Outright censorship? [more inside]
posted by Rafaelloello on Sep 30, 2008 - 99 comments

Awesome comments go bye-bye with deleted post. [more inside]
posted by netbros on Sep 29, 2008 - 44 comments

The Veteren's case against John McCain post was deleted, and I can understand why, but... [more inside]
posted by matty on Sep 20, 2008 - 35 comments

Poster asks: Does dating through craigslist actually work? I answered simply, "No." My answer's been deleted. This is not the first time my on-topic answers have been deleted from threads and I find it pretty annoying. Further, someone else posted "Yup" and there answer is still there. WTF? [more inside]
posted by dobbs on Aug 29, 2008 - 92 comments

Why wasn't this post deleted? [more inside]
posted by electroboy on Aug 6, 2008 - 54 comments

Not sure why, but my first post was deleted. It was about the News Corp discussions with Microsoft. Definitely not spam, so I'm not sure what happened.
posted by JD Rucker on Feb 3, 2008 - 55 comments

This post was flagged and the system worked as it usually does with cortex quite rightly deleting it. [more inside]
posted by Neiltupper on Jan 31, 2008 - 50 comments

This post which raised the issue of fears among some in the African-American electorate that Barack Obama would not be safe as president. The thread was shut down for reasons of WTF. Not exactly sure what the problem was, and I was disappointed, as I had recently heard about this and was hoping the thread would shed some light on the issue. This NYT article would be a good starting point for discussion.
posted by flotson on Jan 6, 2008 - 47 comments

I'll be the first to admit that it was a weak post and an unknown double. However, I'm unclear as to what 'basic site guideline' I violated.
posted by malaprohibita on Nov 21, 2007 - 56 comments

A post about how women experience street harassment has been deleted. The one about how the psychology of exhibitionist men remains. The grounds: This post was deleted for the following reason: one exhibitionism post per day is enough. This is linked in the thread just below this. Please don't use MetaFilter to forward your point from metatalk. -- jessamyn My point was to continue a discussion some people thought valuable from a previous thread deleted apparently because that post was poor. Just can't get the hang of this thing. Hey ho.
posted by jennydiski on Nov 16, 2007 - 1163 comments

Wait.. a longtime user criticises the deletion of a post about one intellectual's review of another intellectual's book - a deletion with obscure sarcastic reason "clearly my filter for these isn't working properly. But wait, Hitchens AND Dawkins you say...? * taps pager * Damn this thing is broken. -- jessamyn" ... then you close the Meta thread? [more inside]
posted by dash_slot- on Sep 11, 2007 - 178 comments

I'm not going to make any callouts, but could short comments like "that was ghey" or "boring" be deleted as policy? They seem way too... youtubey. I wouldn't want to see an end to criticism or snark, but grunts of dissent tend to damage my perception of the Metafilter brand.
posted by Citizen Premier on Sep 1, 2007 - 77 comments

I know I'll be run out on a rail for this, but jessamyn's deletion of the Bonds HR record FPP was weaker than the post itself. I take it she's not a baseball fan, because plenty of breaking newsfilter/obitfilter has stuck around on just such a quick post.
posted by rollbiz on Aug 7, 2007 - 56 comments

jessamyn: Wait, what? [more inside]
posted by Riki tiki on Aug 2, 2007 - 111 comments

What's the line between axegrinding (this axegrinding ? or some kind of GodWin rule ? ) which caused the deletion of this post of mine and showing the psycological troubles of bunch of indoctrinated kids that are just parrotting talking points ? It this better and/or acceptable , because it clearly (?) shows a nascar redneck or because he makes fun of Michael Moore, therefore it must be "republitard" BUT it fits under "satire/comedy ?" I tolerate deletion with no problem, and may even accept that I was deemed brutal and deleted, but I would like to understand where the borderline could be, according to you guys.
posted by elpapacito on Jul 20, 2007 - 261 comments

This post was deleted for the following reason: seen it. -- jessamyn Huh?
posted by homunculus on Jul 18, 2007 - 149 comments

Was there really a good reason why every post in this AskMe thread was deleted? Looking at the question, it looked as though the poster was looking for A) good tech news sites and B) whether it would be worth it to start one. Not my fault it turned into a fight.
posted by parmanparman on Jul 5, 2007 - 70 comments

This AskMe has been inappropriately curtailed. The question is not a simple maths question, it is more complex as nuclear capacity is hydrocarbon dependent and the question is predicated on terminating hydrocarbon use. My post late in the thread raises this issue, and at least one (sensible) reply to it has been deleted.
posted by biffa on Jun 7, 2007 - 94 comments

