FAQ:Deletions and Restores

To Delete or Not To Delete - That is the Question!

Generally speaking, it's usually a clear-cut case if a post violates the Terms of Use and should be removed. However; we must all make some allowances for the ebb and flow of human interaction, and successfully navigating the "grey" areas is the mark of a good moderator. When is ambiguity or reasonable basis for doubt as to whether a post should be removed, we favor inclusion over exclusion or, in other words, allowing participants to express their views without interference.'

Are replies to deleted posts supposed to be removed, too?

A good rule of thumb is that if the post can "stand alone" within the TOU, it should remain. Example: a reply to a deleted message that states "I agree" makes no sense on its own, however, one that says "the o/s is 5.5 million and the float is 4.5 million" still makes sense. Delete the former but not the latter.

I get the whole off topic bit, but if someone says "Good morning" am I supposed to delete that, too?

It seems harmless enough and keeps the board friendly. While, technically it is off topic, non-inflammatory posts are occasionally fine. The problem with this one occurs when everyone else decides to respond with their own "good morning". Now you have 20 posts on the board that, while friendly, have nothing to do with the company. Remember that a defining trait of a good Moderator is their ability to maintain a high signal/noise ratio and the bottom line is that if a post is not about the company, it’s noise, no matter how friendly, genial, or innocuous it might be. Try to keep in mind that people are often quickly checking in as they are working or doing other things in their busy lives. Coming to the board and having to wade through multiple posts that aren’t about the company can be very annoying to many Users and dilutes the value of the board and the site. Additionally, as people who are unfamiliar with the company check in to see what the company is about, they would also like to quickly read information about the company to aid in their trading/investing decisions. Discussion about someone’s vacation, for example, is neither of interest nor the reason they chose to read the board. As a Moderator, you’ll find it’s a very fine balance of keeping the board to discussion of the stock while allowing some, minimal friendly dialog amongst the Users. Off topic posts that should always be removed is discussion about other Users and/or their motivations for posting on the board, the Moderators and deletions.

I think off topic posts before/after market hours and on the weekends should be allowed.

Many people don’t read the board after hours or on weekends. So, after a weekend away, coming back to 120 unread posts that have nothing to do with the company is a waste of their time. The topic of the board is the company and that’s why people make the choice to read your board. This is another good example of diluting the value of the board. There are plenty of other boards on the site for general discussion that Members can go to for this. A good one to suggest if you see the off topic discussion snowballing is the Parking Lot. Unlike the Premium boards, which only Subscribers can post on, all Members can post on this board.

What if someone is bashing the same topic over and over again? I think this is spam and should be deleted!

"Topics" are not considered spam. Lead by example and debate the information contained in the posts. As long as there are no TOU violations, the posts need to stay on the board. It’s understood that occasionally a Poster needs to be asked to "move on". If you would like a User’s posts reviewed, please send IHub Admin a private message with links asking for an evaluation.

Another Assistant always deletes other Mods’ posts! We are also Mods and know the rules. I don’t think he should do this without at least talking to us first.

It's understood that there is a certain protocol amongst moderating teams. However; a situation of this nature has a much larger underlying problem of either Mods posting TOU violations or Mods removing posts that don'’t violate the rules. If the posts violate the TOU, then they should be removed whether it is discussed among the Mods or not. If a Mod is removing posts that do not violate the TOU, then please send a PM to Admin to discuss this.

This guy has been attacking the company I invest in for 3 years now. I have just taken over the Mod spot and I have a responsibility to defend our investment from people posting this garbage about the company.

Moderators have the same recourse available as any other user when they disagree with the views and comments of other users; respond to the content of the post, or ignore it. In any event, there is no role for the moderator insofar as their moderator duties and privileges are concerned.

I received an email from the IR lady at the company asking me to remove certain posts from the board. I don't think they violate the TOU but she said it was best for the company if this information was not posted on the board. Can I remove them?

The companies discussed on iHub have no standing whatsoever regarding the content on the boards. All opinions are welcome on our boards irrespective of whether they are bullish, bearish, or neutral.

A Member thinks it is hilarious to post "News" and then go down a couple of spaces and type something like "gotcha". I (and others) find this very annoying. Can I delete these posts?

Yes, they are "off topic", "noise" posts and qualify for removal.

People are coming to our board to attack our company because one of our "longs" says negative things on their board. I think I should delete his posts because he doesn't care about the company, he's just trying to retaliate against this other User.

Speculation about other’s motives for posting on your board is an exercise in futility as it has no bearing on enforcement of the TOU. There are no requirements in order to post on a stock board other than abiding by the rules of the site. Your conjecture on why the person is posting on your board could be true, but it also may not be. The bottom line is "why" someone posts on the board has no relevance to the exercise of Moderator duties and privileges and should not be part of the dialog. Each user determines for them self the veracity of information they read and the credibility of other Members who post it.

