Nathan Turner3 said:There’s a rule about emojis. I don't see why anyone's would be more special than someone else's to justify leaving them up.
Nobody got a Cardboard—the post was just deleted. Next time, maybe throw in a few actual words? Then there won't be any issues.
Besides, you're starting a whole thread just to complain that someone else's post got taken down. 😕
Like I already said, that "other person's post" was a reaction to mine—it was agreeing with a specific point in a discussion that had at least two sides.
Sure, the poster technically broke a rule by not saying, "I agree, I think that too, blah blah blah," but the people commenting on this thread last night feel there's barely a difference between 👍 and "I agree 👍." Basically, it's the same thing.
My point is that we should probably judge when an emoji is just spam versus when it actually contributes to the flow of the conversation. It might be worth actually reading the thread and understanding the context before jumping into mass moderation—and by moderation, I mean deleting. Not saying that happened here, by the way.
Last time I started a thread here regarding how the food section was moderated, maybe I was being a bit emotional or clumsy with my wording. But it still bothered me—I read the thread right before the cleanup, and when I came back, half the stuff that seemed perfectly reasonable and useful was gone. I get that you had reasons for a thorough sweep, but it would be nice if you left the parts of posts that didn't actually violate the rules.
When I post here, I'm not just defending myself or looking out for my own interests; I'm advocating for a quality discussion that isn't undermined by blind moderation.
You don't have to take my side—you're the moderators and I'm just "one of the users." I can always leave if I don't like it, but I have the right—and the desire—to voice my opinion, especially since I wouldn't want to leave. If I don't have to.
Dear moderators—with all due respect—I think you’re being a bit too heavy-handed in some areas. There are definitely more pressing issues to address than deleting every single post that consists of "only" an emoji (or a quote paired with one). If an emoji is pure spam, fine, delete it. But sometimes it just means "I agree with the post above" or "I'm backing what I just quoted." That actually adds value to the discussion—because when you wipe those out, you lose any sense of how many people actually support a specific side or opinion.
It’s not like I’m so sensitive that my heart breaks over an emoji on my own post, but right now, it honestly looks like there are more people throwing shade (to use a local burger joint analogy, if that helps) than there are people who simply dislike constant negativity and nitpicking.
Look, I’m well aware the rules say don't post nothing but emojis, but I still think there should be some discretion regarding what constitutes a "serious offense" versus someone just missing a detail or forgetting a rule.
It took me a while to come back to a topic I used to enjoy, and now I’m regretting it. 😢
hiddenseal14, you’re probably the last person who should be chiming in on this thread—especially with a comment like that.
p.s. the fact that you only notice his trolling, "harassment," and constant debating just proves how biased you are. You conveniently miss the exact same behavior from people you actually find interesting or likable; you give them a free pass while picking on everyone else... whatever, let the chips fall where they may (that's me being polite—I'm not trying to insult you, though clearly, you won't mind if I do).
He’s been called out a dozen times while the other side gets a pass, and it’s purely because certain people here decide the rules and act like they're being objective when they aren't. I noticed it a long time ago—personally, I wouldn't fight back by trolling, but everyone has their own way of handling things. Being "polite and civil" in this thread rarely gets anyone anywhere; usually, you only get any peace by complaining about the mods or trolling a specific thread. So, take it or leave it.
On Zillow, men are welcome as long as they appeal to whatever specific group of women is posting in a particular thread. Austin Harris8 didn't pass the vibe check for that crowd in the "photos" section, even though most of us actually said we had nothing against him (and honestly, I think there were more of "us" than there were of "you").
Austin Harris8 said:It’s entirely possible this is just a case of women sticking together. 😬
Look, I survived it—mostly because younger women have better reflexes. 😬 🤣
True, though if someone had actually pushed my buttons, I would've fought back. Honestly, I spent plenty of time feeling provoked lately, but I won't get into the reasons why. 🙂
I know there's no point in all this—which is why this subforum feels pretty pointless to me 🤷—but here we are.
So what am I then? 🙈 Oh, right—I'm just some old lady to them, totally uninteresting.
I don't know, I've just been feeling low today (it's been building up for days thanks to my chicken coop, which used to be a joke and a total blast, but ended up ruining my favorite local diner that I'd avoided for a while for similar reasons) so I needed to vent somewhere. If I were venting about actual topics, I'd probably be looking for the banned corner by now. 😢
What really gets under my skin is how people turn around and do the exact same thing they criticize you for—like claiming you’re "overexplaining your choices and annoying everyone by repeating yourself." It’s funny how they’re such "loyal friends" that they conveniently miss their own mistakes, let alone yours.
Most of them are just young girls who think they've got it all figured out because they haven't actually had to deal with the real world yet. It's honestly a shame they'll end up being an example for anyone else reading this.
I feel bad about the ban. I know you were just pushing buttons for a reason, but that kind of stuff doesn't fly here. 🤔 You either step back or stage some sort of "peaceful protest"—assuming the mods aren't total jerks and actually get the point.
I feel like I need to weigh in here too—mostly because I’ve got a bitter taste in my mouth from how some of the moderators are handling things lately (and just to be clear, I’m critiquing the process, not the people).
The reality is that Austin Harris8 posts in a thread titled "pretty women" and yeah, he can be a troll sometimes. He doesn't know when to cut his losses or just back down (always with that "be the bigger person" nonsense), and he's stubborn as hell. If I were in his shoes—dealing with people way more relentless than him—I would have sold my company long ago... but the sheer volume of stupid, immature, insulting, boring, trolling garbage in that thread leaves me feeling 😕 when the mods take the author's side instead of enforcing the rules fairly. They let certain people get away with stuff they'd ban anyone else for, without actually understanding the situation (or if they do, they aren't showing it).
