Cleaning Up The Community

[Jimmy0]

im sure im due for a decrease then.

PM a mod/super and ask them how long you have to go. :)

[+Anarkii Subscriber²]

Im all for it :)

[Subject Delta]

I've always felt this same way about politics. No matter how hard anyone tries, if you have many moderators in that section you are asking for trouble. All will bring their own bias to the section and all will have completely different biases. There is no way you can get consistent moderation when you do that. Politics is such a tricky issue anyway. I've always felt it was best to have one good moderator that the main posters of that section can relate to and that he/she understands the issues.

Generally I get the impression that most of the moderators actually if anything seem to be a bit more lenient in the RWI and Politics sections because they understand how heated the discussions get.

[jdegree]

After reading 10 pages of comments, I have to add my 2 cents. It seems to me that a lot of you forget there is a 'human' on the other side of your monitor. Read, then reread comments before hitting the enter button.

[fix-this!]

After reading 10 pages of comments, I have to add my 2 cents. It seems to me that a lot of you forget there is a 'human' on the other side of your monitor. Read, then reread comments before hitting the enter button.

better stay clear of all apple discussion threads then. :laugh:

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

Those threads in the staff area about dealing with the GH certainly brings back memories.

Radish?

Indeed. I had some radical ideas. Some that worked out well, some that did not work out so well. :laugh:

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Indeed. I had some radical ideas. Some that worked out well, some that did not work out so well. :laugh:

Did I feature? :doctor:

[buckboii]

lol cool beans.

[Vortex566]

Of course you did! :p

Did I feature? :doctor:

[RadishTM Veteran]

Indeed. I had some radical ideas. Some that worked out well, some that did not work out so well. :laugh:

IIRC, those ideas that were thought to be too harsh should have been implemented :rofl:

I remember discussing the future of specific members (that I won't name here) with you, fun times indeed :)

Radish?

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Of course you did! :p

I've got a feeling I was one of the "kids" in this video and Radish and DL were Jay and Silent Bob :rofl:

Language

Edited January 5, 2010 by Fred Derf
DM to DL

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

^ Uhhh I meant DirtyLarry above, not DrunknMunky :p

[Wannes]

Good to see some more clarification and stricter guidelines to follow up. I've been here several years now - one more active than the other - and never experienced any problems with the moderation crew. I hope to keep it this way and good luck to keep on building an active, friendly and pleasurable community.

[Steven P. Administrators]

I just want to make a point about the automatic warning reduction system. This isn't an IPB feature, its a Neowin one. On a default install of IPB a warning sticks until it's manually removed, so thank us for thinking about that system for our members.

I will look into getting the period changed to 3 months instead of 6 due to the increased strictness of moderation that will be applied.

For everyone elses comments about fairness in moderation, yes Neowin is a party and everyones invited but we require everyone to stick to our house rules.

Also happy to see that the majority welcomes this new strategy.

[Phantom Helix]

I agree to, and I Promise to better and help make Neowin better to

[Tech-nerd]

quick question:

does the warning get off if u be good 4 a long time?

[Phantom Helix]

quick question:

does the warning get off if u be good 4 a long time?

Yes, I know it is big but read the whole thread it explains how the warns and the auto reduction system work

Lots of good info in here

[petrossa]

Ah the attention span of the young ones...... I remember the good old days when one read an entire book in a single session.

[Subject Delta]

For everyone elses comments about fairness in moderation, yes Neowin is a party and everyones invited but we require everyone to stick to our house rules.

It still bothers me that none of you are prepared to address the issue of how unevenly some of these rules are applied, even though several examples have been given.

I personally get the vibe of "just stop being naughty and do what you are told". Its a shame really because I enjoy posting here, we have some good members.

[vincent]

I just want to make a point about the automatic warning reduction system. This isn't an IPB feature, its a Neowin one. On a default install of IPB a warning sticks until it's manually removed, so thank us for thinking about that system for our members.

I will look into getting the period changed to 3 months instead of 6 due to the increased strictness of moderation that will be applied.

With a 40% level, i'd like to see it stay at 6 mos. It's a feature that is much appreciated, but reducing it to 3 months is catering too nicely to folks, you still gotta have some iron in that fist.

[Brian M. Veteran]

It still bothers me that none of you are prepared to address the issue of how unevenly some of these rules are applied, even though several examples have been given.

I personally get the vibe of "just stop being naughty and do what you are told". Its a shame really because I enjoy posting here, we have some good members.

What a lot of people forget is that we're only human, and yes, we do make mistakes.

Moderation involves a hell of a lot of judgement. If I were to show you a post, and asked both you and several other people, on a scale of 1-10, how badly a rule was broken, there would probably be a range of different answers.

