MacRumors Moderation

[S.B.G]

I'm confused by your mention of a privacy policy as a reason for not disclosing the reason for the thread being closed. Considering these forums are largely [entirely?] anonymous, what is the purpose/significance of a privacy policy?

Although MR is anonymous (largely) there can still be retribution and bullying that can occur. I see it here from time to time and the mods are doing what is most prudent in keeping the forums a clean and pleasant place to interact. Not everything needs to be disclosed. There are cases in which doing so would cause more harm than if it's kept private.

Moderators constantly scream privacy legislation yet seem to fuel the fire of speculation on a more regular basis... This will probably be deleted and my account warned... Good bye my friends x

I have to disagree, the mods actually do their job quite well and mostly behind the scenes. Most questions of what they're doing can be found in the forum rules which they are asked to enforce. As for fueling the fire of speculation on things, it is exceptionally rare. But then again, speculation is what MacRumors is based on.

If we're not involved in something the mods are taking care of, let's not be busybodies and poke around. Let's all have a little mercy and grace so everyone can enjoy their time on MR.

 

[Doctor Q]

The reason we discuss moderation issues (warnings, time-outs, bans) only with the user involved is for their privacy. Remember that the purpose of moderation is to maintain the quality and usefulness of the forums by getting users to observe the forum rules. Embarrassing our users might encourage them to follow the rules but we think that embarrassing them unnecessarily would more likely be counterproductive.

However, if the user gives us permission then we'll be glad to discuss any and all details with anyone who asks. I know that I'd be curious if a friend of mine got a time-out. But it's so rare that a user gives us permission to share their moderation details with others that we know that protecting privacy by default is the best policy.

There's one case where we can't follow this policy, and that's with temporary forum suspensions. When a user is in "time-out" status you can see it in their user title. That reveals information about them (they did something wrong but they'll be back again) but we think it's better than the other two choices:

1. Hiding the information completely. That would cause other users to think the timed-out user was ignoring their questions, PMs, Marketplace inquires, challenges in the political forum, etc.
2. Using the vBulletin default, which would say "Banned" in user titles when users are temporarily suspended. We used to do that but other users mistakenly thought they were gone for good, and we'd get messages of concern or protest when they thought somebody gone for a day was instead gone for good.

Privacy protection therefore involves a tradeoff. That's one of the reasons that we send messages privately when we can (e.g., for first offenses or for minor rules). Because manually written PMs take more time to write we often use vBulletin's "infraction" system to send these private reminders, since they are not revealed to anyone else.

 

[singlestick]

Question on Forum participation:

Is there some special status or tenure required before you can post in some threads, such as Political Discussion, etc?

And I apologize if this question should not be posted here. It was the closest in relevance that I could find (using TapaTalk).

Thanks

 

[GGJstudios]

Question on Forum participation:

Is there some special status or tenure required before you can post in some threads, such as Political Discussion, etc?

And I apologize if this question should not be posted here. It was the closest in relevance that I could find (using TapaTalk).

Thanks

How do user titles work?
User titles are based on post counts:

Newbie => 0 - 29 posts
Member => 30 posts
Regular => 100 posts (minimum required to post in the Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum)

From MacRumors FAQ

 

[r.j.s]

Yes, you need 100 posts to participate in PRSI discussions.

 

[roadbloc]

Getter get posting.

 

[singlestick]

Yes, you need 100 posts to participate in PRSI discussions.

Thanks for the response.

 

[wordoflife]

I feel like moderation is really hit or miss on these forums but I don't really blame the mods. I dont expect them to go through and read every post - so that is why the report post button is there.

Sometimes it feels a bit unfair when you get in trouble for something everyone else appears to do, but if people started using the report post button more, the rules and guidelines would seem more streamlined ... not hit or miss like right now.

 

[Hellhammer]

I feel like moderation is really hit or miss on these forums but I don't really blame the mods. I dont expect them to go through and read every post - so that is why the report post button is there.

Sometimes it feels a bit unfair when you get in trouble for something everyone else appears to do, but if people started using the report post button more, the rules and guidelines would seem more streamlined ... not hit or miss like right now.