Getting the dog high? Why wasn't the whole thing deleted? Letting any comments ride on that one is a slippery slope, I should think. Especially ones condoning it or speaking of giving a dog something toxic.
posted by valentinepig on May 30, 2007 - 146 comments

Today, for the first time, I wished I could favorite a thread deletion justification. "This post was deleted for the following reason: im in ur over-trafficked meme, stating ur ironic deletion raisin" - cortex
posted by BrotherCaine on May 18, 2007 - 143 comments

Are the deletions a bit wonky today? Some are showing up as the less uncommon scorched-earth-deletes (61928, 61950); some aren't appearing on the front page but have no deletion reason and appear open once you enter their thread (61932, 61936, 61942).
posted by WCityMike on May 4, 2007 - 4 comments

One is deleted because it has no link. The other is deleted because it's a dupe of the first. But can you dupe a deleted thread? Can you dupe a thread that has no link? Or is this just capitalist revisionism?
posted by Plutor on Apr 23, 2007 - 65 comments

Could someone direct me to specific policies that state why posts are removed? I had one removed today because someone chose to use inappropriate language in a comment. The language use was apparently blamed on the article I posted. That is very strange. I don't know where the policy is that states what can and can't be posted.
posted by scissorhand2 on Apr 20, 2007 - 226 comments

If I hadn't said that I had any connection in this posting would it still have been deleted?
posted by lannanh on Apr 6, 2007 - 60 comments

Often there are questions posted to Ask Metafilter that have a similar format. The poster will have a general health problem, and will also be fat. In 95% of the cases, losing weight is the first step to solving the problem. Yet, this answer is often immedietly removed. Is it really so terrible to point out the elephant in the room? And, more pointedly, are we doing others a diservice by not being frank?
posted by four panels on Apr 4, 2007 - 178 comments

How about signing the reason on deleted threads so we know who to bitch to?
posted by keswick on Feb 28, 2007 - 28 comments

Nevercalm deserves credit for anti-eponysterically advocating that his post, doubled five minutes later, be the one deleted. Mattamyn deserves credit, as usual, for not being blindly policy-bound.
posted by longtime_lurker on Feb 22, 2007 - 34 comments

With all the MeTa'ing about why-did-you-delete-my-post, I feel sure this one will get challenged, too. But I just wanted to say excellent moderation there, w00t. Depressing-as-fuck does not equal best-of-the-web.
posted by Methylviolet on Feb 15, 2007 - 27 comments

For the record, this was heard previously, but never (unless someone can correct me) seen. [more inside]
posted by kowalski on Jan 29, 2007 - 9 comments

Did posts from the askmefi queue thing get deleted? I just noticed a post I was going to look back at later wasn't there, it was posted through the ask mefi queue thing posted to projects a few days ago.

Any hints?
posted by arimathea on Jan 11, 2007 - 10 comments

This post was deleted for the following reason: LOL BUSH IS TEH ANTICHRIST. whatever Care to translate that into an intelligible rationale? I didn't say Bush is the anti-Christ, violate Godwin's Law, or anything else. I thought the article made an interesting link between mental illness and certain political attitudes. But is there a daily limit to the number of FPPs perceived as "anti-Bush", or what? Help me out.
posted by Artifice_Eternity on Nov 30, 2006 - 95 comments

I'd like to suggest that "um, yeah, post it at metachat." is not a good reason for deletion. Metachat may be all about the stupid links but saying this smacks of snobbery. This was simply a poor post that didn't meet metafilter's editorial guidelines. It wasn't chatty in the slightest. Metachat is not your dumping ground. Can't we all just get along?
posted by seanyboy on Nov 23, 2006 - 20 comments

I was sorry to see this post on Dawkins get deleted becuase it was "yet another Dawkings post", when the one from three weeks earlier was deleted as well. I understand he's discussed alot, perhaps ad nauseum to some folks, but they can skip the post. I think the mistake being made here is that the same arguments will always be rehashed over and over. This disregards the fact that new people may have registered since the last time the topic was discussed.

