EDITED - Bob, thanks for taking the time to mull things over and re-activating filtering for now. My apologizies to the poster I highlighted. After thinking about my issue some more, let me try to explain it perhaps more clearly for your consideration:
Filtering is content management tool above all else. If you provide filetering to the subscribers but not the free users, then the CONTENT (still within the TOS) will quickly DIVERGE to the point that the non-subscriber value is lost. Using the "next" button is good up to a point but not when the garbage level exceeds 10% or more of the posts due to grafitti or chat content.
I must emphasize that I am NOT objecting to negative posts; rather, I am objecting to paid or unpaid stock price manipulators and folks that just want to chat by constantly posting non-sense questions. This is the real world and we have all these types represented on our boards that do operate within the TOS but provide no contribution to information or analysis.
If the public board loses value due to the lack of any CONTENT management features, then your site will be reduced to only power users that are willing to pay for advanced, useful, productivity tools. In short, the content needs to be same for all users so therefore the content management TOOLs need to be the same for all types of users; Otherwise, if the content diverges (and it certainly will) then the experience for the lurker/newbie/non-power-user will become useless. Also, your market will be reduced since your will only be useful, valuable, and informative for a small class of subscriber users that can and do manage the content they see.
I really liked the way it worked before when the difference between Free and Subscriber was productivity tools (multiple read, etc.) and value added features (search, PM, etc.) but NOT content management tools. When you make content management available to subscribers only, then you are creating high potential for divergent content and divergent information and a very different experience between the two type of users.
The leading value proposition you offer is great information for the new, non-power user and you need this market pool from which to draw your subscribers as they become power users. If you allow the content to diverge (by differentiating content management tools) so that the non-subscriber has a poor experience (due to chat or grafitti or lower information content), then you are killing your long term value-proposition, IMO.
Content management tools need to be the same for all users to prevent the content from diverging, to keep a good experience for the non-power users, and as a matter of good business to attract and retain as many users as possible.
Best Regards,
Corp_Buyer
