Really, I can't believe this happened.

(snip)


Let's hope the Org gets over this mid-life crisis reaaal fast. For the record, I am not asking for the decision to be reversed. I have accomplished my goal, which was to announce the event to those who have been there for me, without having to send a gazillion emails. But the deletion is more than a little troubling. We're gonna have all kinds of trivial threads, but there's no place for an annoucement such as mine. WTF?

Feel free to delete this one too.
[This message was edited Tue Jul 16 14:24:16 PDT 2002 by Aerogram]

Sometimes in the world of content moderation, the concepts of DISCRETION and ZEAL get confused. It's best not to get too attached to anything you contribute on here. The concept of "community" on this site is a tenuous and fickle thing, and anything but objective.

Having said that, I recognize and respect you as a long time Org/AMP contributor and all around well-spoken guy, and I'm glad to hear about your progress.

So that's what "it" was all about.


Lots of luck man!

Sometimes I am surprised at what gets deleted and what stays on there.
Good to hear you are doing better.

There is more to life than Prince.

U R Not alone...my thread regarding Sesame Street's new HIV Positive Muppet was deleted also.

It's funny what is being allowed 2 stay and what's taken away...topics about AIDS tolerance and U possibly getting ur hearing back, r deleted, while crap by Asiam and this HRH shit stays...

go figure.

Anxiety said:

As I said, I think I accomplished my goal. The purpose of this thread is to question what the moderators themselves view as "community". Should I have titled the deleted thread "Nearly Deaf Prince Fan Gets Hearing Surgery in the Hope of Hearing Everything Betta --- Including Prince"? That would be a little melodramatic, and I figured most people who knew about my situation would put 2 + 2 together and draw their own conclusions.

Maybe someone flamed the schtuff out of me after I went to bed, but I really don't mind the flamers, if that's what happened. I'm very, very used to being insulted and am no little fragile flower.

In any case, I reiterate that my Org story shows it to be as helpful as a site can get -- musically, interpersonally, etc. It was a beautiful thing -- people can't imagine how good it felt from my perspective. But it got deleted, and I have to wonder why, besides the obvious absence of a real forum for these announcements right now. I would have been tolerant -- and my thread did have some kind of Prince content.

Oh well... Again, thank you all for your support.

Oh, btw...I wish u the best of luck, Aerogram. I hope everything works out well 4 u...u deserve it.

A little post, just to show u my support.

As for the deleting issue, I think that sometimes in the future it will be understood that it is impossible to check carefully every single thread and therefore any deletion shall be unjust.

I'd really like to know the how and why it was deleted. i read the start of it yesterday, and there was nothing in there, at that time, that would justify a deletion.

Its getting kind of uptight around here. Seems everything is getting deleted.

Tho nothing is stopping anyone of us from starting another message board ourselves.

I have some good scripts, anyone interested???

Why the hell would that thread get deleted...? (sigh)
The best of luck to you Aero...please keep us posted on your progress...this surgery could change your life forever
Much love to you.

Best wishes to you Aero and God speed. (no offense I hope)

Peace

Sorry to hear about ur problem Aerogram and I hope quick recovery... But hey you just put ur thread back up, so look at the bright side.

"Tho nothing is stopping anyone of us from starting another message board ourselves.

I have some good scripts, anyone interested???"

hey, i'd be up for jumping ship...i don't know jack about building/maintaining a website, etc...and i know that it's a ton of work for matt and ben, but COME ON. lately every time i actually post ANYthing i check a few hours later and the whole thread is just...missing. what could have been said on the hiv/ sesame street thread that would have deemed it appropriate to delete it? or is it just that the topic was deemed "inappropriate" for this forum? what gives? hey ben...mat...'splain it to us, PLEASE. is it your wish that there are absolutely no circumstances under which a topic can be not specifically prince-related? 'cos if so, that's cool, and that's your choice. that's also a huge mistake in my little, not-very-humble-at-the-moment opinion...
sorry, that hiv thread was turning into a real fascinating discussion, and aerogram's thread was too...i've been following him and his hearing for years on the org and on amp...certainly on the old org, there was PLENTY of off-topic banter. that's what makes the org the ORG. sigh. i guess i should get a life and move on. just a shame to see seemingly cool people get all fascistic with a little bit of power.

theblueangel said:

I was wondering what happened to BOTH of these threads.