One guy can't post on the board without calling the company a "POS". I think this is vulgar and his posts should be deleted.

The rule of thumb regarding this expression is that if it's an occasional reference (not directed at another member) then it is acceptable. As this is a very subjective guideline, please send a PM to a Site Admin with links to the posts asking for a review.

I don't understand why calling the CEO of our company a liar is not considered a personal attack.

The Terms of Use covers Posters on our site. Members are welcome to post their opinion (positive or negative) about public figures associated with the company and this is not considered a TOU violation.

The CEO of the company is a member of iHub. I don't understand why I can't remove posts that discuss her as being "off topic" (discussing other Members) or "personal attack" when others say her business practices are shady.

Discussion of public figures associated with a company is appropriate dialog for our stock boards. If one of the principals of the company chooses to post on our site, they do not have the same level of immunity under the "personal attack" provision in the Terms of Use. The bottom line and rule of thumb when it comes to "personal attacks" is that iHub members are protected from them but officers of the companies being discussed are not. They are "fair game" whether they are Members or not. However, Members should still be civil and express their views in a manner that is appropriate for a public forum.

This poster is making libelous claims against our company and its officers! Why can't I remove these posts?

Libel can only become a fact if a judge says it is. Nobody else, including Moderators or Site Admins can nor will determine that Member posted content is libelous. members are often of the opinion that a post is libelous, but no moderator should act based on that opinion. Libel is decided by a judge in a court of law after conducting proper evidentiary hearings. If such a judgment is issued by a court of competent jurisdiction, iHub will abide by that ruling. Otherwise, it is not a matter that Site Admin or Mods can decide. Our only role here is to ensure adherence to the Terms of Use. Anecdotally, quite often the information that some Members allege to be libelous ends up being accurate, which is why neither Site Admins nor Moderators remove posts on the basis of being allegedly false or libelous.

A User is posting "Insider information".

This is a matter for a regulatory agency (i.e. SEC, DOJ) to decide, not Site Admins or Moderators. Our only role here is to ensure adherence to the Terms of Use.

This Poster has received shares from the company to promote their stock. S/he hasn't disclosed this and I think every post should state this.

Until the Member discloses this information publicly, it is not a valid topic for discussion or speculation on the board. It would either be a violation of privacy, personal attack or "off topic" as, without disclosure of this, it is information that was either privately given or pure conjecture on the part of the person posting the information. If the member has in fact been compensated for promoting the company, you may be correct that s/he is required to make disclosure. However; this is a matter for a regulatory agency (i.e. SEC, DOJ) to decide, not Site Admins or Moderatorss. Our only role here is to ensure adherence to the Terms of Use.

This guy is just being annoying! What can I do?!

Being "annoying" is not a TOU violation and is very subjective. If his/her posts don't violate the TOU, please don't remove them. If you want a review of a Member's posts, please send links and a short message detailing how you feel the Member continually violates the TOU to iHub Admin.

This person lost money here and is very bitter. All he ever posts is negative stuff about the company and the "longs" are sick of it.

Members are allowed to post on the board(s) of their choice as long as they stay within the Terms of Use. Being positive or negative about a company is not a requirement for any Free Zone boards.

This guy is just posting lies; the stuff he says about the company is NOT true. Why can't I delete those posts?

As a Moderator, your role is to enforce the Terms of Use, not make decisions about the veracity of the information posted. "Truth" is a very subjective term and neither Site Admin nor Mods remove posts based on judgments of this type. Each reader has both the right and pbligation to decide for themselves if they feel a post is accurate and its author credible. Additionally, it would be an impossible task for any of us to try to verify as "truthful" the 30,000 posts on the site each day. Again, our only focus, as Site Administrators or Moderators, is adherence to the Terms of Use.

As a participant on the board, the Moderators' recourse is the same as any other Member; to debate the information contained in the post without attacking the Member, or to ignore it. Attack the message, not the messenger.

A Member just posted some great dd (due diligence) on the company and in the very last line he called another Member an idiot for his previous posts. If the majority of the post is okay, why do I have to delete it?

If a post is 99% on topic and 1% personal attack it still needs to be removed. Personal attacks in any form are disrespectful of others and are unwelcome on the site. These types of gratuitous comments also create noise and dilute the quality of the board. When a Member attacks another poster, other participants inevitably feel the need to respond, either agreeing or defending. Then others feel the need to respond to these…and so on and so on ad nauseam. Pretty soon the board has devolved into personal attacks and discussion about other Members, i.e., noise and no signal. There are plenty of other sites that allow these types of posts and it is difficult to find any meaningful content on such sites. The goal at iHub is to have both positive and negative information discussed in a civil manner, free of personal attacks.

