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.
How about flood with praise?
Abso-frikken-lutely Caissa.
And with praise, it doesn't even have to be sincere.
When the moderators post, you could add another checkmark, "Flag as awesome."
I think a "kiss ass" emote would be more efficient, logistically speaking.
I think you left the word "my" out.
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.
Thanks for the transparency, Maysie. I think Babblers knew bits and peices of it but that pulls it all together in one spot.
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.)
Thanks for the parenthetical comment at the end Michelle. Glad you didn't mistake us for a shy lot.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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...
Youre not serious.
Catchfire posted that 3 years ago. Are YOU serious?
ToMaTOHaHa? Throw My Tomato On High Heat?
I think he's pretty serious. I've gotten the "voice out of the whirlwind" response a couple of times...
That's his Job.
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.
or in this song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnaUvPoiTfQ
Sorry Caissa, but you leave me no choice.
Flagged as offensive.
*wink*
Doubleunplusgood, Winston.
I am serious. And don't call me Shirley.
It's a running joke between us.
Previous post flagged to moderator as personal attack