We (well, at least I) don't like this either. We of course try to be as unbiased and fair as possible but it's simply impossible for us to read through all 10 000 posts that are posted in MR everyday. We mainly rely on post reports, although sometimes at least I looks for threads which are more likely to cause rule violations (e.g. all iPhone vs Android).

About a week ago there was a thread in iPhone forum about moderation. I found it funny because people were complaining that our forums are moderated loosely and that there aren't enough mods and they don't care. I did make it very clear for them that what we need is post reports, not more mods. At that moment, there were zero post reports open. Right now, there are zero post reports open too.

Moderation isn't just our work, it's everyone's. In fact, I would say the root of moderation is in your hands, we just swing the banhammer (or BanAxe™ ). Every single member can contribute to keep these forums nice and reasonable by reporting posts.

 

[wordoflife]

We (well, at least I) don't like this either. We of course try to be as unbiased and fair as possible but it's simply impossible for us to read through all 10 000 posts that are posted in MR everyday. We mainly rely on post reports, although sometimes at least I looks for threads which are more likely to cause rule violations (e.g. all iPhone vs Android).

About a week ago there was a thread in iPhone forum about moderation. I found it funny because people were complaining that our forums are moderated loosely and that there aren't enough mods and they don't care. I did make it very clear for them that what we need is post reports, not more mods. At that moment, there were zero post reports open. Right now, there are zero post reports open too.

Moderation isn't just our work, it's everyone's. In fact, I would say the root of moderation is in your hands, we just swing the banhammer (or BanAxe™ ). Every single member can contribute to keep these forums nice and reasonable by reporting posts.

I agree. Basically, stream lined moderation can only happen if users take part in reporting posts because there's no way the moderators can go through every single post.

 

[mac.tastic]

there's no way the moderators can go through every single post.

Sure there is. There are so many mods on this forum there is no reason they can't. It takes 5 seconds to scan over a post and determine its content, if its in question it takes only a minute to figure out the context and if its appropriate.

 

[iBlue]

Sure there is. There are so many mods on this forum there is no reason they can't. It takes 5 seconds to scan over a post and determine its content, if its in question it takes only a minute to figure out the context and if its appropriate.

Pick a fairly busy forum and see if you can read every_single_post for that day. When you see what a monumental task that is realize that's even less than what you're asking.


I'm no great fan of the increased strictness in the rules here over what I consider to be trivial crap but I don't think the mods are particularly unfair or anything. It's not the easiest job and they're only doing what they've been told to do. Rather than take it out on them, perhaps people should question the rules themselves... though I wouldn't hold your breath on much change. Forums evolve, for better or worse; you can roll with it, question it, find yourself perpetually annoyed about it or leave. There's not much else a user can do.

 

[mac.tastic]

Nobody is asking all of them to read all of them. Good forums have moderators dedicated to running specific areas those people frequent.

 

[Typswif2fingers]

To be honest I rarely read the rules of a forum..

I always make an assumption that in forums, like anywhere else in public, the rule number 1 is fairly simple: Do not do what you wouldn't do in front of your mother.

If one treats those around with some reasonable level of respect and tolerance, one should really not have any issues with either moderation on forums, or with one's mother...

Having different ideas, opinions and preferences is normal, human... Its what makes us who we are.. I read many posts for which I think the poster should be slapped.. But, that dissipates quickly if one puts oneself into other person's proverbial shoes.

Respect and tolerance and the mods would die of boredom.. These simple rules of life, unfortunately, aren't always adhered to and the moderators are required to "pull their rank" and do some cleaning.

I for one reckon that a forum needs moderation... Then again, my mother always said it hurt her more than it hurts me when she slapped me... Never figured out just how... but I believe her.

 

[0007776]

Sure there is. There are so many mods on this forum there is no reason they can't. It takes 5 seconds to scan over a post and determine its content, if its in question it takes only a minute to figure out the context and if its appropriate.

Maybe they could if they were getting paid and didn't have a different job, but they aren't so it's too much to read every post, there is a lot of them. Personally I think the mods do a pretty good job on here keeping a balance between people posting whatever they want and making them a useful and friendly place.

 

[Hellhammer]

Sure there is. There are so many mods on this forum there is no reason they can't. It takes 5 seconds to scan over a post and determine its content, if its in question it takes only a minute to figure out the context and if its appropriate.

