Are mods just giving up or is the reporting function broken?

ZX7R · 31-10-2021 7:44pm

What ever happened to temporary mods I can't remember the proper title.

I remember after hours had some at one point and the weather form had in the past during extreme weather events.

Could be an option to look at.

Gremlinertia · 31-10-2021 8:00pm

Until the utilities needed to moderate are in place the number of moderators makes no difference tbh. We are waiting on a few things just have no idea when they will be implemented. I'm finding the situation really hard to sit with, so I can't imagine how anyone else is managing..

31-10-2021 8:05pm

There is a massive undersupply of mods amd the process for appointment of mods is a shady and overcontrolled one

The site needs to accept it has to appoint a heap more of mods and for modding to get a lot more slash and burn

31-10-2021 9:01pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118099063#Comment_118099063

I assume the appointment process is "who do we like/who doesn't give us a hard time". Which probably leads to some Tim Nice But Dim types,.the kids who get average marks but 100% for attendance.

I do think, in fairness to mods, there are too many rules and some of the mods definitely don't know them and they miss the glaringly obvious stuff. One of the most ridiculous oversights is personal comments, I've reported some and they've been tolerated because they weren't explicitly abusive. Even though personal comments are always off topic and almost always trolling. You also have different modding in different forums, an acceptable topic title in one forum would lead to an infraction if buried in a comment on another.

Annasopra · 31-10-2021 9:18pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118098834#Comment_118098834

Yes

I guarantee it was tried across the board for 3 months you wouldnt have as many as 54 posts in one thread to deal with. Moderation done secretly between the person being moderated and the moderator doesnt benefit the site overall because its secret. This only started a year or two ago and was never done on the site upto then. Moderation isnt just about dealing with reported posts but steering discussion a particular way. Secrecy does not help that in any way. It doesnt show other posts where the lines are crossed.

Beasty · 31-10-2021 9:20pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118099063#Comment_118099063

There is little point in getting more mods if they are just going to be frustrated by the lack of modding tools. Indeed once that is sorted I suspect we will see many more mods back online. The new platform is clearly still WIP and I'm not sure there is much in the way of short term fixes to materially improve things

I do though keep my eye on Reported posts. I know that well over 50% of reports (across 2 forums I have specific responsibility for) are dealt with. I can also see plenty of mod activity across AH and Soccer which means we are getting to a very large proportion of reports. I'm also dealing with plenty of reports of spammers and the like

Of course that's far from ideal as many forums are not getting the attention they need and deserve. If anyone feels a specific forum is being neglected I am happy to take a look if someone PMs me about it. Again, in an ideal world we would get to reports quicker, but sometimes it can take a day or two to deal with some issues

From a personal perspective, and not speaking in my Admin capacity, I think we have way too many forums particularly for this platform, which I suspect was not created to cater for so many forums. It may be we start looking at consolidating some forums, which means we can then hopefully spread the mod load about a bit more by allowing some from some of the quieter forums to have wider responsibilities, helping relieve some of the pressures on the larger forums. However I suspect there are many other issues to resolve before we can start reviewing things like that in detail

Tom Mann Centuria · 31-10-2021 9:28pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118099337#Comment_118099337

No such thing as a bad idea I suppose but consolidated forums, why would mods want to mod forums that contains a heap of threads they have no interest in, with less help than they ever had before (from the tools)? And increase their workload. What enticement could there possibly be?

If I were a betting man, I'd guess you'd just encourage more mods to knock it on the head.

31-10-2021 9:40pm

I raised a number of issues recently

and got a response from @Boards.ie: Niamh on them

But to the point many have raised, it looks like mod tools have taken a serious hit and the overall situation is unlikely to improve for the foreseeable future but I'm hopeful

Beasty · 31-10-2021 10:00pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118099378#Comment_118099378

I know you have an interest in a number of sports. I also know you like the idea of each of those sports having dedicated forums. However there are some forums, including some in Sports, that under the new platform are getting next to no posts. So how about subcategorising some of these sports? Field Sports, Indoor (team and/or individual) Sports, Water Sports, Combat Sports etc. Then have a mod team overlooking all the related forums.

I'm a mod of Canoeing and Kayaking - we could not find a mod so I volunteered. I think I've been in a canoe once in my life, and that's not far off 50 years ago. We could put that alongside Sailing and Boating. Maybe Surfing. Then you have 1 mod team overseeing 3 forums. And you could add more. There are other examples. We have 22 forums in Recreation and Hobbies. 7 of those have not had any posts in the past 10 days. The likes of Collectables and Antiques has 8 threads on the front page with no responses. Most of the rest have no more than 5 posts. These forums do not need a lot of moderation resource, but all have dedicated mods.

