you more support than trying to be over controlling.
Building a community is about respect, and by opening yourself up and appearing vulnerable, you're actually demonstrating inner strength and self confidence. By doing the opposite, you're demonstrating issues of no self esteem or confidence.
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| Posted by B33R, 01-26-2006, 03:23 AM | | There seems little point in deleting negative posts, if someone is actively searching for the pro's and con's of your company, they'll just Google it and come to WHT
HostGators approach seems very good to me.
They have a forum that is monitored by them but not moderated.
Each activated user has a title relating to the plan they are using, non-hosted users can post but have no title. Meaning spam isn't going to be believed.
I still Google them before believing what I read on a forum run by them, but there's no need for an extensive search for negative reports if I can see some on their own forum with replies from their staff.
Does anyone actually believe what they read on a forum run by a site owner anyway?
I usually look for at least a couple of sources before believing anything I read on the internet. Is that just my paranoia? lol
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| Posted by ldcdc, 01-26-2006, 06:16 AM | | Well said Bob. Reasonable hosts will have reasonable ways of dealing with customer abuse. If a host refuses/can't handle virtually all criticism though, it should consider not having a forum at all.
That's what research is all about.
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| Posted by rahouls, 01-26-2006, 06:20 AM | | now one more question:
is it ok to ban someone who asks difficult but valid questions from a forum?
if a forum is going to suppress all negative feedback, then what is the use of having a forum ?
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| Posted by AbsolutelyFreeWeb, 01-26-2006, 06:50 AM | | It is not ethical, period. Some communities even ban you if you complain about the moderation. But I guess there are power crazy people everwhere and its their forum. Personally I wouldn't consider a host that deletes inconvenient but legitimate posts.. They should instead respond to it and try to rectify things..
Last edited by AbsolutelyFreeWeb; 01-26-2006 at 06:55 AM.
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| Posted by Yash-JH, 01-26-2006, 07:09 AM | | Censorship, if practised by a host is a never-ending cycle.. Deleting a few posts leads to more criticism.. resulting in more deletion and even more criticism..
In a matter of time, you'd have a dead and lifeless forum,
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| Posted by Aussie Bob, 01-26-2006, 07:23 AM | | No.
Not much use at all, imo.
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| Posted by Aussie Bob, 01-26-2006, 07:25 AM | | Yep, so the best thing to do is be upfront and vulnerable. If you stuff up, admit it - apologise for it - move on. Folks will respect that, over lies and cover ups.
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| Posted by Energizer Bunny, 01-26-2006, 07:37 AM | | Oh not only compalin about moderation but also if u tell them that some rule is absurd. (*cough talking about wht here )
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| Posted by bear, 01-26-2006, 10:02 AM | | What rule do you find absurd that you think we would ban you for questioning?
/finger poised over the ban button.../
j/k
It's ok to question a rule you think is wrong, and should be on any forum. If you provide a reasonable argument, we listen. It may not change the rule, but we don't ban someone for asking tough questions.
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| Posted by Aussie Bob, 01-26-2006, 11:13 AM | | Publicly questioning WHT rules is prohibited -
Sure, folks can question the rules, but not in public. That must be done behind closed doors, on the helpdesk. According to that rule, I'm not allowed to pass a public comment on that rule, unless I do it only on the helpdesk and not in the forum.
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| Posted by bear, 01-26-2006, 01:10 PM | | It seems I misstated then. We have people ask about the rules all the time publicly. Most often if it's a complaint, it gets pointed to the helpdesk. If it's a suggestion for change, it's discussed. If it's a "this rule is stupid" post, then it's removed...
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| Posted by ldcdc, 01-26-2006, 01:32 PM | | The moderating team is not made of
Or at least we try to simulate it isn't, until we assimilate you all.
...resistance is futile
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| Posted by MysticServer, 01-26-2006, 04:11 PM | | I had my sare of posts deleted from one of the bigger web hosts' forums because I asked questions they didn't want asked, complained about things they were choosing not to fix, or they the posts were simply too Cynical. But, It was their forums and they can do what they want. It cost them a customer, and created a small competitor.
Then I'd like to publicly question the rule on not questioning rules!
-Jason
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| Posted by bear, 01-26-2006, 04:40 PM | | Show of hands...who didn't see that coming?
Off to the help desk with you...
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| Posted by LinuxMaster, 01-26-2006, 08:21 PM | | Let's face it, there are a lot more dumb people in the world than smart people. Deleting posts is about appealing to the majority :-)
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| Posted by davgeener, 01-27-2006, 01:12 AM | | set simple rules for the board are reasonable. I don't think negative comments should be deleted because that would present a biased board. However, you should make a rule that prohibits posts that are completely irrlevant. If a thread is talking about web hosting and some idiote posts "You should try "blah". It is a great shopping cart. Come try it!' Then that post should most definately be deleted.
I think it is a good idea to have a grace period after signup when a person cannot make any posts. While this may hurt usability, it may dramatically cut down on the amount of crap/spam postings.
Make rules clear on spam and advertisements or bashing of the company or any competitors. Allow for discussion positive and negative but there is no need for board members to trash talk. People break rules and you delete posts, people will understand. I think WHT does a fairly good job of weeding out the junk partly because dedicated users will report bad posts to the moderators. And the moderators are very responsive if they see a violation. THANKS moderators!
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| Posted by Shaw Networks, 01-27-2006, 02:57 AM | | I see removing posts as being a very dishonest practice. Essentially information is purposely being hidden from potential clients for the sole purpose of making oneself look more appealing. Definitely unethical, but what can you do?
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| Posted by rahouls, 01-27-2006, 10:56 AM | | boycott them, warn the world and potential customers through sites like WHT, and if someone has time and is angry enough, would keep posting on the forum time and again
SD's acceptance that they did ban a user
http://forums.serverdivision.com/sho...=newpost&t=216
Thanks.
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| Posted by rahouls, 01-28-2006, 10:28 AM | | http://forums.serverdivision.com/showthread.php?t=220
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