Posted by Dr. Bob on March 4, 2002, at 9:16:44
In reply to Deleting my post was double-plus ungood, posted by Shar on March 3, 2002, at 21:58:19
> Wow, I am very, very surprised that you deleted a post because things had been 'stirred up enough' on the thread. Hmmm. That is really crossing the boundary between being a watchdog and determining the direction or outcome you want in a situation.
Well, like I said, I really hate to do it. But having a watchdog does itself influence the outcome, it's not either-or. Would it have been better just to have asked you to "please be civil"?
> When you start deleting posts based on content that you speculate might 'stir things up' even more, it isn't too far a reach to think about you deleting posts for other seemingly innocuous reasons, or even because you don't like the opinion expressed--or the opiner!
I see what you're saying, it could be a slippery slope...
> And, if you are deleting posts, this board is no longer spontaneous, and you'd need to talk about that if you publish any more research based on the Babbles.
True enough.
> My feathers have gotten ruffled over this but I speculate I'll live. Still think it is a bad idea to do that.
> SharMaybe it's not the best idea. I'll try to think it through more carefully next time. Thanks for your feedback.
----
> It stops being an experiment or research and becomes steered in a contrived direction... I would imagine that a truly insightful and honest research project would go untampered. (Blocking people for civility issues aside)
> SarahMaybe think of it as research on a steering mechanism? Blocking people for civility reasons is in fact already a form of "tampering"...
Bob
poster:Dr. Bob
thread:3234
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20011216/msgs/3262.html