Forum moderation policy

[error]

I don't mean to be rude, but the only "moderation" I see on this board seems to be moving threads to other categories. I've been "online" since 1980 and this is absolutly the least moderated, moderated forum I have ever participated in.

When is the last time you clicked the "Report to moderator" button?

[MoonShadow]

I don't mean to be rude, but the only "moderation" I see on this board seems to be moving threads to other categories. I've been "online" since 1980 and this is absolutly the least moderated, moderated forum I have ever participated in.

I'm honestly offended.  Just because you might not like the "hand's off" moderation style of a predominately libertarian forum, doesn't mean that we aren't paying attention.  There's way too much volume for the number of mods to police all the posts, but that is what the 'report to moderator' button is for.  Even most of them are just one user complaining about another that s/he doesn't like, so very few of them are honest complaints from our perspectives.  If you don't like how we do things here, you're welcome and encouraged to start your own Bitcoin forum.  Trust me, we won't mind.

[Smalleyster]

I don't mean to be rude, but the only "moderation" I see on this board seems to be moving threads to other categories. I've been "online" since 1980 and this is absolutly the least moderated, moderated forum I have ever participated in.

When is the last time you clicked the "Report to moderator" button?

Day before yesterday, I think. I've clicked it a few times but have not noticed any action. Beides normally moderated boards/newsgoups/forums have little to no need of such a button. Yes I have moderated a few as well. Most moderators read their boards.

[Smalleyster]

I don't mean to be rude, but the only "moderation" I see on this board seems to be moving threads to other categories. I've been "online" since 1980 and this is absolutly the least moderated, moderated forum I have ever participated in.

I'm honestly offended.  Just because you might not like the "hand's off" moderation style of a predominately libertarian forum, doesn't mean that we aren't paying attention.  There's way too much volume for the number of mods to police all the posts, but that is what the 'report to moderator' button is for.  Even most of them are just one user complaining about another that s/he doesn't like, so very few of them are honest complaints from our perspectives.  If you don't like how we do things here, you're welcome and encouraged to start your own Bitcoin forum.  Trust me, we won't mind.

My sincere apologies sir, I did to mean to offend, merely (in my mind) stating an an (obviously unappreciated) observation in the hopes it might be taken as constuctive criticism. 95% or more of this forum is excellent. (Asbergers/autism is a bitch that bites me more than I care for)

[error]

I don't mean to be rude, but the only "moderation" I see on this board seems to be moving threads to other categories. I've been "online" since 1980 and this is absolutly the least moderated, moderated forum I have ever participated in.

When is the last time you clicked the "Report to moderator" button?

Day before yesterday, I think. I've clicked it a few times but have not noticed any action. Beides normally moderated boards/newsgoups/forums have little to no need of such a button. Yes I have moderated a few as well. Most moderators read their boards.

OK, you might not have meant to offend, but you certainly did.

You DO realize that this forum is far too large for anyone to read every post? Not if they have anything else to do with their 24 hours a day.

[Smalleyster]

I don't mean to be rude, but the only "moderation" I see on this board seems to be moving threads to other categories. I've been "online" since 1980 and this is absolutly the least moderated, moderated forum I have ever participated in.

When is the last time you clicked the "Report to moderator" button?

Day before yesterday, I think. I've clicked it a few times but have not noticed any action. Beides normally moderated boards/newsgoups/forums have little to no need of such a button. Yes I have moderated a few as well. Most moderators read their boards.

OK, you might not have meant to offend, but you certainly did.

You DO realize that this forum is far too large for anyone to read every post? Not if they have anything else to do with their 24 hours a day.

Me and my big mouth/fingers. My bad.

I will take your advice and use the "Report to moderator" button more often.

Good day sirs.

[hugolp]

I don't mean to be rude, but the only "moderation" I see on this board seems to be moving threads to other categories. I've been "online" since 1980 and this is absolutly the least moderated, moderated forum I have ever participated in.

I can attest that the moderation policy is deliberated. I am an anarchist but had other ideas on how to handle the forum, meaning more strict moderation, but I was told to let go and so I did. Now I only moderate the most blatant cases. Its the style that is wanted for this forum.

[Christian Pezza]

I don't mean to be rude, but the only "moderation" I see on this board seems to be moving threads to other categories. I've been "online" since 1980 and this is absolutly the least moderated, moderated forum I have ever participated in.

When is the last time you clicked the "Report to moderator" button?

Day before yesterday, I think. I've clicked it a few times but have not noticed any action. Beides normally moderated boards/newsgoups/forums have little to no need of such a button. Yes I have moderated a few as well. Most moderators read their boards.

OK, you might not have meant to offend, but you certainly did.

You DO realize that this forum is far too large for anyone to read every post? Not if they have anything else to do with their 24 hours a day.

I certainly appreciate your work and I am sure many of us!

Thank you for the good work!!!

Ps I guess our friend sincerely didn't mean to offend anybody but just say thinks in own way and of course could hurt.

[film2240]

What protections can I get on here if I'm being harassed by another user or if my reputation has been brought into disrepute because someone posts lies about me?cus I've been hassled recently and accused of things that just aren't true.

[Maged]

Whta protections can I get on here if I'm being harassed by another user or if my reputation has been brought into disrepute because someone posts lies about me?cus I've been hassled recently and accused of things that just aren't true.

