...It's a handful of usual suspects that get reported and nothing done.
We try to err on the side of caution in any situation where the opinion expressed can be the member's true opinion. Trolling is posting something for the sole purpose of riling other members up and trying to cause problems. Quite a few post reports come in where it seems pretty clear that the member sending the report simply disagrees with the opinion being expressed, or simply doesn't think that subject X or Y should be allowed on MacRumors.
But even in these cases, where we believe the report only shows a difference of opinion, we discuss, note the complaint, and monitor the member if we see complaints that seem to show a pattern. Since trolling can be very subtle, and "good" trolls perfect the art of flying just under the rules radar, it can take time to have documented enough of a pattern to justify a reaction. Also, since moderation is escalated, we start off with reminders, then warnings - and other members don't see those. Eventually we do escalate to time-outs and finally a permaban, but like I say, we try very hard not to censor. We strive to let the contrary opinions be heard, even in cases where the member's rhetoric is perhaps not particularly advanced
(that is, in cases where the way the member words his/her opinion only makes matters worse).
And just so it's clear - we allow discussions that aren't positive to Apple.
One way members can help is by challenging
the content of suspected troll posts. It surprises us that members report someone for not backing up a controversial opinion with a citation/link to proof, when no one in the thread has challenged the member to do so. The rules clearly state that if you're asked to back up your statement with proof but don't do so, the moderators can remove your post. But unless a member challenges the statement in the thread, there's nothing for us to moderate. What we do see happen is that members start to name-call or insult the suspected troll. They start to attack the member and not the content of the post. All that does is put the focus on them, and not on what might be the real problem. So this is one area where member strategy would make it
much easier for the mod team to catch trolls with their pants down, so to speak.
One more thing. If you report a post and nothing was done, there's a reason. We wish that there were a semi-automatic response system built into the report system, because we would like to be able to give feedback when we decide not to act on a post report. We believe this would help members understand moderation better, and would lead to less dissatisfaction. But there isn't such a system, and it would simply be too time-consuming to write individual PMs in these cases. So if you report something and nothing is done, you can PM a mod or admin, or send a contact, and we'll let you know why we chose not to act. Since no moderation was done, there are no privacy issues that prevent us from being specific. You might very well get a response letting you know that we're monitoring the situation. In those cases, the more reports we get, the quicker we can build a case. I understand that it's frustrating not to see anything happen when you report. It's frustrating for us to spend so much time discussing post reports in order to do the best possible job, only to have members make comments about how we don't do anything when something is reported. So please trust us when we say that every single report is important where trolling is concerned. Trolling is a pattern, we need to build our case over time, and all the reports we can document are important. The alternative is just to ban anyone we suspect of trolling, and that would create an atmosphere of censorship. We're not gonna do that.
Feel free to ask more about this, the mods and I are happy to explain more about moderation and trolling. It's without a doubt the hardest part of the job, the one that we spend the most time discussing, and the one where members can help us the most. We are very very careful not to censor unpopular opinions, and sometimes that can mean that we allow someone who turns out to be a troll too much leeway. But we do try to get them in the end!
