Aa
To MedHelp
We're not afraid of constructive debate......why are you? The moderating is particularly heavy-handed lately. By the time you remove a post and it's response, other people have already read that post but aren't able to see any kind of rebuttal or discussion on it and any issues remain unaddressed. People don't come in here to be patted on the head and sent on their way with a lollipop. These are very real gritty issues that get discussed in here by adults. It's time the moderating got in line with that instead of this environment of stars and "Best Answers" that are virtually meaningless. If you continue with the stripping of humanity out of our posts and insist we answer with the most robotic of responses, you might as well come up with a series of FAQ's and have your moderators post those in response to questions on here.
Trish
Trish
From my perspective there is a very high degree of self moderation in this forum and the mods should rarely need to step in. They have it easy in this forum compared to some others I visit. I've seen a few threads get heated, some go off topic, but that's not always a bad thing if the question was addressed and the thread wanders on.
As dointime said, some days I'm bored to tears and seeing the same old questions, the same cut and paste replies or links gets very old. Allowing some levity is critical, even if it does go off topic. As long as it doesn't directly attack or poke fun at the OP. And please, get rid of the stars and top answerers - it serves no purpose.
If anything, I wish the moderators would pay more attention to the OCD posts rather than wait for us to report it to them. Or the ones the come back under the same or different names to ask the same questions - like this one http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Hepatitis-C/HR-Refuse-to-Give-Vaccination-/show/1633961 ;
As dointime said, some days I'm bored to tears and seeing the same old questions, the same cut and paste replies or links gets very old. Allowing some levity is critical, even if it does go off topic. As long as it doesn't directly attack or poke fun at the OP. And please, get rid of the stars and top answerers - it serves no purpose.
If anything, I wish the moderators would pay more attention to the OCD posts rather than wait for us to report it to them. Or the ones the come back under the same or different names to ask the same questions - like this one http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Hepatitis-C/HR-Refuse-to-Give-Vaccination-/show/1633961 ;
Hi everyone -
We don't delete constructive debate. We only delete posts that are in violation of the Terms of Use that you all agreed to adhere to when you joined. This forum gets a lot of abuse reports, and some posts are removed, others aren't. We aren't seeking to remove humanity, but we do have to remove posts that are in violation of the Terms of Use.
Unfortunately, the moderators can't be in all forums at the same time, so often, you will find the OCD posts before we will. All we ask is that you just hit Report and we will check it out if you get to it before we do. We aren't asking you to repeat the same answers again and again, or to be anyone's therapist.
MedHelp is equal parts information and support, and if the levity comes at the expense of a member, the support is lost. We don't see why levity is needed with OCD questions when you can take less time to hit report than it takes to post something that pokes fun at the members. We check out all reports.
The stars and Top Answerers may not help you, but they do help others. Many times, they help members make connections when they first come to MedHelp and are overwhelmed with a new diagnosis. A new member can see who has experience with a topic and reach out for help, support, whatever. Some people like the stars, others don't. If you don't like them, just ignore them.
If anyone has a specific question about a post that was removed, please feel free to shoot me a PM. I can't address specifics in the forums without breaking member confidentiality.
For those in the US, Happy Thanksgiving.
Emily
We don't delete constructive debate. We only delete posts that are in violation of the Terms of Use that you all agreed to adhere to when you joined. This forum gets a lot of abuse reports, and some posts are removed, others aren't. We aren't seeking to remove humanity, but we do have to remove posts that are in violation of the Terms of Use.
Unfortunately, the moderators can't be in all forums at the same time, so often, you will find the OCD posts before we will. All we ask is that you just hit Report and we will check it out if you get to it before we do. We aren't asking you to repeat the same answers again and again, or to be anyone's therapist.
MedHelp is equal parts information and support, and if the levity comes at the expense of a member, the support is lost. We don't see why levity is needed with OCD questions when you can take less time to hit report than it takes to post something that pokes fun at the members. We check out all reports.
The stars and Top Answerers may not help you, but they do help others. Many times, they help members make connections when they first come to MedHelp and are overwhelmed with a new diagnosis. A new member can see who has experience with a topic and reach out for help, support, whatever. Some people like the stars, others don't. If you don't like them, just ignore them.
If anyone has a specific question about a post that was removed, please feel free to shoot me a PM. I can't address specifics in the forums without breaking member confidentiality.
