Misc 'Cane2theLeft' A Bit Heavy Handed...

[Drench]

Hi, I don't post here all the time but I read here quite a bit, it seems that every time an interesting thread gets going 'Cane2theLeft' closes it. I mean right now on the front page of OD there are roughly 7 threads all closed by him, that can't be right can it?

Isn't it a Mod's duty to help and give advice rather than just reply to every thread saying "I'm closing this, not relevant."

Maybe someones got too much time on their hands?

I think he is potentially scaring off new posters, people looking for help etc. I mean, it is called 'Other Drugs' with is fairly ambiguous so I can understand people posting here about quite a broad range of subjects.

Any comments?

 

[.Lucid.]

i agree that sometimes the mods are a little too quick to close some threads but you have to understand that these forums are busy and chaotic and they are under a lot of pressure to keep order around here.

cane and most of the other mods seem pretty reasonable though.. im sure if you PMed them and stated your case as to why a thread should be reopened they would hear you out.

 

[axe battler]

Haha!

*CLOSED*

 

[NeighborhoodThreat]

^^^^ indeed.


Yep. Bluelight is massive, and its hard to sort out the questions that have been answered 100 times from the questions that have been answered twice, Lucid is right, the mods are reasonable and if you feel like they're jumping the gun send them a private message, if you've got a good reason they'll listen to you.

And while it is a mod's duty to listen to the posters on a board, it is also a mod's duty to close threads when the OP is stating (or asking) something that has already been covered a thousand times over. I personally think that bluelight is one of the best modded (is that correct usage? maybe "modded the best" "moderated bestly" whatever.) boards I've come across.

 

[dcraver877]

i agree...he deleted a couple of my posts which i thought were relevant to the topic. he wouldn't even give it a second thought. Its over-censorship if you ask me.

i have the pm's recorded if anyone wants to check the dialogue

 

[Captain.Heroin]

Haha!

*CLOSED*

Couldn't have said it better myself.

If you have issues with Cane, try sending him a private message. You could alternatively bring this issue to other staff members, but Other Drugs is certainly not the place to air grievances with staff members.

Everyone in Other Drugs does the best job they can.

Hi, I don't post here all the time but I read here quite a bit, it seems that every time an interesting thread gets going 'Cane2theLeft' closes it. I mean right now on the front page of OD there are roughly 7 threads all closed by him, that can't be right can it?

Yes, it's right. I have closed 7, or more, threads at any given time I jump online to moderate.

If you see a thread that you don't believe should have been closed, then you could try PMing the moderator who closed it. However, if you're not the person who posted the thread, and the person who posted the thread doesn't care, why do you? Let the poster of the thread fight their own battle.

Isn't it a Mod's duty to help and give advice rather than just reply to every thread saying "I'm closing this, not relevant."

Maybe someones got too much time on their hands?

No; the OD moderators all have lives outside of modding Other Drugs. We all also are taking care of pruning Other Drugs which is an ongoing process which will last for at least days/weeks to come, and if any of us had spare time, we wouldn't arbitrarily close threads.

I think he is potentially scaring off new posters, people looking for help etc. I mean, it is called 'Other Drugs' with is fairly ambiguous so I can understand people posting here about quite a broad range of subjects.

Any comments?

They said The Lounge scares off possible new posters, but it's still here. That's a great concern you have about the lurkers of Bluelight, but seriously, it's not a big deal.

"Other Drugs" isn't fairly ambiguous, it has a well thought out and well written forum description, which contrasts well to the forum descriptions for BDD, DC, ADD, and other forums.

Intermediate level, harm reduction focused discussion (including pharmacology, dependence issues, avoiding side effects, etc.) about drugs that aren't covered in other forums. Please use ADD or BDD for more advanced or basic topics.

http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/index.php

Lastly, if you think Other Drugs is still ambiguous, check out the first three links in my signature; they should shed some light upon the rules and standards we have here at Other Drugs.

 

[Cane2theLeft]

^Thanks for the explanation, C.H

I'm the first to admit, I absolutely make mistakes so if I'm closing a thread I try to ALWAYS encourage people to contact me if they feel it should be reopened. When people do contact me, I listen to what they have to say and often reopen their (or someone else's) post.

The most basic litmus test if a thread should remain here is if it has harm reduction value. A lot of threads maybe seem interesting but just aren't appropriate for THIS forum. We get so much traffic here that we have to make sure the scope of the forum is not too unwieldy.

In the past I've certainly been too hasty to close threads instead of move them to other forums and that's something I'm trying to be more conscientious of.

If ANYONE ever thinks I make a wrong decision, please contact me and let me know and I promise I will hear you out. I get zero pleasure from closing threads and I certainly won't deny, as I started this post, that I make mistakes.