Going down

[MI5]

Until the mods on this site learn some manners, I will not be posting any further.

I'm not looking for an appology, or even an explanation - Just some common courtesy.

Not too much to ask is it.

I guess this will be deleted also 

[Anonymous]

Ok, Steersy steps up. 

I would like to put before I start that Leonard/Toby have been nothing but friendly, supportive and educational. 

The problem is that they can only moderate the forum so much. I personally think and I know other people agree that the forum has been allowed to self moderate itself to much. 

I strongly put forward the idea that two volunteer mods have some access to the forum..

Those people for me are Perksie. Jonsie and MI5.

P.s before any smart arse comments, pick two out of the three.

[Liquid]

I concur

Great idea!

[Anonymous]

Hi guys,

Good discussion here - I like that

MI5 - the mods won't send you a PM to apologise. It's not their mistake but mine, as they acted within their remit and I didn't clarify how to deal with these cases. That's been fixed now, but I'm very sorry that it's happened.

With regards to member moderation:
As you know, people are sometimes already confused with members being staff. If members start moderating, that becomes even more confusing. It also causes a split in the community in two and can cause very awkward situations.

Currently most content reports (when you click "report inappropriate content") are actioned within an hour, even at night. Personally, I think that's quite fast, but perhaps I'm wrong. Do you feel moderator action should be taken more quickly?

Cheers,

Leonard

[MI5]

It's not just inappropriate content that needs moderation. I would like to see a moderator with specialised knowledge appointed to each section to correct errors and inaccuracies we some in some posts.

I would also like to point out that there is no "splits" in any other the other communities I am involved with due to regular posters being moderators also. In fact is much more of a positive than a negative.

[Anonymous]

I agree totally with MI5. The stark truth is that faceless, nameless unaccountable mods are more of a problem than a help if you want to dispute thier decisions.

Having regular users "look after" the board yields much better results and user satisfaction.

[MI5]

So Leonard, that's 5 requests from regulars to allow some local transparent moderation... How open are you to a discussion regarding this change?

[Anonymous]

I tend to agree with both Leonard and you guys on this issue.

Leonard is right in the awkwardness that can arise from member moderation. Say one forum regular is trusted to moderate the forum, what happens if another makes a questionable post? Do they delete it and therefore make a divide in the users here or do they allow preferential treatment above other users in the community?

Also - having trusted members moderate means that they can be caught up in moderation and it would diminish how much they could help our customers on the community, which is the most important thing.

If Lithium forums allow it - my 2 cents would be give members above a certain rank the ability to automatically hide a post for it to be referred to a moderator. They can't delete it or edit it, therefore they are not moderators, they just hide it until it can be assessed. The hiding would be anonymous so users wouldn't know who hid their post and so no divide could occur.

[perksie]

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@Anonymous wrote:
If Lithium forums allow it - my 2 cents would be give members above a certain rank the ability to automatically hide a post for it to be referred to a moderator. They can't delete it or edit it, therefore they are not moderators, they just hide it until it can be assessed. The hiding would be anonymous so users wouldn't know who hid their post and so no divide could occur.

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Very good suggestion, I would be happy for this to be introduced, I really can't see unless it can't be done why this wouldn't work.

[Anonymous]

Hi guys,

We're always open to discussing every policy we have, including moderation. It's great to see everyone is so passionate about it.

We personally prefer doing the moderation entirely by ourselves, but since Toby and I are not batman and robin in disguise (I know, it's a shock! :D) and can't work around the clock, we need help. We currently do this with the help of the Lithium team.

The suggestion on doing member moderation until our team grows is definitely an option. However, we feel that for those few hours, such a huge shift in how the forum is run isn't justified and could potentially have a negative impact as well (awkwardness, confusion, etc). Last but not least, keeping moderation consistent is always more challenging with a bigger team that doesn't sit together.

I agree that things should be transparent and consistent. Although we've set up procedures for most situations, sometimes we run into things that don't work well. If you feel moderation should improve in certain situations, just give us a shout. We're always open to feedback. 

Cheers,

Leonard

[Anonymous]

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@perksie wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:
If Lithium forums allow it - my 2 cents would be give members above a certain rank the ability to automatically hide a post for it to be referred to a moderator. They can't delete it or edit it, therefore they are not moderators, they just hide it until it can be assessed. The hiding would be anonymous so users wouldn't know who hid their post and so no divide could occur.

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Very good suggestion, I would be happy for this to be introduced, I really can't see unless it can't be done why this wouldn't work.

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I like the suggestion, but as far as I'm aware, it's not possible. If it would be possible, we would really have to think about potential abuse and not publically naming and shaming members though.