Unhappy with the moderation of the Covid 19 forum.

acequion · 20-02-2021 1:46pm #1

This post is to raise an issue I have with the moderation of the Covid 19 forum. I feel that mods Necro and Beasty, in particular, are inconsistent and heavy handed in their application of sanctions.

I have contributed hundreds of robust posts on this forum over the past year and have picked up a total of 8 sanctions. The most recent being last night where I received a two day forum ban for "being uncivil". I did seek clarification and request an overturn as I felt the sanction was excessive, but the ban was upheld. While I disagree I respect the mod's decision as final.

However, my "uncivil" post made reference to the many trolls and bullies on the Covid 19 threads. I realise that it's against the rules to mention trolls on threads, but the fact is that there are several trolls and bullies who spend hours each day posting inflammatory comments and attacking, bullying, patronising and sneering at other posters and they are doing this with impunity. I have reported several such posts to almost no avail. I received a ban some weeks ago for getting into a row with such posters, having tried unsuccessfully to report the posts before reacting to them. When I did eventually react I was the only one to receive a thread ban. When I discussed the issue with the mod Necro, by PM, he accused me of "playing the victim" by reporting posts. Last night in PM with Beasty, I was told that my record [8 sanctions in hundreds of posts] was "abysmal" and that "cards don't work with you." Given that on the Charter it states that your guiding principle is "not to be a dick," perhaps the mods might be more mindful of this principle when addressing users and observe a more reasonable tone, which in my experience is often condescending and derogatory, ironically the kind of tone that gets users into trouble in posts. I would also go so far as to question the practice of banned users appealing by PM to the issuing mod, as it amounts to little more than the user getting a dressing down, like a naughty school child before the principal. Hardly an effective strategy in conflict resolution with adults.

The upshot of all this is that I've lost faith in the mods to moderate fairly and consistently and without bias on that forum and now feel uncomfortable about posting there in future.

I reiterate that I'm not seeking dispute resolution, accept my current ban, respect your rules, but this is to express my dissatisfaction in the application of those rules.

Thank you for reading this.

Beasty · 20-02-2021 10:34pm

Just to clarify one point before I comment on the underlying issue here

You are not allowed to quote from PMs without the sender's permission. The only exception is when disputing a card or ban in the Dispute Resolution forum when PMs from a mod relating to the sanction can be posted without prior agreement

In this case I can confirm my retrospective agreement to your quoting from the PMs I sent you after issuing the 2 day ban

Beasty · 20-02-2021 11:33pm

Getting back on the issue you raise.

The Coronavirus Forum is incredibly busy. Indeed it's been the busiest in the history of the site. Those of us modding it also mod Current Affairs. Across the 2 forums we've had around 20,000 reports in the past 12 months (split pretty much 50:50)

Do we act against all reported posts? Absolutely not. It's actually a minority that end up with cards or bans. Sometimes we may issue an in-thread warning. Sometimes we may issue a threadban (there are around 120 threadbans listed in the OPs of the 2 main threads)

Are we consistent? It's impossible to be entirely consistent. We cannot discuss each case in advance. We do not have enough time. Mostly we are dealing in shades of grey.

Are we right? Not all of the time, but I like to think we get it right in most cases. Sometimes we will lift a sanction after discussion with a user. Sometimes we are given an apology and assurances over future behaviour. I will have lifted probably getting on for 100 (possibly more) cards and bans in the forum after such a discussion.

One thing we really do not like is posters telling us in-thread that someone is trolling. The statement may well be accurate, but that's our call, not a "regular" user's

From my personal perspective I've been close to the forum since it was created. Initially I tried to keep on top of the main thread. That became impractical as the full impact of this virus/pandemic became apparent. We rely on reports. I fully acknowledge I've issued more cards and bans than anyone else. Something like a third of all those in the forum. Equally though I've probably been closest to everything going on in the forum.

I've had a look through all the posts you reported from the forum. I've also had a look through all of your own posts that have been reported. And what I found was that nearly all had specific mod comments. Many were actioned - may be an in-thread warning, a threadban, a card or a ban. The scale of sanction is often dependent on the nature of any prior sanctions

Now there is always mod discretion. The best way to get the benefit of such discretion is to stay clear of issues in the first place. Many posters have managed to post on the site for many years without sanction. It's not that difficult to avoid trolling. It's not too difficult to avoid being abusive or otherwise uncivil. It's not too difficult to report stuff and leave the modding to the mods. One thing I can assure we are consistent on is not actioning posts that don't cause issues

acequion · 21-02-2021 1:37pm

Thank you taking the time to reply.

I appreciate a lot of what you say but I disagree on certain points.

I would like to point out that I fully appreciate that you mods are run off your feet trying to keep on top of things and it must be acknowledged that you do all that work voluntarily, no mean feat. Though I've been posting on boards.ie a long time I have to admit that I didn't realise that even the mention of trolls in thread was such an issue. I fully realise it now and will not repeat the mistake. However, the fact remains that the threads ARE full of trolls and bullies, many who appear to operate with impunity. And when I see myself and other posters getting sanctions resulting from altercations with such posters while they get off scot free I take issue.

You are correct when you say that it shouldn't be so hard to remain civil. And I also take your point that people could post for years on the site and avoid sanctions. In fact I've been posting since 2009 with few issues in all that time, however don't forget that Coronavirus is life changing for everybody so that forum will be different. Many people have had their lives destroyed by it and hence it's inevitable that posts sometimes get emotional. The problem arises when other posters become deliberately inflammatory. You say it's not too difficult to report stuff and leave the modding to the mods but there I have to disagree as my frustration arises from reported posts not being acted on. I had to endure a three week ban from one thread because my appeals to the mods fell on deaf ears. Was I wrong to retaliate and be uncivil in return? Of course I was and deserved a sanction, but the fact remains that there can be a lot of provocation and people are human. In my opinion the in thread warnings work best but I also realise that the mods cannot possibly follow every single discussion.

Anyway, those are my view. Once again thank you for the reply.

Unhappy with the moderation of the Covid 19 forum.

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