Have you ever submitted a rather long, detailed answer to a question, only to find out that the question went to editing?

Yea, I never got to see what you said! Didn’t think there was anything wrong with that either.

Yup – many a time. Often when the question comes back from “rewrite” your answer is there if it was uploaded before the editing.

A few times. Sometimes the question never comes back, which is weird.

Indeed I have. One of those rare times when I sit and write a really detailed, thoughtful response, and it goes away! So frustrating.

<Shakes fist>

I hate it when that happens. But what can you do?
If i could though… I’d like to screencap those answers to keep an archive

Yes. I try to keep them short now. :)

I think mods should take into account the serious effort people have put into answering a question before sending it to editing. The whole point is to make a question better. But if a question is already getting significant serious response, then it must already be a good question. I say we should let the marketplace do its job, and mods should take a hands-off approach to questions that are getting good answers.

You’re right. It is frustrating. It’s also on the list of things to work on.

@andrew You are never gonna be able to retire or die; the list just keeps getting longer and longer. =P (Since David told me what tha means, that is my new bestest emoticon.)

You can always draft your most precious and wonderful and brilliant answers in a text file and save them before copying and pasting into an answer box. That way they are preserved forever, no matter what happens in the flutherworld.

You can even reuse them whenever the same question reappears.

You’ve also captured them and saved them in progress, a good strategy when you’re writing an essay because a little keystroke screwup before you post could vaporize the whole thing.

@Jeruba So beautiful and so anal! * sigh *

LOL, @janbb. Sorry to spoil the picture (and not denying the anal bit), but I’ve actually done this only, I think, twice. I just wish I had every time some would-be gem turns to carbon dust, mostly through that little keystroke screwup.

sigh

I recently complained about this. Well, really it was just a whine. Maybe just constructive criticism.

Anyway, I bitched about it.

Yes it happens to me quite often.
Like @wundayatta , I think “well what was wrong with that question?”
Then I think “what is wrong with me that I answered a bad question?”
I try hard not to take it personally

If this is the way that Fluther is supposed to operate, then there is nothing wrong with Fluther.

If this is not the way that Fluther is supposed to operate, then Fluther is broken.

So is this, or is this not, the way that Fluther is supposed to operate?

@andrew “It’s also on the list of things to work on.”

Hey nothing personal, but there’s really nothing to work on. Just tell the mods to lighten up and back off. Problem solved. It really is that easy.
____________________________

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen an issue on Fluther that has received so much agreement.

This should be an easy fix.

[Mod Note:]
Hey all- If you PM a mod we will retrieve your answer off a question sent to edit and PM it to you.
Your work is not lost forever. :)

@Dog
That’s good news. How long should we wait?

I’ve got 4 questions waiting on editing approvals right now. Haven’t heard anything.

Well actually I did hear about one. I made the exact changes that the mod suggested, and then was told that it was better suited for the chat room. Got nothing (no response) on the other three.

No lie, I’ve actually resorted to making screen captures on Q’s and A’s. This is the only way I can assure myself that peoples thoughts won’t be trashed.

@RealEyesRealizeRealLies No offense, but there isn’t as much agreement as you think regarding moderators “laying off”. In fact, the majority of people that use this site would favor more strict moderation to improve the overall quality of the site.

@Pretty_Lilly Anyone with the audacity to compare moderation on a privately owned site to the barbaric actions of the Nazis has, quite frankly, no understanding of Nazism. It is shameful how often people use this slur, and I won’t stand for it.

@shilolo “the majority of people that use this site would favor more strict moderation”

Wake up shilolo. Rome is burning.

@Dibley “Yea, I never got to see what you said!”
@Pretty_Lilly “Yeah you need to thank the Mod Nazis”
@janbb “Yup – many a time.”
@Trillian “A few times.”
@jeffgoldblumsprivatefacilities “Indeed I have…So frustrating”
@Dr_C “I hate it when that happens.”
@chyna “Yes. I try to keep them short now.”
@wundayatta “mods should take a hands-off approach”
@andrew “You’re right. It is frustrating. It’s also on the list of things to work on.”
@filmfann “I recently complained about this.”
@wilma “Yes it happens to me quite often.”

@RealEyesRealizeRealLies Great job compiling affirmative responses on a question whose only answer could be an affirmative. Are you familiar with the statistical entity known as selection bias? This question, by definition, fits that to a T. This isn’t a random sample of people, it’s all those people who wanted to say, “Yes, it’s happened to me”. Kudos to you for succumbing to a common error.

No one is stopping anyone from saying NO.

@RealEyesRealizeRealLies I guess you answered my question then.

This question is not shouting out only to those who have experienced their thoughts vanishing. This question is open for anyone to answer. There is no selection bias whatsoever.

Of course there is a selection bias in this question. First, the respondents are, by definition, self-selected, as only those who wish to answer do so (major problem #1). Many studies have shown that this form of self-selection skews the results dramatically.

A second problem, which I didn’t list initially, was that this also represents a form of response bias. The way the question is worded begs the respondents to reply that they have experienced this as well (“long, detailed answer”....“irritating”.....“I just posted a long one and poof! She’s gone”). Response bias is very common in surveys (as this is a very short one), as this simple project about physicians demonstrates.

I will consider your position and hear your words in kindness. Thanks for your thoughts. They deserve to be heard.

This question was not an opinion poll on moderation. It asked if anyone has had the experience of seeing a question disappear after they’ve made a significant contribution to it. I have. So I offered a recommendation to prevent the loss. It was intended to be a helpful, practical response.

I have answered many polls on moderation of the site, always with full and enthusiastic support of the moderators. No, I do not agree with their every action, and yes, I have felt stung myself a few times when my questions were pulled. But I think they have a difficult job, I salute them for doing it, and I have confidence in them. They do guard the quality of the site, and I do think it needs guarding. And they do know better than to mistake a lot of noise for a true gauge of prevailing sentiment.

Well said @Jeruba.

I wouldn’t mind a notification that popped up while we are composing a message to let us know the question was nuked. Maybe something like this.

And I’m in the camp that thinks the mods don’t get rid of as much as they should. My main gripe is that the moderation is so inconsistent. But I’m not sure how you could go about fixing that.

@RealEyesRealizeRealLies Great answers.

I also was not complaining about the moderation being too strict. Sure, I have quibbled at times and there have been a few decisions that have irked me, but on the whole, I think the mods do a pretty damned good job for little thanks. It frustrates me when a quip gets lost on a pulled thread but it’s not a biggie. I’m hoping it doesn’t get much stricter ‘round with the new quality control but I don’t want it more lenient either.

@shilolo I totally agree with you that the term Nazi is thrown around far too lightly these days. Thanks for pointing it out.