Suggestion to mods on user administration

[shankarcams]

Let me start by thanking the mods for the rather thankless task they perform. Without their oversight this place would be the wild west.

I am prompted to make this suggestion based on personal experience yesterday. The suggestion is very simple:

1. When a user is to be banned, he should first be advised what he did wrong and given an opportunity to set things right.
2. A decision to ban should never be an individual mod's decision, always a collective decision of two or more.
3. It may be worthwhile to consider other action than "ban for life" for lesser violations.

If every single rule violation results in a "ban for life", without notice to member, on the basis of one single mod's opinion, that is likely to be seen as totally arbitrary and that, in my opinion, is as bad for the governance of the forum as violation of rules by members.

Trust this will be taken in the right spirit.

 

[captrajesh]

+1 to that.

I've joined this forum a year back and my routine has changed for good. We are a family and there are bound to be standoffs, skirmishes etc.

This is where the administrators should step in and sort out the differences rather than let them precipitate and result in unpleasantness. No doubt, open challenging of the authority of the mods should not be tolerated but why not sort out the issues till situation reaches such a pass.

Hope my suggestion is taken in right spirit.

 

[iaudio]

As far as the recent banning episode goes, it is yet unclear what the reason for the ban was,
Was it:
1. Because of posting OT on threads?
2. Or using profanity?
3. Personal insult?
4. Complaints from other members( if so, for what?)?
5. Challenging authority of mods?

I absolutely agree with Shankar when he says being a Mod is a thankless job, after all the hard work done one also has to get into constant unpleasant episodes with members.
But an amicable solution has to be worked out.
What about an infraction system as is seen on many other forums?

 

[HiFiVision]

Existing (older) members are always warned once (by way of infraction) and if they violate a forum rule again they get permanently banned. If a member is banned it is because of a violation of any of the forum rules. The banned member knows the reason he/she has been banned. It is not necessary to share this with every other forum member.

New members are banned or warned on a individual case basis.

 

[srinisundar]

Existing (older) members are always warned once (by way of infraction) and if they violate a forum rule again they get permanently banned. If a member is banned it is because of a violation of any of the forum rules. The banned member knows the reason he/she has been banned. It is not necessary to share this with every other forum member.

New members are banned or warned on a individual case basis.

As you also and everyone knows few guys read the whole set of forum rules and follow. Also quoting typically few guys read the whole set of 100page agreement which we sign while getting a housing loan. Everywhere there is an transparency is there for rules and we bind by that.

However when we or our friends run into an difficult situation, we should know on what page and what clause we got trapped, which will help others to have an caution. So my point is while banning an member, a sticky thread can be created(which can be locked by mod) and reason for violation by member and banning shall be highlighted, on which new members or existing members will exercise caution on the particular subject.

Every new member knows there is a lot information already existing this forum, whether they follow "search before post". Can they be served infraction notice and also their thread is not getting merged.. Thankfully our members have patience to reply to that too every time.

My point is there is no harm or nor it is a secret to publish "why an member is banned". By doing so there is huge possibilities the same will not be done by any other member.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

In principle, and with the experience of two years of moderating on a large forum, I agree with everything the admin team has said.

In practice... I don't find the forum to be such a pleasant place as it was a couple of weeks back.

Just feeback.

 

[sam9s]

[*]A decision to ban should never be an individual mod's decision, always a collective decision of two or more.

I absolutely so very much agree on this, before a ban is levied, it should always be collective decision, which should also be made transparent, so that the user and the fellow member know what caused it and it actually IS a collective decision rather then the mod in action telling it was collective .....

So my point is while banning an member, a sticky thread can be created(which can be locked by mod) and reason for violation by member and banning shall be highlighted, on which new members or existing members will exercise caution on the particular subject.

I welcome this suggestion, as i said any action should be a collective decision which should also be transparent, and sri's suggestion would definitely make things more transparent .......

 

[captrajesh]

I don't find the forum to be such a pleasant place as it was a couple of weeks back.

Thad, though I visit the forum almost daily, I do not read all the posts. Anything happened? Would like to know.

 

[gopib]

I absolutely so very much agree on this, before a ban is levied, it should always be collective decision, which should also be made transparent, so that the user and the fellow member know what caused it and it actually IS a collective decision rather then the mod in action telling it was collective .....



I welcome this suggestion, as i said any action should be a collective decision which should also be transparent, and sri's suggestion would definitely make things more transparent .......

I also second this. This is fair. Most of us do not read each and every thread and coming to know of members being banned etc, leaves a bad taste without the fullfacts.....

 

[santhosh]

Every one has made some valid points and at the risk of sounding cliche, I would like to acknowledge the efforts the moderators put in into what is clearly a thankless job.