How far back to do we have to have "old news" discussed about this company? I'm sick of this woman posting about the reverse split that happened two years ago.

Historical information about a company's business practices is considered relevant, on-topic discussion for the board. Many feel that past actions will be indicative of future decisions and discuss this as part of their due diligence.

A threat was made on the board, how should I handle this?

Threats or messages about physical violence are taken very seriously and Site Admins should be notified in the event this occurs. Please immediately remove the message and send a PM to iHub Admin or submit a TOS Report.

Can someone post what was said in a private message if they don't actually copy/paste it?

No. Private messages are just that…"private". Public discussion of the content is inappropriate and violates the site's rules.

Help! There are a few people arguing on the board and I can't delete the posts fast enough.

If you've tried sending a private message, if you are a Subscriber, or posting a polite note on the board (i.e. "time to get back to discussing XYZZ" or "please take this discussion to the Parking Lot"), then sending a PM to iHubAdmin or posting on the Q&A Board will likely elicit the quickest response.

This guy never backs up anything he says with proof. We continuously ask for links and he never replies.

Members do not have to provide "proof" when offering their opinions. There is no requirement for Members to substantiate their posts. Veracity of posts and credibility of the author is determined by the reader.

This one lady never uses "IMO" (In My Opinion) – she states everything as if it's fact and it's not!

It is understood that all posts on the site are to be considered opinions. They do not need to indicate this in their posts.

Deletions by Others

I sometimes see deletions by Admin or Mod Squad on the board I moderate but I don’t understand why they were removed. Or why other posts weren’t also?

Site Admins made aware of posts that violate the TOU through various ways. If you see a random deletion on your board, it most likely came up on the TOS Report. When a Poster uses the "Report TOS Violation" link at the bottom of each post it goes to a report that is reviewed regularly throughout the day. If it isn’t obvious (from this post) that there is a larger issue, the post on the report is evaluated without further review of the board.

Another common cause of post removal is violation of spam rules (posting the same or similar message on more than two boards). Site Admins have many tools to detect this in addition to the TOS Report. It is also often reported on the Question and Answer board and a member of the Mod Squad many times will remove these posts from all boards. Don’t make the assumption that if there is a deletion by an Admin or Mod Squad on your board, that all the surrounding posts were also checked and deemed "ok". Seeing a deletion by Admin or MS is in no way a reflection of other posts. If there are others that violate the TOU, please remove them. Also, please feel free to ask the person who deleted the post the reason. If it was Mod Squad, please send a PM to IHubAdmin.

Additionally, all Users should understand that not all posts are removed by board Moderators or the Mod Squad. Site Admins do (very frequently) remove posts for numerous reasons, many of which are unrelated to the content of the posts. Posts removed by a Moderator or Mod Squad Member will always be reviewed, so if it remains deleted an Admin made that decision. Therefore it is inappropriate (and considered off-topic) to engage in a public debate on the board regarding the appropriateness of a deleted posts. Take it up with an Admin.

Why are there removed posts that show the reason as "User Request" but do not list who removed them?

These posts were removed by an automated routine that runs periodically and scans for blank posts that are no longer eligible to be edited by the author.

When I’m viewing deletions, what does it mean if it doesn’t show who removed the message?

This was an account that was terminated (most likely as a multiple alias) and all posts were automatically removed.

Another Assistant on the board keeps undermining the rest of us by telling the Posters he didn't delete the message...

... and saying who did delete it. I don't have any problem talking about my deletions or explaining why other Mods deleted something. But, this just seems like he's trying to "point fingers" at the rest of us.

It's likely this is a new or inexperienced Mod who hasn't been exposed to the dynamics of the moderating team previously. If you find this occurring, please let Admin know. We will advise the Mod that any questions he/she is uncomfortable answering regarding deletions should be directed to a Site Admin. It is important that moderators extend the courtesy of professionalism and exhibit camaraderie when performing their moderator role, including when their individual investment sentiments run contrary to one another.

Another Assistant and I disagree about whether a post should be deleted? He's deleted it and I've restored it 7 times now. What should I do?

In the event that there is a disagreement, please don’t tussle over the post. Please send a PM to Admin or post a note on the Q&A board and either an Admin or Mod Squad will make the decision.

I disagree with some of the deletions the Moderator (or one of the other Assistants) makes. I usually restore them but should I do anything else?

Yes, if you feel you are continually reversing decisions by a specific Mod, please send IHubAdmin a private message with links to some of the posts.

Related Pages

Investors Hub Moderator & User Handbook