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After my last SN post the topic of moderation was brought up. Since its been quite awhile since we last openly discussed the state of moderation, I want to give the community a venue to discuss their feelings on it, and if the system needs further refinement. As a reminder, here's a review for how the system is currently setup:
- 5 mod points are handed out to at 00:10 UTC to users with positive karma
- ACs start at +0, users with karma less than 40 post at +1, users above that can post at +2
- You need 10 karma to mark some spam or troll
- Under normal circumstances, the staff do *not* have unlimited mod points, but can (and have) banned abusers of the moderation system
Please also review our SoylentNews Moderation Guidelines.
As always, we are willing to make changes to the system, but please post examples *with* links to any cases of suspected mod abuse. It's a lot easier to justify changing the system when evidence is in black and white. I also recommend that users make serious proposals on changes we can make. I'm not going to color the discussion with my own opinions, but as always, I will respond inline with comments when this goes live, and post a follow up article a few days after this one
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(Score: 2) by looorg on Wednesday May 20 2015, @05:08PM
Overall I think it's fine. There might be changes I would like but I could totally live without them. I'm not really sure what is doable change wise, I have never looked at the code. But since you are asking there are things I would like to change such as ...
Limiting the amount of AC posts; I assume the system knows who the AC is so limiting the amount of AC posts should be doable. There really isn't that much use for them, people are just using them to hide. I do it from time to time to, but I'd be willing to give that up. Sometimes I don't even know why I AC the posts. But I do believe it's rare on my part. Sometimes there is a valid reason to AC post but most of the time it just seems to be for people to flame others, people they don't agree with or they are pissed off with for some other reason.
Why is modification anonymous? Why can't we see who thought some post was insightful or interesting? That shouldn't really be such a great secret. I think this might also lower the amount of troll and flamebait modification if it was associated with people by name instead of just becoming a pseudo-anonymous negative click. I don't think or suggest this as some kind of name-and-shame feature but I think it would have overall beneficial effects.
Also for fun, remove the 50 karma cap. It's just a value really. Does it really serve a purpose to limit it? Why not let it grow, gathering points is "fun". OK I can imagine someone gathering lots of point and then going on a mad-spam-spree but beyond that.
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Wednesday May 20 2015, @06:39PM
When I post as AC the system does not know who I am. I post AC without login when posting from my employer's computer. I post with my account at home from my own computer.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Wednesday May 20 2015, @06:56PM
Because it leads to modding wars based on usernames rather than what is being said. The staff can see who mods what, and we do try to keep an eye on things to prevent moderation abuse. If you think that we have missed one, flag it up and we can review it.
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Wednesday May 20 2015, @10:19PM
In the frist post, I asked if we could have some stats on this:
The staff can see who mods what, and we do try to keep an eye on things to prevent moderation abuse.
How many actions have staff had to take, say, in the last month? Is the current mod regime causing too much work for the staff, or is it manageable?
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Thursday May 21 2015, @08:24AM
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Thursday May 21 2015, @08:46AM
No definitive stats necessary, just a rough assessment from an ed?
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Thursday May 21 2015, @09:13AM
I've only been involved/aware of 3 or 4 instances in the past few months where action had to be taken but, being a European, I miss a significant chunk of our busiest periods due to timezone differences. Therefore that figure could be very misleading and shouldn't really be taken as a measure of how big a problem it is. If I am not on IRC when it happens I could easily remain unaware of what others have been doing.
Is it a daily occurrence - No, I would say not. Does it happen enough to be worth considering - I would have to say Yes. But in the best traditions of anecdotal evidence and WAGs (Wild-Assed Guesses), that is as good as I, personally, can give you.
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Thursday May 21 2015, @05:33PM
Thanks, Janrinok! I see that once again it is your fault! WAGs will have to be good enough, I guess.