Complaint about thread removal on Red Bull regarding pregnancy

Some of our most active threads have been locked: "Basal Body Temperature Tracking," "Pregnancy Meal Plans," "Baby Bump Photos," and "Self-Care for Moms"
. It would be more efficient to just scrap these individual topics altogether and consolidate everything into one single forum for Pregnant Women, Seniors, and Wannabes 🙄

I realize that RiD hasn't exactly been perfectly moderated for a long time while working alongside the Pregnancy forums, and things have kind of piled up.
it seems like there are just endless clusters of chat rooms and various topics everywhere.

but I really wanted to point out to the leadership that things have gone a bit too far—maybe a little too aggressive when it comes to targeting people's personal discussions regarding hormones 😁

you could have announced a general cleanup in a pinned thread, which probably would have prevented all this massive dissatisfaction.
so many bans have gone out lately just for "commenting on moderator actions" in chat rooms that haven't been moderated for months—rooms where people were saying just about anything without any consequences—and now suddenly everything is exploding, even over simple questions like "what happened to that girl whose username turned gray?"

I’m appealing once more—could you at least put a warning in a pinned thread? Because if this keeps up, half the forum might end up banned tomorrow just because users go into the chat rooms asking what's going on 😢 since the warnings mods leave directly on the chat threads get buried, and people just don't read the old messages, making those warnings pretty much pointless.

Pointless and pathetic... topics that probably don't matter one bit to you lot—the mothers and the expectant parents... it’s truly tragic what this forum has devolved into... I am honestly at a loss for words! I can only sincerely hope that things settle down soon... *sniffle*!!!!!!!

Absolutely ridiculous👎 how threads get split over trivialities and topics are shut down. Every time I see a new private message, I dread opening it, fearing it’s just another warning from a moderator. Yesterday, I actually got flagged just for using an emoji. It’s completely excessive.
If this continues, I’ll lose all motivation to even visit this forum.😢

Look, bans aren't being handed out over petty nonsense; they're happening because people are straight-up breaking the forum rules. The fact that nobody was getting disciplined for it until now is a completely different story. All those closed or moved threads were just unnecessary clutter—mostly random chat topics—and honestly, you've been seeing warnings scattered all over Red Bull for days now on just about every thread.

In the beginning, we were just giving gentle reminders. Then we moved to deleting posts followed by warnings, then came the yellow cards and extra cautions, and now? Now it’s time for the red cards and full bans. It's just the natural order of things when rules get ignored, but I guess you guys haven't really seen it in action before because we weren't strictly enforcing it.

And let me be clear: more changes are coming, just like we said. The old way of doing things simply isn't sustainable for Red Bull anymore. We realize it feels different to you, but the same standards apply to the rest of the forum, and it's high time they applied to your section too.

rustydrifter10 said:Look, bans aren't being handed out over petty nonsense; they're happening because people are straight-up breaking the forum rules. The fact that nobody was getting disciplined for it until now is a completely different story. All those closed or moved threads were just unnecessary clutter—mostly random chat topics—and honestly, you've been seeing warnings scattered all over Red Bull for days now on just about every thread.

In the beginning, we were just giving gentle reminders. Then we moved to deleting posts followed by warnings, then came the yellow cards and extra cautions, and now? Now it’s time for the red cards and full bans. It's just the natural order of things when rules get ignored, but I guess you guys haven't really seen it in action before because we weren't strictly enforcing it.

And let me be clear: more changes are coming, just like we said. The old way of doing things simply isn't sustainable for Red Bull anymore. We realize it feels different to you, but the same standards apply to the rest of the forum, and it's high time they applied to your section too.

Well, I don't think that's quite right—I've seen it happening in various sub-forums, and not just in the chat threads. You see questions like "why was xy banned?" or comments saying "xy, come back soon," and those posts weren't being carded or sanctioned as "commenting on moderator actions."

But today, it's actually because of those exact types of questions that a few people in the pregnancy group got banned.
It's a chat thread where it's always the same group of people, and tomorrow, when the women who weren't here today show up after the weekend, they'll probably ask, "why is half our group banned?" and get banned themselves, just like everyone else.

Honestly, it feels a bit harsh.
And it doesn't seem fair to suddenly start punishing the female users so rigorously for breaking rules, when, I guess, part of the blame lies with the people who weren't enforcing those rules in the first place, which is how Red Bull turned into what it is now...

Peter Doyle2 said:Well, I don't think that's quite right—I've seen it happening in various sub-forums, and not just in the chat threads. You see questions like "why was xy banned?" or comments saying "xy, come back soon," and those posts weren't being carded or sanctioned as "commenting on moderator actions."

But today, it's actually because of those exact types of questions that a few people in the pregnancy group got banned.
It's a chat thread where it's always the same group of people, and tomorrow, when the women who weren't here today show up after the weekend, they'll probably ask, "why is half our group banned?" and get banned themselves, just like everyone else.