Not much, I'm afraid. It is up to the users to resolve disputes, and it's up to the individual readers to determine for themselves who they think is right. If you are clearly in the right, nobody will hold the accusations against you.

[da2ce7]

I just want to put my 2-cents in.

Previously I have argued that this forum should remain as free as possible.    However, now I'm forced to re-consider my opinion.  I believe that we should be giving more power and discretion and trust to the moderators in this forum.

I believe that there is nothing more dis-hearting that limiting the powers that the mods have, yet still expecting them to carry out an effective job.

Overall the question boils down to 'do we trust the moderators or not’ I for one certainly do.  They have shown time-after-time to be very reliable and level headed.  Allowing the moderators to ban accounts, see the IP address, move and delete stupid topics, and the whole host of standard moderation powers would make this forum far better.  It also would be a vote of confidence in those doing the good work already.

@theymos, I really hope you can choose to empower your moderators, otherwise they will lose heart and you will not have any quality ones anymore.

[Christian Pezza]

Make a public viewable Trashcan board in Other so that mods can move all trash-topics to the trashcan.
The trashcan board should be locked for users to reply, only readable.
Helps to educate users and prevent more garbage, users can see what undesirable content is.

And if you want the board to be more serious you can create a "Humor" section so mods don't have to trash these, but just move to this board.

+1

[MoonShadow]

Being free and libertarian is good and all but allowing a platform to trolls who frequently make callous, vicious, and mean spirited attacks between members is ridiculous.  The forum should accept that there is a big difference between being heavy handed and the middle way response of promoting mature, rational, and responsible behavior on the board.  To not do that, in my opinion, is irresponsible and harms bitcoin.

Thanks for your input.  And note, if you will, that "callous, vicious, and mean spirited" is entirely subjective.  Subjectively, "in my opinion, is irresponsible and harms bitcoin" in reference to the style of moderation that the establishment has chosen to promote, could be interpreted exactly the same way.  Just because your not cursing, doesn't change this perspective.  And yet, you will not find a single mod here that would censor yourself over this opinion about us.  Manners would be a grand thing to have, but some members don't, and we simply couldn't force manners even if we had the time.  If you feel strongly about this, I recommend that you start another forum, with rules of your own liking, and invite a few of the early adopters to participate.

[Kettenmonster]

Reading this thread up and down, still puzzled. What is all this arguing really about?

> 1. Free speech - you can say anything as long as it is relevant and presented in a calm and polite manner.
Goes without mentioning, is self evident, any communication violating this rule is void.
Ok "relevant" and "calm" as well as "polite" are open to be discussed.
But this is a 90% to 10% or rather 99% to 1% issue. Just making up some numbers:
Of 1% being "censored" let there be 1% wrongly accused. So what? Wait until these numbers get relevant.
I am absolutely sure this forum will safely sort that out with ease.
Definitely easier than sorting out the hassle without this rule.

> 2. No zero value posts or threads, like "SELL SELL SELL"
Difficult to decide where zero starts.
But I heavyly rely an mods with experience to handle such difficult questions with ease.

> 3. No pointless or uninteresting threads.
Repeating 2. => same argument

> 4. No referral code spam
Makes life easier, posts have a number to refer to.
It is all written above, so leave it there. Repetitio non placet.
Be polite, don´t bore others.

> 5. No NSFW content
See 1. nothing really new here.

You can reduce the rules to:
Free speech - you can say anything as long as it is relevant and presented in a calm and polite manner.
2. to 5. are redundant thus help explaining the idea.

worth reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Theory_of_Communicative_Actio

[cryptoanarchist]

The policy to not remove anything worked when the forum was small. Now that we have thousands of posts a day, we can't afford 50% of them being junk. The moderators are now instructed to be less tolerant of low-value posts.

Some guidelines:

"1. Free speech - you can say anything as long as it is relevant and presented in a calm and polite manner."

So calling people "scummy fuck" and "sockpuppet" is polite and calm? I've noticed and reported people for this and there don't seem to be consequences.

[MoonShadow]

The policy to not remove anything worked when the forum was small. Now that we have thousands of posts a day, we can't afford 50% of them being junk. The moderators are now instructed to be less tolerant of low-value posts.

Some guidelines:

1. Free speech - you can say anything as long as it is relevant and presented in a calm and polite manner. Swearing, SHOUTING etc. make your post more likely to be removed.
2. No zero value posts or threads, like "SELL SELL SELL"
3. No pointless or uninteresting threads.
4. No referral code spam
5. No NSFW content

Yes, but who will moderate the moderators (who, from what I understand, work for free entirely out of a love of power)?  You need a voting system so the forum can moderate itself.  Democracy please.

Oh, Yeah!  That's why I bother, the POWER!

[Kettenmonster]

... You need a voting system so the forum can moderate itself.

Do we? I mean do we need a voting system?
Besides the issue of implementing it what issue is to be solved by that system?

[BadBear]

A voting system would conflict with the very foundation of the forum policy (free speech).

[BinaryMage]

Apologize if this has been addressed and I missed it, but is #5 still enforced? Seems a good amount of NSFW content goes entirely unmoderated. (Not stating that this is good or bad, just asking)

[MoonShadow]

Apologize if this has been addressed and I missed it, but is #5 still enforced? Seems a good amount of NSFW content goes entirely unmoderated. (Not stating that this is good or bad, just asking)

It is if I see it.  Where are you finding this NSFW content at?