Fear of rubber bands

Why was my thread on Psychology deleted?

I don't think I was being rude or disrespectful at all; if anything, I felt it fit perfectly within the subforum. I made a real effort to stay away from criticizing the moderators, and I even tried to encourage other users to keep things civil—respecting one another while still being able to express how they feel.

Where did I go wrong?

Grace Edwards92 said:Why was my identical thread deleted from Psychology?

I don't believe I was being vulgar or disrespectful; in fact, I felt it was perfectly appropriate for the subforum. I made a conscious effort to avoid criticizing the moderation and tried to encourage other users to maintain decorum while expressing their feelings.

Where did I go wrong?

I agree; it was a well-constructed topic. I even wrote a thoughtful post to a colleague regarding how to stop overthinking—something that pertains to psychology rather than moderation. However, we were met with nonsense. I request an explanation from the moderators.🍿

So, I’m noticing that the moderators over at Psychology are way quicker at hitting the delete button than they are at actually replying to us.
And honestly, this isn't the first time I've seen this happen. Good posts just vanish, and some of our most thoughtful contributors end up getting banned or partially restricted. Is that really fair?

Slow down, please. The local police department isn't some 24/7 emergency call center where someone is expected to jump at the phone the second it rings.

Mmm, yeah. Honestly, feels more like something out of the Supreme Court.
No worries, take your time. I’m genuinely curious about what the reason was for deleting it.

Hey Boxer Letec, sorry for the delay, we haven't been around the forum much lately.

The situation with this thread is pretty straightforward—within just an hour of it being open, half the posts were either directly or indirectly criticizing the moderation or the mods themselves. There’s an entire PDF covering that, and by registering, every user agreed that moderators have the right to delete, move, or merge posts and threads. If someone is sensitive enough to feel insulted by that, then this forum isn't the right place for them... it wouldn't be for their own good.

Best regards!

Look, Michelle Evans, maybe I'm just being overly sensitive, but this constant wave of deletions is really getting under my skin. I’ve already shared my thoughts on why this practice is fundamentally flawed.

In this specific instance, it isn't even just about my own topic; it’s about the thread another user started regarding their own situation (I can't recall the exact title or who it was—basically, a guy was venting about a "friend" who owed him money and was now giving him a hard time). Just when he was starting to find some clarity—you know, when the pieces were finally starting to fall into place—his entire thread was wiped out.

It wasn't locked, it wasn't banned, and it wasn't merged with anything else. It was simply deleted without any warning whatsoever.

If you, as a psychologist (whether professional or just hobbyist), don't see why that feels so disrespectful, then you probably shouldn't be moderating a subforum that attracts such a sensitive group of people.

Being sensitive isn't a valid excuse for ignoring or disregarding the PDF rules.
On Psychology, I see maybe one or two threads get deleted per month on average. I wouldn't call it a mass purge; it's actually pretty rare. But clearly, we have different standards. Seeing one or two threads wiped out within just an hour or two of each other says a lot about their approach...

I can certainly empathize with your frustration regarding deletions, as it bugs me too when people don't read the rules. However, no moderator is going to stop removing posts that ask for diagnoses of people in their lives, seek advice on how to mentally harass someone, or try to take indirect shots at the moderation team, no matter how much it might irritate certain users.

As for my own role in moderation, I’ll gladly step down if the majority of regular PDF users, my fellow moderators, the admin, or the owner requests it...

Pringles, you got a second? Just do what most other mods on Reddit do—drop a quick explanation for the thread before you lock it down. Just so people don't think the site crashed or we just nuked it for no reason. Thanks.