(Poll) Should there be a few people that are allowed to delete irrelevant comments?

[Asher]

Hey guys, as stated in the title, I just wanted to get a bit of an opinion. Recently, many new threads/old threads have gone wildly off track due to debates (not blaming anybody, I am also guilty of this in some cases), and I thought that it was perhaps making the forums a difficult place for people to find the answers they are looking for. This is considering they may need to scroll through 20 irrelevant comments in some cases before they find something relelvant to the topic (something that they might be trying to get help with).

I want to know what you guys think about giving a few users (I don’t care who it is) the power to delete off-topic comments. I was thinking perhaps a few people voted for by the community, or chosen by the creators of BP. Please vote below, and note that I have hidden the results until you vote, to avoid biased opinions. Please vote what you really think.

Please note that I will also flag any comments that try to persuade people to vote in any specific direction. You are free to say your opinion, but please do not try to affect others.

• Moderators and long time users should be able to delete irrelevant posts.
• Nobody should be able to delete posts, unless it is agressive/banned content.
• The forums are fine how they are.

As for my own opinion. I just want users to be able to find what they are looking for, without having to scroll through mountains of posts. A few alternatives to this could be -
1 - Marking a post with (D), to let people know that it is an open discussion, and all replies are ok.
2 - Making a Bunpro discord, so that people that want to debate can debate freely.
3 - Marking your own post with (消しても大丈夫）, to let people know you are just stating your opinion, and don’t mind if your reply gets deleted.

[Kert]

I think hiding offtopic posts instead of deleting can be a good solution. The posts still are usually ever so slightly connected to the topic. Doesn’t really matter moderators or regular users do this.

[MacFinch]

It would be nice if not relevant post would be easy to move to different/new thread if creator of the thread or some regular member will find it better.

I tried to keep one of my threads on the subject but I failed, and I am aware I am not helping the problem…

Problem is that almost all interaction here are off topic… So some common sense is needed.

[ljoekelsoey]

ahem (cough cough) err maybe the ability to move certain comments to a new thread cough #dontknowwhatyouaretalkingabout …

[exolstice]

At the very least, it would be useful if we could block some users so we don’t personally have to see their posts. Some people come off as arrogant (insert expletive of choice) and I’d rather not have to even see their posts in passing.

[Howl_UK]

I like the format of these forums (WaniKani uses the same one) but I do prefer the Reddit style where derailment goes off into a collapsed branch. That way people are welcome to go down a rabbit hole and we are welcome to follow them if we find their exchange interesting. I just read through the ‘Am I Slow’ thread and the OP basically has his thread stolen within ten replies.

[matt_in_mito]

I just don’t like the fact that a new topic is created every time someone who paid via Paypal doesn’t have their account activated straight away… Would love to be able to move them all into one thread.

[EdBunpro]

Given how (generally) slow the forums are I think the way it is now is perfectly fine. If the traffic was 3-4x larger perhaps you could implement change but otherwise it’s good imo!

Plus you can just ignore individuals who constantly derail threads with inane ramblings, yipee!

[testing]

It seems Discourse has the ability to move posts to a new topic. Maybe that would a be a bit more appropriate than deleting them?

[conan]

They’ll definitely eventually want to add a new staff member to the team, perhaps voluntarily, to moderate the forums at some point. The admins are programmers, they should focus on the product more so than handling the community. Having an extra person just for the forums, to move posts, combine or close threads, etc. could lift up some of that extra work.

I agree that the forums are pretty slow at the moment, so I don’t think this is a rush concern, but something to keep in mind as the community grows.

[MZa]

I do prefer the Reddit style where derailment goes off into a collapsed branch.

In my view this functionality is great and used to be quite common in the past on forums. Plus it is very useful to follow sub-threads and people’s thought even when nobody is derailing from the intended topic.

[Aleithian]

Every forum needs a mechanism to remove unethical and spam posts. Moderators surely need to have this power - perhaps certain long term posters can act as “moderators lite” too. I would simply urge that there be a process for appeal should users think the power is being used improperly.

[FredKore]

Generally, I’m not a fan of the “supreme court” style of judging content (which I heard Facebook is considering using for their content – I’m sure it’ll be an improvement to FB, but it seems very time-consuming for the “judges”). I believe each community naturally develops its own standard.

I’ve often wondered if there should be a “dislike” button on social media – something in between (like) and (flag for removal).

If there’s a symbol for “irrelevant” or “off-topic”, then maybe after 5 marks that comment is open to the OP to delete or branch. Then maybe after 10 marks that comment is open to the admins to delete or branch.

[27jenny27]

I agree with this entirely. It allows posters to have a conversation without disrupting the flow of the main thread, and makes derailment less of an issue/annoyance. With replies appearing sequentially as they do at the moment, it can be confusing to follow, even if everything is reasonably on topic.

[Sidgr]

Seems to me this is really an issue with some particular users A block/mute option with options for mods to merge/split threads would be appreciated.

[Aecharjay]

I also like the collapsing branches method of reddit. It’s nice to give room for off topic discussion, but to be able to keep it small for the people who are more on topic.