General Moderation Topic

I’m curious what it was about my post that drew a flag. The vague “go read the rules” didn’t help much.

That, my friend, is a mystery for the ages, like the Nazca Lines, the afterlife and disco. As a wise man once said, “Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.”

4 Likes

Not so much:

13 Likes

I don’t know specifics, but there were a lot of people who were speculating about people’s mental state in the last couple of days, and falsely equating general assholery with mental illness. That’s going to get your post flagged, hidden, and removed pretty fast.

18 Likes

Only kitty/puppy pics are immune. :cat: :dog:

5 Likes

Believe it or not, I’ve even had a post in Unicorn Chasers get modded.

Again, those are the terms that we each agreed to when we signed up to comment…

17 Likes

That’s a good point. It happens to everyone now and then. It’s best not to dwell on why it happened, and instead focus on avoiding similar comments in the future. Explanations might be nice, but they are not owed to anyone.

4 Likes

The purpose of this topic is to help clarify these decisions where possible. In the case of your recently moderated posts, we have a much stricter policy than most forums on making assumptions about individuals unless they have been previously reported, including mental state.

You can read more about that in the original topic about that policy:

15 Likes

Thank you for the insight. If I may ask, can we go ahead and assume that this policy also applies to “speculation” in addition to outright “assumptions?” For example, would a post to the effect of “Is it possible that she is suffering from bipolar disorder?” (which could possibly come from a place of concern) be treated the same as a post to the effect of “Damn, she must be bipolar.” I ask not because I want to go around speculating about these things, but just because it has become quite common these days (see the million op-eds diagnosing one Donald Trump), so I think it would be useful to clarify the distinction between speculation and assumptions, if any.

in general, a violation reframed in the form of a question is still a violation

17 Likes
5 Likes

I see. Thanks for a more useful explanation. I see how what I wrote could he interpreted as you did, though I certainly didn’t intend that interpretation.

3 Likes

I’m confused about the physics of hidden posts. I’ve had a post “hidden” by community flags, and yet the post is still being replied to, with quotes from my post in the replies.

I would have thought that if a post is hidden, it wouldn’t be possible to reply to it, or quote from it.

If it’s removed, the thread usually goes with. Hidden is a waiting zone for its final judgement.

6 Likes

until or unless a comment is removed by moderation, it can still be liked and replied to.

as @mclemens says, replies are likely to be eaten if the comment goes.

10 Likes

Is it just me, or is there a flood of newly-minted randos jumping on with “I like you comment :heart:” type replies?

14 Likes

Not just you. I’ve noticed two today.

14 Likes

I always hold out hope that some Boing Boing article or other has suddenly attracted the interest of a large group of ESL Happy Mutants, but this ugly world makes me wary.

14 Likes

18 posts were split to a new topic: Self-aware CAPTCHA overlords

Huh, no. Now I feel left out. :slightly_frowning_face:

:wink:

8 Likes