status-monitor Under which circumstances should NamePros delete/edit content?

I'll start:

Direct messages that consist of personal or defamatory information.

Another one:

Direct messages that the recipient said they would keep private.

When we buy a domain, we should be able to request that the domain either be deleted or at least have the extension removed or modified in some way to prevent future prospective buyers from finding out what we paid for the domain on the first page of google results when they search for the domain.

1.) I think when a thread creator requests a thread to be deleted. (within reason of course)

2.) Whenever a thread contains personal details of a company or person and the content is defamatory. Unless the details of the infraction is backed up with solid proof, if the person/company request the thread to be removed it should be allowed.

Private business communication.

Whereas generic threadstarter posts private information out in public, realizes his mistake of posting a direct/otherwise known as a private message in public, after generic members point it out.

Then threadstarter apologizes and requests for it to be deleted.

The party that had their private information posted publicly, we can safely assume they want it removed as well.

Direct messages/private messages that contain business conversation. An example would be price expectations of domains.

In my opinion...

A forum should preserve topics and posts. When I ran big forums we NEVER deleted posts. We moved them to a special forum that was not accessible to search engines and was only accessible to high level members over 1000 post who had shown good judgement and responsible posting tactics. We stated why the topic was moved and policy was not to challenge the moderators authority. Those members who had access could continue the conversation unless it was not productive and in that case the topic was closed.

It saved our butt once when there was legal action taken against the forum, the poster had no idea the original topic was saved, he thought it was deleted. When we were served papers we simply provided the details of the original post and the case was almost immediately dropped.

So lets pretend that someone posted sensitive information from a pm and the topic was deleted. Later the second party takes the forum to court and makes unfounded claims for damages. Preserving the topic in one way or another can come in handy if needed for legal reasons.

We also did not delete posts, we simply separated them into a different topic and saved them to the deleted topic section.

As far as deciding what gets deleted.... we had no debates, it was left up to moderators. We had several levels of moderators with varying levels of access. Sometimes we had members with thousands of posts that disagreed strongly and threatened to leave the forum. In that case we offered starter level moderator access to see if they could do better. Some of those members ended up becoming our best moderators.

Nothing is cut and dry on a forum, too many people, opinions, and variables. That is why moderators, and the reporting options exist. If someone posts private information report them. A moderator moves it away and issues a warning. Done finished, move on to the next topic. No rules were required because common sense prevailed and often we relied on members to hit the reporting button to draw our attention. In essence it was the members who had control and we encouraged them to use the report button.

Sorry about the long post but in my opinion (based on experience) these type of debates will never end and in the end the decision will, and should, rely on the moderator.

My suggestion is to let the moderator do their job and if unsure separate part of the topic and open it up to other moderators to discuss before making a final decision. Highest vote wins

Business related

Domain names
Domain name Auth Code / Transfer Codes / Push ID
Payment Transaction codes (paypal etc)
Payment details

Eric Lyon said:

I'll start:

Direct messages that consist of personal or defamatory information.

Click to expand...

I'm here because NP's refused to delete my post. I think my post could have been considered defamatory about the company. It certainly wasn't true. It would have caused no disruption to the conversation to have deleted it. So I think lies or defamatory statements should not be allowed and deleted. Actually, I am surprised that NP's are so sensitive that you cannot post any bad remarks against a Mod, but allow lies and defamatory statements against third parties. It hardly seems fair. Especially when the remarks against a mod might even be true

I read both posts recommended to me before making this post. I thought this was the more appropriate thread to post in. Since even the first post in this thread was from Eric. So it was clearly on your minds from the outset.

My 2p's worth...

Anything which can cause harm in any way to someone's reputation, security, or feelings (+ possibly a few more aside from obvious illegal/policy breaking things). Whether posted by another member, or occidentally by themselves.

If the content to be deleted is quoted and if the thread can still stand on it's own without that content then just remove the requested post(s) and where it's quoted. Otherwise if the content requested to be deleted is the basis of the thread, then the thread should be deleted if it seems fair or justified based on the request.
If it's somewhere in between the two, then a per-basis decision will have to be made, eg based on the content requesting to be removed and reasons why.

Sure some people will lose their posts, but if it's about the content requested to be deleted then we should honour that. It could be anyone of us who request such a thing, so we should all be prepared as part of a community to have our posts lost when the core content and basis of the discussion is legitimate to be deleted.
If it's valid for the context of the core discussion to be removed from public, what is the point in retaining what would be content without any context?

I don't think it should just be "because they want it removed" without good reason, otherwise the forum loses content from all over the place.

Lastly, sometimes it's better for the greater good to just anonymise the post(s). So where it's not specific content such as defamatory remarks about someone, or occidentally posted sensitive info etc. If it's just something someone no longer wants to be associated with, then just remove their ties to the post(s) or thread entirely, and leave the content and other posts in place to retain the structure of the discussion.

stub said:

I think my post could have been considered defamatory about the company

Click to expand...

Please keep in mind that we are not a judge and jury, and therefore, we do not decide what is true and is not true. That is not our place, so we do not make those types of decisions. Please do not post anything that you believe is not true.

stub said:

NP's are so sensitive that you cannot post any bad remarks against a Mod

Click to expand...

Currently, we remove content when a rule is violated. If you say anything antagonistic or abusive about anyone or any company, then that is a rule violation:

• Rule 1.2. Be professional, tactful, and constructive at all times. Do not harass, threaten, attack, instigate, insult, or antagonize others.

Furthermore, we do allow negative posts about NamePros and bad remarks against a mod, as long as you do so respectfully and within the rules, which means it must take place in a public or private feedback/support area:

• Rule 1.5. Do not post anything suggestive or critical of NamePros (e.g., policy, staff, or moderation activity: infractions, content approval, edited/deleted posts, etc.) except in the designated areas for customer support (private) and feedback (public).

If you'd like to discuss any of that further, please start a new thread. The purpose of this thread is not to discuss the reasons we already remove content (rule violations), because those are well established and documented, but you may start a new thread if you want to explore them further.