Heartless

I agree 100% with every last word of this. Where the heck is the humanity in the Mods / Admins !!!

Totally disgusted by this whole sordid episode

I am still at a loss to understand why a FULL EXPLANATION HAS NOT BEEN GIVEN.

How many responses were there and have each and everyone of those been given a reason for their post being deleted - if they have then maybe they can tell us the reasons given.

Does the right to be forgotten include all websites?

I saw the original thread, as far as it got, and I want to offer support to Louise as a member of our community ... but I was a bit uncomfortable with the way it was going and the way that support was being offered. Every person was very well meaning, caring and concerned. But we were responding to a personal matter between two people, complicated by the issue of Louise's Asbergers which makes social interactions and empathy towards another person's position more difficult for her. And we were responding to the view of that matter from one viewpoint.

I suspect that what Louise needs help with is to see things from a wider perspective ... to be able to visualize the other point of view from that other person's own inward-looking perspective ... a perspective colored by ignorance and selfishness perhaps (not understanding Louise, not being interested). And most importantly I suspect Louise needs help to see things in a more balanced context, to understand the relative importance & significance of events and what others do (ie, not very important most of the time!)

I did not think it helpful to reinforce feelings of difference & bad treatment when offering support .... the other person was labeled a 'bully' I recall, with very little to go on about the exact circumstances that lead to the misunderstandings and hurt for Louise.

Nothing I'm saying here means I think Louise is wrong to feel hurt. But offering up large dollops of disgust & outrage in isolation from the people, the understandings and expectations on both sides, is not all that productive I feel ...

Now I'm not trying to excuse any moderation actions here (Ken that is) - I don't know the true reasons for the thread deletion - (I hope it was well thought through) - but if it was on the basis that it was unlikely to lead to greater understanding of complex social interactions for Louise, the sufferer of this disorder, and that the other party was personally identifiable, then I support the removal of the thread.

Forget the reasons behind the removal of a post asking for help, this is not needed, as we all know there is excuse at all,
What I am fuming about is the lack of anysort of apology, nothing at all, how dare the mods preach to us about minor little so called rule breaking, talk about lack of morals.

My main concern is that Louise does not feel it is her fault, just another damn thing caused by the disorder. People are very self-centred, and often only see things with their own interests at heart - especially where money & time are involved ... (My Money & My Time = big important things to big important me!) Anyone can run up against this as well - its being able to spot it in action that is a big help!

So, as you say, you don't know whether or not you can support the thread's deletion.

A sizeable portion of this thread has consisted of asking the mods for a rationale, which might have been persuasive, but it seems easier to get blood out of the proverbial stone.

Neil, I have read and re read your two posts on this thread and I am confused as to your point, if there is one at all, you said you felt uncomfortable whilst reading it, Well you could of not read it, gone onto a different thread or turned your computer off all together,

There are things in this life of ours that will make us feel uncomfortable at times, it is how we react to the situation that makes us different and human, but we also need reason and outlook to see if we can bypass these uncomfortable moments, to overcome the fear and to see if we can help our selfs as well as others.

To break it down for you, A member of this forum has asked for help and advice, it was then upto you if you wanted to assist, nobody was forcing you too, but others were willing too, but nobody had the right to remove the plea for help and advice.

Then it was removed/deleted, then forum members got angry and upset at this, as you should being human with morals, then over 24hrs later and after a number of comments a very short statement was issued basically saying, it was me what are you going to do about it, I am a moderator.

No apology, No reason, if this had happened in everyday life or even in the workplace there would be repercussions somewhere done the line, on here I am finding it more like them and us.

Hope that helps a little.

My point is about how to advise and help Louise, and if the thread had stayed up I would have tried to do that there ... but I'm left doing it here now.

I think the focus of advice should be more about how Louise perceives events and behaviours around her. I've tried to help by pointing out that its common for others to be self-focussed, and place their interests above all else, even someones disorder or learning difficulties.

Over-emphasing the bad behaviour ('bully' was mentioned) I feel risks making Louise feel more low, that people are against her, when it may be just the personal inadequacies and pettiness that resides inside many that she experiences - the common weaknesses.

I support the thread's removal for these reasons - concern over the slant of the support, and the fact that it involved a (not present) 3rd party and possibly a complex set of expectations and understandings on both sides that none of us could ever really hope to fully appreciate.

I do think we should be allowed 'general chat' to support each other, and yes I think the moderators should explain decisions, especially when faced with such direct pleas, but in this situation I do think there were aspects that were innapropriate and warrented calling a halt.

I have followed this thread with interest, but am concerned that we're losing sight here of two simple facts - (1) this is a photography forum, and (2) what is done is done.

I understand the emotion deleting the thread has caused, especially as for a number of people perhaps the contents of the deleted thread are close to home, but there's only one person here who we should be concerned about and that's Louise, who I'm sure is heartened to know that so many people care.

It is for Louise to agree or disagree with Ken's actions, and from what I have read he has emailed her.

If she is now content with things, so should we be.

Louise must know now that everyone here really does care and she can count on her fellow Pentax people whenever needed.

So, there are also thousands of posts on non-photographic issues.


What is getting annoying is the "we can do what we like" attitude and the total lack or honest and truthful statements about why they thread was deleted.

I am just wondering how long the Mods/Admin are going to keep quiet, Apart from that very sad statement yesterday, there hasn't been a hint of them anywhere, And guess what the site hasn't crumbled to anarchy.

I think we can take it as read that they are fully aware they may have crossed the line(Again) on this one, and maybe hopefully things may now change for the good of this wonderful community forum, Where the community also use a Pentax camera.

I must admit, when I meet up with friends and fellow photographers, we do talk about other things too, apart from cameras and photography.......

On the basis that it is 'not photography related' should the 'Another Pointless Thread' also be removed? If not, removal of Louise's thread strikes me as hypocritical, unless there are other reasons apart from the 'non photography' one. If there are other reasons then as stated many times already, these reasons should be stated.

Regards
David