Unprecedented Locking of a Thread

We have a new forum adminstrator, Pathfind Linden, who in my opinion just unfairly locked an old Government thread that had been resurrected. While I'm not a fan of resurrecting old threads, this sets a new precedent in forum moderation -- the locking of old threads that the moderator feels are no longer "relevant". As far as I know, locking has always been exclusively reserved for abusive or off-topic threads.

His reasons were:The issues I have are:

1. It is wrong to for a moderator to lock threads because they personally feel the information is no longer relevant. Threads that are no longer relevant bury themselves just as this one would have again done in a day or two. Does this mean that all old threads will be locked from this point on as they are randomly resurrected?
   
2. Government is an issue that should be discussed by all members of SL. Our group forum is used for our group project, not as a general area for the discussion of government. If we are not allowed to discuss government or politics while simultaneously mentioning other projects (Neualtenburg, Anshe's sims) in the General forum, then LL should create an official "Government" forum.

Again, locking threads that are on topic and not abusive is a bad precedent to set. Naturally, it will be haphazardly applied and lead to resentment. I humbly request clarifying the thread-locking policy, creating a new Government forum group, or unlocking that thread.

~Ulrika~

OMG, more drama central

This thread should be locked...but only cause I said so..hehe.

Ulrika, that is how precedents are born.

Yeah. I say we boycott him. And make a website about it. Make sure to make a lot of analogies to oppression, too. Oh. And compare someone to Hitler. That helps, too.

Get moving. We're already half past "raisin' a ruckus" time, and rapidly approaching big-fuckin'-deal-o'-clock.

Man, SL is beating everybody into cynicism. This post was polite and to the point, one of the better worded objections I've ever seen.

The user must be new.

I'd also have to agree that the Linden in question may have not exercised best judgement in locking that thread. After all, noobs are going to enter the forums, browse them, and possibly find old topics that they're interested in.

I wonder what would have happened if you would have summarized the post, linked to it, and continued the conversation that way.

Actually, locking old threads to keep the digital necromancy down is not that unusual of a forum practice.

Ulrika? New? I think not.

Actually, its unprecedented complaining about a locked thread. Most people just try to post, can't, and move on.

I'd better warm up the dramah-popcorn.

And old thread allowed to die and fresh ideas made on the subject?

BLASPHEMY!!!!! (not)

Hi Ulrika,

I didn't lock that thread because I felt the subject was no longer relevant. It was because the information was outdated and, therefore, not relevant.

That thread had been started on 11-14-04 with a most recent comment (before today) posted on 11-16-04.

That's over 4 months without any new comments.

The thread was basically an announcemenet of the beginning of Project Neualtenburg. A lot of progress has been made in the past 4 months with the project, and I felt the "random bumping" of this thread up would potentially confuse a lot of new residents wondering what was going on with the project.

In short, I locked the thread because I thought the information (i.e., information about Neualtenburg) was VERY relevant, and I wanted to make sure people found the most RECENT information about it as possible (i.e., the information in your Neualtenburg Forum).

Also, right after I locked that thread, I started a NEW thread here in General specifically for discussions about Government in SL:

/120/92/40412/1.html

Hope that explains my reasoning behind this.

Well, I'd usually agree with you, Tcoz...if it weren't for the fact that the person protesting its 'locked' status wasn't the central figure of the SL government being discussed.

Ulrika, you really need to cut back on the caffiene. It's not the end of Free Speech as we know it when a moderator locks a forum.

Oh....and I wanna know how I kin catch a Pathfinder Linden Bear!!!!

I've gone back and added a link from the old locked thread pointing to the new thread on government in SL.

See this thread:
/invalid_link.html

Thank you for your reply, Pathfinder.
I pulled that directly from your post. You said, "The information is no longer relevant." I understand now that you meant that the thread is no longer current, however out-of-date information is what all resurrected threads contain.

You are correct that that was an old thread, however if you locked that thread in order to prevent new-user confusion, does that not imply that you'll be locking all resurrected threads to prevent new-user confusion? If so, this is a change in thread-locking policy as I have known it over the past few months. Typically threads are locked due to abuse or off-topic conversation.

I believe that learning to not resurrect and to recognize resurrected threads is part of a new user's right of passage -- one that has never needed preemptive locking in the past.

That was rather unusual as well. Typically, what happens in the forum, is that users will recognize that a thread has reached the end of its life and someone will spontaneously spawn a new continuation thread. Because you're a moderator and not someone interested in driving the conversation, my guess is that the thread will die on the vine.


There's no need to reply to this. You've already gone above and beyond what a typical moderator would do by clarifying your logic and I thank you. While I'm still not happy with the locking or looking forward to a future where resurrected threads are randomly locked, I think I'll just lump it.

~Ulrika~

thank heaven someone's finally taking the role of moderating these forums with the attitude that they rule the place and we damn well better behave like adults.

there's been more constructive posting over the past few days than we've seen in months because we can talk without having to filter through all the screaming baby talk.

you go path.

What da?

Translation for the audience:

"I didn't really have a problem with it. But there's no way I'd give up the opportunity to be a SUPERSTAR! for a few minutes in the forums."

I'm sorry, you're here to decide what is current or relevant or not as well now? What an utter bunch of bollocks. Decide what is new, decide what is relevant...decide what we can and cannot say. Your excuse is pitifull, at best. You started a new thread to further this...go Pathfinder..... idiocy, pure and simple.

Did you actually *read* the post before you comment on it, Moopf? Pathfinder didn't say the topic was irrelevant...he's saying that the topic needed a new start so that new users could get a better understanding of what was *recently* happening with Neualtenburg. Oh, and deciding what is relevant and what is not is *precisely* what a moderator's job is about.

Y'know, for people who are so interested in the formation of an SL government, you guys sure don't take being governed very well.

*Hugs Pathfinder*

Brutal, aren't they?

OMG here we go again. We do not need to rehash this shit over and over. The concensus is that it is not on topic and quite frankly, the title was misleading. I am pretty pleased with the aggressive stance LL is taking with this forum.

This is why government in SL will never work. Those who lost their student council elections are going to come on here, get elected sim monitor and act like they are f'ing Tojo.

BTW -- how come everytime someone is unhappy we have to have a written policy? It's the Linden's board. Don't like it, start your own.

OK, so just a little Dr. Pepper hit the monitor when I spit from laughter. Very funny!

As bored as I am today, I can see others are even more so.

Pathfinder locked a thread with outdated info and started a new thread to dicuss the same general theme. While locking the thread may or may not have been all that wise, it really did no harm that I can see. Folks are free to post on the new thread, start their own thread, or go to the Group Forums and post.

Ulrika was understandably a bit upset, seeing as how Government in SL has been a big project and alot of work and stress for her, and she didn't like that thread being singled out for locking. I understand, and most of you should as well.

Pathfinder then clarified things, and the earth is still spinning, SL still kind of exists and no one involved is laying in a gutter bleeding.

Less coffee and more sex is prescribed for all.

Yes I did, any further comments? He decided the information in that thread was no longer relevant, so he decided to start a new thread about government. I'd have to say that a thread about the only real test of government in SL was relevant, and the continued ability to comment upon that is valid, which is now no longer an option. Pathfinder just confused you by pretending that one was different to the other and as he's a Linden, you've just swallowed it hook, line and sinker. Yawn.

Moderation on this forum is laughable, at best, as I've said several times before. The thread in question needed closing? I doubt it. He could of easily started a new thread to get further discussion without closing the existing one and stifling any further comment.

Farce.