What Do You Want from Forum Moderation?

Pickle Juice

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Ok so I have noticed that we have had some lively disagreement here and there, for lack of a better term. ;)

I have also noticed a comment or two about how site moderation seems to make problems between members worse rather than better.

So, since I don't think I have ever seen such a thread on any other site before, I thought it would be interesting to invite everyone who cares to to give us some ideas about what they look for in site moderation? What is good? What is bad? More butting in, less butting in, deleting offensive posts, leaving them there so there is no mystery?

Enquiring minds want to know: what do you think effective moderation consists of?

:)
 
I have no problem with the mods or their modding. as far as I'm aware they have been fair and equitable.

I would like to see mods be more aggressive in halting personal attacks, including those that are obviously attacks but are worded in such a way to avoid being direct.

Less modding will lead to more confrontations because those who make a habit of hiding behind the anonymity of the internet to make their attacks will feel emboldened to continue if they believe the mods have a laissez-faire attitude.

Post shouldn't be deleted unless there is a clear indication that leaving the post will fuel the fire.
 
what do the mods want the tone of VV to be?
combative?
informative?
whatever goes?

If you have a sort of 'mission statement' in mind, then by all means adhere to it as you see fit.
When registering, one has to check that they agree to the 'rules and regs', so perhaps something may need to be added/deleted from the 'fine print'.
 
it's a fine line.

I'm not much of a fan of reporting members and i personally like to solve issues with others myself.

I stated a gladiator forum because if someone is very disrespectful to me publicly, i'd like to solve it publicly as well. It reflects my views of real life as well. obviously a gladiator forum would be silly, but i don't like to derail threads with bs. But, i also don't like passive aggressiveness and feel the need to solve it, much like i do in real life.

i think for the most part, people here self regulate pretty well. some members don't express themselves very well and it causes friction. much like in real life. i am also at fault here. I get worked up if i feel disrespected. Ignoring members works as well i suppose.
 
I'm for self-regulating behaviors as much as possible. I dislike it when posts are edited for content, for it makes the context of the posts following it unclear. Same with mods deleting a post or thread, though of course I understand it is sometimes necessary.
 
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I have no problem with the mods or their modding. as far as I'm aware they have been fair and equitable.

Less modding will lead to more confrontations because those who make a habit of hiding behind the anonymity of the internet to make their attacks will feel emboldened to continue if they believe the mods have a laissez-faire attitude.

^This. I think you've all done a great job so far. However, I will be in the minority because I think some posts should be deleted. While I understand that deleting posts often leads to confusion and speculation, some posts can get very offensive and hurtful. And not only to the member the post is being directed at, but also to other members viewing it.
 
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I prefer absolute tyranny. Rule with an iron fist. Crush dissent immediately and unmercifully.

Or not. Whatever. :shrug:
 
I prefer absolute tyranny. Rule with an iron fist. Crush dissent immediately and unmercifully.

Or not. Whatever. :shrug:
agreed. similar to:
apathy_02.jpg
 
I have no problem with the mods or their modding. as far as I'm aware they have been fair and equitable.

I would like to see mods be more aggressive in halting personal attacks, including those that are obviously attacks but are worded in such a way to avoid being direct.

Less modding will lead to more confrontations because those who make a habit of hiding behind the anonymity of the internet to make their attacks will feel emboldened to continue if they believe the mods have a laissez-faire attitude.

Post shouldn't be deleted unless there is a clear indication that leaving the post will fuel the fire.
We need reports. I don't read every single thread on here, and I have been very surprised at the kinds of threads unpleasantness can break out in. Sometimes I will read a thread for the first time because it has stayed incredibly active, which surprises me if the subject matter seems mundane, and then I will find a flame war taking place, but that doesn't happen too often.

There's nothing wrong with reporting posts. You can report them on your behalf or on other people's. If you see something you don't think is right it doesn't get anyone in automatic trouble if you bring it to our attention. Some people even report their own posts to ask for edits. It's no big deal. But we do need to have things brought to our attention, since we don't read every single post on here. At least, I don't.
 
