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Delayed approval of anonymous posts

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  • 21-03-2021 4:52pm
    #1
    DoozerT6
    Registered Users Posts: 2,589 ✭✭✭


    Hi there,

    This is a suggestion and not a criticism, I understand that mods are volunteers and moderating on their own time, but I have long noted that in forums where posters can post anonymously, there can be a delay of hours if not longer in posting anonymously and that post being approved. I myself posted anonymously some time back and eventually had to pm a mod to go in and approve a post I had made replying on my own thread TWO DAYS previously. It is frustrating to reply to someone and not have the reply show up for hours and hours. Is there any way that if an OP replies anonymously on their own thread that it can be flagged to moderators in some obvious way and a mod, any mod online at that time, can approve it in a more timely manner?

    Again, not a criticism, just a query/suggestion.
    Post edited by Shield on


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    #2
    Tokyo
    Politics Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 22,655 Mod ✭✭✭✭Tokyo


    DoozerT6,

    as a person who has moderated forums with anonymous posting here, I can understand your frustration with the delays sometimes. Mods do have one tool that makes them aware to a degree of unpublished anonymous posts in forums they cover, but there isn't really a flag for mods that *alerts* them to anonymous posts in their forum.

    I would say that two days is the exception rather than the rule though, and as you correctly pointed out, mods aren't always online, and things may slip through the cracks. for the most part, anonymous posts get approved within the day, though again, it can be frustrating for a poster who is looking for a more instant response. I can't speak for all anonymous posting forums, but the ones I actively mod, there is sometimes deliberation as to whether the content is genuine (anon posting obviously opens the door to a certain amount of abuse), whether the content is suitable or even dangerous. This sometimes requires deliberation between the mods of that forum to come to a consensus, and that can take time.

    I don't think your suggestion of allowing any mod online at the time to approve anonymous posts would work, simply because it takes a working knowledge of that forum to determine whether the post is suitable for that forum. For example, the LGBT forum (which I don't post in and as such am not familiar with the nuances of the forum) allows anonymous posting, and even as site admin, I wouldn't be comfortable approving a post there without first discussing it with the forum mods, who would be much better placed to determine whether the post is suitable for approval.

    Your overall point is not wrong though, and it probably will serve as food for thought for mods who mod forums with anonymous posting to keep a keener eye out for anon posts in their forum.


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    #3
    DoozerT6
    Registered Users Posts: 2,589 ✭✭✭DoozerT6


    Hi Tokyo,

    Many thanks for your nicely measured response. I do appreciate your points about mods from other forums perhaps not being familiar with the nuances of a forum they do not moderate, and also the need to perhaps discuss posts with other mods pre-approval.

    As per your last sentence though, a keener eye for anon posts would I think be appreciated, as anon posts appear in order of the time they were made, which may not necessarily be the last post made in the thread, eg an anon post may be approved hours later and appear on the previous page in the thread in the time slot it was submitted in. By then, the thread may have 'moved on' a bit and other posters may miss the OP's response to an earlier poster which could change the entire flow of the thread. Many people do post and then come back later to edit their reply as the OP's (moderated) responses to others appear upthread.

    I dunno, I guess there's no sure fire way to change this then. But thanks again for your response.


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