Sometimes it also depends on the history of a user - for example, if a user has had 4 warnings for warez, I'd be more likely to warn them again for a minor rule break, as they've clearly ignored what they've been previously told. If that user has been here for 4 years with no warnings whatsoever, and makes a small slip up, I'd be more likely to send a quick PM explaining the rule, and asking them to watch what they post.

Remember that you can always PM a Supervisor if you feel a warning was unfair, and it'll get reviewed (you'd be amazed if you could see the amount of discussion that actually goes on behind the scenes). In the same way, if you see something which you think breaks a rule, you can report it. We usually (well, try to :p) deal with reports fairly quickly.

[Subject Delta]

Yep I agree, and I am not trying to single people out here (I wasn't actually warned in that particular circumstance anyway just threatened with a warn), but when I confronted the moderator with that fact, and pointed him to the thread where the other infringements where going on, I got a response of "just be grateful that you didn't get a warning" which I felt was extremely arrogant. As someone who has myself moderated forums for years I really do appreciate what you are saying, and I do apologise if it seems like I am needlessly picking faults, but personally when I have it pointed out to me that other people are breaking the same rules, I generally try to go back and correct that error. I do also appreciate that all of you are Human and have your own way of doing things, I just get the general impression that this issue is not being treated as something as real, and if you are going to start tightening up on the rules my personal opinion is that it should be.

Whilst I appreciate that my own warn level may make me look like a troublemaker myself, I have not been warned for a while, I am just someone that strongly defends my own viewpoints and, and one theme that has followed me in the 5 years or so of moderating and administration experience that I have on forums is that for members to respect you and believe in you, you really do need to be seen to be applying the rules fairly and consistantly.

Again, I do want to reiterate that I am not trying to pick fights and most of the moderators I come across seem like pretty decent people, I am just advocating the need of having a look at overall procedure, and saying that I feel if you are going to start to come down harder on members, that it would be worth having a look at your own procedures first

[forster]

What a lot of people forget is that we're only human, and yes, we do make mistakes.

Moderation involves a hell of a lot of judgement.

Really? Because earlier today I had two posts deleted within 30 seconds of me posting them, and fair enough the second post was a question as to why the first had been deleted, but in no way was the first post rude or breaking the rules.

And no PM, no indication of who did it or why.

No wonder people ask for more evenhandedness - I cant even PM whoever removed it as there's no log that I can ask you, so I suppose, in the spirit of everyone trying to get along together, exactly what am I meant to do about it? What's the point in me posting if posts are going to get deleted without reason, I might as well not bother.

[Fred Derf Veteran]

Really? Because earlier today I had two posts deleted within 30 seconds of me posting them, and fair enough the second post was a question as to why the first had been deleted, but in no way was the first post rude or breaking the rules.

And no PM, no indication of who did it or why.

No wonder people ask for more evenhandedness - I cant even PM whoever removed it as there's no log that I can ask you, so I suppose, in the spirit of everyone trying to get along together, exactly what am I meant to do about it? What's the point in me posting if posts are going to get deleted without reason, I might as well not bother.

Any Supervisor could have tracked your deleted post down and then either told you why or put you in contact with the staffer that did it. It isn't hard for us to find this information as we can dig it out of the cemetery.

Yes, the second post was deleted for questioning moderation in public. The mod who deleted it probably thought you should have PMed him directly without realizing that you didn't know who did it.

In those cases, find a Supervisor and we'll be able to figure it out.

Yep I agree, and I am not trying to single people out here (I wasn't actually warned in that particular circumstance anyway just threatened with a warn), but when I confronted the moderator with that fact, and pointed him to the thread where the other infringements where going on, I got a response of "just be grateful that you didn't get a warning" which I felt was extremely arrogant. As someone who has myself moderated forums for years I really do appreciate what you are saying, and I do apologise if it seems like I am needlessly picking faults, but personally when I have it pointed out to me that other people are breaking the same rules, I generally try to go back and correct that error. I do also appreciate that all of you are Human and have your own way of doing things, I just get the general impression that this issue is not being treated as something as real, and if you are going to start tightening up on the rules my personal opinion is that it should be.

It isn't always obvious to members how we do things and what criteria we use. If somebody said that they downloaded next weeks episode from some filesharing site then we'll warn them for advocating/endorsing piracy but if someone else says that they also watched next week's episode (without more details) then we probably won't warn them from it. Morally, they are likely equally guilty but we aren't here to enforce a moral code. We are here to ensure that Neowin is not regarded as being a haven for pirates. We are here to ensure that Neowin is not placed in a legal risk position by being able to say that we take every reasonably precaution to prevent our servers for being used for illegal purposes. Members often get bogged down into thinking that the other person did the same thing when, if fact from our perspective, they didn't. It makes more sense after you view things from our side of the field for a bit.

[forster]

Ill bare that in mind next time someone goes click-happy, I wasnt aware that there was a way to trace them. Thanks.