For those in the US, Happy Thanksgiving.
Emily
A new member can see who has experience with a topic and reach out for help, support,
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Your post seemed to make some sense till you got to that part
These stars are nothing but dedicated to quantity of posts and have nothing whatsoever to do with quality of answers.
So in fact....if a member continuously gives wrong info. and gets all these silly stars then a new member comes aboard and thinks that because of stars they will seek the answer from that person ??
It"s ok to ignore the stars ,however in that instance it could be dangerous to a new member following advice of someone who has no idea what they are advising....
Will
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Your post seemed to make some sense till you got to that part
These stars are nothing but dedicated to quantity of posts and have nothing whatsoever to do with quality of answers.
So in fact....if a member continuously gives wrong info. and gets all these silly stars then a new member comes aboard and thinks that because of stars they will seek the answer from that person ??
It"s ok to ignore the stars ,however in that instance it could be dangerous to a new member following advice of someone who has no idea what they are advising....
Will
Good point will and I totally agree with you on that.Maybe the so called stars should represent the time that the member has been on the forum.A new member could then make the decision if they want advice from a New member or one that has been around for awhile I know who Id take the advice from-just my $$ worth cindy
I think it is up to an individual member to separate the wheat from the shaft. This forum and website is not a degree-granting institution and cannot give its imprimatur to anyone individual who provides support or information. It is up to the membership to decide what meets their own needs.
But there needs to be continual acknowledgement that no one here speaks as a medical professional and only offers info because they have been "around the block" in terms of experience and reading public access documents. Sometimes members do get a bit taken with their own knowledge on a subject, refusing to entertain or tolerate other opinion. Yet I have seen no opinion expressed at this site which matches what a good physician or researcher will convey.
A violation which appears to occur with impunity is a tendency to condemn or severely criticize the medical community and individual physicians I have noticed. I have not seen lately what I first noticed on the forum and that was people recommended that posters dump their physician and get another. I was appalled when I read some of these texts advised without really knowing either the doctor or the poster. Yet these posts which do violate terms of use I believe, were getting overlooked by the mods.
But there needs to be continual acknowledgement that no one here speaks as a medical professional and only offers info because they have been "around the block" in terms of experience and reading public access documents. Sometimes members do get a bit taken with their own knowledge on a subject, refusing to entertain or tolerate other opinion. Yet I have seen no opinion expressed at this site which matches what a good physician or researcher will convey.
A violation which appears to occur with impunity is a tendency to condemn or severely criticize the medical community and individual physicians I have noticed. I have not seen lately what I first noticed on the forum and that was people recommended that posters dump their physician and get another. I was appalled when I read some of these texts advised without really knowing either the doctor or the poster. Yet these posts which do violate terms of use I believe, were getting overlooked by the mods.
"We don't delete constructive debate. We only delete posts that are in violation of the Terms of Use"
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"Constructive" is very relative. There are innumerable instances when posts are deleted not because of violation of terms, but because *moderation* deemed them non-sequiter after deletion. Too often here the baby gets thrown out with the bath water.
"at the expense of a member"
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With all due respect, we also know many members who invested their time and caring only to be declared expendable by MH... the cost of losing one member over another is not always an equitable expense in my eyes.
"people recommended that posters dump their physician and get another... I was appalled"
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To me it's more appalling when posters come here recounting inaccurate or incorrect information by their physician or health provider. Personally, I encourage people to get second and third opinions especially in the setting of medical consultation -- the objective here is for folks to understand what good health care is and enable them to recognize it and achieve it for themselves.
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"Constructive" is very relative. There are innumerable instances when posts are deleted not because of violation of terms, but because *moderation* deemed them non-sequiter after deletion. Too often here the baby gets thrown out with the bath water.
"at the expense of a member"
-------------------
With all due respect, we also know many members who invested their time and caring only to be declared expendable by MH... the cost of losing one member over another is not always an equitable expense in my eyes.
"people recommended that posters dump their physician and get another... I was appalled"
-----------
To me it's more appalling when posters come here recounting inaccurate or incorrect information by their physician or health provider. Personally, I encourage people to get second and third opinions especially in the setting of medical consultation -- the objective here is for folks to understand what good health care is and enable them to recognize it and achieve it for themselves.
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