Political Crossfire Forums

Ueber here's an idea. Create a new group of "Administrative Assistants" for you and the mods. This group has access to the reports but can't act on them or anything. Their job is to review everything that gets reported and then organize all the information into a summary report for the mods who can use that to more efficiently address the reported posts.

Posters will serve as administrative assistants for maybe 3 or 6 months at a time. The posters will be selected by ueber and participation will be mandatory on threat of suspension.

And the "administrative assistants" will get less frustrated going through "marginal" reported posts how? It's also not that we're so overwhelmed that the job can't be done, it's more frustration with the time wasted on seemingly petty stuff.

I come here because for the most part the atmosphere is fairly cordial/civil, most if not all of the people who post here really have something to add to the debate. Yes sometimes things get heated and there are disagreements, that's really to be expected to an extent. Rarely do I see out and out nastiness or serious attempts of flaming/trolling, though it can happen. I'd rather spend time dealing with the real problems not every perceived slight.

If we started issuing warnings for every single thing reported (assuming the reporter really thinks they are a rule violation and deserves such) I think it would end up being a poison for the board and this community.

I nominate Philly for Hall Monitor.

Other forums have things like that. Don't know why uber is acting like it's a foreign idea.

In fact most forums that have those recruit their mods from that group. It's a way to put a mod on a probationary period to see if they're any good without giving them any real power. It lets the admins see how well the mods work with staff.

6. No excessive trolling and no calling people out for trolling. If you think someone is trolling, use the “Report” feature on the post in question. Let site staff determine if it is trolling or not.

Trolling has always been an issue for every forum I've ever been on. Some sites are very strict and some are very lax about it. Please understand that uebermann and I enacted this rule to ensure the site maintains integrity especially regarding political topics. Many sites I have been on go to extremes in enforcement with too much or too little. Our desire is to stay somewhere in the middle if we can to make the site enjoyable for all and not just a few.

Notice in the rule the word "excessive". A post here and there typically does not warrant disciplinary action and often when we see reported posts like that we ignore them and just close the report. Especially if the flow of the discussion is not disrupted. Just because someone says something you don't like doesn't mean it's a rule violation. Excessive means deliberately trying to derail the thread or disrupt the community.

Here's the accepted definition of trolling:

In Internet slang, a troll (pron.: /ˈtroʊl/, /ˈtrɒl/) is someone who posts inflammatory,[1] extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as a forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response[2] or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.

Using the definition above, add the word excessive in there and you are on target to what a violation of that rule is.