In the last 12 hours or so, I've noticed that two different posts have just disappeared from the Messy forum, so I thought I should point this out, in case it's the result of some glitch that can be fixed. (It's possible they were both removed for legitimate reasons, but it doesn't seem terribly likely.)

The first one was posted sometime last night (US time) and involved a kickstarter program for a horror web series called Witching Hour. In this project, if they raise $1,000, four of the main people (two men, two women) are going to be slimed. If they get up to $1,200, the two main people (one man, one woman) have agreed to be pied. I bookmarked the page of the kickstarter program, which is this:

Removed by admin

Shortly after I first looked at the thread on this topic, late last night, I noticed that it vanished from the messy forum.

Then, just 20 minutes ago, I was reading a thread from a guy looking for a video of a pretty girl in a v-neck black t-shirt. He'd seen an excerpt of this in a compilation video on YouTube but wanted to find the whole thing. A few people commented on it, saying the girl's name was Sara, the guy who produced the video was pretty obscure, etc. I know a bit about this video, so I added my own two cents to the thread and hit "Save Now." Next thing I know, the post had vanished from the messy forum.

Right, the first one was removed because it is against TOS to advertise crowdfunding projects here. I have now had to remove the link that you helpfully reposted. Thanks for that!

The other appears to have been deleted by the user as he got the information he was looking for.

Next time you're worried about threads disappearing then please mail MM or myself rather than create a thread please. Thanks.

Don't make a habit of it else things will get a bit daft!

I did delete the original post as I said the reason was you could not advertise crowdfunding on UMD

I'm sorry to have caused you trouble, Bosunbob. I honestly thought I was doing the right thing, but I've learned my lesson and will not do this again.

I considered deleting this whole post after reading the responses, just to get it out of the way, but then I thought maybe others could benefit from reading this ( i.e. other people who worry about threads disappearing).

Yes, how dare you ask hard questions in public!

I really, really wish people wouldn't do that. The other year there was someone who asked several interesting questions and got some detailed and well researched answers from various regular posters - and then promptly deleted the threads, erasing all the other responders' detailed work, thinking that was tidying the forum. Understandable mistake with the "Delete" option being there.

IMHO the "delete thread" function should be removed and only allowed via request to an admin with a good justification - other people, now or in the future, may be interested in knowing the answers to questions too, it's not fair to have things answered and then erase the results, but some people may not realise that's what they are doing.

I vote for keeping the power to delete in the hands of the user. This is a space where very personal things are shared and sometimes personal boundaries change. When someone deletes pics and vids it's easy to understand, but sometimes words can be just as revealing. Introducing UMD to a civilian could be problematic if that kind of control is lost, for example. Over the years we've lost the power to edit a post after four hours or even reply to one after two weeks. I do like the admins and all that they do, but I think they are fine where they are right now.

I think we should have the ability to edit posts for infinity. If we had that ability, I would go back and replace all my old posts with Bea Arthur pics!

One day, thanks to the tireless efforts of Regis and others like him*, Bea Arthur will be recognized as Queen of the Known and Unknown Universes, and every photo in existence will be replaced with images of her.

*Okay, there's nobody like Regis really. But Bea Arthur has a few other would-be-sex-slaves throughout the galaxy. That's all I mean.

Honorary DEA Agent Bea Aarthur Presley Meets President Nixon.

Uh .... Do I need a restraining order here?

Last one...I promise!

Probably.