It is normal to see a standard response such as this to a comment which needed to be removed:
Sorry, but we have removed your response, as we expect answers in this subreddit to be in-depth and comprehensive, and to demonstrate a familiarity with the current, academic understanding of the topic at hand. Before contributing again, please take the time to better familiarize yourself with the rules, as well as our expectations for an answer such as featured on Twitter or in the Sunday Digest.
I don't think the mods need to apologise, nor should they. It kind of implies that you have done something wrong, which might even result in more angry, aggressive responses.
I know you are only being polite - and thank you for that! - but there are other ways to be polite without apologising for doing your jobs.
Maybe something like:
Thank you for wanting to participate in AskHistorians! However, we have removed your response as we expect...
Just a thought.
Most rules breakers are new to the subreddit, and have no understanding of the norms or expectations. While we'd like to think everyone is responsible people who would never even consider failing to read the rules of a community before they attempt to participate, we also aren't living in a fantasy land, and recognize that our norms are very different than those of the rest of reddit. As such, we aim to be as accommodating as possible to the fact that most people are well intentioned and don't know better. You'll notice that posts which clearly show they know they will be removed often get quite a harsher response.
To be blunt though, "Sorry" has quite a few different shades. Sorry doesn't necessarily mean we're apologizing any more than "How's it going?" means we actually care to hear a rundown of the other person's day. Societies have formulaic ways of phrasing which relate to interactions and carry specific meanings with them (and to be sure, our use of sorry, I believe, conforms to American norms but might not make as much sense to, say, a Frenchman). Prefacing a removal with an apology doesn't mean we're actually sorry in a deep, meaningful sense... it is simply a common courtesy that fits within expected communication patterns and fits within the larger norms of politeness and civility that we intended to cultivate and enforce. We're sorry that we had to remove something from someone who likely didn't know better and just wanted to contribute, but we aren't necessarily Sorry.
To be sure, we do use other prefacing, and "Thank you for wanting to participate in AskHistorians! However, we have removed your response as we expect..." is actually nearly identical to an internal Macro that we use when reaching out privately to users whose answers fall just short but need additional work (It actually goes "Thank you for your recent contribution to AskHistorians. However, during our review process, we encountered issues which required at least temporary removal but we wanted to reach out to you about them to give you a chance to revise yada yada yada").
I believe it's important to keep in mind that - in between the many idle or not very polite attempts - there are actually answers that come from a genuine desire to contribute, or to share something significant, and yet do not meet the requirements.
I don't think the moderators are just being "polite" when they apply the same template to a broad spectrum of answers; but rather that they - and in general the whole community - try to recognize the value in a genuine desire to contribute and to share knowledge with others. The idea is not to push people back or to prevent people from participating, but to create a space where people can participate because of the rules.
They’re just being courteous. Why would you want the mods to be less courteous?
I think we’re lucky to have the most mannerly mods on the internet here and I hope they don’t change a thing
Questions that begin with "It's well known that ...." are a personal bugbear, I marvel at the level of tact and diplomacy shown by the contributors in dissecting and correcting them. Overall I'm quite happy that this sub is strongly moderated and think that "sorry" is remarkably courteous in the circumstances. I find it a pleasant refuge from the soapboxing, politics and bigotry endemic online. I don't think I've ever seen a post here that has caused me to want to shout at the author.
I see it akin to "sorry, we could not accept your payment" or something like that. Just cushions the blow a bit. Sorry you might feel disappointed that your post was removed. It's kind.
I agree in part. I'm not in favour of the ruling that broadly defined "example seeking" questions be banned, when I'm interested in something, and its manifeststions over various times/cultures, as opposed to one narrow occaision.
I like to pretend that instead of sorry in the apologetic and polite ways. It's sorry in the "try me mfer" way.