In a very "meta" sense, the addition of new people to the discussion allows the argument to evolve, over the course of multiple debates. These kinds of topics - religion, rights, abortion, etc. - appear not to have objectively correct answers, however the passions on all sides and the articulation of arguments are a reflection of the community and our collective culture. By returning to the argument, with newer and older members we start to understand everyone's basis for their position, the forces that motivate the passions behind people's positions and give rise to the issue in the first place.
posted by Pastabagel on Oct 13, 2006 - 99 comments

Itchy trigger finger? I liked that post, and it seems like everyone else who posted did too -- no-one seemed to be snarking or complaining or asking for it to go. Sure, it's a link to a Google search, but an interesting one I hadn't thought of before. It was headed for a fun interweb memories thread... but then it was tragically taken from us. As an official Metafilter King, I would urge you to reconsider.
posted by reklaw on Sep 14, 2006 - 46 comments

Best reason for deleting a thread EVER.
posted by Brandon Blatcher on Aug 30, 2006 - 140 comments

Can anyone help me understand why this post was deleted? The admin note was a little cryptic (no offense). I've read the FAQ, as far as I can tell it doesn't fall under self linking, although it could perhaps kind of be considered a double posting or re-posting as it were. Anyway, it was a post I enjoyed originally, and I just wanted to point out to people that it was working again - didn't want to piss anybody off. Maybe stuff from MeFi Projects isn't supposed to be posted in the blue? Any input is appreciated.
posted by allkindsoftime on Aug 28, 2006 - 24 comments

Some posts to AskMe about tailgating and driving etiquette were deleted from this thread. Discuss amongst yourselves...
posted by evil holiday magic on Jul 21, 2006 - 46 comments

Her banshee howling has me very confused, and yet wanting to laugh at the same time. I dare NOT. This whole time I have held laughter alternated with concern.

The funniest post I've read today. Deleted. Is it really a famous story I've never heard before, or is that an extremely itchy trigger finger on the deletion button?
posted by mrgrimm on Jul 9, 2006 - 31 comments

My link to a site with a few hundred photographs gets deleted because it's supposedly a double of a 2-year old link to a post on some messageboard with but a few dozen similar pictures? What gives? (I've happily accepted the fate of unfortunate double posts in the past, but these links are not the same...)
posted by Robot Johnny on Jun 15, 2006 - 31 comments

Just out of curiosity, how is it that some posts get deleted because the thread is full of the same animated gifs we always see, and some posts continue to live way past their prime? Is it the presence of ceiling cat?
I understand some of these are left in for humor value; such was the case with the infamous Mushroom post. But when the only thing that's different is the original post, and there are no actual responses anyhow, what's the criteria?
posted by hoborg on Jun 14, 2006 - 34 comments

Why can't you love your fellow man and be selfless, without needing to believe in a giant invisible wizard in the sky? This statement was attacked, defended, reconnected with the topic at hand, and was further clarified and apologized for by its author. But as of a few minutes ago, it no longer exists. This, my friends, is Chewbacca, and Chewbacca does not make sense.
posted by Saucy Intruder on May 15, 2006 - 295 comments

So have we really reached the point where posting a direct quote from the President is considered too vile a slander to let stand (twice)?
posted by rkent on May 7, 2006 - 100 comments

If the admins are going to delete comments then at least delete any responses to those comments and the collateral damage. It has more finesse, although I guess it would take more time, but that's the price of historical engineering. Yes, it was my comment that was deleted. That's fine, I don't mind that at all, and I'm sorry for the mess.
posted by gsb on Mar 20, 2006 - 65 comments

Hey Matt, what happened to Alumshubby's death threat email post to The Jesse Helms? It was here, it got closed, and then it disappeared. Did you uncover some info to lead you to believe it was fake, and you removed it to keep from besmirching alumshubby's good name? Cause if so, say something, cause he still seems like a death threat issuing prick otherwise.
posted by jonson on Feb 13, 2006 - 18 comments

matamyn: was it really necessary to remove mr_roboto and my little two-comment My Dinner With Andre side chat from here? Sheesh!

Besides, you missed part of it.
posted by timeistight on Feb 10, 2006 - 25 comments

Mommy, where do deleted comments go after they're deleted?
posted by ND¢ on Jan 13, 2006 - 17 comments

Looks like we have blue-style deletion in the green now! Yay! That sort of feedback loop is a good thing. (Besides, I enjoy reading reasons for deletion.)
posted by mendel on Jan 12, 2006 - 39 comments

I am a bit troubled by the disappearance of some comments in this thread. How do others feel about the altering of a record of a conversation?
posted by mania on Nov 23, 2005 - 44 comments

makes no sense

What part of "Best of the Web" do you have a problem with?
posted by dayvin on Aug 27, 2005 - 84 comments

I, for one, Welcome our new Stark Fist of Removal overlords!
posted by Balisong on Jun 17, 2005 - 43 comments