Why so heavily moderated?

Why is CPF so heavily moderated? I mean, it's a great board and of course it can be moderated however the owner wishes so in an absolute sense I get it.

But is it really necessary? I started a thread today about an issue I'd experienced at DX. It was deleted immediately...no notice was sent to me the thread starter...just gone.

I expressed an opinion on another topic. Some agreed but most didn't. Someone posted something to the effect that I'm not the first one to make a certain point (so what, I haven't been here all that long) and after a certain point the thread was closed?

Why? What's the point. If the thread hadn't of been closed interest would have wained soon enough anyway.

I saw another thread started by a newer person today and it was started in the wrong forum I guess. It was moved (no problem) but it was apparent from the OP's later response that they weren't notified either.

There are rules but no one knows what they are. You can't say ABC store is a great place in my opinion to buy whatever. You can review a flashlight and link to ABC store. Apparently you can't ask, has anyone else ever had this problem with ABC store?

Again, the benefits of CPF outweigh any negatives but this is certainly the most heavily moderated forum I've ever been on and certainly the only one where moderators delete threads without at least sending an email to the thread starter with the reasons for the deletion.

If this is the wrong forum...sorry!

The moderators are human too, but for the most part they do an excellent job of keeping the forums civil. I know I haven't addressed all your concerns but can only say that in the balance things run much more smoothly here than in a majority of other forums where there is too little moderation.

Hope you get some better responses that I've been able to offer right now.

This is a great place to get information about flashlights, and the "heavy moderation" is part of what keeps the signal-to-noise ratio up. There are rules, and the mods enforce them. Don't take it personally. It does take a little effort to figure out this place, but it's worth it.

Discussions about dealers or problems with dealers belong in the Marketplace.

If you want to talk about lights purchased from DX or similar sites, they most likely belong in the Budget Lights sub-forum of the LED flashlight section.

Threads are started in the wrong forums on an all too frequent basis. When the threads are moved to the correct forum, there is a marker link left behind that you click and it takes you to the thread, in the correct forum.

If the mods sent PM's to the affected folks everytime they locked, deleted, or moved a thread, I doubt they'd not get anything else done.

I would highlight the don't take it personally comment. I would also say that while it may be a good question I would ask it via PM, it may help to avoid a "blunt" response. Generally comments on the moderation don't get very far here. Your results may vary of course.

The heavy-handed moderation keeps this large and active board civil and a fun place to visit. I have no complaints.

You will find that some threads are best suited to posting in the Marketplace. Most of the topics you mentioned are best suited towards the Marketplace. Your thread probably should have been posted in the Marketplace and the moderators expect you to read and understand the rules rather than notify you of everything you do wrong.

FYI-I'm not taking anything personally. I don't have a major problem with this subject but just thought I'd bring it up as it has occurred to me from time to time.

I did post regarding DX in the Budget forum. The Marketplace didn't even occur to me since DX doesn't sell in the Marketplace...actually I haven't been to the Marketplace

I also agree there are upsides to keeping things well moderated. I just thought closing threads and deleting threads was a bit much when the subject matter wasn't anything inflamatory in the first place.

No worries.

By the way, if I thought this thread was offensive to the moderators I wouldn't have started it and would have gone the PM route. I was just curious as to what others thought on this subject.

The members pretty much summed it up.

And since moderation is not a topic of discussion on CPF...

This thread is closed.