Commenting on Planetfeedback

This letter was not meant to be a complaint about the TOS or about the
current condition of PFB, and the Kitchen Table was the furthest
thing from my mind when I wrote the letter. I wasn't even sure if the
Kitchen Table still existed.

I simply wanted to know if there was a change in the TOS. This isn't
the first time I noticed discrepancies in the removal of comments.
Last time I made the mistake of posting my observations in a profile,
and we all know how that turned out. So this time I went directly to
the source.

But when all is said and done, it still leaves me wondering (as I said
in the letter) why some comments that clearly violate the TOS are not
removed while others are. I haven't really been given an explanation
other than informing me that all the comments are not read. I guess
I'll just have to accept that as the answer whether I think it's fair
or not.

I guess I haven't noticed some comments getting pulled but other
rule-breaking comments getting to stay. I rarely see any comment that
I think crosses the TOS line.

This site was much more fun when we could get away with murder. It
also could be very mean and inhospitable.

While the site isn't as fun (for me) as it used to be, it is more
professional. If I think an OP is being a complete tool, I have to be
an adult and find a respectful way to disagree, or I leave the letter
alone (usually the latter, since I don't like to edit myself).

But I don't think this site's responsibility includes providing me and
others with endless hours of entertainment. In fact, if someone were
to want to "buy" the site, I can see that if a buyer were to look a
sample of letters and responses at certains in this site's history,
they may not be interested once they saw some of the content
(including from me).

So, this question has been posted on this site for nine days now, and
PlantFeedback hasn't responded yet. Maybe they did so behind the
scenes, but considering the posting is in a public venue about the
very site it's on, a response here is appropriate.

This is not meant to be an insult in any way: I have never seen worse
Customer Service from any other organization. PlantFeedback is clearly
telling the people who bother to come to their site that they don't
care.

At least the average companies that do not care about Customer Service
send a canned reply.

Low rent.

i have noticed that some comments I thought would be pulled haven't
yet been touched. (i.e. related to grammar or pointing out where a
letter-writer may have broken the law)


but on the flip side i have seen comments that contain direct attacks
and name calling have been pulled.


maybe they've finally relaxed a little with how things are being
handled.

i think it has something to do with the way things got heated up very
quickly over the blog-moderation notice.

I have had comments deleted in the past. Usually they are ones where I
have politely suggested that the original poster rewrite the letter to
make it more readable. Simple things like punctuation, spelling, etc.


It was my understanding that when a comment is deleted that the
poster of the comment was supposed to be sent an email explaining why
it was deleted. I never received an explanation of why the comments
were deleted.

I agree with you Venice that lately it seems like comments of those
type and worse are being allowed. I have no problem with some of my
comments being deleted but all such similar comments should be deleted
as well. It should be fair and equal.

Oh Venice, here you go again.......

As one of the folks that recently posted a comment about rewriting a
letter that included calling the employees things like "idiots", I
apologize if I've offended anyone.

I am a casual poster here,(obviously, since I am just now seeing this
letter) and thought that constructive criticism was allowed.
Apparently, I am wrong. Although I fail to see how trying to help
someone realize that a well written letter will forward their
complaint more than a really bad letter can be construed as offensive.
If I failed to see this rule in the TOS then it is my fault.

I do have to offer my completely unsolicted opinion on another matter.
This site now has so many posting rules that a score card is needed,
and it's just not worth it.

Combine the interesting posting rules with the ever present tension
and sniping among members, this site has become hard to take
seriously. What a shame!

Somewhere along the line the inmates have taken over the asylum and
it's just not working. If I were Planetfeedback I'd close the whole
thing down, re-vamp things, and start over in rebuilding the site's
creditbility.

I know that I've been told that there have been no changes to the
moderation policy, but I'm still not sure if that includes suggesting
that a letter be rewritten or made clearer. I have seen several
comments to that effect lately that were not removed. Are suggestions
on how to improve a letter now permitted?

Never fear Venice, the censor police at PFB are still out and still
working overtime.

My guess is...its just certain people who are being censored.

I didn't just shoot Greg an email because it shouldn't be necessary.
With such strict moderation I assume he reads all posts in a timely
manner in order to ensure that the rules are enforced fairly. And
since there have been so many violations lately, it would be very time
consuming for me to shoot an email for each one. Also, I disagree
with comment removal in the first place so I would never ask for one
to be removed.

Are you questioning the fact that I have seen comments that violate
the TOS? Maybe you don't read as many as I do, but I can assure you
this is not something I would make up for any reason whatsoever. I'm
sure Greg is well aware of the comments I am referring to because as I
said, he needs to read each one in order to enforce the TOS fairly.

Things may seem calm to you, but I have had several comments removed
lately for being interpreted as attacks and speculation. However,
those restrictions were not applied to other commenters. How would
you feel if your posts were removed and then you saw other comments
that were in violation and much worse than yours and were not taken
down? Maybe it doesn't affect or bother you when the rules are
applied unfairly, but it bothers me. It's just wrong.

I'm not trying to stir anything. I am simply looking for an answer as
to why comments that clearly violate the TOS are now being allowed.
And it's funny you should mention seeing new names because some of
those comments were made by people who I believe are new to the site.


And yes, I did receive an answer.

"Nothing about our moderation policy has changed."

If nothing about the policy changed, then why are comments that are
clearly attacks, speculation, etc. now being allowed? Almost
everything said here can be labeled as speculation, so why is it
sometimes permitted and other times not? Why were my comments removed
for being attacks and speculation while other more obvious ones were
left alone? I asked for an explanation but did not get one. Can
anyone explain it? Can you? All I want at this point is an honest
answer. And I don't want comments to be removed as a result of this
letter. If comments are removed, it will only confirm my suspicion.

What did I hope to accomplish by writing the letter? Two things. I
wanted to know if the TOS changed so that I could comment accordingly
without having my posts removed. And if there was no change, I
wanted to find out once and for all why comments are perceived
differently depending on the poster, resulting in unfair comment
removal.

The only thing accomplished in the end was learning that nothing
changed. The policy remains the same as does the selective comment
removal.

I hope that clears things up.