It was posted just a few minutes before and now it's gone? I know I had posted a classified listing with the same message but it was pushed off the front page within a day so I figured I would be able to keep in on the front page a little longer if I listed as a forum thread.
I don't really care that the tread was deleted, I was just trying to help the guy, but what really bothered me was that it was done without any explanation.
We had a thread on discussing censorship before and while I'm not claiming censorship in this case, the way it was handled smacks of it.
I concede that the moderator has the right to remove what they see as unfit but perhaps they can be more transparent about it? Send a e-mail, leave a message or something. Having it suddenly removed without notice or just cause seems so autocratic. What happened to the freedom of speech and democracy? Have we been here so long as to have adopted the Chinese way?
Leave the censoring to the 300K strong netpolice and their 5 mao slaves. Any chance we can get Danwei, Facebook, Youtube and all the others back? At least Chinasmack is online again.
Hey Dan,
I use a free VPN service to get around the block. The service is reliable, most of the time, and the server is based in France. Since it is free, it can be slow at times but at least they don't insert ads or do funny things with your browser. If you want, I can send you the software.
@Tonyaod
i deleted the "looking for..." thread because our system showed that your classified had been responded to from an email address that began 'jthorne'. we felt glad that you found the guy.
in the classifieds section, ads can be edited/removed by users. they also expire after a certain time. forum threads stay on the site 'forever'. since your forum thread had just become irrelevant, i removed it.
sorry you felt we handled it badly, but it's just a matter of resources. if we explained ourselves politely (as i seem to now be trying to do) every time we do a little housekeeping on the site, we'd be spread even thinner. i figured you'd understand when you checked your email and saw that John had got in touch.
Hey Matt,
Thanks for responding, hope there is no hard feelings.
Perhaps I made a mountain of of a mole hill but being really irked by the censorship here in China, you website was one of the last place of refuge where I can express my thoughts on different issues.
I can totally understand your rationale for what you did and before you've responded I assume that was the reason. Just food for thought though, in the few seconds it took to remove the thread, just a few more second to write:
"Hey Tony, we're deleting your thread because we saw that John had already replied to you through the classified add, Cheers!",
wouldn't hurt.
Anyway, really appreciate you guys for the hard work you've put into this website for the expat community. If I can be of any service to you, please let me know.
Cheers!
