PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - Some suggestions for Open Discussion

Leathermang:

First, I didn't mean the original post to be a criticism of your shutting down the France thread - I only pointed it out because it was a recent example of something that I have thought about for some time now, namely the deletion of posts/threads. I actually have only a vague idea of what happened on the France thread, having read the first half of it (and not seeing any problems), and then coming back a few hours later to see it completely gone and BENZ-LGB's thread about censorship.

Second, the point I was trying to get across was a desire to see some permanence of content. Part of the reason for this is rooted in etiquette: in face-to-face conversations, I can't take back an insult or rude behavior. Instead, I have to apologize afterwards, with a commensurate (and entirely appropriate) increase in my humility. I believe the ability to "retract" potentially offensive content may be one of the reasons why some people feel there is greater license to say needlessly inflammatory things here.

In short, people should be responsible for the things that they say.

The other reason I would like to see permanence of content is because editing/deleting posts and threads leaves holes in the forum. A thread loses continuity if key posts (ones that people respond to) disappear, and this lowers the quality of the discussion. Likewise, if a user is going to edit a post, in continuity terms, it makes more sense to post the change after the post that pointed it out, not before.

At any rate, whether a moderator removes a post or a user removes a post, I think it's counterproductive to a truly open discussion.

Finally, I want to respond to the comment about personal ownership of posts and threads, and I will do it by making an observation about the tech forums.

In the tech forums, there are hundreds (if not thousands) of users posting questions and answers everyday. They do it at a great personal investment of time, and they do it for free. They post valuable information, not for any personal gain, but instead for the benefit of the larger Mercedesshop community. I have learned countless tips, techniques, and helpful hints from the contributions of people like Benzmac, stevebfl, MBDOC, LarryBible, engatwork, gsxr and others. Most of them have not been in response to questions that I have asked, or even threads that I have been a party to, yet I would estimate that probably 95% of everything that I have ever learned about maintaining my car has come from these posts. I also suspect that, if you asked most of the tech forum posters, the idea that they somehow "owned" their posts or questions did not really cross their minds.

I think this sort of attitude, of posting to contribute to the larger forum community, would be of immense value to the Open Discussion. I for one will say that I have learned from many of the civil, open-minded posts here. One example that sticks out in my mind is a pair of responses by Kuan and w126 about how their wives gave up better-paying jobs because it wasn't worth the increase in their income taxes. That was the first time I had ever heard a non-politician say that.

I have even learned from the inflammatory, personal posts, if for no other reason than it sharpens my attack instinct. :)

I think that when people invest too much of themselves in a post or a thread, it makes one far more likely to perceive a response as a personal attack, rather than an attack on a position or set of ideas. Hence, the flame wars.

To sum it all up, I think it would be better if people only had control over what they say, and not over an entire thread or series of responses. I think posts should be permanent 99% of the time, and the remaining 1% should be left to the discretion of the moderators, and only after fair notice and by following a clear set of appropriate guidelines. Finally, the quality of a forum depends almost entirely on the quality of the participants.

Moderator/no moderator, people get the Open Discussion they deserve (paraphrasing).

-anthony