Why are moderators locking threads left and right? What is the point of this community?

[mystery]

Why are moderators locking threads left and right? What is the point of this community? I've never seen a community/forum run like this.

For example, people have taken the time to post things such as:

https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Nest-Thermostats/Temperature-Sensors-We-NEED-the-ability-to-c...

https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Nest-Thermostats/Sensor-schedule/m-p/25138

Which are REAL issues that customers have been BEGGING be fixed/improved upon for YEARS. Yet we are ignored.

Review the first link, the user took the time to make a proposal that would improve the product big time. I'd even go further to say there should be a way to customize based on day so one can have more finite control on weekends versus weekdays.

Does Google care at all that they sell a sensor that does not work for much of their customer base that does not work a 9-5 job? 

[laurentbourg]

I read the first thread you provided, the community suggested that the best way to post feedback for product enhancements/bugs is the feedback feature in the google home app and even provided the steps on how to do so, then the community asked if any other questions before locking the thread which had reached a conclusion since nobody replied for a few days. I am not saying that there are no instances in this forum where threads are locked too early, but this particular one does not seem to be a good example. 

[mystery]

Why lock at all? 

Clearly Google is NOT listening since this has been requested hundreds of times since 2018 across Nest's forum, twitter, reddit, etc.

Locking the thread just stifles the customer's voice and says we dont care.

[RobDude]

But people do have additional questions. I came here looking for help on that first link, but it's locked. So I created my own thread.

This is a feature that's been missing for years; having an open thread would help reduce the number of repeats, but also allow a place for additional discussion about things like alternative solutions or workarounds.

[laurentbourg]

I agree but there are always pros and cons, having evergreen threads also potentially means diverse topics can interject overtime resulting in a long cumbersome post where relevant information gets buried.  

[mystery]

I disagree. I have owned/operated/moderated some of the largest OG forums on the internet. What is happening here is NOT normal practice. IMO it is to silence issues. Reddit is trying the practice of locking things that are 1 year old, OK fine, but to lock things immediately, days, weeks later, is excessive IMO.

[laurentbourg]

You will note that this thread has not been closed yet. But yes some threads do get closed too quickly. 

[mystery]

Why not re-open: https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Nest-Thermostats/Temperature-Sensors-We-NEED-the-ability-to-c... 

?

[laurentbourg]

I thought I already opined on this, but just to clarify, nobody on the thread cared to reply to the community specialist for days, if this is such an important topic for all the people on that thread, somebody should have replied, this is just basic digital courtesy. The community specialist simply follows corporate guidelines to clean up open threads if they believe a solution was reached. Google is enforcing this approach in this community, I don’t know the reason. We can speculate or just simply request threads to be left open when needed, if we really care about them, such as this one. 

[RobDude]

No disrespect intended; but I think this might be overestimating people's commitment to the Google Nest Community. 

I purchased a Nest thermostat on a whim because it was on sale. I can't get it to do what I want. I'll either:

• Give up and accept the limitation
• Give up and return the device
• Find a hacky solution that let's me do the thing

A lot of people aren't interested in a hacky solution, so when they're told it can't do X, their personal involvement ends. In a day or two, I'll probably leave these forums never to return. I certainly hope people don't view that as rude, but it is what it is.

Leaving the threads open are, IMHO, not for the people who opened them. It's for the people who come later.

That's not to say there aren't good reasons for closing threads; and I think you've highlighted some of them in your other posts. Ultimately though, they'll do whatever they want and our opinions don't much matter.

[laurentbourg]

People that come later can easily review existing threads, which are indexed adequately, and open a new one if they want to raise a new issue/topic or revive a pre-existing topic. It is much easier for new comers to review short threads than a bunch of long evergreen threads that started requesting hourly schedule for sensors but finished discussing what is the best coffee to drink at Starbucks on Sundays. 

[laurentbourg]

Sure one could just leave threads open forever.  But it’s not unique in forums for moderators to close threads that reached closure, it is actually customary and a reflection of good maintenance in the forum. Now when people follow the right protocol of posting feedback for product enhancements and that Google never acts on it, this is obviously disappointing.   

[Bookerdog]

By the way, I LOVE that this thread is still open.  You know what, it's useful that it is, because I can come back and report from 18 months in the future that this is still an issue on this forum.