Forum Decorum?

Question

I am a long time Apple user and have watched these discussion groups for some time, even if I haven't yet had the need to post.
Unexpectedly, my first occasion is not about a technical matter but about the discussions themselves. I had noticed a tendency that was crystallized in a recent thread that I was following with interest in this forum.
It seems that a user (manfromoz) posted what appeared to me to be a legitimate issue in the iTunes for Windows forum. Perhaps because the thread title was not overly complimentary, a host locked the thread prematurely.
So the user questioned that in this forum, which we are led to believe is the appropriate place, in a thread that does convey dissatisfaction with the attitudes of some users, but that I think was legitimate feedback about the discussions, and constructive commentary. Apparently he was then barred from being able to respond elsewhere to users that had posted replies in the locked thread. When expressing dissatisfaction about that here, his thread here was locked as well! (It says "archived", but the effect is the same.)
I believe that the user had many good and valid points to make. Other posters have claimed that the strictness observed in Apple Discussions is the same as that applied by other major IT companies in their forums. As someone with a lot of experience with the forums of numerous other companies, I beg to differ. As one example, here is a cut-and-pasted extract from the moderator's reply on a Microsoft forum, responding to a post that began with "I'm sorry for the rant, but..." (an intro that here would be grounds for blacklisting):
"+Do not worry about apologizing ... I always welcome the feedback, good and bad, so that those who make the decisions ... know where the dissatisfaction is. Not everything ... can be accommodated, but we still need to know what is perceived as 'good' and 'bad'+."
In the past I would not have thought that I would say this, but it appears that Apple has something to learn from Microsoft and others.
The preface for this forum's home page states that it is "for general constructive feedback about how the Discussions system is operating or how it may be improved". A start on how it may be improved could be to stop alienating so many people. Manfromoz and others have tried to give feedback on what is wrong here, and hence how it may be improved. However it seems that we cannot suggest that something may be wrong, even when asked how it may be improved.
Here is my version of how Apple Discussions can be improved: stop conducting it in a manner reminiscent of how small schoolchildren are treated, and a manner that is making me ashamed to be part of the Apple community.

Answer 1

ManfromOz: You're welcome.
*_Barry Hemphill_*:
Barry Hemphill wrote:
you appear to have extrapolated from a specific instance and generalized that instance to a conclusion and "suggestion."
If that's how it appears, it was not the intention, nor is it correct. I opened by saying that I had "+noticed a tendency that was crystallized in a recent thread+". That was meant to convey that I had noticed the tendency aside from the "specific instance" that exemplified the problem. I picked that instance as it was one of the most recent, and it summarized a number of issues that others had reported. I did not think it either necessary or appropriate to quote a long list of other examples. I also said later in my post that "+Manfromoz *_and others_* have tried to give feedback on what is wrong here, and hence how it may be improved+".
Barry Hemphill wrote:
To hold Microsoft up as an example to this community is, in short, a bit bizarre. The Apple user-to-user forums are thought by many to be a model for an effective on line community.
With all respect, Barry, I think that your comment strikes at the core of one of the issues that ManfromOz brought up. I will not dispute the second sentence, but aside from what he called the "loyalists", who are the many? It certainly does not include yours truly (a long-time Apple user), several people I know, and quite a number of posters in Apple Discussions. We may think that it's quite the opposite, but of more relevance is the fact that we are expressing an opinion that is just as valid as yours. I think that one of the points being made, before I jumped in, was how many of us are being told that something must be so because it is their opinion, while at the same time negating or dismissing anything that resembles a dissenting opinion. Not quite "the American Way", in my opinion.
Barry Hemphill wrote:
I am not an employee of Apple, so I can say whatever I want (as long as it does not violate the forum rules).
One of the main issues had been how those rules are applied arbitrarily. Regarding you being able to say whatever you want, I think the reply from capaho addresses that - please see my response below.
capaho:
Thank you for your input.
capaho wrote:
some members appear to get more leeway in what they can post than others.
Precisely. I get the impression that the leeway is granted to defenders of the faith. I believe ManfromOz called it a "class system" (of users). Not particularly democratic.
capaho wrote:
the other side of it is, unfortunately, there is no shortage of childish behavior in the forums, either.
Yes, I agree, though the presence of criminal or drunken behavior does not mean that everyone should be treated as a criminal or drunk.