Hi folks,

I just wanted to announce some very very minor tweaks that we've made to the moderation, and also our thoughts on the system so far.

First, the tweaks - we've seen a lot of topics that have been appropriately deleted, but for the wrong reason. For example, some deleted topics were duplicate topics, but had "Attacking/Insulting other users" as the reason for deletion.

We think this is because the default reason was "Attacking/Insulting other users" when nominating a topic for deletion. Lots of users, it seems, were just pushing the delete button without understanding that they had to choose the appropriate reason for deletion.

Given that, we've changed the controls so that you MUST choose a reason before nominating a topic for deletion. Hopefully, this will help ensure that the correct reason is provided.

The second tweak is that we've changed a few of the reasons that you can delete a topic for. Here's a quick rundown of the changes:

- We split "Drama/Pity-seeking" into two separate reasons: "Drama/Gossip about other members" and "Pity-seeking/Attention-seeking" because the two were not really related to one another and we wanted to make sure they were both clear.

- Added two new reasons, "Derogatory/offensive topic" and "Explicit/sexual/vulgar topic" to match the forum rules we've added

- Changed "Redundant/duplicate topic" to "Topic posted multiple times/Duplicate". Basically, some topics were being deleted because a similar topic had already been posted by someone else. Since we don't have a search function yet on the forums, we didn't feel it was appropriate to punish users for posting a redundant topic. However, we DO want to prevent people from posting the same topic multiple times - hence the slight wording change on this reason.


I also wanted to briefly talk about how the system is going so far. First, I wanted to clear up some misconceptions - some folks seem to believe that a LOT of topics have been getting deleted, and that some of those deletions have been malicious or abusive.

In total, less than 3% of topics have been deleted since the system was put in place. Of that, 2% was (correctly) for reasons like a duplicate posting or wrong forum. So less than 1% of topics are being deleted for reasons that are content related, i.e. attacking other users, drama, etc. We have been reviewing all deletions, and while there are a few we did not agree with, for the most part it seems like the right topics are being deleted and the right ones are not being deleted as well. We will continue to monitor the system to make sure this trend continues.

Regarding abuse, to date, we haven't seen any evidence at all of abuse of the system such as trying to suppress a specific user's post. I think most of the suspicious have come from incorrect reasons. For example, a topic in the "New members" forum simply introducing themselves was deleted for "Attacking other users" which caused some members to think the system was being abused. However, that topic SHOULD have been deleted because it was a duplicate topic - the user had accidentally posted it twice - but the wrong reason for deletion was chosen. That might have led some people to believe that that user was being attacked, when instead, it was just a misunderstanding. Hopefully this will get fixed with the changes I mentioned above.

If, however, you do know of specific instances where you think abuse has taken place, please do not hesitate to let us know via the Report Abuse button or email. We realize that just because we haven't seen it doesn't mean it hasn't happened, but we want you to know that we have not been able to find any evidence of abuse so far.

Finally some folks seem to have been getting upset if a topic receives any deletion votes at all. For example, I've seen several posts where the user will exclaim "the system isn't working because topic X got nominated for deletion!". However, once the voting was complete, the topic was voted to be saved, which to us means the system IS working. It's designed to handle circumstances where people incorrectly vote.

So, please don't get upset if someone nominates a topic for deletion that you feel should stay. Instead, just vote to keep it! Your participation is critical to making sure that the system works, so please help us out by taking part.


Most importantly, we want you to know that we've been reading all of the topics about the moderation system and appreciate your feedback. We love to hear what you guys think, good or bad, so don't be afraid to tell us. I can't promise that we'll always take the action that you want, but I can promise that we'll always listen.

And the system is not set in stone. If it's not working, we'll change it. We definitely have additional modifications we're considering, or we may even replace it outright. But if we do modify/replace it, we want to make sure it's for the right reasons which is why we're continuing to evaluate it so closely.

Thanks everyone for listening, and please let us know if you have any questions/concerns. Hope you are all continuing to enjoy the site!

Thanks again,
Mike & Vanchau

Thank you for this site, there's wonderful people here...Keep up the great work

Thanx Mike...I don't see any problems with it myself...I think it's working fine so far!!!!!!!!!!

Hey Mike. I mistakenly deleted my account last night and now I can't participate in the moderation any more. Is that because of the accidental deactivation or is there some other reason?

Tom

Wow - this is a lot of work - you guys really deserve a drink -
here - hope it's ok to join you. Here's to all you hard work.

thank you make mike
u guys are doing a great job

still havin my doubts but do appreciate your involvement and willingness to evaluate fairly..


have a nice weekend

cheers mate.!!!!

there must be some kind of filter, so topics can be checked before they come out to the forums, so we avoid the aggrivation

or i avoid the aggrivation however, u want to see it

Appreciate the update! I do enjoy this site.

thanks again Mike and Van