So what was wrong with my answer to this question?

June 10, 2005 4:50 PM

So what was wrong with my answer to this question?
posted by bh to Etiquette/Policy at 4:50 PM (29 comments total)

My answer was deleted. It wasn't intended to be off topic, or funny. I just asked if buying a cigar in Cuba counted.

I've seen a lot of very off topic answers not being deleted. Have I just offended the mefi gods?

And if I have offended the person that deleted that (and a few more), check my history. I give a hell of a lot more than I receive on ask.mefi. I have a lot of questions queued up, but I want to keep the S/N ratio down.
posted by bh at 4:53 PM on June 10, 2005

Well, it was there when I reloaded the thread. It wasn't there for long, though. While I accept the fact that it might have been a system error, I don't accept the fact that I've had a few marginal answers deleted before due to system error, while all of my detailed answers seem to stick around. Peronsally, I don't consider it a great answer, but I'm not very happy that some of my answers just disappear.
posted by bh at 5:07 PM on June 10, 2005

I didn't delete anything.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 5:41 PM on June 10, 2005

I didn't delete anything either. If you had contact information in your profile and I did ever delete anything you had posted, I would email/IM you and let you know what I did and why.
posted by jessamyn at 5:44 PM on June 10, 2005

And such is very much appreciated, jessamyn. Thanks for that extra bit of care.
posted by five fresh fish at 5:50 PM on June 10, 2005

/points finger squarely at JRun
posted by thedevildancedlightly at 5:53 PM on June 10, 2005

I saw a mathowie "test" get posted and disappear, but I'm assuming that was an attempt at diagnosing the problem.
posted by fvw at 6:07 PM on June 10, 2005

Given that the Great Ones have spoken, I'll write it off as a system error.
posted by bh at 6:09 PM on June 10, 2005

mathowie: if you are still on the air, I too had a comment deleted from AxMe. Jessamyn did not delete it, did you? It was in this thread: BusinessFilter: How much would you be willing to pay for this service...
posted by mlis at 6:14 PM on June 10, 2005

I deleted it.
posted by substrate at 6:23 PM on June 10, 2005

I helped.
posted by mischief at 6:36 PM on June 10, 2005

I don't like the seeming return of frequent deletings, but coupling them with an explaining email is a very good thing if they have to happen. In other news, what was up with the test post that only showed up in preview?
posted by caddis at 6:37 PM on June 10, 2005

MLIS, I deleted your off-topic rant about Fedex and homeland security because it didn't have anything to do with answering the original question.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 6:40 PM on June 10, 2005

bh, the original comment you made appears to have been deleted, which is odd, because neither jessamyn or I even saw the thread before it happened. I've been fixing a lot of code today but I don't think there's a chance it accidentally was killed by me. I've added a couple security precautions to track changes so that in the future I know when and where they come from.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 6:41 PM on June 10, 2005

Um, okay, just for the record, it was a link to a Wall Street Journal article discussing Fedex & their sharing of customer information with Homeland Security. Another poster had said how he would not use the USPS but did use UPS & FEDEX. A "rant" makes it sound like I was spouting off when my answer consisted of one sentence.

I am surprised that you deleted it given the number of crude and impertinent responses that are allowed to stand. It makes me wonder whether you are friends with the person it was directed to and were coming to his defense.
posted by mlis at 6:52 PM on June 10, 2005

Thanks for the quick follow-up, Matt. Good luck finding the problem.
posted by bh at 7:01 PM on June 10, 2005

It makes me wonder whether you are friends with the person it was directed to and were coming to his defense.

I didn't realize that five bucks gave people the right to make completely unsubstantiated, insulting comments. Have you been here long? Way to be an ass, dude.
posted by SeizeTheDay at 7:17 PM on June 10, 2005

I didn't realize that five bucks gave people the right to make completely unsubstantiated, insulting comments. Have you been here long?

. . . have you been here long?
posted by Ryvar at 7:50 PM on June 10, 2005

yeah that You Should See the Other Guy, what an asshat.
posted by puke & cry at 8:48 PM on June 10, 2005

I didn't delete it.
posted by bonaldi at 8:51 PM on June 10, 2005

I dunno if the deletion of your comment was warranted or not, MLIS, but the occasional excessive deletion is a price well worth paying to keep AskMe as focused on answers as possible. Just recognize that moderation is imperfect and any one of us might at some point feel one of our answers was unjustly deleted. It works to keep us all focused on posting only really good answers.

Now, excessive deletions *outside* of AskMe...well, um...
posted by mediareport at 11:47 PM on June 10, 2005

I am surprised that you deleted it given the number of crude and impertinent responses that are allowed to stand.

I can't read the entire site, so I read what is reported, and often things that are crude and especially off-topic are removed, but sometimes contrarian points of view seem coarse stick around if they're still about the original question.

Your comment didn't have anything to do with whether or not someone would pay $5 to have packages picked up.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 12:10 AM on June 11, 2005

on the subject of jessamyn's emails - if other people like them, fine. personally, i don't mind if i don't get them (ie i'd be happy to just have my crap posts disappear silently). but i don't think i've ever complained about people deleting stuff here, either.

no-one has ever deleted anything (of mine, at least) that surprised me (sometimes i think they're just the other side of the borderline, but it's always obvious - in retrospect - that they're questionable)
posted by andrew cooke at 6:46 AM on June 11, 2005

I'd prefer to get email even if it was just "Your post to < thread> was deleted". I hate that sometimes I distinctly remember composing a reply and then not being able to find it. Gets me wondering did I say something wrong or did I just not post after previewing?
posted by Mitheral at 7:33 AM on June 11, 2005

MLIS: I flagged your post for deletion. So don't blame Matt.

It didn't answer the question.
posted by selfnoise at 8:10 AM on June 11, 2005

How many people have the power to delete posts/comments/questions on this set of pages anyway?
posted by davy at 8:25 AM on June 11, 2005

Just Matt and Jessamyn AFAIK. I just meant that I clicked on the little ! mark and selected "derail". Which is probably why Matt saw it in the first place.
posted by selfnoise at 8:53 AM on June 11, 2005

I flagged your post for deletion. So don't blame Matt.

No, I accept full blame and have explained why. A flag never, ever means an instant nor guaranteed deletion, it's up to my discretion, which I used in this case.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 10:25 AM on June 11, 2005

How many people have the power to delete posts/comments/questions on this set of pages anyway?

not you. sweetie.
posted by quonsar at 11:08 AM on June 11, 2005