Basically I've noticed that the moderation on Blog posts have been mostly up to the moderators without much user input in regards to why the post was inappropriate. Due to recent activity I find this calls into question whether the moderation is fair or efficient enough. So I have devised an alternative.
Alternative:
The alternative is the simple idea of a "report" button under each blog post instead of the yay/nay system. This report button will then open a module box in which the reason for reporting will be stated. The blog's ID and the reason will then be stored in a database or sorts, I'm assuming Mysql. Reports without a reason will be automatically deemed invalid and discarded. The data in the database will then be parsed into a moderator control panel with PHP.This is where the moderator decides whether or not to "accept or deny" the complaint. When accept is clicked the blog post is flagged and hidden, when deny is clicked the complaint is ignored. Users submitting severely false claims will have their reporting privileges taken away.
This creates a more efficient moderation as complaints are now organized and the bad/malicious blog posts get called to attention. It is also more fair as users now have more input to what's deemed appropriate for BYOND.
ID:97447
 Jun 24 2010, 9:18 pm (Edited on Jun 24 2010, 9:52 pm)
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Masterdan wrote:
Its not a bad start, but there needs to be an etiquette established on byond that controversial topics are actually good, and even if you disagree with somebody that does not mean you should try to get their opinion silenced. The type of post that needs to be reported are the ones that distribute illicit material, pornography, or simply employ personal attacks with no grounding with activity on BYOND itself. Also posts that are obscene, ie use very offensive swear words that you wouldnt be able to use on TV (crap is in!) would be supressed. While controversial topics are not necessarily bad, I do not believe etiquette of this sort could ever reach BYOND's community or any online community for that matter. This is why I believe that there needs to be a systematic way of getting things done when it comes to moderation instead of of purely relying on unguided judgment. In regards to opinion silencing moderators must have certain guidelines in place which serves as grounds for flagging. I guess an idea would be to add an HTML drop-box that lists different grounds in which why someone should get flagged along with the user inputted reason. | |
Neblim wrote:
Here's another start. Yes, this is in the works. It would help your cause if you could lay low on the sarcasm here; we're doing the best we can. | |
Didn't you leave BYOND like, yesterday, Neblim?
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I think what they have now, where you can choose to view hidden posts by clicking the Hidden Posts button is good enough. ;)
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Neblim wrote:
Give us a reason and notify us (...) a "report moderator" button or something. I requested something along the lines here. Neblim wrote: Here's something else that could be implemented: A personal message system. I requested something along the lines here. Neblim wrote: I'm now on a separate computer with a completely different OS. On a related note, you should still have access to the web based pager. I'd say, if you have a feature request, request it in the proper section and grant the developers some time to discuss, judge and implement, or deny the feature. | |
Ulterior Motives wrote:
I think what they have now, where you can choose to view hidden posts by clicking the Hidden Posts button is good enough. ;) I concur, I'm quite happy about this now. My main problem with the hiding of front page posts wasn't that I thought it was biased; I just like to read the blog posts and comments, and sometimes when a mod would hide the post it became hard for me to find it again(if I didn't remember who the author was) or the author just outright deleted it. | |
Tom wrote:
Neblim wrote: This is good. But wouldn't you think it would be more organized within a system instead of how an individual moderator feels about the topic? | |
Doesn't it all come down to moderator decision anyways? While I support your idea, putting it into a system would funnel down to having a moderator justify whats best.
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"This is good. But wouldn't you think it would be more organized within a system instead of how an individual moderator feels about the topic?"
Moderators are supposed to be able to keep an eye on each other. Unfortunately, the blog logs are currently only accessible through an admin tool that most moderators don't have. While the blog-hiding interface requires typing in a reason, this inaccessibility means moderators have often been just as oblivious as posters. Once the software is changed to make the reasoning behind moderator actions more accessible, the system of checks should be more secure. It won't be the community-driven process that some desire. However, it should improve consistency enough that those individual moderators you're worried about won't be an issue. | |
TM The Ultimate wrote:
Doesn't it all come down to moderator decision anyways? While I support your idea, putting it into a system would funnel down to having a moderator justify whats best. While this is true,,this system makes sure that only the ones that need tending to get moderated. | |
ACWraith wrote:
"This is good. But wouldn't you think it would be more organized within a system instead of how an individual moderator feels about the topic?" I like that the software will change, but to what extent do you really think moderators are going to check on each other without external motivation? I believe that this software relies too much on the autonomy of the mods and their willingness to observe other mods. This in turn deviates from a more clean cut system that is linear and points to whatever needs to be called to attention. In regards to biased; I do agree that there should bee an open log. This could be included in my idea aswell, where the moderator's "accept or denies" get openly logged. | |
"I like that the software will change, but to what extent do you really think moderators are going to check on each other without external motivation?"
All moderators have to do with the new setup is toggle the flag so they can view hidden posts. While the the logged reasons are not yet accessible, the posts themselves are accessed during normal reading so it doesn't require extra effort. | |
Neblim, I think it would be best if you took further conversations to your own blog as most of your posts have enveloped this blog post.
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Otherwise I agree with the premise, I just am wary about this. Some topics have a split between very strong support and very strong hatred, and those arent necessarily the topics that should be removed.