Honestly, it feels a bit harsh.
And it doesn't seem fair to suddenly start punishing the female users so rigorously for breaking rules, when, I guess, part of the blame lies with the people who weren't enforcing those rules in the first place, which is how Red Bull turned into what it is now...

Look, those posts were made right after a warning was issued that explicitly stated this kind of talk is off-limits and would result in a ban, so nobody can really play the "I didn't know" card.

I get why it feels harsh to you, I really do, but just take a look at how many warnings have been posted on this thread over the last couple of days and how many formal reprimands we've seen. What’s even the point of handing out warnings if they’re just words on a screen that nobody actually enforces?

Since the official notice is tucked away on the very last page, I highly doubt the girls are going to stumble upon it first thing tomorrow morning.

rustydrifter10 said:Look, those posts were made right after a warning was issued that explicitly stated this kind of talk is off-limits and would result in a ban, so nobody can really play the "I didn't know" card.

I get why it feels harsh to you, I really do, but just take a look at how many warnings have been posted on this thread over the last couple of days and how many formal reprimands we've seen. What’s even the point of handing out warnings if they’re just words on a screen that nobody actually enforces?

Since the official notice is tucked away on the very last page, I highly doubt the girls are going to stumble upon it first thing tomorrow morning.

Well, that’s exactly my point—it was mentioned right in the thread topic, which is growing at a crazy pace. A lot of women have their settings adjusted to show only a few posts per page, so things just sink to the bottom way too fast. The older stuff ends up getting ignored. I guess maybe two or three people catch the warning, while everyone else is left completely in the dark.
If someone drops another 5 or 6 posts on the TZ tomorrow morning, I guess we’ll just end up right back where we started—same old story.

I mean—it probably doesn't exactly make your life easier when people are constantly spamming and getting banned, especially when there's already so much content that needs cleaning up and organizing. 🤷
I guess it might actually be helpful to have one major pinned thread—maybe even with a heads-up about the new rules—to keep things organized. It would probably make life a bit easier for you guys on the mod team, and honestly, for us members too.
Unless there’s some other reason, I guess nobody can really claim they missed it—mostly because they just aren't keeping up with the thread history. 😉

Since we are discussing the rules
I decided to take a closer look at the specific guidelines for the Red Bull subforum:
c/p regarding thread starting: because the post count has surged and threads are becoming impossible to navigate, you are asked to refrain from non-constructive chatter, except in the designated lounge thread. Non-constructive chatter is defined as an internal conversation among a small group of participants that excludes others, and such posts will be deleted without prior warning; also, the use of supposedly funny but excessive spam emojis sourced from various emoji websites will be deleted, except in unmoderated chat threads, because they completely drown out the actual content of the post and the topic itself.

I was handed a red card over a single emoji 👍 I used as a comment on a post. The rules above specifically mention "excessive spam emojis," yet mine certainly wasn't ☕
Clearly, the moderation is being far too heavy-handed with the penalties.

Douglas Booth22,

Quoting an entire massive post just to say "👍", "I agree," or something equally pointless is considered straight-up spam on every single sub-forum here (except for the off-topic and chat threads).
The whole point of having a topic with such a specific title is for every single post to actually add something useful to the conversation.

Look, ladies, I’m not gonna waste my breath defending old-school rules. If you truly feel passionate about certain topics, just try reaching out to the mods or admins with some solid arguments instead.

It would be awesome if we could get the Basal Measurement Temperature thread back, but maybe we keep the comments focused strictly on graph trends and specific data points, following the vibe of the discussion over on the wannabe theme. That thread helped so many girls—honestly, I bet even people who aren't even part of that group found it through a quick Google search.

Hey mods—just a little friendly nudge! A little bit of chaos, a little bit of order... that’s how you keep things interesting. 😬

I’ve gone ahead and added an addendum to the rules, so now nobody will have any excuses left.

Well, since I’ve already started talking, may I offer one suggestion?

I feel like some of the threads that were locked or moved to the off topic section were dismissed a bit too quickly.

Specifically, the thread about basal measurement. It’s such an expansive topic—everything from types of thermometers to timing, plus all the essentials regarding graphing and symptom tracking... For many women, myself included, that thread was instrumental in helping us achieve pregnancy. It provided information I just couldn't gather from the casual chat threads.
Yes, over time, it did turn into a place for random chatter and commenting on every single graph during meaningless days of the cycle.But I think the best solution would be to clear out the off topic stuff... actually, maybe not even clean it, but simply open a new thread with stricter moderation (no random chatter or non-constructive posts).
What’s the issue with those chat threads?
It’s that they get cluttered with posts about recipes, terrible husbands, and even worse mothers-in-law😁 instead of weather forecasts and everything else. On those kinds of threads, constructive posts don't just go unnoticed; they sink so fast they become pointless. And monitoring basal temperature is definitely a constructive thing!
It’s far more constructive than topics like "trying to conceive" or "what annoyed us during pregnancy." We can vent about those things in the chat groups, but basal tracking really deserves its own dedicated space.

