The same CL as above and an excerpt from the OP that started the hullabaloo.
"I've noticed a number of issues on a few of the boards that have caused threads and comments to be deleted, which leads occassionally to users being banned.
So I thought I'd take a brief moment to give some advice to users on how to avoid getting caught up in one of these situations;
Any time a hot topic comes up that you feel strongly about, you have to ask yourself the following question;
"Do I want my voice to be heard and my words to be considered, or do I want to vent my anger on the issue at hand?"
Because many of us on here have valid viewpoints, and what we have to say matters.
But when you clutter your message up with personal feelings and negative emotions, it taints that message and the end result is you will not be heard.
First, because an angry message, especially directed at another user, will ensure that that user will NOT listen to what you have to say. It only ensures that you will put them on the defensive which means they have closed their mind to the possibility of your viewpoint.
Second, because the post will get deleted and not seen by ANYBODY. Which means you may as well have not bothered voicing your opinion."
Well, I think that s/he has something there except for the issue of 'seniority' and how many 'friends' the poster has. Those will NOT get deleted and more Little Miss Echo's will appear. (We're back to Group Think or co-dependent/enabler personalities)
In Utopia people will abhor angry messages that pass the boundary of civilized disagreement. Not so everywhere else.
Another view point---- by a Community Leader in 2009:
"What people tend to forget is that these boards are not America, and the free speech concept doesn't apply.
Generally a forum or board has a "purpose" and anything that is outside of that purpose is fair game for deletion."
One viewpoint:
"I think that is a time when we had REAL freedom of speech, and now the internet "chat" such as these forums, has completely reversed it all.
You say that one thing to keep in mind is the TOS. I read that completely before I joined ( I know most ppl don't). I understood the rules, and yet there is still unnecessary censorship, and others allowed to still 'flame."
To me, this seems to a reaction to seniority of participants. The longer you have been participating in Medhelp, the more relaxed the rules are, if you are new or do not post often, you are more subject to censorship."