Why does BP remove a post?

Question

I understand that there are rules, and I believe the rules were not violated, but, if they were...no explanation was offered.

I am not sure  I am interested in contributing anymore time to this site if a thread and/or post can just be deleted...willy-nilly...

Any insight regarding the intentions of BP and what it is here for would be greatly appreciated.

Is this a site to get people to pay for "PRO" membership in order to spam the hell out of each other? Or is it a truly open forum for exchanging ideas?

Russell Brazil · Answer

@Isaac S. Here is a list of the rules .

You do not have any posts removed in any of your posts from the past 2 weeks that I just reviewed. You have a post in a thread where the entire thread was removed, which had nothing to do with your post in that thread.

Mike Dymski · Answer

Open forums are worthless spam fests and internet dumpster talk.  Hard to provide any feedback without knowing the content of the post.  I'm sure the moderators have to make frequent judgment calls in interpreting the rules.  May want to PM one directly.

John Teachout · Answer

Probably there was a reason for the post deletion. Do you not even have a suspicion as to what may have caused it? Such as something listed below?

Please note that advertisements, solicitations, and self promotional posts are onlyallowed in the Marketplace Forum.

Isaac S. · Answer

Hey Russell,

Thanks for the update. Ok, now I understand...I had received a bunch of messages of people voting on my post in that thread, but, when I clicked on the link to take me to the thread it gave me a "your post has been removed" notice. I'm guessing it just gives everybody that posted the same notice when the entire thread is removed?

My post was a bit heated, but, I did my best to be rational, articulate and not offensive, so, it kind of irked me when I got the notice of removal.

Thanks again for replying and clearing that up for me. I'll check my DM to see if anyone sent an explanation as to why the thread was killed?

Isaac S. · Answer

Hey JD,

Thanks for the detailed reply. Actually, I have found out it was not just my post that was removed, but rather the entire thread. However, the notice I received   when I clicked on the link said my post was removed, but, I am guessing that anybody that tried to click on the the thread link gets the same removal message. I was taking it personally because of that message.

There was no spamming in that thread and it was not that controversial, to me. It was about dealing with tenants. The original post was talking about how he has had to thicken his skin to deal with some of the manipulative tactics that tenants can use to take advantage. But, some replies were being very condescending about his lack of empathy....yada, yada, yada...so, I defended the OP since I can relate with him and his perspective.

Anyway, it was none of the stuff in the rules, and my reply had 8 votes before the the thread was removed, so, I wanted to go back an revisit my post to remind me of what exactly I had said, and see what else had been added to the thread, and then I got that boiler plate notice, that I took personally.

As for BP being private property, I get it.

Personally,  I mostly use the forums and I think they are great resource! I agree with the rules you have stated, but, that's why it annoyed me, as none of those rules were violated.

It was probably the OP that removed the entire thread, as he was also a moderator. I am sure he probably got shamed into it or realized that the harsher tone was probably not good for business.

Anyway, thanks again for taking the time to help me. Have a great day and much health and wealth to you and yours!

JD Martin · Answer

The "Pro" membership has nothing to do with spamming. We can, and do, remove individuals guilty of flagrant rule abuse regardless of membership level. The Pro membership gives you access to areas of the site that others do not have access to, as well as supporting the operation of the site.

As for what BP is here for, that seems reasonably self-evident: to provide a forum for individuals to discuss real estate, and to a lesser extent, personal finance and other business opportunities. While the forums are a big part of the site they are not the only point of interest here; we have individuals that are just here for the marketplace. Others are interested in the podcasts and networking and don't bother posting. Some people just use the calculators.

The forums are relatively open, but that doesn't mean you have the rights of free speech like you do in the US Constitution. At the end of the day this is a privately held space, and the owners get to decide what you can and can't say. Posters are given a pretty long leash but anything that resembles advertising, political mayhem, racism, advocating violence, or something similar is likely to be warned or removed. There is a link to the list of BP rules at the bottom of this page. Don't think of this place as the streets of downtown, where you can shout or display anything you want. Think of it like the mall, where you're more or less free to act reasonably but security can kick you out if you're creating something they perceive as a problem.

Finally: as proof that threads aren't just removed "willy-nilly", this very thread could be removed by the primary nature of its content (to wit: I don't like the policies, I'm leaving). But it has some other useful info to contribute to a thread and thus has been left standing.

JD Martin · Answer

The amount of stuff that has to be taken down on a daily basis from fraudsters, scammers, spammers, and just generally belligerent people would surprise most. It seems to come in waves and is often a concerted effort among many individuals.

Why does BP remove a post?

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