Contacting moderators/ What Happens when you "flag post as offensive"

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Tue, 2010-07-13 18:25

Maysie

Contacting moderators/ What Happens when you "flag post as offensive"

There are new rabble emails for Catchfire and myself.

To avoid the bots I will type them out in full.

catchfire(at)rabble(dot)ca

maysie(at)rabble(dot)ca

Please note this is not an invitation to flood our emails with complaints.

And...

I don't think there's ever been an official statement about what happens when you click a post as offensive. So here it is.

When you click "flag as offensive", Catchfire and I get the notice in the Abuse Moderation Queue. Michelle and oldgoat still have access to read this, but generally will not respond. Michelle for the record, is no longer a moderator of babble. FYI, we also get any comments from other parts of rabble.ca which have been flagged as offensive.

Leaving aside when babblers flag a post because of right-wing trolls and commercial spammers, this is the process:

Whoever sees it first (and we actually have no way of telling who sees it first) reads the thread and deals with it. Then, whoever sees it second (who may have no idea it's been dealt with if they haven't read the thread already) goes and sees it's been dealt with, and removes the flagged notice from the abuse moderation queue.

Or.

Whoever first sees the complaint, reads the post/thread and decides that the complaint doesn't require a moderator's intervention, but leaves the flagged notice in the queue. Then the second one to see it, reads the thread, sees no intervention, and either intervenes (given that Catchfire and I don't share a brain), or decides not to. At some point the flagged notices that are not responded to are removed from the queue.

Or.

The issue is huge and complicated and Catchfire and I need to have a few emails back and forth to sort out how to respond.

The times when we read the flagged post and decide no moderator action is necessary (for a whole host of reasons), we do not contact the complainer(s) to let them know. This is partly due to our limited hours, but even if we had more hours, we feel there would be little point to enter into a pm back-and-forth about why the flagger thinks the post was offensive and why the mod thinks it wasn't.

The most important thing to remember is that Catchfire and I aren't on babble all the time, and even if you see us posting and you wonder why we haven't responded, the above are some of the reasons why.

And sometimes we use the same screening process for when we get private messages on the site, or emails of complaint about either a specific thread or post, or about a specific babbler.

This process isn't open for debate, but Catchfire and I wanted to let everyone know our process. If you want to contact us, you know how to.

Wed, 2010-05-12 07:29

Caissa

How about flood with praise?

Wed, 2010-05-12 07:33

Maysie

Abso-frikken-lutely Caissa.

And with praise, it doesn't even have to be sincere.

Wed, 2010-05-12 09:40

Sineed

When the moderators post, you could add another checkmark, "Flag as awesome."

Wed, 2010-05-12 11:11

Maysie

I think a "kiss ass" emote would be more efficient, logistically speaking.

Wed, 2010-05-12 12:26

Caissa

I think you left the word "my" out.

Thu, 2010-06-24 08:50

Maysie

I don't think there's ever been an official statement about what happens when you click a post as offensive. So here it is.

Leaving aside when babblers flag a post because of right-wing trolls and commercial spammers, this is the process:

Or.

The issue is huge and complicated and Catchfire and I need to have a few emails back and forth to sort out how to respond.

And sometimes we use the same screening process for when we get private messages on the site, or emails of complaint about either a specific thread or post, or about a specific babbler.

This process isn't open for debate, but Catchfire and I wanted to let everyone know our process. If you want to contact us, you know how to.

Thu, 2010-06-24 08:54

Caissa

Thanks for the transparency, Maysie. I think Babblers knew bits and peices of it but that pulls it all together in one spot.

Thu, 2010-06-24 09:21

Michelle

Actually, I don't bother reading the abuse queue anymore, BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE TO, nyah nyah nyah!

The only reason I still have access is simply because I still have admin access and that comes with it. So feel free to flag my posts without self-consciousness -- I probably won't ever see it. :)

(Actually, even when I was a mod people occasionally flagged my posts, so I'm sure no one will have a problem with doing so now either.)

Thu, 2010-06-24 14:42

#10

bagkitty

Thanks for the parenthetical comment at the end Michelle. Glad you didn't mistake us for a shy lot.

Thu, 2010-06-24 14:51

#11

oldgoat

Actually, I do look in on the abuse queue, though I'm just not on as much as I was before. Maysie and Catchfire are doing such an awsome job that things are generally dealt with by the time I see them.

Tue, 2010-07-13 16:29

#12

Freedom 55

I know mods are busy, but how long should one wait to see some kind of response to a complaint before one can assume that the mods have decided to disregard it?

