Feedback on "Report Post" submissions?

Welease

Just a suggestion (hope this is the correct forum)... I think it would be helpful to give folks who report posts some feedback on the status of that report, and to amend the offending post if it has been abusive etc.

I understand it would involve extra work for the mods concerned, but it is somewhat annoying to see a post containing personal abuse (irrespective of who it is directed at), take the time to report the post, get no response and the post remains visible for all to view. I think it would be especially helpful in forums such as Irish Economy (for example) where calling anyone a "Troll" will result in an infraction, but reporting the post has no visible effect (i.e. posts still remain).

Your thoughts?

Dravokivich

Its a topic that keeps coming up.

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Theres no viable way for mods to do this.

Welease

Dravokivich wrote: »

Its a topic that keeps coming up.

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Theres no viable way for mods to do this.

Not with the current manual system, but it wouldnt be complicated to modify the syetem to automate responses..

An example, post gets reported, mod reads it report, and system presents several options 1) no action 2) yellow card poster with comment 3) red card poster with comment.. Secondary option 1) leave post 2) delete post..

Mod hits submit, system performs request and also auto PM's the person who reported the post with the details of the options taken..

A very simple outline obviously, but from a mods perspective it really shouldn't add anything extra work wise.

From a user perspective (which is why it probably keeps getting asked) it is extremely frustrating to have an abusive post left in place.

Zaph

The version of vBulletin that boards runs on is anything but standard. There have been many modifications made to it over the years so making a change like this isn't as straightforward as you might think it is. So that leaves only the possibility of a manual system, and as I stated in the thread that Dravokivich linked to:

There simply aren't the resources to start PMing people when action is (or isn't) taken. We very much appreciate people reporting posts, without them the site just wouldn't function as well as it does. However all our mods are volunteers and to impose on them the requirement to PM people to discuss their actions or inactions isn't really feasible, particularly as some people won't just accept the explanation given and will continue the discussion ad infinitum.

That said, an automated system wouldn't eliminate this element of the process and mods would still end up having long PM discussions with some people.

Welease

Zaph wrote: »

The version of vBulletin that boards runs on is anything but standard. There have been many modifications made to it over the years so making a change like this isn't as straightforward as you might think it is. So that leaves only the possibility of a manual system, and as I stated in the thread that Dravokivich linked to:



That said, an automated system wouldn't eliminate this element of the process and mods would still end up having long PM discussions with some people.

Well i think it's a shame that Boards won't look to implement a more automated method of handling both the reported posts from a user perspective and the effort required by a mod to handle the posts.
There is no point in me argueing that it isn't that complicated, as only someone looking at the change and analysing the current code can really make that determination.
I'm wondering how many reported posts are duplicates (multiple users reporting) because the offensive posts are left in place.

Anyway.. no point in taking up more of your time appreciate the response.

coffee_cake

Sometimes the offensive posts are left visible with a red card so people can see this is not acceptable
or a mod posts that the user was banned

however some still continue to report despite the red card being visible

MugMugs

bluewolf wrote: »

however some still continue to report despite the red card being visible

Cards don't show on touch.

Dades

You also leave mods more open to "reporter indignation".

People get upset occasionally when a mod doesn't agree that a certain post crosses the line. An automated response to say "No action to be taken" is more likely to result in a indignant PMs demanding explanations than quietly ignoring the post.

seamus

I have suggested in the past that there should be another flag on posts which a moderator ticks to indicate that it has been "looked at".

Of course, this could end up biting boards.ie in the ass when a libellous post is marked as "looked at", but still contains dodgy content.

Beruthiel

seamus wrote: »

I have suggested in the past that there should be another flag on posts which a moderator ticks to indicate that it has been "looked at".

When a post is reported an e-mail is sent to all Mods of the forum.
I think it can pretty much be taken for granted that reported posts, on the whole, are looked at by default.

minidazzler

Beruthiel wrote: »

When a post is reported an e-mail is sent to all Mods of the forum.
I think it can pretty much be taken for granted that reported posts, on the whole, are looked at by default.

