Are we told WHY our question or answer has been removed by moderators?

I would read the guidelines on the new sections here…
http://www.fluther.com/help/guidelines/general/
They changed the landscape here recently and my guess would be you stepped outside the box with a comment in the General Question section but that is obviously a guess on my part. I got a lot of comments removed there until I caught on to the newer guidelines. The Social Section it seems allows you to “editorialize” your thoughts and gives a bit more freedom of expression if you will.

Write a PM to the moderator who removed your answer and ask him/her. If you don’t know who it was, you can ask on the thread, just say you want to understand so you don’t make the same mistake in the future.

It has happened to most of us. Don’t feel bad.

Were you personally attacking someone on the thread? Or. had you wondered way off topic? If you want give us the link to the thread and what you said and maybe one of us might know why it was deleted.

@Cruiser Yes I have read the guidelines, but I really cannot understand why my answer was removed, This was the question I responded to:- http://www.fluther.com/84210/is-my-brown-ish-rosemary-ok-to-eat/
So are we told WHY our question or answer has been removed? Do you think we should be told?

@JLeslie Thanks for your answer. My answer was whether someone should eat brown-ish rosemary. I simply told the person ‘No don’t eat it, and I did use the words ‘tummy bug’. Is this offensive? Does this mean different things in other countries? I am totally confused.

Nothing wrong with tummy bug in the states, most mods are American. Someone else even commented they thought it was cute. I still see your answer.

Oh, I see your second answer was moded, I just looked again. What did that say?

@JLeslie I responded to the person who said ‘tummy bug’ was cute and said ‘this is a commonly used phrase in the UK’. What I was trying to say was that is how we would describe stomach ache etc. That’s all!! I really don’t understand.

I received detailed reasons for the few questions I’ve had modded. Several of my answers were deleted on the first day of the new regime, no reason given but I realize the moderators were quite busy that day. I know why they were deleted anyway, I misinterpreted the new rules on off-topic remarks.

In my opinion their logic is flawed. They moderate the wrong thinks too often and leave viscous attacks on.
That is why Rangie left. Phillis left and many of my friends. I miss them.
I think we have many intelligent people here. I still log on to chat with them.
I belong to several other cites.
I post my questions there too. I do not care at all what the moderators think. I think they are illogical about there moderations. It is their cite so I accept it despite that I often disagree.
I find the attacks on here very funny because they are always from people that have zero documentation and minimum intelligence. Their opinions mean zero to me. I simply laugh very hard. The moderators should be removing their viscous statements but often do not.
People have the right to believe as they wish. All personnel attacks should be removed but often are not.

@partyparty That question is in the General category so my “guess” since I can’t see your comment, would be your second comment was just that a comment as opposed to a direct answer and got removed for that reason alone. Just PM a Mod they will tell you!!

It might be nice to be able to ask a moderator. Maybe a common moderator “ask why” mailbox since you don’t know who did it.

@partyparty I guess maybe @Cruiser is right, but it seems awfully strict. I had a similar thing happen several weeks ago and I was pretty annoyed since I thought my comment had good information that people seemed interested in on the thread, even th OP was fine with the thread moving off track a little, he stated so, but still the mods deleted my comment. I think ask a mod so you know for sure. Although, we do not commonly use the phrase tummy bug, Americans would know exactly what you mean. We do use the term “bug” to describe a cold or virus. You said nothing accidently offensive if that is what you are concerned about. Like when I use cuca for cockroach, because in Mexico they use the term, but in Venezuela it is a slang for vagina. LOL. Not to worry. :)

So are we told WHY our question or answer has been deleted? If we are not told, do you think we SHOULD be given a reason?

If you don’t know who modded it you can write your inquiry directly on the thread. Or, write one of the mods, Dog or Augustlin maybe, and tell them your concern, and that you just want to understand for the future. They will find out for you even if they did not do it.

@partyparty There’s always the possibility another user flagged it, too. It’s not just the mods going around randomly deleting things.

@dverhey if it is flagged isn’t it still up to the mods judgement whether to delete? Or, does the flag take it out right away?

@partyparty it has happened to me also…would write the mods!

@dverhey you would be correct, but does anyone bring it too your attention. Most of the time, they just say, removed by Fluther! Or something to that effect! Also, occasionally, they will send you an email with an explanation.

This is a ridiculous case of a removal!

@marinelife :))))

@BoBo1946
They do it to all of us.
It makes me laugh.
I don’t form my opinions based on nonsense. No one is going to change my mind without documented evidence.
They seem to tolerant a lot of insinuations which I laugh at because they are based on nonsense . When I decide to put the irrational morons in their place. I am censored.
@partyparty do not let it upset you.

@philosopher got’cha my friend…it gets interesting sometimes!

@JLeslie I’m just saying many things would not be brought to the mod’s attention at all if they were not deemed unfit by some user.

I believe when a question is pulled for moderation, you are given detailed feedback for editing. If an answer is pulled, you are not told why. If you write for feedback, you can query it. In your case, I would assume that it was considered a side-comment under the new regs.

@philosopher You win post of the day. Please see @Augustlan to receive your official award.

Thanks for your answers. I am now assuming we are NOT told WHY our question or answer was removed.
Do you think we SHOULD be told the reason? Perhaps hit a button and the reason would be for our eyes only perhaps!