Tue, 2010-07-13 17:01

#13

remind

If a mod appears after you have flagged something, and say nothing to person you flagged, then you can presume they are not of like mind with you.

Tue, 2010-07-13 17:09

#14

Freedom 55

Well I remember a recent case where someone was upset that he had been waiting for approx. 24 hours, but I thought the mods had said that sometimes it takes longer.

Just wanted to give the mods the benefit of the doubt before coming to any conclusions about where they stand.

Tue, 2010-07-13 17:24

#15

Catchfire

If you have a question about moderation the best way to get clarification is to email one or both of the mods, rather than call them out in a public forum. Otherwise, you should expect to be answered as Yahweh answered Job.

Tue, 2010-07-13 17:52

#16

Freedom 55

I thought this thread was about how the job of moderating this forum is done, and that general questions about the process were within bounds. It wasn't a 'calling-out'.

Catchfire, I don't understand why you would bother to post anything if you weren't going to answer a sincere question. Surely, you're one of the people best able to answer my query.

Tue, 2010-07-13 18:23

#17

Catchfire

Excuse me. I should have said "if you have a question about a specific moderating decision..." Of course we encourage any public questions about the moderating process.

BTW. I'm consolidating Maysie's post #6 into the OP.

Wed, 2010-07-14 08:07

#18

Caissa

Catchfire wrote: If you have a question about moderation the best way to get clarification is to email one or both of the mods, rather than call them out in a public forum. Otherwise, you should expect to be answered as Yahweh answered Job.

Caissa wonders if this just might be a tad excessive. http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=KjvBJob.sgm&images=image...

Tue, 2013-05-28 01:36

#19

Fidel

Catchfire wrote:

If you have a question about moderation the best way to get clarification is to email one or both of the mods, rather than call them out in a public forum. Otherwise, you should expect to be answered as Yahweh answered Job.

Youre not serious.

Tue, 2013-05-28 06:47

#20

Maysie

Catchfire posted that 3 years ago. Are YOU serious?

Tue, 2013-05-28 06:55

#21

MegB

TMTOHH

Tue, 2013-05-28 07:02

#22

Michelle

ToMaTOHaHa? Throw My Tomato On High Heat?

Tue, 2013-05-28 08:20

#23

ygtbk

Fidel wrote:

Catchfire wrote:

If you have a question about moderation the best way to get clarification is to email one or both of the mods, rather than call them out in a public forum. Otherwise, you should expect to be answered as Yahweh answered Job.

Youre not serious.

I think he's pretty serious. I've gotten the "voice out of the whirlwind" response a couple of times...

Tue, 2013-05-28 08:24

#24

Caissa

That's his Job.

Tue, 2013-05-28 10:18

#25

6079_Smith_W

Well, just so long as the mods don't get so bored that they resort to cheap gambling games like god did in that story.

Tue, 2013-05-28 12:04

#26

Caissa

or in this song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnaUvPoiTfQ

Tue, 2013-05-28 12:29

#27

6079_Smith_W

Sorry Caissa, but you leave me no choice.

Flagged as offensive.

*wink*

Tue, 2013-05-28 12:33

#28

Caissa

Doubleunplusgood, Winston.

Tue, 2013-05-28 13:11

#29

Catchfire

Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding....Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it.

I am serious. And don't call me Shirley.

Tue, 2013-05-28 14:59

#30

Bacchus

Previous post flagged to moderator as personal attack

Tue, 2013-05-28 15:07

#31

Fidel

Maysie wrote:

Catchfire posted that 3 years ago. Are YOU serious?

It's a running joke between us.

Tue, 2013-05-28 15:20

#32

Fidel

It`s a false flag, Bacchus. We can call one another crackpots if we want to. It's a-ok with the mods.

So Bacchus don`t be a crackpot.

Tue, 2013-05-28 15:24

#33

Bacchus

I take great pride in crackpottery

Tue, 2013-05-28 15:33

#34

onlinediscountanvils

What happened in posts #29 and #30 bring to mind a question. Are mods able to see original posts, or do they get expunged when someone goes back and edits them?

Tue, 2013-05-28 15:54

#35

Fidel

onlinediscountanvils wrote:

What happened in posts #29 and #30 bring to mind a question. Are mods able to see original posts, or do they get expunged when someone goes back and edits them?

I imagine the edits are permanent so as to reflect the expressed intention of the person editing, at which point the message is no longer KGB-able by crackpot false flaggers claiming psychic ability.

Tue, 2013-05-28 18:46

#36

6079_Smith_W

Hey maybe we could use one of these webscrapers

http://m.vice.com/en_ca/read/the-facebook-comments-mayor-fords-staffers-...

Or someone who cares and has lots of time on their hands to do endless screen grabs.

