Mod note: Content removed. see site policy.
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VERY disappointing decision!!!
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Thanks Mig! I guess I missed that one. Iâll apply the fix-change.
Given Adminâs explanation, I wonder why all the âSite Discussionsâ threads, similarly having nothing to do with food, arenât similarly mutedâŚ
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Agreed. And disappointing.
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Itâs so easy to simply not read threads/topics that one doesnât care for 
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The thing I love about the non food topics is the insight into the folks posting. Knowing their music and viewing preferences and whatâs on their minds adds to knowing everyone on a more personal level and that in turn illuminates their food choices and history.
But I came more from the Roadfood experience than the Chowhound experience.
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happy you brought this up. from my old-days scanning 600+ messages per day on CompuServe, perhaps I am âadeptâ at mental filtering - but of all things I had not noticed we were being protected from ânot about foodâ side-trackings.
(fixed that this AMâŚ)
another food forum has some similar very strange âpoliciesâ - every other week admin is posting scolding messages about staying on topic, the heavy work load imposed on mods to keep the boards âneat and tidyâ / yadda yadda yadda . . . at least to the adminâs rather curious approach to neat and tidy . . .
anyway, it leads to people simply not participating anymore. who needs the scolding?
to wit, that place - I never ever post anymore unless it is absolutely directly totally in specific answer/info to the specific question of post.
there is no âcommunityâ anymore - only sterile cookbook threads.
/rant off/
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This.
The Not About Food section, I think, enriches the whole of the site.
Having a little more insight into the âpersonâ helps me feel more connected to them. No longer a screen name and avatar, but a real person who is figuring their way through life - it makes me more charitable and kind, I have found, as well as more patient with those who I might initially find irritating.
With the section muted, newcomers are unlikely to find their way to those threads, creating a weird split between HOs who know the threads/section exists and those who donât. Kind of an âIn Crowdâ thing, which doesnât sit right with me thinking of HO as a community.
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@ElsieDee thank you for so beautifully articulating what has been bothering me about this change!
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indeed.
not really sure, I may have learned more from the "Not About . . " type sections than the "Just About . . " sections . . .
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Majority rules, mabez? Seems like quite few HOs would prefer for the NAF threads to show up againâŚ
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The other thing is, anyone can mute Not About Food for themselves. As a result of all of this, I have learned how to mute the Cookware category which is not useful TO ME although I can see it is to others.
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Exactly. Muting an entire board that many of us like and use just because a couple of people think it distracts seems counterintuitive and counterproductive for increasing usage of the site.
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Such an overreaction. Not a huge deal, but ultimately to HOâs detriment, IMO.
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Aaaaand my post got un-personed as âoffensive, abusive, [or] hateful conduct, or a violation of the community guidelinesâ.
I edited to change âwhingingâ to âcomplainingâ, although Iâm not sure it matters too much. Maybe the post as a whole is offensiveâŚ?
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I donât understand. It was a factual statement. The discussion here was respectful. This is unnerving.
ETA: I see that this thread has been restored which is reassuring.
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Yes, your post was removed by the flagging system because of your decision to single out the poster. Your original post and my comment here will be visible for another few hours, so the community is aware of the reason your post, and since it is the first post that by extension, the topic, is hidden, which is unrelated to your disagreement with the site policy.
The preference is to keep the topic up. But your subsequent edit after your post was hidden, is not materially different from the original post. This disagreement, however, does not grant the right to single out another user. Hence the post will be removed or maybe the topic will be locked. I will message you separately.
I understand the collective pov here. The original purpose of the site was, and still is, to discuss food. The purpose of the site changes materially when on days, 40% of the Latest Topic list is non-food related topics, and increasing. The reason for the existence of the site is slowly gone when there is, over time, little reason for those who are not already an active HO user to come to HO, since larger, general purpose discussion forums exist in numerous quantities. Without a replenishing user base, we can already play it out, the site will die a slow death within a few years.
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