Does a notification show up for the Mods in the drop down box under the username?

More a matter of interest than importance, because if any mod is like me they still have access to their e-mail they signed up with but have over 8 thousand unread emails and presumably they wouldn't be reading them. :pac: I know there is a reported post forum though, so it's a little redundant, but interesting to me...

Beruthiel

Beruthiel wrote: »

When a post is reported an e-mail is sent to all Mods of the forum.
I think it can pretty much be taken for granted that reported posts, on the whole, are looked at by default.

While you and other admins, mods and users like I might know that, would the average Joe/Jane Bloggs that use this site?

When I click on the report button a message comes up that says,
"This is used to report a post that needs to be brought to the attention of a forum moderator. Please say briefly why you reported this post, and the relevant moderators will consider if the post warrants any further action. All reported posts are recorded, reviewed and considered."

Perhaps it might be a good idea to throw in something like

"This is used to report a post that needs to be brought to the attention of a forum moderator. By pressing Send Report an email will be sent to all forum moderators so please briefly say why ---"

Sauve

I don't see why it matters so much boneyarsebogman- when a post is reported, if action is required, it's usually done pretty quickly.
The way I see it - once a user reports a post, they've done their bit and they should have nothing more to do with it.
Mods don't always need to disclose the reasons for their actions/inactions, sometimes it would be detrimental to the flow of a thread to do so.

tbh

Beruthiel wrote: »

seamus wrote: »

I have suggested in the past that there should be another flag on posts which a moderator ticks to indicate that it has been "looked at".

When a post is reported an e-mail is sent to all Mods of the forum.
I think it can pretty much be taken for granted that reported posts, on the whole, are looked at by default.

It's worth pointing out that only the reason for reporting the post is displayed in the email, not the post itself. So when someone reports a post and just says "obvious" it's quite frustrating

Frisbee

Dades wrote: »

You also leave mods more open to "reporter indignation".

People get upset occasionally when a mod doesn't agree that a certain post crosses the line. An automated response to say "No action to be taken" is more likely to result in a indignant PMs demanding explanations than quietly ignoring the post.

This.

I reckon at least 75% of posts that get reported in Soccer have absolutely nothing wrong with them and either:

- The reporter doesn't like the person who posted.
- The reporter follows a different team to the person they are reporting.
- The reporter can't take a joke if it effects them, but on the flip side is more than willing to dish it out.
- The reporter was recently infracted, gets the hump, and decides to report as many posts as possible in the hopes of starting a 'well how come I got infracted if these people haven't??', even if the posts are nothing alike.

coffee_cake

tbh wrote: »

It's worth pointing out that only the reason for reporting the post is displayed in the email, not the post itself. So when someone reports a post and just says "obvious" it's quite frustrating

Do people check the emails?

Princess Peach

I totally understand that mods aren't going to give feedback on every post reported. But I suppose if it was really important to the user who reported it, they could PM a forum mod and ask what happened? It would be up to the forum mods themselves then to answer. I'm not saying to make this a normal practice at all for any random reported, but I'm sure most mods would humour a user if it really was important to them.

I have reported posts that I felt were personal abuse for me, and sometimes I didn't visibly see any consequence of it. Now I didn't do any follow up, but I would assume if I had PMed a mod they would have answered me that maybe a warning was given via PM, or explained to me that it was not crossing the line.

I don't think there needs to be any formal change in the system, but if a user feels its important I guess its up to themselves to follow it up, and not the mod if that makes sense!

Super-Rush

Have you pm'd the mod?

You'll see this everytime someone has a problem with a mods actions or lack of. We encourage it

Seems like people would rather complain that nothing is being done rather than actually ask the mods.

Princess Peach

Super-Rush wrote: »

Have you pm'd the mod?

You'll see this everytime someone has a problem with a mods actions or lack of. We encourage it

Seems like people would rather complain that nothing is being done rather than actually ask the mods.

It didn't do anything about it. I was more picking up on the OP's point that the mod should immediately respond to all reported posts to the poster who reported them. What I mean is it should be up to the poster to respond to the mods if they want the information.

