OH boy .. this is going to be really hard to explain.

There are many reasons for a thread to be closed .. or even removed. Some of those reasons are not obvious within the thread at the time of the closure or removal.

As for stating the reason .. as you know, there are two entities involved, .... CLs and ADMINS/ADMIN ASSISTANTS

I can ONLY comment from the CL perspective. We have not been told to give a reason OR to NOT give a reason. Therefore, sometimes we will close a thread and give a reason and sometimes not.

I have closed threads for the following reasons (for example):

This thread has run its course
Very old and outdated thread
This thread has been trolled and is closed for review by DS
Closed for review

The 'closed for review' obviously does not indicate the reason. That is because the reason is between me and DS. There are times when the 'reason' is OBSCURE.

Example ONLY:

A (highly suspected) predator has replied in the thread. There is an ongoing 'history' of that predation and until concluded, his/her activity is reported to DS. It is PREMATURE to 'explain that' at the time of closure.

The point made here is pretty much that CLs and/or Admin Assistants may feel DS ADMIN need to look at a (closed) thread and based on (back room/background) info/history ... DS ADMIN can reopen, leave closed, remove entire thread, remove specific replies to the thread, or even report something to authorities.

So why doesn't DS explain their actions? One word .. LIABILITY. Another reason is that if they gave 'reason' to 'what they do', it simply opens up a HUGE debate about whether they should have and they don't have time for it .. and it doesn't matter .. it is THEIR SITE and they can do what they deem needs to be done.

I know that last part sounds 'out of order' .. but it has come up VERY often and such 'explanations' have not been provided and probably never will be .. for reasons I have stated and reasons I don't know about.

We gotta 'take it as it is and has been' until it changes.

I hope this sheds some light. I have had to think about this long and hard .. and 'explaining' opens so many cans of worms (see? there is one coming up out of the ground right to the left!!), I (from my vantage point) can easily understand why explanations are not provided.

Disclaimer: All this is my opinion and view and not in any way official material provided by DS.

Thank you WV!! That makes total sense and I did not mean to open a can of worms.

Not wanting to open things up for never-ending debates makes total sense - especially since 'debates' such as that usually get pretty heated. It would take so much away from the healing that DS is here for.

Thanks for the explanation WV - you always answer questions with solid information and it is greatly appreciated.

Hey Linda.......Maybe Joy asked for it to be closed????????? It does seem kinda weird...................

Thanks Vet so some insite though:):)

DS admin are on top of it, nothing to worry about. They're looking into the problem, thats good enough for me :)

So.... if I say start a thread that I later wish I hadn't, can I just ask and have it removed? That seems to work for you, Joy? Joy, did you just send a request in thru the normal/regular lines of communication to make that work?

Anna.............YES...........if YOU start the thread and later want it closed..........just find you a CL that is on line at the time (one from your group, if you have one - some groups don't have one).........and they can close it per your request.............at least I have seen that done before..and it usually says "closed by original poster request - or sumptin like that)

Vet can prolly give ya better details........but I know I have seen it done and even requested it done before:)

Wondering why Joy would post about a problem with friends list related stuff, then ask for it to be closed and removed? Wow, I would love to be able to go back thru my DS history and "clean it up" a little bit, you know, just get rid of those posts made when in a great deal of emotional distress, etc. (and maybe get rid of some other stuff I don't like on the boards I frequent, too, lol)- but surely that is not possible for someone like me (?) (actually, I don't think I would want to take the time to do that, lol.) I am just amazed that a completely innocent nonoffensive thread would be closed for "review" and then disappear - actually concerns me a little bit, censorship worries and stuff like that.... So, can I just request that anything I wrote on DS, me personally, be removed and it will be?

**Maybe I will ask that this reply be removed, and see what happens :)

CLOSE and REMOVE are two different things.

CLs can close threads to further replies. DS Administrators and their assistants can 'do anything' .. close, remove entire thread, reopen, remove replies only, .. they have total 'control' .. more or less.

