Corrective Actions

[JustAskJulie]

There has been a lot of question today regarding whether or not it does any good to report posts to moderators and what actually happens when that is done. So I thought I'd clear it up.

Whenever you use the "report this post" feature (which in my opinion isn't used nearly enough), a message is sent to myself and to whoever is the assigned moderator for that forum.

If it is a SPAM post that is being reported then most likely the assigned moderator will take care of it before I ever see the report.

When I get the messages I look at each one, most of the time the offending message (usually spam) has already been removed and reported to me by the moderator of that forum.

Spammers, while they are not completely banned from the board, do have their posting priviliges revoked as well as any ability to view profiles or use the PM/Email features of the board.

Other reported posts usually involve topics that have gotten out of hand. In those cases I examine them on a case by case basis. Often a post is reported simply because one user doesn't really like another user and therefore takes offense to everythign that person says (as we've seen in the last couple of days). If that is the case nothing happens. If, however, I view a reported post and can see that it is inflammatory and action should be taken, what I do is....

1. Email or PM the user who posted the message, letting them know what the problem with their post was.

2. In extremely rare cases we have removed posts/topics due to their extreme inflammatory nature.

3. Everyone is given a second chance simply because we have all been guilty of letting our tempers get the best of us on occasion. If a person is a repeat offender, they will be asked to leave on their own. If they don't they will have all or some of their privilges revoked.

Please do not feel that it does no good to report a post to the moderator. Even if the post that bothers you is from a moderator... I get all reports, so yes it still does have an affect. If you do feel that a moderator is not doing their job or is giving the board a bad image... feel free to email me and let me know what you think. I do actually pay attention to user comments. I don't always act on them but I do always take them into consideration.

I look at this site/board as not MINE but as a community that I happen to have started. I want to see it grow and succeed and I want all those who enter here to be able to learn from this site and to be able to enjoy it while communicating with others. If you aren't happy, I'm not happy. So if you have suggestions, post them. I am listening (well actually I'm reading but you get the point ).

[naughty A]

Julie

I have a minor question...

when I see a small problem with a thread... like a duplicate... same thread posted twice ... I report it ... in a PM so that they can be merged or one eliminated ... it seems too minor to report "to the Moderator" although that is the only person who can fix it ... After all it isn't SPAM or offensive... Does it matter which way it gets reported?

[JustAskJulie]

When you "report a post to the moderator" you are provided with a box so that you can enter a comment to let us know why you are reporting it. Please use it. In the case you mentioned, just include a note that it is a duplicate thread or post.

Using the "report a post" does a couple things.

1. It reports it to not only the moderator of that particular forum but to myself as well (doubling the chances it will get taken care of faster).

2. It saves PM space. Since we are limited to 50 PM's each at any given time, sending the note via the "report a post" which is delivered via email, saves that PM space.

[naughty A]

thanks... will do.

[JustAskJulie]

Evidently, I need to bump this one up as well. Yes, reporting posts does help. And, more importantly, YES the mods do do something about what we see. We DO NOT deal with issues publicly. We try to keep the forums a nice place to exist, dealing with issues publicly does not merge well with that ideal. When needed warnings or infractions are given and posts are edited or removed accordingly (to remove the offense from the public eye and keep others from thinking that that type of post or comment is acceptable).