Dear 'Barking'
I'm not entirely sure why, but I share your questioning of this decision. The 'feedback' I got from The Morrissey-Pravda Mod bunker in The Kremlin was cryptic, it just said:
'Your post(s) in the thread "RADIO AIRPLAY 2021"(March 17, 2022) was moved to 'Thread offshoot debate'..Reason: The thread was about ranking radio airplay.'
Unlike the previous 'incident' there hasn't been any risible attempt to engage me in a 'conversation' and any such 'conversation' on today's decision isn't going to happen given the problematic nature of that previous communication.
I can see the utility of filtering out allegedly extraneous commentary on occasions, however, I think the 'community' needs to address the prickly issues of confirmation bias and subconscious censorship alongside the desire for a more aesthetically flowing thread.
In my view, 'off-topic' deletions to splinter threads are problematical because it actually creates dissonance as it bifurcates the group chat by hiving off comments that others respond to obliquely when the initial comment that 'triggered' their observation is no longer visible.
My suggestion to 'DavidT & The Mods' is that they consider adopting the 'ignore' function so that members of the 'community' can choose whether to view comments which The Mods, in their wisdom, have deemed 'off-topic'. They may be right. Or they may be subconsciously censoring comments which cause them to feel discombobulated.
It stands to reason that those who volunteer for this essential and stressful job of moderation are heavily invested in this site and in the career pathway of this singer 'Morrissey'. It's hardly a controversial observation to note that some moderators have abused their privileges to indulge in petty squabbles or seek to ignite them. In my case, that's not an option for them because I don't argue with 'moderators'. It makes as much sense as arguing with my washing machine if I pick the wrong spin cycle, or with a vending machine if the junk food treat gets stuck after I've paid for it. You can kick the machine or scream at the screen, but that may produce emotional dysregulation and that's hardly the behaviour we wish to cultivate here in our 'community', is it?
So, my 'site suggestion' is that each thread has an opening option of globally ignoring all comments deems 'inappropriate' by The Mods with the option to remove that block if a comment hidden as 'off-topic' in the thread flow appears to be critical to understanding the issues.
I find it somewhat fanciful that The Mods can every police each thread so that it remains entirely on point, and I don't agree that this is either necessary or productive. In the many years I've been part of this blessed 'community' I've seen seemingly irrelevant, off-topic comments spark extremely lively and productive discussions which may not be directly on point but which provide an illuminating context for the discussion.
Of course, it may not be technically feasible to tweak the 'ignore' function for this purpose or there may not be the volunteer programming resources available. I think we all have a very clear understanding of the enormous pressures which 'The Mods' operate under, so I will be entirely tranquil if this isn't doable.
We don't want to end up with a situation where the site descends into a dysfunctionality and becomes an example of российская дезинформация ( rossiyskaya dezinformatsiya ) but we also need to just breathe into this 'community experience' and raise our vibrational awareness to understand that it really is only an online forum about an ageing 'pop star'. Becoming precious about any of this in these times would be a waste of photosynthetic energy.
I'm thinking of the artist known as 'Bansky' who routinely just does his thing then leaves it to the Universe, not caring what happens, not attached to any outcome. It seems to me that we should treat our comments similarly. I mean, Putin could launch a nuclear strike on Los Angeles and vaporize the servers which host this 'community forum'. Would life really come to an end if a far lesser event meant that the removal of some allegedly 'challenging off-topic comments' made threads illogical or difficult to parse? No, clearly not.
Let's all keep some perspective on this, and let's all reaffirm our gratitude to The Mods who bravely protect us from views which they are sure would be harmful or vexatious if we were not shielded from them. Don't take the decisions of The Mods personally because, really, the calibre of volunteer moderation on legacy websites like this isn't worth getting your panties in a twist about.
I hope this 'site feedback' is helpful to the 'community'. I would enjoy seeing a facility that allows me to check and test the quality of moderation here. Mistakes get made. Moderators have 'bad hair days'. Let's all just chill out and kick back in excited anticipation of a 'message from Morrissey' about how 'current events' mean it is absolutely essential that his mothballed album 'Teenagers On A Bonfire' is released by the censors as soon as possible.
It's always worth bearing in mind that it's possible a 'best friend on the payroll' has infiltrated the Mod bunker and is deliberately creating Hyper-Normalisation to distract from the critical commentary which sometimes takes place here. But that's probably not the case. I mean, it's not as if Morrissey is a control-freak tyrant like Vladimir Putin, is it?
best wishes
Brummie Boy
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/mar/15/russia-disinformation-social-media-ukraine
also, "moderator" is like "waiter" nowadays, nobody wants to do it, so whoever wants to do it is hired on the spot.
