It has been mentioned numerous times in this forum that personally-directed comments will be removed. On some occasions like festivals, harmless greetings and good wishes are acceptable. At the risk of repeating the same, the following are the guidelines.
1. Language, regionalism and other issues: Just the mere mention of these issues risk inflaming sentiments. For instance, a harmless comment like "All languages are equal" will definitely stir an inflamed debate. Why? Someone will say "No, French is the best language." Someone else will disagree. Soon a flame-war will start.
Result: The whole...
more... post will get deleted. The original blogger usually asks "I just said 'All languages are equal.' There is nothing insulting about it. Why was my post deleted? I demand an answer right now" The answer is: "Your post got deleted because it was harmless but generated a riot on this site.".
Guideline: The mere mention of the words language, regions, north indian, south indian, etc will be flagged for deletion. Any harmless comment that results in a divisive debate will also get deleted without explanation.
2. ECor/SCR/VSKP: From the very first days of this site, it has been well-observed that the mere mention of these words starts a raging riot. Usually starts with a harmless comment like "ECor/SCR started such and such train" or "this train should pass through VSKP" – such a thread will often run past 100 posts ending with abuses, insults and name-calling to everyone, and often ending with "This site is run by (expletive) SCR people who are biased against ECor" or "this site is run by (expletive) VSKP people who are biased against...".
Guideline: This site cannot influence any railway zones in their operations. This site is not run by either Ecor or SCR people, and is completely disinterested in zonal politics and warfare. Such posts alienate a lot of our other members and pose a huge overhead for maintenance of the forum. The mere mention of either scr or ecor hereafter may result in the comments getting deleted. If a brand new train is started by scr or ecor, you may NOT comment on it. If some SCR/ecor train is running empty or full, you may NOT comment on it. Sorry about this, but this is only to nip a flame-war in the bud.
3. Insults: Insults whether intentional or unintentional risk getting deleted. Bloggers may not complain "My post was not insulting. It was just harmless. It was unintentional." Response: It is not for the original blogger to say whether his/her post was offensive. Someone else found it insulting (for whatever reason), and so the post risks getting deleted. Deletion is not a certainty, but the post will be re-examined for deletion. That's all.
4. Insults - 2: All members may flag insults or write pvt posts to Admins/moderator if they find a post particularly insulting. However, this is the common refrain. "Member/Admin A has insulted me in open public. It already has got 30 views before deletion. I cannot wait. So I am also going to be abusive and get my revenge."
Guideline: If Member B gets his/her revenge on Member A, the only thing that will happen is that Member B will lose his hard-fought reputation on the site. Most viewers will now see "Member B" as a different abusive personality altogether, and lose respect for him/her. As for the posts themselves, they will definitely get deleted anyway. So the whole exercise is a waste of time with both members' reputation completely ruined.
5. Insults - 3: Another response to insulting posts is "Deletion is not enough. I want Member A to apologize in the open forum for his/her remarks, and banned from the site". Such a thing is not going to happen. This site does not have any authority over any member to make them apologize. The only thing we can do is delete the post. This is a technological/human limitation. If this risk is unacceptable, then you should not post in the first place.
6. Courtesy vs. Correctness: By far, courtesy is the most prized commodity in this forum. If incorrect information was sincerely given, it does not matter at all. If inadvertent mistakes are made, it does not matter. If accurate information is mixed with discourteous comments, then it stands the risk of getting deleted. Here's an example:
Member A: Train# 12345 does not have any unreserved coaches.
Member B: Who told you that? Don't lie to the public. The detailed rake of Train# 12345 is .... Train# 12345 has such and such facilities. Also the train has ....
Guideline: Member B's comment WILL get deleted, even though it provides highly accurate and detailed information. Other members may NOT complain, "What kind of site are you running? Member B always provides excellent info. Why is his/her post deleted? This site favours incorrect and bad info over correct info."
Response: Member B's post was deleted because of confrontational comments, not because of providing accurate info. All members are advised to check their language. If the language is discourteous/abusive/confrontational, do NOT waste your time posting excellent and accurate information. It WILL be deleted inspite of accuracy.
7. Personalities: Yes, we may all have different personalities – indeed this is what makes us uniquely human. However, within the forum, only a neutral and thoughtful frame of mind is permitted. When we are agitated/irritated/angry, it is best to logout from the site, and return after a few days, instead of feeling the need to express our thoughts here.
Finally: Please let’s maintain this as a rather boring “Travel Forum”, rather than something that entertains. This forum is not intended to entertain.
All posts stand the risk of getting deleted, without ANY explanation. If you want to be absolutely sure that you are not wasting your time, it is safest NOT to post.
Thanks.
