People expect to post whatever they want on a company-sponsored forum, even if it
reflects negatively on the host. Moderators have to be exceedingly judicial in how they
wield their power. Arbitrarily deleting content, from single posts to entire threads, will
quickly cultivate a bad reputation, and users will be reluctant to discuss legitimate support
issues in a place that does not foster free discussion. A ???benevolent dictator??? approach
tends to work better than ???overreacting jerk.???
That being said, there are always people who post off-topic spam or caustic and destructive
comments. These are the threads that administrators have to watch for, and delete or
lock ruthlessly. Think of a forum as any traditional community. People will congregate
where they know there are like-minded fellows, especially when they sense that the environment
is being tended by a considerate but firm-handed authority.
On top of all that, administrators have to constantly weed out spam messages. Each system
comes with different levels of spam control, and many members of the community have
contributed plug-ins and system modifications that help stem the flow.
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