Originally Posted by
unterhausen
I have something a lot like a downvote, a lot of times I make posts like this disappear. Predicting a thread will fail is one way to help it fail. That's why the abbreviation for "in before the lock" is now in the censor. ****
I know the OP works pretty hard to get the reaction that he gets. OTOH, it would be nice if people wouldn't chase away newbies. The anti-spam measures on this site are required, but oftentimes make it difficult for newbies to get their point across, especially if a picture is required to understand what they are talking about. The bike mechanics section seems particularly prickly. I know why some people feel threatened by this thread, and maybe they should think about it.
I don't know who feels "threatened by this thread," but I do think the moderators should consider some of these issues. The "prickly" posts don't occur in a vacuum.
Its easy to delete posts that cross some discrete line, but it's much harder to create a culture in which people post "meaningfully and intelligently." My point above is that, when some people chronically post way outside of what almost everyone else regards as "meaningfully and intelligently," then social norms are going to be enforced by
someone. It seems a conundrum that this norm enforcement sometimes brings sanction, but the useless posts and threads apparently go unchecked.
I don't envy the mods, and I do appreciate their contributions to keep this forum moving in a productive direction - so please don't interpret this as criticism. I'm just raising an issue (as I see it) without really having a good solution. I would liken this to the process of having a class discussion: you sincerely want everyone to feel comfortable contributing, and you must give everyone a chance -- but a student who is both enthusiastic and unprepared is a time-waster at best, and a misleader at worst, and needs to be handled appropriately. And after 35+ years, I am still trying to master that balance.