Originally Posted by
ElJamoquio
I appreciate that this site is a for-profit enterprise. I appreciate all that BikesDirect has done, both for this site and for cycling as a whole. But you're treading on a dangerous path. A forum without open participation is far more at risk than a forum that loses a sponsor. As soon as participants start to feel censored against giving their opinion, you'll see a backlash. And there are other bike forums.
I can't stop people from leaving if they feel that this is some sort of censorship. But if it's the very same people that want to bash one of our sponsors, then I guess I won't be sorry to see them go. Likewise, if a thread turned into one big bash on Giant (or Trek, Specialized, etc.) I would probably put an end to it, as threads like that do nothing to promote our sport.
On that same note, I get a few emails each month from people that either stopped posting, or decided not to join, simply because of the amount of abuse that is heaped on noobs or members that don't ride the latest and greatest. And that's just the people that take the time to contact me. I'm quite sure that we lose more viewers/participants to some of the negativity that goes on here than we do to the actions of the moderation staff.