Well, Mudcat owner Max Spiegel has publicly informed Shambles that he is no longer welcome here, and he has asked Shambles to leave. So far, Max has not done anything to force Shambles to leave, and Shambles has apparently decided not to accept Max's invitation.

I won't get involved in that - it's between Shambles and Max. I suppose I could have deleted almost all complaint messages from Shambles as personal attacks, but I haven't done that. From now on, I will. Complaints from Shambles about Mudcat editing policy are no longer welcome, and will be deleted. He may continue to discuss music and other matters, but his insults and attacks will no longer be tolerated. From now on, there will be no "Shambles complaint threads."

We moderators delete messages that we believe to be harmful - usually racism and personal attacks and spam and duplications. We now also delete most anonymous messages because they have caused us problems for many years. We can't make public explanation of our deletions because that defeats the very purpose of the deletion - to remove messages that may cause harm.

So, there is nothing I have to say about The wisdom of Mudcat's 'silent deletion' other than to say we try to do it sparingly and for good reason, and that all editorial actions are subject to review by Joe, Max, or Jeff.

Oh, by the way, it isn't "silent deletion" - it makes a "click" sound every time I do it.

Here's a quote from columnist Anita Creamer the April 1 edition of my local paper, the Sacramento Bee:

With the Internet, words [people] might well have kept to themselves over the morning newspaper or the evening newscast take on a permanence, as well as a permanent ability to wound. People have become so accustomed to not having to take responsibility for their online comments that they can't even see the irony in complaining that other people have behaved irresponsibly....
Granted, the bored and grammar-challenged populace has to have something to do with its time. Perhaps a less-damaging occupation might be in order. Or some therapy.

Earlier in the column, Cream says some Internet posters are "judgmental and, intentionally or otherwise, they're cruel."

That's why we moderate, to keep some of that cruelty down so other people can carry on reasonable discussion - particularly about music. If you want to see what Mudcat would be without moderation, take a look at the jungle the Help Forum has become.

-Joe Offer-

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This thread is closed. Shambles is no longer welcome to discuss Mudcat policy. Perhaps without his participation, the rest of us can carry on a reasonable discussion when there is something we need to talk about.
-Joe Offer-