Chowhound Board Nazis - [Crazies]

Posted by Chubbypanda at 10/08/2006 01:04:00 AM

I am so pissed right now that there are no polite words I can use to describe my degree of anger.

My Frenzy Sushi post on Chowhound was removed without explanation. When I did a search to try to find their guidelines so I could make a correction and repost, and to avoid similar mistakes in the future, I found a brusque and very unhelpful post from the moderators that essentially read "We do what we think is right and have no time to explain. Just get used to being deleted and move on." Two other topics started by users to discuss Chowhound posting rules and post deletion had been, you guessed it, removed without explanation.

This sort of facist attitude towards its users by a discussion board that is fueled by its users infuriates me. I mean, it's just downright rude. They don't even have the rules posted anywhere, so it really feels like they're just making them up.

I'm not sure what to do now. I'm thinking of reposting my original post, reposting a briefer version of my original post, attempting to contact the moderators, or building a bridge and getting over it. You all have more experience with this board than I do. What do you think I should do?

Addendum: This may have been stupid, but I just went ahead and made this post on Chowhound. We'll see what happens. My guess it that it won't go well. (Nope. It got removed within 20 minutes.)

This post by Sam from Becks & Posh really covers it all.

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23 comments:

  1. Captain Jack said... 10/08/2006 06:31:00 PM

    Hi CP
    No good deed goes unpunished. You give them free content, they treat you like dog shit they just scraped off the bottom of their shoe. They threatened to ban me for cracking on some dumbass that did not know what he was talking about.  

  2. Rasa Malaysia said... 10/08/2006 07:24:00 PM

    CP,

    I hear you. I posted on a Malaysian forum recently regarding a restaurant review and it was deleted in less than 5 minutes. I was very upset and pissed so I asked the moderator why and was told that I was "advertising." It was ridiculous as it's all about user-generated content and sharing of content. Without us content providers, what's the use of these boards, forums, websites, etc.  

  3. Colleen Cuisine said... 10/08/2006 07:44:00 PM

    Chowhound is so over. Don't be mad, just stop using their site. The more they alienate their contributors, the fewer contributors they'll have and the lamer the site will get. I give them about 1 more year before the site is dead.  

  4. Jeni said... 10/08/2006 09:22:00 PM

    I have a love/hate relationship with Chowhound. After reading your post, I hate them.

    Want me to slash some tires???  

  5. Anonymous said... 10/09/2006 01:21:00 AM

    You've got to read this post CP.  

  6. joanh said... 10/09/2006 02:33:00 AM

    that is so weird.. i only discovered them recently, but after reading your post, i can't imagine that people are going to stick around.. boo!!!  

  7. The Bill said... 10/09/2006 11:25:00 AM

    was going to be a member...guess not.  

  8. Chubbypanda said... 10/09/2006 02:02:00 PM

    Cap'n Jack,

    Tell me about it. It's pretty silly for a content-driven site to drive away its major content providers. I mean, how many "I'm in town for X hours and I need recommendations" posts can you read with the same suggestions before you just start tuning out? Thanks for the support, buddy. Appreciate it.

    RM,

    Yeah. They seem really paranoid about shilling. From what my Google search turned up, if you rave too much about a place on Chowhound, they remove your post. The same isn't true if you bash the place, though.

    Colleen,

    I think I'll just use their archives as research. Nothing new has really come up recently. There are only so many Oinkster speculating posts I can read before I go crazy. I'll take your advice and get over it.

    Jeni,

    Aww... You're so sweet! I've never had anyone offer to slash tires for me before. D is a lucky man.

    PE,

    Thanks, girl. I appreciate the thought.

    Joan,

    They're still useful for some things. If nothing else, every so often I come across a new recommendation.

    The Bill,

    Eh. You can read and search the board without a membership. You just need one to post. It's not a bad thing to have as long as you understand that the mods are facist power trippers.  

  9. eatdrinknbmerry said... 10/09/2006 03:20:00 PM

    CP, i've had the same thing happen to me before. they sent an email saying 'we don't allow any postings w/ trackbacks to your site, sorry'. i was like 'ok, fine. no more posting on your site. i think the ppl on CH are quite ungrateful. i'd say forget about them and keep doing your own thing. don't worry, there a lot of foodies out there that look specifically for food blogs b/c the reviews are much better.  

  10. Anonymous said... 10/09/2006 03:46:00 PM

    I think it is not only overly moderated, but also overly 'fixed' as to topics...people writing in stupid stuff like "I just bought 20 pounds of chilis, what shoudl I make with them?"...and "my recipe says to cover with aluminum foil and then put into the oven, but I don't want to buy more, can't I use wax paper instead?"...Ok, if those are legitimate questions, those ppl need to be removed from the gene pool anyhow....
    I am only posting if someone seems to be asking something legitimately and I happen to be reading...but not regularly any more..
    -Cathy (the substitute blogger on mmm-yoso)  

  11. Chubbypanda said... 10/09/2006 09:59:00 PM

    Hey ED&BM,

    Wow! I've never had a celebrity comment on my site before. =)

    Yeah. Nuts to Chowhound. I'll keep the good stuff on my site where I'm my own moderator. Although I keep saying the quiet stuff out loud...

