0

This question had a score of 3 before someone initiated a 'close vote' followed by the score being reduced to 0. I posted in comments asking the people who did it (both the close vote and downvote) to clearly indicate what was problematic with the post so that I could improve it (and I have been improving it since the time it was posted) The next day (today) I saw my comment vanish.

Are moderators allowed to do this? What is my recourse when I see people acting mischievously on a StackExchange? The particular mischief here is twofold:

  1. people attempting to close my question behind my back without any transparency
  2. requests for transparency are removed silently by moderators (twice in fact; see below).

For the record, unlike other SE's, I've observed the English SE to be rather aggressive in the past[^1]. So I'm not surprised by this behaviour. But there's got to be a way out of this mess, so as to make the community more welcoming.

Jun 13, 10:30 AM

I reposted the comment. Here it is for the record:

I posted a comment yesterday but it appeared to have been deleted by someone. So I'll try again. To the persons who voted to close this, as well as those who downvoted it (score went from 3 to 1), would you state your objections precisely? How would you like this post improved?

11:48 AM

Yup, this comment got deleted again and the comments section locked. The moderator says comments have been "moved to chat" - but if you follow the link to the chat you will see that all but one comment (a screenshot of which is posted above) has been moved, with that one comment silently deleted in the process.

Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.

[^1]: As other user puts it, giving an "impression of being antagonistic out of sheer pique". Or as this user put it, "there seems to me a childish intent among many users of the site to rule out anything which cannot be answered definitively"

6
  • 3
    I thought your question was interesting and +1 ed it, but the point may have been obscured by the sheer weight of the verbiage...in fact, users are saying the Q needs even more detail, because they are not able to catch the main idea behind it. Sometimes less is more...
    – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_
    Jun 13, 2022 at 16:44
  • 1
    BTW, I regularly review posts that interest me and often flag comments for deletion when I see that they are no longer really germane to the issue...this is called 'reducing bloat'. See this post for another related Q that would seem to support your idea...
    – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_
    Jun 13, 2022 at 16:52
  • 4
    Many possible duplicates meta search on 'deleted comment'. In general, contrary to the great majority of those answers, I am against any deletion of comments, even that one of yours. But a comment presuming that every down vote or close vote should come with an explanation is just not how voting on SE works.
    – Mitch
    Jun 13, 2022 at 17:52
  • 3
    I’m voting to close this question because it seems to be a rant.
    – Michael Harvey
    Jun 13, 2022 at 19:28
  • @Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ It would surprise me if the idea can be conveyed succinctly (but I'm willing to be proven wrong). It seems to me that some users merely want to make a drive-by comment/answer to SWRs and get upset if the question requires more patience to read and understand. I know how to research in dictionary/ thesaurus so my SWRs generally tend to be about relatively complex ideas. Do you know of any other English forum where these kinds of questions may be posed without immediately inviting idle antagonism?
    – Sridhar Ratnakumar
    Jun 13, 2022 at 19:48
  • 2
    Hello @SridharRatnakumar I mean this will all good will...but many users from the Western world are going to consider your posts a rant; I will disagree as I have worked many number of years with Asia people and understand that in the India culture tings are different...
    – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_
    Jun 13, 2022 at 19:53

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
9

You have no "recourse" to moderators doing their job and deleting a comment "without notice". That simply is not how the Stack Exchange works. Although I was not the moderator who deleted that comment, I can tell you why it is standard policy to do so.

Your comment asking people to justify their votes is one that is routinely deleted and nearly mechanically. That's because such comments are considered to be neither constructive nor germane: nobody has to justify their votes here on Stack Exchange.

I am, however, the moderator who has just moved the comment chain to a chat room where it belongs and locked the post against further comments.

Remember that all comments are ephemeral and nobody "deserves" to have their comments retained, let alone their deletions explained or justified.

SEE ALSO: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

This question is probably a multi-duplicate.

3
  • 2
    My comment was not merely to ask people "justify their votes" but mainly to justify the close requests (before the close goes through). People should act in good faith by explaining why they deem a question to be insufficient or whatever, thus giving the question poster an opportunity to improve it, before going ahead with blindly closing it. All your 6 links are about downvotes, but you have not addressed the close-request transparency issue. I don't mind downvotes but closing a question without given an opportunity to improve it doesn't sit well with me (deleting comments doubly so).
    – Sridhar Ratnakumar
    Jun 13, 2022 at 16:00
  • 3
    @SridharRatnakumar Yes, you're right. A good use for comments is asking for improvement suggestions from the closers. I was talking about upvote/downvote matters, which are necessarily strictly private—unlike close votes. Perhaps the people voting to close have some suggestions they can provide in the chat room. If the post is closed, you are welcome to raise a new question here on our Meta asking how to improve it.
    – tchrist Mod
    Jun 13, 2022 at 16:01
  • 2
    I'd argue that the comment privilege itself provides a warning that your comments can be deleted at any time. Plus it explains what commenting is for (and when it should not be used).
    – Laurel Mod
    Jun 13, 2022 at 20:08

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .