Does anybody with an IQ higher than their shoe size really believe everything they read in any newspaper? You all seem to be having a violent agreement.
Sometimes there are complaints to GNHQ which are not upheld and the post is not deleted. In other words, people are not just reporting posts that they think go against the guidelines but also those which personally offend them.
Whatever, reporting a post is an attempt at censorship.
I don't see how you can logically think it's okay to censor things you personally find offensive and support freedom for the things which do not offend you.
And it's a question of personal judgement. Some of the posts which have really offended other posters in the past have seemed fairly mild to me and some others.
Petallus Internet forums are not comparable with newspapers. They have to be moderated for the benefit of the majority. The Saga forum closed down because the moderators failed to tackle abuse.
petallus No doubt there are posts reported that are not deleted by GNHQ but I don't know – and nor do you – why they were reported. Perhaps whoever reported a non-deleted post really thought it was against the guidelines. There have been quite a few posts that have sailed very close to the wind.
If I posted something along the lines of accusing you of having just the one brain cell and posting yet another load of old rubbish, suggesting that you should just pack up and leave gransnet alone as you are simply not welcome on the forums, you might or might not be offended. Other gransnetters might or might not be offended on your behalf. The post, however, would contravene gransnet guidlines and GNHQ would be entitled to delete it. By joining Gransnet we accepted the guidelines.
Oh, come on! There were apparently (according to GNHQ) a number of complaints about one swear word in a thread title - not against the guidelines but still they caved in and edited it.
On the other hand there have been very thinly veiled personal attacks which are allowed to stand, despite other posters saying they have reported them. The Gransnet 'guidelines' seem very flexible.
I don't think they caved in, Ana. They had another look at how the headline to that thread could appear to be offensive and negatively provocative i.e. the phrase 'fucking hijab' and wisely changed the title. It could have brought Gransnet into disrepute.
The trouble with GNHQ is that there is no one person at the top any more. I think perhaps one of them decides something but then heads go together, virtually speaking, and a different conclusion is reached.
I find it quite fun, guessing who sent each particular email to me.
Riverwalk the two words were juxtaposed and yes, were part of a longer title, but would stand out to anyone taking a glance, and certainly would cause offence to some. GNHQ made the decision. I didn't report it myself, but watched the discussion develop into a car crash. I think we have to take some responsibility to write opinion in a way that allows debate to continue, but I can accept that not everyone has this view.