Aero, I'm newer to the org, and am not too familiar with you, bit I thought that your thread about your surgery was PERFECT here. I again wish you luck.

June7, theblueangel and all the others who were posting on the hiv-muppets thread, we had a greaat discussion going. I can't believe they deleted the whole thing.

Meanwhile we're still wading through multiple threads about Janet and Justin making out...ooh that's important stuff, definitely Prince related, and clearly about music.

Whatevs...

Thank you everyone. I'm truly touched by your support. I have considerably edited my head post because I really am not comfortable discussing this topic publicly. I still have the integral post for those who are interested.

Epigram said:

LOL... exactly. And I'm glad.

For the record, the thread was deleted (as opposed to being moved) because it would be off-topic in any of the open forums. I know that everyone is anxiously awaiting the return of General Discussion--in fact, I am too! But for now, General Discussion remains closed, and I ask that people respect our decision by not posting GD-type stuff in the remaining forums.

Closing Aerogram's thread was a difficult decision because it was clear that his surgery is a big event for him, and the prince.org community (myself included) want to wish him well. But if I let it slide, I'd probably start getting complaints like, "You let Aerogram's surgery thread stay up, so why did you delete my thread on the HIV-positive Muppet?"

Now, a question for everyone.

From what I've been reading, it seems that people are uneasy with threads suddenly disappearing without explanation. Would you prefer that the threads be locked instead, with an explanation of why they were locked? (Here's an example from Ben.) Let's hear what you think.

Aerogram said:

[b]U and me both buddy.

U may not have the hearing but U got tha balls.

U'll be up and shootin notes in the wrecka stow buying Beethoven and Mozart before U no it 2 get them ears broken in.
Lets just hope U dont get 2 carried away and end up dumping Prince and sampling everything and every1 else to make up 4 what U missed.

(((Aero)))

Take Care of That Ass Bud'!!!

PS. Matt - locking them would be better yes.


[This message was edited Tue Jul 16 16:43:03 PDT 2002 by SexLovely]

I think a "lock" would b better, simply bcuz u know what happened 2 it, and usually a reason is given 4 the lock-down.

I thought we were having a very good intelligent conversation regarding the HIV+Muppet, and was sad that I didn't get 2 "see" everyone's views b4 it was deleted...

BTW, (while we've got ur ear) u've gotta know this HRH Gregory Alive crap is a ficticious artist, so...y do u continue 2 allow these posts (or this Poster, 4 that matter) 2 exist here at the .org?

June7 said:

I've been deleting the HRH Gregory stuff when I see it. Some of those posts may have lasted for a few days because I was traveling and without Internet access.

I can't believe a few assholes have ruined our ability to have genuine discussions on this site. Ben, Please bring back the general discussions!! Please

And might I add, there are A LOT of general discussion threads that are passing through.

matt said:

Thanks Matt. I really appreciate all the good things being said. This is a really abnormal time at the Org. In fact, it's absurd that we expanded into version 2, only to end up with no place to actually be a "community". It's disquieting to think that even if one of us died, we'd technically have no place to announce it (aside from being unable to do so for reasons of deadness).

Ben should reopen the GD asap or sell/rent the site to someone who still has the stomach for it. The GD was frequently a mess, but it wasn't bad enough to strap a chastity belt on the site for that long.

As for your question, if you're not moving, lock'em, then delete em after two or three days, otherwise you'll be left with a lot of dead threads. There are still some cases where a thread is so offensive, abusive or sick you should just delete.

Did I mention I think the GD should reopen? Okay, but let me add it would for public health concerns...

Matt, I like the idea of locked thread w/ explaination, but the example was really NPGMC response-ish.

I was wondering about the asiam/gregory/firstborn stuff also and why it was not getting deleted. Thanks for letting us know.

I actually posted a Prince related matter that got deleted.

All I wanted to do is get his help to repeal a few anti-drunk laws!

OK>>> You managed to get it back up and it is still here so now what? They took it down, you put it back up. You proved to us and them, P.org it can be done... Congradulations!

bkw said:

and all i wanted to know is if anyone thought he liked to have a finger stuck up his ass during sex