Wasteland vs "Magic" away

[CalBoy]

I'm just curious as to the difference between wastelanding a thread and simply making it disappear.

The reason I bring it up is because of those faux-marketplace threads that keep getting started by posters who don't qualify for marketplace privileges. Why are those wastelanded and not made to disappear? Can't someone who does want to engage in the trade still PM the OP after it's been wastelanded?

I'm sure I'm missing something, but I was curious as to why those types of threads are handled this way (especially since there have been more lately).

 

[WildCowboy]

We're lazy...adding a post to a Wastelanded thread is easier than deleting the thread and then sending a PM (or not bothering to send a PM) to the poster about why the thread was deleted.

I guess we'd like to think that members won't want to get involved in a deal coming out of the Wasteland. Sometimes we'll edit the original post to remove the info about the item, but again, we're lazy sometimes and don't always do that.

 

[lancestraz]

We're lazy...adding a post to a Wastelanded thread is easier than deleting the thread and then sending a PM (or not bothering to send a PM) to the poster about why the thread was deleted.

I guess we'd like to think that members won't want to get involved in a deal coming out of the Wasteland. Sometimes we'll edit the original post to remove the info about the item, but again, we're lazy sometimes and don't always do that.

I can't believe you had the energy to type that whole post!

 

[iPhil]

We're lazy...adding a post to a Wastelanded thread is easier than deleting the thread and then sending a PM (or not bothering to send a PM) to the poster about why the thread was deleted.

I guess we'd like to think that members won't want to get involved in a deal coming out of the Wasteland. Sometimes we'll edit the original post to remove the info about the item, but again, we're lazy sometimes and don't always do that.

I can't believe you had the energy to type that whole post!

He didn't .. std response to 'bout threads that go into wasteland..

 

[CalBoy]

We're lazy...adding a post to a Wastelanded thread is easier than deleting the thread and then sending a PM (or not bothering to send a PM) to the poster about why the thread was deleted.

I guess we'd like to think that members won't want to get involved in a deal coming out of the Wasteland. Sometimes we'll edit the original post to remove the info about the item, but again, we're lazy sometimes and don't always do that.

Oh....

Well, at least I know that I haven't glossed over some important reason.

 

[Mudbug]

Well, at least I know that I haven't glossed over some important reason.

what? Being lazy isn't important enoug...

 

[Sun Baked]

Well, at least you mods have to stay alert enough to keep from falling face first into the keyboard.

I hear drool is murder on the keyboards.

 

[CalBoy]

what? Being lazy isn't important enoug...

Well, I can't argu...meh, I'll finish the rest of this post later

 

[Doctor Q]

Sometimes we prefer to Wasteland a thread rather than delete it, for a few reasons: It can help convey forum rules to not only the original poster but to other members. It's more open, less secretive. It preserves the visibility of any posts in the thread by other members. And some members enjoy reading the Wasteland forum. So, if it's fairly harmless to keep a thread around, we like to do so.

There are downsides, however: We want to correct forum members who don't know or follow the rules; our intent isn't to embarrass them. Leaving the thread visible can lead to second-guessing by people who would have handled it differently (kept the thread active or deleted it entirely). We don't want posts that shouldn't be viewed at all to be visible in the Wasteland. For example, you'll rarely see the worst threads, e.g., by spammers who paste in huge lists of products for sale. They are (usually) so quickly reported and deleted that most members aren't aware of them, and that's how we want it.

With Marketplace threads, our intent is to keep the Marketplace running smoothly, to help the members who participate. If an advertiser spams our forums, we don't leave their thread visible at all. But if a Newbie is selling an iPod sock, and the thread is in the Wasteland, it's not harmful to the Marketplace forum. We don't want ineligible users to get away with selling items by posting them and having them stay visible in the Wasteland, so we often delete them or edit them. When we choose to leave them, buyers who are still interested in a Wastelanded offer have certainly gotten fair warning!

The moderators make these judgement calls all day long. I hope that explains more about why and how they do this.

 

[kwood]

what? Being lazy isn't important enoug...

I was going to respond to this, but I was to lazy to fi...

 

[CalBoy]

<real explanation from Q>.

Thanks for that in-depth answer.

I guess I understand what you mean by "harmless" as the threads aren't spam and such.

However, the last line about mod judgement calls was probably the most informative.

Thanks again.

 

[AmbitiousLemon]

Sometimes we prefer to Wasteland a thread rather than delete it, for a few reasons: ... blah blah blah lies lies lies blah blah blah lies all lies... blah blah blah

Actually we all have our own system. e I think uses a magic 8 ball to tell him what to do. Q reads tea leaves. Mitt uses interpretive dance. devilot uses a Ouija board. I do what ever the invisible woodland creatures tell me to do - you don't want to make them angry

 

[cbrain]

I was going to respond to this, but I was to lazy to fi...

WildCowboy implied that it was Moderators who are lazy, not members!