CLs close threads (to more replies) for several reasons. Some are violations to TOS/ROR or for any reason they feel it is better for the GROUP overall, CLs will USUALLY close a thread at the request of the person STARTING the thread (thread author).

If you want YOUR thread closed, contact a CL. If you want 'something' removed, submit a feedback form (if it is yours) or an abuse form if it is someone else's (something offensive)

Know that CLs are not available 24/7. If it is urgent, submit feedback/abuse form because it goes into a queue which is monitored by Admins and their Assistants (more or less).

Keep in mind .. DS highly recommends using the IGNORE feature rather than submit issues about something in a post you do not approve of. Be inclined to consider that feature rather than report 'stuff' to CLs or DS (up to a POINT). By all means, report serious violations etc .. but consider the IGNORE feature as another tool to enhance your DS experience.

>>Wondering why Joy would post about a problem with friends list related stuff, then ask for it to be closed and removed?

I don't recall Joy asking for anything to be closed/removed. At least not through me .. or I don't remember it.

If it is closed/removed .. it very well may have nothing to do with Joy herself. Lots of reasons a thread can get closed/removed.

If JOY asked ME to close HER thread, I very well may do so simply because she requested it ... I do that a lot .. without even reading the thread. So .. PERHAPS in this case, she had her own reasons .. and really does not have to explain .. to anyone.

This applies to just about anyone, actually. To be sure, I do not recall a 'Joy' thread .. so this is simply meant to be explanatory.

There have been cases where innocent threads suffer a severe and sudden thread shift that gets very ugly very fast, and DS admin deletes it rather than to close it or clean it up.

Sometimes I get a request to close a post because the OP believed that it offended a friend. Sometimes you have to know the two people involved to understand how it was offensive!

Over a year ago I got a request from the OP to close a post. Their basic reason was that people posted replies that disagreed with their position, and they felt they owned the post and if it drifted then it had to be closed.

That would be the only reason I believe that I have ever used to not close a post on the request of the OP.

There was a case months ago where a troll was making very rude comments on photos and journals, but their public postings were mostly OK. As part of the clean up almost ALL of their stuff was removed. This resulted in some innocent looking posts being removed.

Like WV said, there can be many reasons.

my original thread is still there
and I didnt ask for it to be closed

so both those are untruths

boggles me how stuff gets twisted into something I dont recognize, or isn't true, assumptions I suppose

thank you WV for reminding everyone we don't need to explain ourselves

and thanks LJ for looking out for me

Whoops.........sorry Anna....I think you may have misunderstood me......easy to do....I am sometimes not too clear:(:(

Don't think DS will just close "any" thread I start and then decide I don't like....................BUT....they will step in if the thread gets out of line or folks start going NUTS on it.......which unfortunately happens sometimes:(:(

But in my case...............I once posted a link to something I was reading........but after I posted it and clicked on the link......it took the viewer to MY email addy.........which I did NOT want posted.............so DS was kind enough to remove the entire post.

So...I was just saying that DS can close it if you ask them ................but not just because you got a little too emotional that night and blew it..........LOL.

Sorry if you misunderstood:(

No worries - very good information in this thread - miscommunications, oddities, and all - thx to all!

But, back to Joy's closed, but not removed, thread: what exactly caused it to be closed? I am still not getting this. Nothing controversial, but thread gets closed, then remains available for viewing - ?

* WV, this must seem so tedious to you, sorry!

i usually close posts for a few reasons.

advertising threads

survey threads that have not been authoried by ds .

the op ask me to close their thread.


The other one is when i am asked by a member to look at a thread. I usually close those for one or two reasons. either there is a clear violation of tos or it is a thread that has gotten out of control and is spiraling and needs to be shut down. These threads usually result in members attacking either each other or one member in a thread. If i have learned anything in the past four and a half years here, is that 80 to 90 percent of the time, people say things out of anger because they are having a bad day or at a bad place in their life whether it be physically, mentally, or emotionally and say things that they usually regret later.