General forum moderation topic-Members deleting thier posts- Can/should we stop them?

Hi everyone,

I hope this the correct forum for advice and thoughts of moderating forums in general.

I have been moderating forums for many years (forums.Winamp.com the biggest). A new-ish (a few years) forum that I mod/admin has grown and now a respectable 100,000 posts.

Now as the size is growing the problems grow too. We have as a current trend of users that have many posts wanting to delete all their posts as they don't like something and want to leave.

Personally I really dislike this "I'm throwing the rattle out of the parm because I do not like xyz."

Not only does it mess up all threads so they are hardly readable but they problem members/soon to be trolls get they day at attention seeking +++++s that they are.

I am after others experiences and thoughts and advice about this.

What are you thoughts on such members?

Is there anything ethically we can do? Stop them deleting there posts?
Has anyone gone from allowing users to delete there posts to a blanket ban on it?
What was the users reaction – too negative?
Is there any legal complications not allowing users to delete their posts?
Do users that ask for there accounts to be deleted have any legal case? - Do we as admin/mod have to delete there posts?

Thoughts and opinions welcomed folks.

[Chris M]

Registration agreements stating that the posts are kept on your site with partial ownership by your site will prevent any legal standing for removing of their posts/threads...

Simple vBulletin Permissions will prevent them from doing so themselves...

However removal of accounts is something you may have to abide by if asked, if not by want at least from a legal standpoint - The posts remain partially your property as they are posted on your site (as long as registration says so), but the user's account can potentially contain "private" information that they have a right to request to be removed...

Chris

Thank you for your insight.

I like the idea of part ownership is something I like even though the other admin/mods/members are a bit hippy and it might somehow encroach on civil libiaties or something??..

You think that is enough though?

Now a new question. The legalities/ethics blah,blah of changing the TOS on the fly to include this?

[amykhar]

I would be cautious. A few years back, some people got miffed at a product review site and started pulling their reviews. The site reacted by locking down reviews so they could not be edited or deleted. The membership freaked and started writing really obscene product reviews bashing the company and posting them on the company's site. Even people who weren't affected by the change got angry and joined in the protest.

Eventually, the site backed down and gave us control over our content. They also worked out the original problems and people did not take their stuff away in droves.

For this reason, I don't stop my members from deleting their own posts. It just tends to tick them off more.

Amy

[Tony G]

I never saw the purpose of users being able to delete their own posts. If they post something they no longer want shown, just edit it with a "please delete mod" message or something. They'd be less inclined if you didn't allow deleting to go and edit all of their messages.

[Talisman]

Hi Rovastar,

You're not alone in trying to work out a solution to that problem. The larger a community grows, the more likely someone will get torqued and demand to have everything they've ever done be removed immediately. If that member has been participating there for years, that's a huge request to honor.

Unless some notice to the contrary is posted in a prominent and accessible place, I believe most users generally assume that all posts and original images belong to them, entirely. Quite a few forums I've been around have something in their footer which says all posts are copyright the author.. and so on.

You still have an option to set your policies differently, though. If you make acceptance of your particular terms a condition for membership in your community, then anyone who's not comfortable with your rules knows what they are and they're free to go find some other forum that suits them better.

To show what I mean, here's a passage from the rules of a very popular forum where I visit:

Disclaimer of Warranty -- All content and messages are for entertainment purposes only and reflect the views of the author. Once posted, all forum messages, private messages, and any other content become the property of <sitename>. You release <sitename> from all future claims of any kind whatsoever including, but not limited to, addiction, loss of productivity, or employment. <Sitename> cannot be held responsible for the authenticity of the content or the actions of its members.

Yes.. at this place, alot of their members get totally obsessed with the forum... to the point that some regularly request temporary ban because they can't stop posting there, day and night. (Really weird, but that's how these people get.)

I don't really know how well this rule might hold up as a legal issue, but if such a notice is plainly presented at the time new members join... then at least you've made your intention with respect to ownership very clear. Seems to me that this would put the burden on them then to either accept, question, challege, or refuse your terms right when they join your group.

If this has not been your policy up until now and you want to change the rules, then treat this matter the same way you would any other policy change. Make a general announcement to your members that it's become necessary to make a policy change. Let them know what the change will be, when it will become effective (say, within 30 days of your announcement), and tell them your reason. This gives your members full notice and some time to kick the notion around for a while. Anyone who seriously objects to your policy change will have to decide for themselves if they're willing to accept it anyway or just leave your group.

[Vtec44]

As an admin, you're always walking a fine line between controling the rogue members and making it attractive to new members. I try to control all the fighting/arguing on my forum to a minimum, so people don't have bad blood against each other. As Talisman stated, your Term Of Service should explicitly state that all posts and original information submited to your site belong to you. Although you'll try to reason with them first, but when it comes down to it then you just have to put your foot down.