It's all semantics simply because there can be so many iterations of the same theme. The underlying concept is the issue of how each post, individually, is phrased. If there is evidence of a comment referencing a poster the post is eligible for deletion. If the post clearly references only the content of a previous message and does not, otherwise, come afoul of the TOS, it is not eligible for removal.
That is a pretty clear line. The issues arise when one poster thinks he/she is the smartest person in the room and tries to couch a response in terms that only his/her buddies and the recipient will realize are directed at him/her as an insult. Then, identifying the insult, we delete the post only to have the offending poster come whining to us about the deletion when, in reality, they're just whining because they clearly were not the smartest person in the room.
Those folks don't like us and we're just heartbroken over it.
Occasionally, there may be a legitimate discussion to be had about a given deletion and we will gladly entertain those discussions.
In the case of these proposed rules modifications we're just trying to adapt to the changing times. It is a challenge and the input from our members helps greatly.
It doesn't look like I'll be running out of things to do any time soon.