The same goes for the twins thread on RiD.
That isn't just some niche interest group for parents; it’s a group of mothers with vastly different problems, needs, and questions that you can't just cram into a TZ or an off topic section. I think the smartest move would be to moderate that thread more strictly so it doesn't get buried under trivialities. Otherwise, by that logic, we might as well ask what the point of a thread on infertility is—they could just look for answers in other threads. It’s the same with separate threads for two, three, or more years of experience; some moms will just end up swapping stories in the TZ.🤷

Look, I get it. Things are chaotic right now, and there is clearly a ton of cleanup work to do...
But please, please don't immediately judge every thread that started out high-quality and constructive—even if it eventually spiraled—by locking it or tossing it into the off topic section.
And especially don't push people toward the chat threads, because people talk about everything there *except* parenting and pregnancy issues.😁
(I'm not saying I don't love the chat threads, I just can't help myself 😁 ))

rustydrifter10 said:I’ve gone ahead and added an addendum to the rules, so now nobody will have any excuses left.

That’s great. I was actually going to ask if you could do the same for the Pregnancy group—since a lot of people still tend to bypass the RiD 😁.

EDIT: I see you already did, thanks!!

Just so we’re clear—I started reading through the leftovers, and before any moderator could even blink, I spotted five grayed-out names... so naturally, I asked what was going on. Luckily, since the mods were apparently catching some Z's, I didn't get banned instantly and managed to edit my post before I caught the same fate.
I wasn't trying to play the martyr—or being stupid, if we're being honest—I just asked a logical question. You disappear for one day, you log back in, and suddenly everything is grayed out. Of course I'm going to ask why. Especially since when I went to read the last posts from those banned users, they didn't look like anything worth a ban to begin with. Then I realized they had been wiped entirely...

And let's be real here—I don't even hang out on RiD... TZ is pretty much my limit... and since TZ is its own chat topic, it’s totally unfair to ban a bunch of us hormone enthusiasts just for asking questions in the right thread...
Anyway, that's all there is to it.

I just wanted to say that getting back into tracking basal measurement would be such a win! Honestly, this whole thread is the reason I even started posting on the pregnancy boards. If all this stuff was buried in some random wannabe theme, I never would've jumped in because I'd have zero clue how to find the important info.

I don't get why you guys keep shutting down threads that people are active in every single day.
It feels pretty pointless to post graphs in the wannabe theme—not every girl is out there doing basal measurements.

I’m definitely rooting for getting that thread back.

I think we should move back to the basal measurement thread. I’m worried the wannabe theme is just going to become a total mess. Plus, there are some girls who don't want to join the wannabe theme but have always been part of MBT... which means we won't be able to discuss our graphs or other issues with them anymore.

I was on the forum yesterday afternoon and somehow managed to avoid getting banned.
First, a moderator stepped in. After just two comments regarding two closed threads—one saying it was a shame those topics were shut down, and another mentioning how tracking her basal measurement helped her conceive 😢 —and my own quick agreement 😢— she issued a warning that we aren't allowed to comment on moderator decisions. So what, are we supposed to play "clueless" like she puts it? Are we strictly forbidden from ever mentioning a closed thread again?
Then, one user got banned. Another said she wouldn't comment on the situation and got banned too. Then a third, who had just joined the conversation to ask why the others were banned, got hit as well. All those posts were DELETED. For anyone who actually HAS A LIFE (unlike me, clearly) and didn't spend their entire evening scrolling through this site, there would be absolutely no way to understand why an increasing number of women are suddenly grayed out on the TZ board.
Then a fourth person arrived and asked, quite innocently, why the previous users were grayed out... which apparently triggered a rule that you can't even remark on how many people are being banned.
Thanks, American web forums, for these gentle moderation tactics. Honestly, I’m afraid to write anything at all, lest a moderator shows up and bans me just for participating.

I’m with you, Jason Lee2—what’s even the point of having a forum and a chat if you can't actually say what's on your mind (as long as it stays on topic)?
I don't see the logic behind shutting down threads like MBT or core training—what was the actual goal there?

Get rid of the only thread about pregnancy where people post photos—meanwhile, over in the fashion section (if I got the name right), there’s an endless stream of picture-dumping threads like: "fashion critiques for our brave ladies!", "challenges for our bold users," "shoe pics," "the big fashion critique mega-thread," or "what are you wearing today?"—where everyone just posts shots of random influencers... yet you guys make such a huge deal out of a topic where a bunch of moms were just sharing their memories... does anyone even get what I'm saying here?
And what's the deal with punishing people just for asking why someone got banned? 😕 Since when is asking about moderator overreach considered a crime? 🤔
I'm with you on one thing—this place needs a cleanup, but if you keep going down this path, you're just gonna end up clearing out the actual regulars who actually type stuff here. 👎