I'm not a big fan of deleting posts. 1. I think it just makes people speculate about what went on. 2. If I say something stupid/offensive, why not let me live with the consequences. That's what adults have to do.
I also tend to favor less moderation rather than more.

I agree. I can understand deleting posts in some cases but it annoys me when I'm belatedly reading through a forum thread and I have no idea what I've missed although everyone is still referring to the deleted posts.
 
Impossible to please everyone. :sf:

Mods here are doing a pretty good job, they get the whole mod thing but good idea for a thread. :up: I feel we've been able to say pretty much what we want without much editing going on. Or has there? :weird:
 
We need reports. I don't read every single thread on here, and I have been very surprised at the kinds of threads unpleasantness can break out in. Sometimes I will read a thread for the first time because it has stayed incredibly active, which surprises me if the subject matter seems mundane, and then I will find a flame war taking place, but that doesn't happen too often.
There's nothing wrong with reporting posts. You can report them on your behalf or on other people's. If you see something you don't think is right it doesn't get anyone in automatic trouble if you bring it to our attention. Some people even report their own posts to ask for edits. It's no big deal. But we do need to have things brought to our attention, since we don't read every single post on here. At least, I don't.

I hardly ever report posts (I think I reported a certain man on a certain forum a couple of times :fp: ) but I feel too petty doing it on a small forum like this.

I think the mods have been doing a good job on VV but I do miss LS.
 
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There should be more cookies. I think anytime we post, we should be given a cookie of our choice.
cookie.gif


Other than that, I am very pleased with how things are progressing here! I really like how there's no "grandfather clause" or any kind of leeway for obvious non-veggie people to stay (not including the ones who are transitioning, obviously). I'm also happy that the mods and IS listen to the members and really try to make it a community. I know you can't make -everyone- happy, but I really like how it's going so far. :)
 
I miss Lord Snot too. :(

But really, there is nothing petty about reporting posts. We don't tell people who reports their posts, and it's really nothing but helpful if it calls our attention to a budding problem.
 
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On another forum I've gone to for a while, posts and arguments are moved to a forum called "The Litter Box". Sometimes, say for large threads, every once in a while off-topic or offensive posts that might not be related to each other will get moved to a thread in the litter box, a sort of spin-off thread from the main one. Sometimes, when a whole argument or a lot of off-topic posting breaks out at once, all those offensive/off-topic posts and their replies will be moved to a 'spin-off' thread in the Litter Box. It's hard to explain what I mean by spin-off thread, but say people are posting in a thread called "I like hats", and then people start an off-topic, political debate in the thread. Their posts would be moved to a thread in the litter box called, "Moved political posts: I like hats". If I remember correctly, the posts in the litter box are also not counted as posts, so those off-topic posts or offensive posts will be removed from post count. The offensive posts and any/all replies will be viewable in the litter box, but then the original thread will have those posts gone and look uninterrupted.

I'm not sure if I explained that properly but I find it a nice alternative to deleting/editing posts or just leaving them be.
 
From forum moderation I would want more appreciation for the natural development of a discussion and less for the intentions of the original poster :p :jump:

Oh, and no locking of threads. Always annoys me everywhere when it's done.
 
One of the reasons I don't report posts is that I don't always expect the mods on here (or any other forum) to share my views and I can't be bothered to have a back and forth explaining why I find something offensive. Obviously other people can report posts if they want to but personally I can't be arsed.:p If I was having a discussion or argument in real life I wouldn't go and get another person to back me up because I'm quite confident in a lot of my opinions.
 
^ I don't think moderation should be about picking sides and saying "you are right and they are wrong". (Though maybe that's not exactly what you meant?) In my view it's more about trying to keep discussions reasonably on topic, encourage enlightening discussion, and discourage uncivilised behaviour such as bullying and harassment.

I also think Internet discussions tend to get a lot more heated than would real life discussions though. Part of the reason is perhaps that in real life we would instinctively stay away from certain kinds of people that just rubs us (and everyone else) the wrong way.

When I was an admin on VB I used to lock threads that got out of hand. It's funny just how out-of-hand some threads could get there occasionally. Anyway, based on the feedback in this thread, I will try to steer clear of the temptation to do that here.