well, the problem is, on GoKunming, if your post is deleted or not approved, the moderators might never tell you the reason even if you ask them in private. I posted an ad once that they blocked, and up til this day I can not understand why. I emailed the GoKunming staff and asked, but never got a reply.

If the moderators were actually prepared to take such discussions in private, or at least explain, in private, what might have been the problem with a particular post, unannounced deletion of posts might not be a problem, imo.

I couldn't agree more with abcdabcd, that review of Cacao by Billdan is over the line. I hope he will not come back and I think it would be best if the Gokunming management deletes the review. It's really unfair, plus he admits that he didn't have any of the food. Because it was a 100 kuai. In a high class place. I really get the itches of people here complaining about the "high prices".

Gokm is (arguably) a well run site - good enough for family fare (this one or the other "fair"? can't remember) by all accounts. It's their website and of course, they're a "for profit" business (just an assumption), so it makes sense that overtly critical comments against PAYING advertisers be censored either voluntarily by the site's owners or by occasional request by the sponsors.

Apple had the same issues with their app store. That was resolved by banning reviews by non-purchasers - similar to the taobao approach (although reviews can be cooked by cooking purchases - but that's another thread).

I'm a NON-paying gourmand with an apparently prolific posting history. As a general rule - when reviewing restaurants etc - I only say nice things about the nice restaurants I've visited. If the service is poor - as other members noted - I MAY or probably will NOT try again, depending on desperation and other masochistic tendencies.

GOKM has every right to censor, delete, annoy, cajole, etc as has @BillDan to allegedly withdraw from the site. I don't see either in error, fault, or favor. A simple review of @BillDan's posts shows an adventurous, demanding, rather polarized consumer, never content with crappy service, blasé cuisine, and debatably ridiculous prices.

Lately, I've been seeing markedly better and improving service at expat locations - Silver Spoon, Mazagran (panned by @BillDan for their vegetable lasagna - something I'd NEVER dare to try), etc. Kudos to the management/owners for improvements on staff training and discipline...even if one is a relatively unskilled laborer in a restaurant - professionalism, respect for one's income and source is good to see in this up and coming city.

So long @BillDan - hope you re-incarnate under a new moniker (or now that you've pouted and raised some support - don't go!)...and for the record I'd NEVER try Mazagran's vege lasagna - carnivore - but one man's meat is another man's poison. As for Mexican food - as a Texan (or a Southern Californian), we're incredibly biased - y'all'd be amazed at what passes for Mexican in the midwest - and they love it (for lack of knowledge).

Flengs inadvertantly makes the case against censorship, and is a perfect and real-life example of why these posts and reviews should not be deleted: he recognizes that BillDan's post was "over the line" and so chooses to banish him in his own mind. The basic idea of censorship in this context is based on a mistrust of people's ability to think clearly and critically. Flengs demonstrates that he can, and so will disregard BillDan's post. Problem solved. People have their own lines in their own minds; they don't need an authority to set it for them. Let people think for themselves and generally, on the whole, they will show themselves to be rational.

It's interesting to read comments left by the management of restaurants in reply to customers reviews. It lets interested customers know how the restaurant's management deal with criticism.

There was another upper class restaurant in Beijing where the manager couldn't deal with some customers' criticism and told them that if they didn't like the way the food was prepared, they could go in the kitchen and cook their food themselves.

How about writing a notice above or below the review comment box describing what are the acceptable or best practices for leaving a review? Moderator's recent comments will eventually sink in the middle of comments and people will barely pay attention to the message he/she is trying to convey. Isn't it also better to leave the review section clean with only reviews instead of cluttering it with debates or moderation notices? When reading the notice, people would already have an idea as to why their review has been deleted.

To be fair to the mods.
If someone registers multiple accounts (was it 10?), and then uses them to subvert/sabotage the reviews section, then I agree with them stepping in as they did.