Welease

Super-Rush wrote: »

Have you pm'd the mod?

You'll see this everytime someone has a problem with a mods actions or lack of. We encourage it

Seems like people would rather complain that nothing is being done rather than actually ask the mods.

But isn't that at odds to what the initial responses to my feedback were (from mods)?

The initial indications seemed to be that mods were already overloaded and therefore did not have the time to delve deeper into further correspondance over reports (which i understand).. Hence the discussion on automation.. The follow up feedback from mods was around the issues of discussion via PM both being unnecessary extra interactions and leading to issues where reporters refuse to accept decisions (which again I understand and sympathise with). In short, no encouragement to continue discussions via PM.

It also missed the second (but equally important point) that abusive posts etc. were left intact without any modification (although I have seen some in certain cases be removed).

I also think your last comment is somewhat unfair considering that I have made the effort to come and give feedback on the way the system works here, and most other Mods seem to be discouraging further discussion of reported posts via PM's (and I accept their reasons why) despite your claim.

To be specific, I have reported a post previously and requested the removal of an abusive comment. If the process (and post) cannot be modified because the mods are overloaded and don't want 1:1 discussions with posters, then why am I being asked to PM multiple mods to get the post changed and drag multiple mods into the discussion when the original post could be amended and feedback given via the single reported post feature with far less effort from all concerned.

Super-Rush

Welease wrote: »

But isn't that at odds to what the initial responses to my feedback were (from mods)?

The initial indications seemed to be that mods were already overloaded and therefore did not have the time to delve deeper into further correspondance over reports (which i understand).. Hence the discussion on automation.. The follow up feedback from mods was around the issues of discussion via PM both being unnecessary extra interactions and leading to issues where reporters refuse to accept decisions (which again I understand and sympathise with). In short, no encouragement to continue discussions via PM.

It also missed the second (but equally important point) that abusive posts etc. were left intact without any modification (although I have seen some in certain cases be removed).

I also think your last comment is somewhat unfair considering that I have made the effort to come and give feedback on the way the system works here, and most other Mods seem to be discouraging further discussion of reported posts via PM's (and I accept their reasons why) despite your claim.

To be specific, I have reported a post previously and requested the removal of an abusive comment. If the process (and post) cannot be modified because the mods are overloaded and don't want 1:1 discussions with posters, then why am I being asked to PM multiple mods to get the post changed and drag multiple mods into the discussion when the original post could be amended and feedback given via the single reported post feature with far less effort from all concerned.

You initally asked that mods give you feedback on the status of reported posts. You were told that this isn't possible due to the volume of reported posts on a daily basis. However, if you have further questions as to why a post you reported hasn't been taken care of, then the best thing to do is to report the post again. If no action is taken after the second report then pm the mods of the forum and ask why. I feel that you are well within your right to pm any mod to ask why something hasn't been done.

In After Hours we don't remove abusive posts. We leave them there with a mod note that the poster has either been banned or that an infraction has been given. We also leave them there so people can use them as an example as to whats not allowed.


I understand your point and apologise for the tone of my previous post.

Princess Peach wrote: »

It didn't do anything about it. I was more picking up on the OP's point that the mod should immediately respond to all reported posts to the poster who reported them. What I mean is it should be up to the poster to respond to the mods if they want the information.

Sorry i wasn't singling your post out. I was just addressing the subject in general.

Dades

PMs from users following up a reported post aren't uncommon, and while I can't speak for all mods, I'd never leave a PM question unanswered.

So yeah, that option is always there for users who want to follow up.

Welease

I just saw a post with a Yellow Card at the bottom to indicate a warning had been given. I assume this is new?

A great solution and while it doesn't address the removal of abuse (which as discussed can be followed up via PM's to Mods), this is a great addition which really does fix the issues (as least as far as I am concerned)..

Well done, and Thanks

_AVALANCHE_

Welease wrote: »

I just saw a post with a Yellow Card at the bottom to indicate a warning had been given. I assume this is new?

nope, been used for years.