634729 Tue Jul 07 17:13:56 -0700 2009 5 30 Site Talk 0 4837787 I know this is a longshot for an actual reply, but.... In early April, I posted to the "Not About Food" board about my 3-year-old daughter pretending to cook. I got a couple of replies, including one about ways to involve my daughter in actual cooking, before the whole topic was deleted. Why is a post about a little girl becoming interested in cooking not appropriate for "Not About Food"? I was so angry that I briefly considered flagging every topic/post on the "Not About Food" board that could possibly be construed as inappropriate for the board, but realized this was overkill, not to mention antisocial. I posted a little squib on this board about how I was angry but didn't have time to tell the moderators why, which was rightly deleted. Then I deleted most of my personal profile and absented myself from the board for a couple of months, until I'd cooled off a little. I am now cooled off. A little. One of the problems was that I knew there was no point in asking why the topic had been removed. I've done so in the past and received variations on the same patronizing replies about how the moderators only have our best interests at heart and don't have time to answer every little question. On this board I've suggested ways to make the moderation process more transparent, such as a checklist for moderators somewhat like the checklist for users flagging a post or topic, but they went unanswered (and in fact I can't find any of them, so maybe they were deleted). To be clear: I believe in moderation, and I support (or at least understand) about 90% of the topic or post deletion decisions I've seen on Chowhound. But I on the occasions where I don't agree, I find the way the whole business is handled extraordinarily frustrating, for reasons that I think could pretty easily be mitigated. Anyway, I'm done. Tue Jul 07 17:13:56 -0700 2009 138816 jlafler 1 4837843 We do often try to explain when people ask for the reasons for deletions, though we simply don't have time to email explanations every time we remove posts. Often we trust that longtime users will have a pretty good understanding of why their post was removed, even without us touching base with them. If you are genuinely confused and a read through the etiquette doesn't help, you can reach us at moderators@chowhound.com, and we will usually explain. Tue Jul 07 17:28:51 -0700 2009 4837787 10021 Jacquilynne 2 4837990 Okay, I'm genuinely confused. Why is a topic about a little girl pretending to cook, morphing into a discussion about getting kids started cooking, and involving no vulgar language, rancor, digressions, in-group jokes, or insults, inappropriate for Chowhound? Tue Jul 07 18:27:31 -0700 2009 4837843 138816 jlafler 3 4839531 Hint: a perfectly acceptable answer would be "I can't tell you why it was deleted without looking at the original topic, and given the time lag and the volume of posts we deal with, I'm sure whoever here deleted it doesn't remember anything. Sometimes we make mistakes. I'm sorry." Feel free to cut and paste. Wed Jul 08 09:13:25 -0700 2009 4837990 138816 jlafler 4 4839581 Given the time lag and the volume of emails we deal with, we haven't finished looking into your situation yet ;) We'll send you an email once we've had a chance to finish looking at this. Wed Jul 08 09:26:47 -0700 2009 4839531 10021 Jacquilynne 5 4843996 Thanks. :-) Thu Jul 09 13:36:51 -0700 2009 4839581 138816 jlafler