Come on, act like actual moderators. Back when I was... well, younger, the mods actually put effort into managing threads. I'm trying not to generalize, but some of these accounts look like they were left in charge by some random, ill-intentioned passerby. I don't get it. 🤷
My bad—I ended up nitpicking specific parts of the thread instead of actually addressing the main issue I originally brought up.
Anyway, it's getting late and I need to crash. I'll be back once I've had some sleep.
Thanks for being patient with my replies. When I said I didn't think you'd touched anything, that was actually meant as a compliment—honestly, I still don't quite get the point, and maybe I never will, but it just felt weird to suggest otherwise. I know your work and, frankly, I respect you as a person too (as much as you can through an online forum, 😉).
If he got banned just because of "what I feel," then nothing makes sense anymore. If that’s the logic, they should’ve wiped out all those posts attacking him for supposedly running ads—since those attacks were nothing but ad hominem nonsense without a single actual argument. And the guy? He responded to that vitriol with incredible patience and politeness—or maybe I’m just the only one who noticed. No warnings, no apologies. Just . I honestly think it comes down to how people here love to criticize—it's just their default setting. Everyone wants to tear things down before even trying them. Plus, their favorite fallback when something costs a bit too much is calling it "overpriced" or "extortionate." That’s actually relevant to gastronomy, though; if you deleted every comment like that, there wouldn't be a single thread left standing.
I won't even get started on how some posts say way more about the person writing them than the topic itself. You used to see all sorts of characters in here. Now? Not so much.
(It really grinds my gears that once they ran out of real arguments, they pivoted to picking apart this kid's menu like it was some kind of cardinal sin. Please. Since when did having a typo or a spelling error become a dealbreaker for a top-tier restaurant? I’m personally a stickler for grammar, but I still eat at places with typos all the time. It’s absurd that this whole debate turned into a crusade over nothing but that—and let's not forget the design issues, either.)
Do you honestly think the guy is going to come back here and immediately start scrolling through private messages just to explain why he got banned?
Look, at the end of the day, if he messed up, fine—let him stay banned. But if this whole drama was manufactured or just plain untrue, you should've just wiped the slate clean instead of leaving a debate about fonts, graphics, and menu grammar that’s just as irrelevant as his posts about the food and specials.
I was reading the thread before this latest purge, and I think some important stuff got deleted. But whatever... who am I to judge? And what do I know about the culinary scene anyway? There are plenty of much better experts out there. 🤷
That's just my take. Don't feel obligated to agree.
It feels stupid. Everything lately is telling me it might be time to walk away from this forum because it isn't the place I used to enjoy anymore—but then again, I can't seem to quit. 😵
I’m eating my words here—I fell for a wrong assumption, just like Michelle Obama pointed out. I spotted a fake signature on one of those "corrections."
My bad on the mistake. Everything else remains the same for now.
Thanks for the quick reply, Mrs. Pringles. I don't really have any skin in the game regarding the ban itself—it’s more about how this whole situation was handled, and honestly, a few other topics too.
Maybe I'm off base, but just a few hours ago, there were actually some constructive, objective posts in there. Now? It's just a sea of useless noise. I was actually planning on coming back to the thread to quote those useful points and add my own take, but they're gone. I know how thread cleaning works, but this time, there's nothing left for future readers to actually learn from.
And frankly, I’m just stunned by the sheer self-righteousness of some people over there. Why they think they're so holier-than-thou, I haven't the slightest clue.
I've been following this thread for days and I still can't get over how it all went down. I see I'm not the only one complaining about the PDF, but unlike others, I'm not blaming the admin—I didn't even realize she was involved. I'm just reacting to what I'm seeing.
In principle, though, the comments mentioned by someone like Mulica—as much as they felt like trolling—hit home. They felt real. In fact, that kind of vibe is exactly what drove me away from the food scene years ago. How naive of me to think things might have actually changed, prompting me to try and make a comeback! (Nothing personal, mind you—my disillusionment started long before you showed up.)
I didn't want to take this public to avoid breaking any forum rules, but honestly, I can't believe this kind of thing happens in the food section.
After reporting a post—which I found pretty offensive—and sending a separate comment to the mods, someone decided to play janitor and clean up the thread on May 4th. Though, looking at the timestamps, it’s obvious the scrubbing started even earlier.
What’s left of the thread now is an absolute joke. It’s just a handful of posts from a few select users and the remarks from a banned user—who was likely kicked for spamming ads (though they could have actually explained why, especially since that user's posts sparked such a heated debate over the last few days). If the rules say a ban doesn't require an explanation, fine—but then they should have wiped everything posted since the restaurant opened (basically since the whole argument started). Instead, they chose selective deletion, leaving behind a completely distorted and inaccurate version of events. Just to be clear: I read the entire thread while it was still live a few hours ago, including several neutral, rational posts that vanished because they apparently didn't fit the specific "vision" held by a certain corner of this subforum—a corner the active moderator clearly belongs to.
Look, maybe the person really was advertising, and if so, they deserved the ban. But this kind of cherry-picking—especially targeting anyone on the "other side"—is beneath a forum that used to be a staple for foodies. I have no idea where this is heading; every time I visit, it feels more and more 😲
I get it—being a moderator is a thankless, difficult job. But showing some basic respect to the readers and contributors means explaining why these one-sided decisions keep happening. Or are we all just too dim to understand, so there's no point in trying?
I'm not sure who's responsible here. Of the newer admins or super-mods, I only know Leg, and I don't think he's the one behind this subjective cleanup. As for whoever else... well, they aren't exactly a moderator.
And sorry for being so intense tonight—I really should have been asleep ages ago 😵, being an older citizen and all—but I’m honestly losing interest in visiting this forum because of the moderation. Especially in a section that used to be my favorite.