Tue, 2013-05-28 19:22

#37

Fidel

Only moderators can delete other peoples messages. And if they don't want us editing our own messages, then there must be a way to turn off that feature without resorting to writing babble apps. I could scab together such an app using php, js and maybe mysql, but what a terrible waste of time it would be.

Tue, 2013-05-28 19:46

#38

6079_Smith_W

Indeed.

Most of us have better things to worry about than cowardly trolls who post insults then go back and remove them before they think they'll get caught.

Tue, 2013-05-28 21:18

#39

Ken Burch

Can somebody tell me what the "offensive post" flag actually looks like?

Is it the Red Ensign with the Union Jack replaced by the words "That's Offensive"?

Does it have the same design on both sides?

And on which occasions is it flown upside down or lowered to half-mast?

Tue, 2013-05-28 21:40

#40

Fidel

Bloodhounds are under the illusion that I edited a post because I was too cowardly to let live some imaginary insult directed at them. And that is not the case, trust me. They imagine that everything must be about them, their's and themselves. Some of us are like adolescents in that regard. We sometimes revert to childhood in thinking everyone is observing us because we are too interesting to ignore. It's sad really.

Tue, 2013-05-28 22:45

#41

6079_Smith_W

Um. I was actually resonding to ODA's post and yours after it. I have no idea if anything was edited at all (though going back and looking at it, kudos to Bacchus for the fake out).

And I was making a general comment, because I'm sure most of us have seen that kind of cowardly behaviour in earnest here and there on the internet.

Though I don't think any discussion of offense is complete with Stephen Fry's inspired take on it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-IX69mjpcA

Tue, 2013-05-28 23:28

#42

Fidel

Okay I'll respond to this one as it appears directed at me.

6079_Smith_W wrote:

Indeed.

Most of us have better things to worry about than cowardly trolls who post insults then go back and remove them before they think they'll get caught.

Apparently you don't have better things to worry about if suggesting that editing one's own posts is exactly the same as Rob Ford's damage control team nuking facebook comments to prop-up Ford's image for the sake of political expediency.

I am not the mayor of a major Canadian city attempting to cover-up a bizarro crack cocaine smoking incident.

Your obssession with me and my posts has become tiresome, like that time you tried accusing me of making anti-Semitic remarks on babble because you didn't appreciate me discussing banksterism in America and Canada. Remember that? Do you remember backing off because you'd suddenly realized that not only did Google not support your accusation, you'd deliberately taken my words out of context for reasons of settling some adolescent vendetta.

Who's a sniveling coward who lays in wait for the pounce, Smith? Would that be you?

Tue, 2013-05-28 23:58

#43

6079_Smith_W

Well perhaps you feel implicated but in fact I was talking about times I have seen it done in the past. And to be honest, I don't tend to call people for erasing insults. I just don't like it.

Can you remember even one time I have called you on it?

(and no, that is not an accusation)

Fidel wrote:

Do you remember backing off because you'd suddenly realized that not only did Google not support your accusation, you'd deliberately taken my words out of context for reasons of settling some adolescent vendetta.

That was what, a few years ago now, Fidel? But no, as a matter of fact you're making that up. I don't much care, but if you're hell bent you can probably go find the thread and carry on there.

Wed, 2013-05-29 00:04

#44

Catchfire

Ok ha ha ha we've all had a good laugh now knock off this micro-feud. Let's keep this thread at least moderately serviceable, yes?

Wed, 2013-05-29 00:05

#45

Fidel

No need. You offered no apology for your false flag accusation and weren't man enough to admit you were wrong. And although they did nothing to defend me as per usual, our indecisive mods at the time didn't back you up, either. I have no desire to revisit that thread which you gladio'd with bizarro accusations, thank you very little.

Wed, 2013-05-29 00:06

#46

Fidel

gavel smack ... Aye aye, mon capitaine.

Wed, 2013-05-29 00:10

#47

6079_Smith_W

Damn..... And here I was hoping to hear the voice of god.

Wed, 2013-05-29 07:08

#48

Caissa

I participate on another discusion group where you have a 30 second window after posting in which to make any edits. After that the historical record is preserved for posterity.

Wed, 2013-05-29 09:39

#49

6079_Smith_W

And of course on Facebook, you can go back and see any edits.

Thu, 2013-05-30 10:45

#50

MegB

Bacchus wrote:

I take great pride in crackpottery

Flagged for turning a noun into a verb.

Thu, 2013-05-30 11:39

#51

kropotkin1951

Isn't that what you call ceramic pipes?

Contacting moderators/ What Happens when you "flag post as offensive"

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