    Hey Cathy,

    You're doing a great job blog sitting for Kirk. You really should think of starting up your own once he gets back. Thanks for your support. I agree with you completely.

    - CP  

  12. Kirk said... 10/10/2006 02:25:00 PM

    CP - Chowhound moderation is very inconsistent. Also, CH seems to be really "branding itself", that means CH wants everyone to only use CH, as THE resource. I've seen and experienced my share of glib, and sometimes downright rude answers when asking for an explanation from CH. These days, I don't ever cross post to CH - you have to remember, anything you do will become property of CH. I just provide a bit of info here and there.  

  13. Chubbypanda said... 10/10/2006 09:34:00 PM

    Kirk,

    Thanks for the wise advice. As always, you've given me food for thought. I really appreciate it. I've sort of summed up my Chowhound thoughts, and my response to your last point, in a new post here:

    Chowhound Board Nazis Redux - [Crazies]

    Hope your vacation has thus far been awesome.

    - CP  

  14. ChristianZ said... 10/11/2006 12:31:00 AM

    The solution is really for people to just stop using Chowhound. They treated me very poorly in the past and there was simply no excuse for their behavior. There really is nothing good about that site. It's a message board. People can post the same content at other message boards.  

  15. elmomonster said... 10/11/2006 01:11:00 PM

    Thanks for sharing this with us. I read your latest and backtracked to this post. Very enlightening to say the least!  

  16. Bacon Press said... 10/12/2006 11:35:00 AM

    Frustration is the Mother of Invention, people.

    Let's start seeing and supporting some open-access, commmunity-supported (and RESPECTED), and less-abusive alternatives to Chowhound.

    I, for one, would like to see it implode and fade into the obscurity it deserves.

    Down with the Hound!  

  17. Jonah said... 10/12/2006 05:34:00 PM

    I'm pretty disappointed about the direction Chowhound has taken post CNet buyout. The board activity has definitely dropped and I think that it is a result of their design decisions and requiring everyone to sign in.

    The deletion policy has always seemed a bit arbitrary, I wonder if they have specific rules for their staff.

    Even in the pre-Cnet days, you agreed to allow them to use anything you posted there, I was always curious about how many people realized that.  

  18. Chubbypanda said... 10/12/2006 10:36:00 PM

    Christianz,

    I still find Chowhound useful for researching neighborhoods that I've never been to and/or know little about. Think of it was panning for gold in a stockyard drainage ditch. However, I've heard similar sentiments from a number of people, and I really sympathize. I think Chowhound has burned a lot of bridges it won't ever be able to repair.

    Elmo,

    That's me. Always happy to share the rant. It's one of the reasons I have a subsection called "Crazies", which refers to my random mumblings and not the topic under discussion or my beloved fellow bloggers.

    Bacon Press,

    I agree. Something like Chicago's solution, the LTH Forum, would be great.

    Jonah,

    I agree, but with some reservations. In this case, I think CNET's vested interest in maintaining and building a self-sustaining user base may be what's needed to break Jim Leff's personality cult. When it was his sandbox, abuse towards users appeared to be rampant. Now CNET has taken over and users (at least this one) are starting to get explanatory emails when their posts are removed. I might be grasping at straws here, but there are times when corporations can be a force for good, albeit as a side effect of self-interest.

    - Chubbypanda  

  19. Anonymous said... 11/05/2006 02:21:00 PM

    The maddening aspect of Chowhound's overzealous moderation is its inconsistency. A post that is allowed one day may be deleted within seconds the next. It all seems to depend on who is minding the store and what mood he or she is in.  

  20. antz said... 11/13/2006 03:19:00 PM

    Thanks for the headsup.
    I shall avoid that site and not waste my time contributing there.  

  21. Anonymous said... 11/14/2006 12:59:00 PM

    This is my conclusion after my Chowhound experience: make no mistake about the Chowhound agenda - they do food industry racketeering.

    From the looks of it, there's money flowing from the corporate food industry, which is lock-step (should that be goose-step) with the chemical industry; ChowHound uses e-mafia tactics. E.g., If a one or more restauranteurs want to boost patronage, they'd likely pay a head Chow-racketeer to issue new edicts masquerading as "values": trash anyone who says anything against that area or group of or specific restaurant.  

  22. Craig Hunt said... 7/04/2007 03:25:00 PM

    I have had the same experience with Chowhound. A fellow poster criticized a restaurant that I like for being "snooty" and suggested that another was better. I found an NY Times review of this supposedly better restaurant which was decidedly negative and posted quotes from it as a rebuttal.

    My post was taken down without warning by Chowhound and I am blocked from further posting. Seems extreme? Too bad it's true.  

  23. Anonymous said... 10/12/2009 01:22:00 PM

    Please be very careful and think twice before you post photos on Chowhound. If they like your images they claim they have ownership over your copy right and will not allow the removal of your images. Think twice before you submit ANY content to Chowhound.
    There are claims that they have even published a book and altered the posts of members as content.
    Chowhound stands for every thing a true hound should hate. Big corporate America running over the little guy with heavy handed moderation and what in my opinion amounts to little more than theft.
    I have emails from CH refusing to remove my images after I requested them to be taken down several times.  

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