From where I see it the recent issue was to do with "humour in threads" and "deletion of posts/threads" (I note that nobody is using names, so even I shall refrain). This had been going on for a while now spreading from one thread to another with only just one of the mods responding and fighting(?) to explain why he did what he did. IMO, this issue should not have been let to go out of hand. Like Captain Rajesh has mentioned, the other mods should have intervened and cleared the air at the earliest point in time....especially since it was felt that it was only that mod who had a problem with humour in posts and was deleting posts.

Also, I would like to reiterate the need for more moderators. While, it is impossible for mods to be across all thread, having more mods will increase the probability of issues being noted and resolved quicker.

 

[unleash_me]

...So my point is while banning an member, a sticky thread can be created(which can be locked by mod) and reason for violation by member and banning shall be highlighted, on which new members or existing members will exercise caution on the particular subject.

....My point is there is no harm or nor it is a secret to publish "why an member is banned". By doing so there is huge possibilities the same will not be done by any other member.

1. The sticky thread in itself might possibly be insulting to the banned member who was banned for insulting in the first place.
2. A counter thread might be opened to explain/defend.
3. How does it matter if its an individual or collective decision that is taken? Rules are broken, that's enough.
4. Editing need not show which mod has done it. Just an one-liner should be more than enough while editing; preferably from a joint mod Id.
5. Don't see the need for them to justify.

 

[gobble]

The idea of making it public about infraction and bans being a collective decision is good. In fact decisions to serve a repeat infraction to the same person should be handled by a different mods each time so it does not appear like a personal enmity. Mods can co-ordinate internally to make this happen.

Too many such episodes will lead to a script for another Internet age remake of the epic movie - Ban-Hur

 

[sam9s]

1. The sticky thread in itself might possibly be insulting to the banned member who was banned for insulting in the first place.

Sticky would not quote the words of the member that actually triggered the action, rather, just share the reason why the action was taken ......

3. How does it matter if its an individual or collective decision that is taken? Rules are broken, that's enough.


it does matter......every hear of Biased opinion, action .... , one can go wrong, two most likely wont.

4. Editing need not show which mod has done it. Just an one-liner should be more than enough while editing; preferably from a joint mod Id.
5. Don't see the need for them to justify.

No need to justify, why coz they are mods .... , anyway point is not weather they should justify, point is whatever action has to be taken should be collective of mods and should be transparent ......

 

[sam9s]

From where I see it the recent issue was to do with "humour in threads" and "deletion of posts/threads" (I note that nobody is using names, so even I shall refrain). This had been going on for a while now spreading from one thread to another with only just one of the mods responding and fighting(?) to explain why he did what he did. IMO, this issue should not have been let to go out of hand. Like Captain Rajesh has mentioned, the other mods should have intervened and cleared the air at the earliest point in time....especially since it was felt that it was only that mod who had a problem with humour in posts and was deleting posts.

THAT is what a collective effort, decision is required ......

 

[sam9s]

From where I see it the recent issue was to do with "humour in threads" and "deletion of posts/threads" (I note that nobody is using names, so even I shall refrain). This had been going on for a while now spreading from one thread to another with only just one of the mods responding and fighting(?) to explain why he did what he did. IMO, this issue should not have been let to go out of hand. Like Captain Rajesh has mentioned, the other mods should have intervened and cleared the air at the earliest point in time....especially since it was felt that it was only that mod who had a problem with humour in posts and was deleting posts.

THAT is why a collective effort, decision is required ......

 

[shankarcams]

As the OP in this thread, I will restate my point:

1. As there are rules for members, there must be rules for mods.
2. It is OK to depend on individuals in a small effort but as we scale, decision making must be rule and process based.

My OP was based not on some issue to do with humor (which also seems to have been an environmental issue that I was unaware of), but on my own account getting banned without notice and without explanation, then upon my enquiry, being told that I was a dealer, then my clarifying I wasn't and then my getting unbanned. And upon getting unbanned, a stern email from the mod advising me to stick to the rules.

I felt that had the mod concerned asked me whether I was a dealer BEFORE banning me, that would have been a better process than what transpired.

Hence, based upon my personal experience, my original suggestions to
- Advise the banned member why he is being banned (supposedly being done but really not). Nowhere have I suggested that the forum should be told about individual members being banned.
- Make this collective, as I am sure if two heads work together propensity for bias and errors comes down.

It appears majority of posters generally agree with this. I hope the mods are listening and that we can look forward to years of happy posting. Maybe we should close this thread before emotions get out of hand!!

 

[HiFiVision]

I want to thank you all for your inputs in this matter. Your feedback will be considered in this matter and we will look into how we can include your suggestions on user/forum moderation.

This thread is now closed!