You're next... Report button

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The report button is not fit for purpose, it has the potential to divide the mob, the focus is not on progress or resolution it's on fostering a climate of in-fighting...

I agree with others that cliques are forming... not good for a community of people already sensitive to exclusion.
Could exclusion be in theory considered a trigger? Or is the trigger concept just for a particular sub set?

Three well written complaints and a long term member gets the thumbs down.

Be careful with your words, self censor, actually to be safe... Maybe don't post at all. Is this place only for a certain type of voice? Who is next?

I rarely use it, just for spam, almost never on regular users. I'd rather talk to the mods directly.

I think anything that is public and negative mark like that thumbs down, can create a competition to thumb everything down.

However as just a way to quickly communicate with the mods that is fine by me

People who threaten to report, then in my experience is contentious and they are using it becuase they don't like what the person has said.

However this is true with or without the button.

It seems reasonable to talk about it first, but that approach will vary too much between individuals.

I find it unsettling that exclusion is the outcome of the report button. A one size fits all approach to exclusion is an unsuitably crude method of behaviour management on this type of website, it's not the first time that I have taken issue with the potential to remove a long term member.

Agreed, and I'm also quite frequently dismayed when reading some of the stuff in the 'Moderator Attention' thread. All too often posts seem to get reported for little more than being expressed in a somewhat awkward or tactless manner, or simply for being 'controversial'.

^ if the post in the Moderator Attention thread is worded carefully then it must be dealt with accordingly.
The subjective interpretation of rules is always a challenge.

I wish people weren't so sensitive about other's opinions or those that disagree with them, but we do need a tools to help with spam, etc.

I think reporting should only communicate a problem, no additional automation.

Moderators then decide, to take it seriously or not.

I wish that people on here would stop using others as scapegoats and blaming others in general without blindly being inconsiderate of others plus the facts that are I do see this a lot on this site. I do wish that we could have more tools on dealing with the spam as well until a mod can officially get to it.

I think we need more mods on here to be honest, and who are very active on here and try to rectify situations and see what needs to be done.

That's just me though.

Its great that there are more than three mods at present. Its a thankless volunteer job and inadequate tools make it more difficult.

My focus is on the limitations the current mods have to work within, not on them. The report button is fine for obvious issues like spam/trolls, but for the interpersonal issues like personal attacks, taking threads off topic etc, there needs to be a different but low maintenance solution.

That could work.

Using the current tools, maybe have a mod guide for how to deal with people who over use the report button for interpersonal issues?

Any ideas?

AFAIK, all the report button does is flag the post for the mods to look at, it has no automated discipline function.

This is correct. Pressing the Report button does not ban members, it only flags the post for attention. There are four ways to report a post:

1) Click on the Report button. Only the mods and Alex know who reported the post.

2) Send a PM to the mods and/or Alex. Again, only they will know who reported the post.

3) Submit a post to the "WrongPlanet.Net Discussion" --> "Moderator Attention" thread. Everyone will see who reported the post.

4) Submit a post in the same thread as the post being reported (no cross-posting). Again, everyone will see who reported the post.

Reporting offensive posts is not just an option, it is a duty of WrongPlanet members. Report all spam and offensive posts. Just be sure to explain why the post is offensive and/or how it breaks the rules. It also helps to read the rules, and to review them periodically.

Link: WrongPlanet Rules

This has been a public service announcement ...

Well yes of course, I do understand that, funny thought though. There is a further information field, maybe that should have a reasonable word limit. Maybe 160 characters, I just pasted over 8,000 words into one to try it out.

I am sure that a person could submit a thesis size argument explaining why the post is offensive, if they so chose to. Though, I only report spam or obvious trolls, and not interpersonal difficulties I experience with another member, but that is my choice.

if anything, the report functionality is underused. If someone files a bogus report (where no rules are broken) we just ignore the report. So I don't think there's a risk of the feature being abused (other than wasting moderators' time with unnecessary reports)

Pretty sure the report button is for if someone is personally attacking you or others, so a mod can take a look at it and evaluate the situation and appropriate action to be taken. I would say its inappropriate to threaten to report someone just because you disagree or whatever as well as immature but I haven't seen a lot of people do that here.

So ideally if the report button was used more often you would need to take on extra moderators to deal with an increase in reporting?

Right. Obviously you can also report spam or other rule violations. Threatening to report someone is kind of silly because if the person violated the rules, the mods will most likely find out either way. A report just brings a post/thread to our attention sooner.