I’m thinking it’s just a glitch.

It's a weird glitch when only certain topics are deleted!

It's not a glitch. It's unprofessionalism.

Do you not understand that this was never intended as a political forum? Hot Topics addressed that need and now that Houzz has decided that political discussions are not part of their mission statement, they have even opted to eliminate that forum. It's not that any individuals are objecting to the posts....management has just deemed them inappropriate. Which is entirely within their rights!!

It's not a weird glitch when it's some of my posts being deleted where I asked someone to provide a source and posted evidence disagreeing with their point of view. And no it wasn't p*litical.

I remember many years ago when it was requested that political topics be avoided at the KT, but that was several owners ago and I've never seen Houzz actually say that. Does anyone have a source or are we just assuming the same rules from 20 years ago still apply?

Chi, when they pulled hot topics, they also added filters that would delete all posts that mentioned certain names and explained that p*litical discussions would no longer be allowed at houzz as it wasn't consistent with their core mission. That happened a week ago so it is current with current owners.

Houzz management posted their views on the topic when they announced the closure of Hot Topics. I don't remember the specific threads but there were several (including one here on KT) a week or two back.

The Garden Web and Home Decorating forums were intended to discuss things related to those topics - gardening and garden-related activities and home building, home improvement, decorating and home and family-related activities. Politics were never part of the purview and Hot Topics was created to deal with those sorts of issues and keep them off of other forums.

Maybe it's time to start a forum where KT topics, and political topics, can be discussed without censorship. Hot Topics moved on to a new platform - this is what they created - Point of View

Then the people who want to talk about soft and fuzzy topics can stay here at the KT, and those who want to discuss more substantive topics, can also do so, just at a different site. The site the former Hot Topics uses is divided into sections. A similar configuration can be set up for a new version of the KT.

The frustration with censorship at the KT isn't going to stop.

I think there's a fix needed for flagging posts and threads...it's too easy. There should be a mechanism where the flagged post or thread is no longer visible to the flagger, but it remains for everyone else until the mods can review. The mad flaggers know that the mods are absent over the weekend and take advantage of that to disappear things for several days. Later they may or may not be restored on weekdays after review by the mods.

^^ That can happen with individual posts but not with an entire thread. If an entire thread disappears - which is what happened today - only the mods or the individual who initiated the post can do that.

So when something is flagged, it automatically gets deleted? And it only takes one?

Hot Topics moved on to a new platform - this is what they created - Point of View. Then the people who want to talk about soft and fuzzy topics can stay here at the KT, and those who want to discuss more substantive topics, can also do so, just at a different site. The site the former Hot Topics uses is divided into sections. A similar configuration can be set up for a new version of the KT.

It seems the new owners want this website to be soft and fuzzy but they created the option of Point of View for discussing hot topics. Why not just participate in the new platform - Point of View - if you want to discuss more substantive topics?

Actually, Houzz did NOT create Point of View- it's entirely the creation of one of the former posters on Hot Topics, and her husband. There is NO connection with Houzz.

No eld, it takes 2 to delete a thread, but they have figured out ways where one can have 2 IDs and accomplish their deletions that way by themselves.

BTW, Point of View also has a conversations area...

One of the ways to tell if a thread has been flagged twice is if there have been several comments. If the OP did not pass the filters there would not be any comments.

I will add my vote to all of yours that it is wrong to just delete an entire post because of a disagreement with someone’s opinion. As long as it doesn’t violate the terms of service or any other ground rules, there should not be a single person being judge and jury over an entire thread. Asking for someone to cite a source for a quote or statement is certainly not a reason for a red flag.

So a historic day in our history and not a word can be said?

Apparently not, because it would hurt the feelings of those who told the v*ters on the opposite side to “Suck it up, you lost.”

We banged pots and pans. Drank champagne. Blared Happy Days Are Here Again and danced around our house. Called all our like minded friends, family, and neighbors. It was a great party in our house!

Chi, please join us. You've been missed.

I don’t know what clearer message they could be giving about what content they wish to avoid on their boards, than to get rid of the other forum and add countless tools to block this type of discussion on any of their forums. While I don’t like it either, it’s well within their discretion. All these attempts to sneak around their controls is not far different from masked profanity, and I’d not be surprised at all to see them start treating it as such. As in, “Goodbye!”

ETA - Wow, what hoops I had to jump through to get even this to post, and I was being conscientious! No idea what the hangup was.

Seems to me that the only way to move forward is to TALK about our differences...respectfully! Closing your eyes and putting your fingers in your ears leaves you isolated, and the KT is about community.

Our republic -- our world -- depends on us identifying problems and trying to solve them, together.