We have 26 moderators and 9 administrators, of which four handle post reports and other "mod stuff" by time to time. That means we have 30 people making sure the rules are not violated. Sure, there are several mods who aren't as active as some of us which is fine, you do moderation as much as you can, it's not something you have to do for a certain amount of time each day.

About 10 000 posts are posted everyday so that means each of us should read 333 posts, everyday. I can say that it definitely takes more than 5 seconds to read one post. Not all rule violations are clear, some insults cannot be understood without reading the post several times. Just skimming through the posts would lead us nowhere if we wanted to moderate every single post. There are also lots of long posts which may take over 10 minutes to read through.

If I give an average of 30 secs per post for thorough reading, that means I would spend 166.5 minutes, or two hours and 46.5 minutes just reading the posts here in MR. If I need to take actions, it can easily take more than 10 minutes to delete a post, issue a warning with detailed explanation and so on.

If this was our day job, I wouldn't mind reading posts for roughly 3 hours a day. However, since we are volunteers and do not get paid at all, we have to have real jobs to feed our families and such. This means it's quite rare that any of us has three hours of spare time and the desire to spend all that in MR instead of with our families or doing other stuff. We have lives too.

Besides, it's extremely exhausting to just read posts like a machine. Most posts are completely valid so it feels like a waste of time when you don't find any violations.

 

[rdowns]

We have 26 moderators and 9 administrators, of which four handle post reports and other "mod stuff" by time to time. That means we have 30 people making sure the rules are not violated. Sure, there are several mods who aren't as active as some of us which is fine, you do moderation as much as you can, it's not something you have to do for a certain amount of time each day.

There may be 26 moderators listed but quite a few are inactive. Seems the job does that to many.

 

[robbieduncan]

There may be 26 moderators listed but quite a few are inactive.

And some are still new and keen with fingers constantly hovering over the "ban" button

 

[d4rkc4sm]

Besides, it's extremely exhausting to just read posts like a machine. Most posts are completely valid so it feels like a waste of time when you don't find any violations.

i feel macrumors needs to put more rules in place so your time here doesnt feel like a waste of time

 

[WillEH]

i feel macrumors needs to put more rules in place so your time here doesnt feel like a waste of time

The mods don't get paid, nor so they have to be here all the time. Report post button is more than enough. What other rules can be added? This isn't a Play group.

 

[arkitect]

There may be 26 moderators listed but quite a few are inactive. Seems the job does that to many.

I always suspected as much.

And some are still new and keen with fingers constantly hovering over the "ban" button

There always seems to be a slight rise in bans/time-outs and post editing after the latest batch of Mods are announced.
Purely anecdotal, of course. *cough*

 

[soco]

Seems the job does that to many.

I don't think it's so much the job, but the nature of the website. Those of us who are hardcore regulars are so because we haven't lost the lust for Apple and the rumor-mongering inherent to websites like this.

It's totally understandable, and we see it every day, that someone gets distracted by life or simply gets bored with the scene.

I mean, it's hard to come here every day during work and have to read rdowns' crap.

 

[rdowns]

And some are still new and keen with fingers constantly hovering over the "ban" button

Yes, I've seen the over zealousness of some of the new mods.

 

[S.B.G]

i feel macrumors needs to put more rules in place so your time here doesnt feel like a waste of time

A waste of time? You're here on your own recognizance. If you're finding this site a waste of time it's your fault. If there are posts/threads that you don't care for, ignore them and move on. If you think they violate any of the established forum rules, please use the report button so a mod can review it.

As stated before the mod's are all volunteers and get to doing the job when they can. Adding more rules isn't going to solve anything. User participation and self-policing of the site is how it runs smoothly and also by reporting suspect posts to the mods.

 

[robbieduncan]

i feel macrumors needs to put more rules in place so your time here doesnt feel like a waste of time

I'm sure most of the people posting on here have either not actually read all of the Rules or have forgotten what they read as it was so long ago. Therefore adding more rules probably won't change much. The current rules are probably about right in terms of encouraging good natured discussion whilst preventing the abuse of this site and the people posting on it.