As I said above, with the question you are; with the answer you’re not. As to whether we should be told on a quip, it would be nice but I can generally figure it out. I assume the not being told is a matter of efficiency and mod resources. I have complained once or twice and then been told the reasoning for something.

@partyparty I don’t know. It sounds like more work for the mods, and they already have their hands full. I can usually guess why I have an answer removed. When I’m not sure, I either ask or just let it be.

No we are not told WHY, but as I said you can ask why. I guess maybe we can suggest that when mods removed they put a few words to explain why. Many mods will post after deleting a comment to please stay on track, or ask to stay away from personal attacks etc., but not always.

@philosopher do not let it upset you Thanks for that. I am not upset but I am nonplussed as to why. I am never rude or offensive with my answers, try to be helpful, have fun and overall find Fluther a good site. I just wish we were told why.
@jonsblond Yes, maybe I will just let things be, thanks

[mod says] After reviewing the thread, your comment was removed (as were several others) for being off-topic and chatty. The new guidelines for the general section indicate this pretty clearly.

The General Section of Fluther has strict guidelines for responding. The goal is to help people get the answers they need. For relaxed guidelines, see the Social Section.

Responses must:

Focus on answering the question
Relate to the discussion and be on-topic
Be respectful; you can disagree without being disagreeable

@dpworkin
Thank you but I think I have clearly stated the facts. Nothing more or less.
We do not need to all agree but debating is not the same as attacking.
Unfortunately some people are so illogical they can not comprehend this.

Get use to it. The general reason they give is “not helpful”. Pretty vague.

[mod says] @evandad Not true. If someone wants a specific reason, all they have to do is ask. The primary reasons these days are either 1) personal attacks (on any section) or 2) off-topic jokes/chatter in the general section (which might qualify as not-helpful).

@partyparty You are told very specific reasons when questions are removed, and I’m currently working on showing reasons when responses are removed.

As shilolo said, your response “we call it a tummy bug in the UK LOL” wasn’t relevant to whether she should eat brown rosemary or not, which is why I moderated it.

That’d be perfect for social, and people could further discuss what people call the “tummy bug” in different nations, but we try and keep things more on-topic in General, as the guidelines talk about.

@shilolo
I think you should moderate the person who starts the attack. Not the one who defends themselves. To me that seems very unfair.
Some people can’t handle the truth.

@andrew Thanks for your response. I was merely explaining that eating the rosemary (which was the question) may give you a tummy bug, Then realised that perhaps other countries may not understand what this means. I didn’t want anyone to think I was being vulgar or something like that. I am in the UK. Will most certainly check very carefully which section I am answering questions from in future,
Reasons for responses being removed would be most helpful.

@andrew You think clarifying what a phrase means, because it might be misunderstood by someone from another country is not worth doing, even if their is some laughing along with it? It seems she was not sure if it was understood, and clarifying it has common usage in the UK. Same as if I clarify I mean chips when I say french fries or bisquits when I say cracker. I do understand what @shilolo and you are saying, this just seems extreme.

@JLeslie Well, what happens in practice is that one marginally on topic/off-topic quip (depends on perspective) leads to another off-topic quip, and another, and another, generating a certain kind of accelerating momentum that is hard to stop (call it Fluther’s Second Law of Commotion). Eventually, the entire thread devolves, unless acted upon by another force (call it Fluther’s First Law of Commotion). This force is known as the Mod Squad.

See, it is all so simple when broken down into pseudscientific pseudophysical laws (note: trying to make Andrew do some homework…)

@shilolo true that.

@shilolo I’m sorry, I can’t do your homework for you, but I can provide you help. What are you having trouble with?

@andrew Newton’s Laws. I need help understanding them, with emphasis on their relationship to special relativity. Thanks a bunch, in advance.

everything I am hearing/reading disappoints

LOL I attempted to ask a question about Home Land Security and the President cutting funding to fight terrorism. I edited it but they decided not to post it.
I have no clue why? I think it is ridiculous.
@partyparty
I agree with you. We all deserve a logical explanations.
I tend to think they just don’t like the question. It does not go with their agenda.
This was a great question.
I will post it on another cite.

@philosopher Your question was returned to you because of spelling errors. Now that it is corrected, it has been reposted (and is at the top of the page). Note, as much as you (and others) might like it, moderators don’t jump like we’ve been struck with a cattle prod the instant a question is reposted. Contrary to popular opinion, we’re not working full-time (we’re volunteers) and there aren’t shifts where someone is manning some sort of console. As such, it can take anywhere from a few seconds to a few hours to address issues.

Try to take it all in stride. Patience, as they say, is a virtue.

@shilolo
I have a great deal of patience.
I have trained and taught many people. Including Autistic people. This requires more patience than most people have.
I wish with all my heart and soul that our society had more patience.
Yes it is truly a virtue.
I do not expect any human to be perfect.

Sometimes it may indeed be a cultural misunderstanding. For instance, someone at another Q&A site once asked “What is your local?” Perfectly reasonable social question, right? But the moderators, being Americans and not knowing British idioms, flagged it as nonsense and removed it. Perhaps that’s what happens when some of our answers are Removed by Fluther Moderators for mysterious reasons.

@HungryGuy A good thought, but we have several cretins non-American moderators, and as it turns out, the bulk are removed for personal attacks or being irrelevant.

@HungryGuy I agree with you entirely. That was why I explained what tummy bug meant in the UK. So there wasn’t any confusion.