And no, I do not have Rugby League in my sights!!

Beasty · 31-10-2021 10:05pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118099322#Comment_118099322

You seriously think mods should steer discussion of Current Affairs and Coronavirus in a certain way? These are currently the 2 biggest forums on the site. We only have time to deal with reports. And until we get some visible sign of mod actions, such as the prior yellow/red card system, I'm continuing to delete stuff as otherwise more things will never be dealt with

osarusan · 31-10-2021 10:08pm

The point on the visible/invisible moderation is that if somebody posts and calls another poster a wanker or retard or whatever, and a mod actions that with a yellow/red card (or these days, probably edits it with the words 'Mod: Yellow/Red Card', then other posters see that this is something that is unacceptable.

If it's simply deleted, or deleted with a PM to the poster with notification of a yellow card, nobody else sees that, and sees/learns what is unacceptable.

Tom Mann Centuria · 31-10-2021 10:17pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118099511#Comment_118099511

Rugby League, if I recall correctly never had a single reported post! And I'd hazard a guess to say I have been the only one to report anything since! (to request thread title changes).

Fully appreciate what you're saying but is it fair to say those example forums aren't ever going to be the issue, or generate more than half a dozen reported posts a year?

And therefore is there any benefit at all in amalgamation (in those forums you've used as an example).

It was always the usual suspects forums that generated the reports and I doubt it's changed, and they aren't forums that, imo, are suited to consolidation.

Pawwed Rig · 31-10-2021 10:23pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118098935#Comment_118098935

Mods don't really get involved with a DRP. It is the cmods and admins that deal with it.

YFlyer · 31-10-2021 10:53pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118099617#Comment_118099617

Thanks

01-11-2021 12:00am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118099617#Comment_118099617

How often do they overturn a decision, roughly? I presume, like any internal appeals board, there are some stats to demonstrate the efficacy of it. I've seen decisions held up on pretty specious reasoning, like a barstool lawyer citing "collateral* when it was clear he didn't fully understand what that meant.

Shield · 01-11-2021 1:06am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118098935#Comment_118098935

Hi.

Just in case you don’t know how it works, our Dispute Resolution Forum can be found here. Be sure to put as much information as possible in your post and mention that you have tried to resolve the issue with the moderator directly but this did not change the outcome.

From there, you can expect a Soccer CMod to review what happened and will give you a decision. If their decision does not change the outcome, you can appeal it to a site admin whose decision is final.

I hope the above is helpful.

Shield.

Quantum Erasure · 01-11-2021 3:17am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118099990#Comment_118099990

I don't fully understand what you mean, but I agree...

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118093971#Comment_118093971

I've said it before, but if they rolled out the responsive site that they tried a few years ago right now, I'd say it'd be welcomed with open arms

01-11-2021 4:20am

If the mod tools required are genuinely on their way, then wait.

If they're not, or the boards.ie team are doubtful they'll be implemented, or the functionality still won't be enough, or they won't be ready for ages, then maybe spin the moderation off into its own system layered on top of the site.

Pawwed Rig · 01-11-2021 6:58am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118099990#Comment_118099990

Not sure. You would have to ask the office. Personally I would say 30-40% of mine are overturned with 60-70% upheld.

It would probably be easy enough for someone to collate the figures by just reading the forum. There are not that many DRPs. I have had zero since migration

YFlyer · 01-11-2021 8:26am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118100159#Comment_118100159

Thanks for that. I don't mind be banned as the tin said. Just questioning why others don't and Mods playing dumb.

YFlyer · 01-11-2021 8:37am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118099617#Comment_118099617

Sorry, what is DRP? Directly reported post?

Gremlinertia · 01-11-2021 8:47am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118100362#Comment_118100362

Dispute Resolution Process

YFlyer · 01-11-2021 8:50am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118100373#Comment_118100373

Thanks. Hopefully disputes be solved. Seem to be inconsistencies with the soccer forum.

YFlyer · 01-11-2021 2:15pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118100159#Comment_118100159

Just went there. Limited to five responses.

Annasopra · 01-11-2021 3:18pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118099529#Comment_118099529

Letting posters know whats acceptable and whats not is part of the moderation process. Its not like I am the only person who has ever raised this in feedback. Im not. It has been said by others before.