Is AB editor an Automaton?

[Beswad]

The AnswerBank was conceived as a central point where users can ask genuine questions and receive helpful answers and, on occasion, to provide a forum for debate on issues of general interest. It is not intended for use as a chatroom. We reserve the right to remove postings that lead the site away from its intended purpose. 
AB Editor Fri 03/12/04

 

We get the same reply whenever we query a ban.

 

 

[Quizmonster]

And so you should...unless you've got shares in the company which owns the site, of course. It's none of your business what marketing strategy Marks & Spencer adopt, is it? So by what right do you imagine you should be allowed to control the editorial strategy here on AnswerBank? It's free! Enjoy!

[moonraker]

Quizmonster,[Edited].havent you got some labour party conference to go to where you can vote for some more Banning.Your sounding more like the spokesperson for answerbank everyday!! [Edited]

[Can't stop you arguing, moonraker, but can I please remind you that being abusive is not tolerated on this site, and inserting asterixes to get rude words past the profanometer isn't big or clever! --AB Editor]

[Quizmonster]

My point, Moonraker, is this...Starscream's is about the 50th whinge about editorial policy here of late and most of these have had supportive responses - as well as the more logical non-supportive ones. This means there have probably been hundreds of whinges all told...by much the same people every time, it has to be said.

Has the policy been changed? No. Does it look likely that it will change? No. So what's the point in whittering on about it? It's got to the stage now whereby one has to wade through acres of such piffle just to have a look at a genuine suggestion.

Do you remember the days as a little boy playing street-football? When the lad whose ball it was you were playing with had to go home, did you have some right to forbid him from doing so? Nor do you have any right to lay down the law here...just like that long-ago ball, AnswerBank isn't yours either. It's their ball and they'll do what they like with it!

There seems to be an awful lot of anal references in your response above! Re the second, I can't quite imagine what I might conceivably gain by entering any editorial fundament, so could you please explain just what profit agreeing with him/her might bring me? My views are precisely as I present them.

PS New Labour approves of private enterprise.

[Hgrove]

The Ed. used to reply in full but he stopped, I think because there are so many more users now.  Please note I am not an employee/shareholder/director or in any way connected with the AB.

[Correct (and true!) -- AB Editor]

[smorodina]

In any form of commerce, the owners/management would be fools if they did not take heed of the criticism of their customers. Part of my job entails reviewing contacts from clients and acting upon their suggestions where necessary. If there is a sudden surge of complaints on a particular topic, we then look into what has gone wrong and try to correct it. Something has gone wrong here and the users have a right to question it. Of course, if the editors are happy to alienate their customers and quite probably lose a fair number of them, then they should continue to delete questions on an ad-hoc basis with no regard for, or explanation to, the users. On at least two recent occasions that I know of, deleted questions have been re-instated, which leads me to believe that mistakes are being made in very many more cases. It is not unreasonable, therefore, to ask for an explanation of what has been going wrong.

 

And comments like 'by much the same people every time, it has to be said', implying that the complainers are a sad hard-core with nothing better to do than 'whinge' for the sake of it, is disparaging, to say the least. Many of the posts I have read have been from long standing members who are frustrated at the inconsistency being displayed, and this is certainly the first time I have had cause to complain about the editorial policy of the site.

[smorodina - of course we register all feedback (this section, you'll remember, is a relatively recent addition to the site for just that purpose.) And yes, users have a right to question things. I also have a right to get on with my job! -- AB Editor]

[Dark Angel]

The people who are complaining are those who have contributed enormously to the answerbank. They are intelligent and have given informative answers. If they were people who kept posting smutty questions and answers then its understandable if others treat them as expendable. However, in this case it is the livewires of the site that have a problem with the editorial decisions so I think the editors should take heed.

I think this is a great site. I've got answers to several questions that I couldn't have by surfing the web.

As Smorodina said, the management would be fools if they did not heed the criticism of customers. What good would it do if BurgerKing's regular customers said that they didn't like the new burgers and the bosses kept saying that their new burgers are just fine and kept making them the same way? 

[Please don't think that we are ignoring this thread (or others like it.) We try very hard to be all things to all people, but that's not always possible. And while we, as you doubtless do, recognise many regular users by name, appreciate their contributions greatly and take their feedback very seriously, we try at all times to edit and moderate the site on behalf of *everyone*. - AB Editor]

[archbishop]

I can see where a lot of frustration is coming from. But editorial policies have changed. The Answerbank is now world wide not just the UK. The more users the more revenue. I've been a user of this site for over 2 years and I haven't got a problem. Quizmonster has been here from Day 1 and he hasn't got a problem.

Use this site as it should be used and the Ref won't send you off..

[Quizmonster]

I haven't been here quite since Day 1, Your Grace, but certainly for some time. I had noticed that, starting a month or two back and largely involving newcomers to the site, there seemed to be a tendency for Answerbank to become more chat-roomish. (See PS below.) But - since the Editor seemed to be allowing the questions and responses that concerned me to remain on site - I imagined that the basic policy had been allowed to vary. (Strangely enough, I didn't start whingeing about what seemed to be a change of policy.) Then, the old rules - rightly - started to prevail again and caused all the ruckus we're now seeing.

The flaw in Smorodina's case is contained in the opening sentence, in which 'customers' are referred to. Of course, if the viability of one's business depends on happy purchasers of your product/service, one would be foolish to ignore their demands, However, we are not AnswerBank's customers! The advertisers are their customers. If they start to insist on making this a chat-room, the owners would be mad to refuse. For us, it was and remains an excellent freebie..so why the heck can't we just accept it as such, together with the fact that we have no right of control over it?

 

And that's the last you'll hear from me on the topic, here or elsewhere.

PS I'm not criticising 'newcomers'...it's just that old hands, obviously, were familiar with and accepted the 'rules'.

[smorodina]

Well this will be my last word also, and just to clarify that I, too, have been a user for over two years. My complaints have not been about a change from the old policy that this is not a chat room, and I'm quite happy that the policy should stand. What I found worrying was the number of questions that did not break any rules that were disappearing, which appeared to be some kind of mistake. I am happy that the editor re-instated the one I specifically asked about and I hope that the future shows more consistency. I still think that the users have rights, and I do think that reasons should be given when a post is deleted (or even better locked, as can be done on some forums), but if the editor is asserting that these complaints are being taken seriously, then the site should settle back into what it should be - possibly the best question and answer repository on the web.

[Loraxxx]

oh stop ur belly achin!

[smorodina]

I think Loraxxx is frustrated at not being able to express him/herself as well as most of the other posters on this otherwise dignified thread.