Moderation is never discussed in public.
Whilst that's generally good practice, I must say: much of this topic is both
enlightening and reassuring.
particularly with regard to PRSI
I'm rarely there but when I was, for a while, I gained an impression that moderation was respectful of diversity, and so on.
if you see posts that you feel are violating the rules, report them and the moderation team will look into it.
If you wish to find out why posts that you reported weren't moderated, please use
Contact Us to ask the admins why. They'll be happy to explain.
EDIT:
Moderation FAQ
Hint
The signed-in view of
https://macrumors.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/requests is useful. It took me too long to discover the existence of that
list of activities (
activities also known as
requests), but when I did: its presence was calming.
The moderation staff works as a team, discussing the reports and coming to a consensus. Its difficult to have unbalanced moderation when we have such a diverse group of moderators.
What can happen is that someone is notified of a rules violation but they feel that we let a similar violation go. What actually occurs in those cases is that the moderation team is unaware of the other violation. The site is too busy for us to review each and every post, and that's why we rely on the members to report any violation they see.
I'm sure I'm repeating what the others say but I wanted to convey that we work as a team and we frequently discuss any reports that come in.
With an emphasis on
excessive business (too busy), I'm sometimes concerned that I report too many posts.
(In the past I was relatively happy to overlook off-topic content. Experience here, in private, has taught me to be much stricter. As far as I can tell, most of my reports do
not lead to edition or removal of off-topic content even when most of what's on a page is entirely off-topic but I always suspected that the site was excessively busy, so I choose to overlook the
apparent lack of reaction to some reports.)
I'm a retired moderator of this very forum and I can honestly say that the moderator team here does the job to the very best of their ability and is as fair and balanced as anyone could ask.
Everyone on the staff is from all parts of the world with varying life experiences, ages and cultures. In my years on staff with them, I've gotten to know them very well. Together they work on the issues of the forum in a very open manner (amongst themselves in the backroom) where everyone sees what everyone else is doing. There is no room or tolerance for one moderator to go off on their own and unfairly treat a member of the forum.
Most tasks are routine and taken care of quickly. Other times, the issue is more complex or sensitive at which point the team comes together to figure it out and decide the best course of action, or inaction if deemed appropriate. Sometimes, it takes a while, days or even weeks to resolve certain things.
The decisions they make are always done in the best interest of the forum and the members involved. That doesn't always mean they get it right, and if so, there is always a means of redress. Following the established rules of Contact with the staff, I've seen moderation reversed, apologies issued and wrongs made right after private discussions with parties involved. But, sometimes, members don't always get what they want and/or disagree on fundamental issues and that is the way it is.
The biggest thing for us all to keep in mind is that everyone is different and we all come from different backgrounds and cultures and sometimes issues can never be reconciled between them. At that point, its usually best to move on, remembering that we're all human, including the staff of MacRumors.
+1
The thread wasn't to discuss actual moderation, the thread was to discuss unbalanced moderation, i.e. moderation of
or
vs lack of moderation for
Whilst I didn't use the word 'unbalanced' I did, privately, use a comparable word.
If it helps to reassure other readers: in the Zendesk area, something from a couple of months ago reminds me that where previously I was dissatisfied, eventually I rated a resolved request as '
Good, I'm satisfied' with the following comment, which I'm happy to share publicly:
"I sense that deeper consideration has been given to recent feedback. Some of my responses have been less than calm
I apologise. When I sense inequality, I sometimes react badly."
Related
How is the "Common Sense" rule moderated?
Do not post piracy-related links in threads
and so on.
I do frequently see content, linked from discussions, that some readers might treat as piracy. Unauthorised redistribution of copyright material, and so on.
There was the temptation to report offending content directly to copyright holders especially when I sensed a combination of inequality/imbalance, plus mean-mindedness by some readers/reporters but I refrained.
Is it common sense to ignore a stranger's breach of copyright, if that breach is a well-intentioned and understandable response to questionable behaviours by the copyright holder? I don't expect written answers to that question (key phrases: diversity, excessively busy), but it
is a question that I ask myself whenever I choose to overlook such things.
----
Peace