I think in the back of my mind, I knew this was gonna come up sooner or later.
OK, to understand why I created this thread in the first place, I need to explain some stuff that happened today.
Basically, to start, oppenheimer created a dumb joke thread in the Marketplace complete with a wonderful NSFW picture. After that, and I didn't actually see this myself, but IS also supposedly created a post in
this thread that was completely and utterly off-topic. After that, edify came online, saw those two posts and banned opp for spamming the marketplace with a joke thread that wasn't in HB and IS for spamming a thread with a completely off-topic post. Both posts were accidentally hard-deleted.
Opp's banning though and the deleted posts have opened up a whole host of difficult moderation questions for me that must be answered. For example, should joke topics in the serious sub-forums be constituted as spam? Should posts be deleted, assuming they're not bot spam or equivalent?
And it gets better. The rules have been debated back and forth. Others have called for someone's banning, saying they're "shit posting' even though they don't give a definition of such. Others still say to chill out.
Now, I've been looking at how the original totse was moderated. Apparently it varied highly as it depended upon the board and the moderators discretion. It looked like there were some rules though apparently. Unfortunately though, the Wayback Machine only has the SG rules it looks like.
Spoiler
These regulations will be considered, and failure to comply with these rules will result in an infraction or an automatic ban.
We expect your threads to begin with a minimum of two content filled sentences that inspire converstation or debate.
Things that are not allowed are:
---Single word/phrase threads.
-"Discuss"
-"Read topic title"
-"Post"
---Single sentence threads.
-"I'm so pissed! Grr!"
-"I just had breakfast. (Followed by pictures)"
-"What are your thoughts on the subject?"
---Threads with no valid initial content for discussion.
-"I am typing in this thread. You should try it!"
-"Look outside! Do you see what I see?!"
-"When this page gets to (X) pages, I will (Y)"
We require that posting in SG means considering several key points as to the understanding of the forum:
Consider:
---It is the role of the moderation team to decide what belongs and does not belong in the forum, and NOT the role of the regulars.
---It is the role of the moderation team to decide whether a misplaced thread should be moved or closed. As such, it is also their decision whether a thread not following these guidelines should be closed or deleted, and whether or not the offending user gets penalized.
---It is the role of the thread starter to engage the conversation, not the users replying.
---Your username cannot be Slag.
---These regulations apply to the first post in a thread, or the 'thread-starting' post, and not to the replies following, unless it were a deliberate tampering by the thread starter.
These rules are a cooperative decision by the moderation team. The rules can and will change at any time without prior notice. It is the right and privilege of the moderation team to enforce these regulations to the best of their judgment, both as a whole and individually.
Quote:
Originally Posted by XiPPiLLi View Post
If a thread starter started a conversation like:
"So hey, I was watching the news the other day, and I wanted to know you guys' opinions on the big blaming deal of the V-Tech shootings." And then posted "LOL JUS KIDDING META IS NAZI MOD OMG FEGGIT!!111" soon after, it would be against the regulations and constitute an infraction as spam.
If a thread starter started a thread that violated a regulation, then afterwards tried to begin a legitimate conversation, the thread still would not be valid, since it goes with the 'thread-starting' post.
If a thread started began a thread with "LOL Y U STAB ME", and someone else posted "IB4L" after it, it wouldnt matter, since the "IB4L" post was a reply.
Make more sense?
Quote:
Originally Posted by XiPPiLLi View Post
You can DISCUSS what you want here in SG, not just say it.
Its a difference betweeen a thread that reads "I'm tired." and a thread that reads "So I had to pull a double shift today because my asshole co-worker decided not to come in. Apparently he's sick, but I saw him with his girlfriend as I was coming to work today. So now, because of his dumbassery, I'm tired. Does anyone else have this happen?"
Save the single sentences for Half Baked.
Also, HB was apparently /b/ in terms of rules. What to make of this, I don't know. It's up for debate as to whether these rules really worked to the totse forums advantage.
Now, normally I would post this in H&S but in the end, I feel this is a decision I have to make, so this is more a statement than anything. How we moderate is gonna change around here. As to how, that's currently being worked on. Most of the blame for the confusion here though is mostly my fault, and I'd like to apologize for that. So, if anything else, there's gonna be more consistency around here.
