So as you know, we have a few moderators (including myself) that are currently doing their best to keep the forum a safe place:
@Steve92 @NewPerspective @C-sun @SassyRocks
I’ve noticed that there are people who keep behaving in a bad, rude or disrespectful way. They do get flagged and their posts get removed, but they just continue doing so a few days later.
As moderators we have a system in place. If we feel someone crosses a line, we send them out an official warning (you’ll see a red message in your inbox). When that someone gets their third official warning, we suspend them. It usually doesn’t come to this and we decide on how long we should suspend someone based on the circumstances.
The problem with this system is that it is easy to fly under the radar so to say. You could have your posts flagged and removed a lot, but as long as you don’t do anything major you’ll never get a warning. Flags need to be taken more seriously and there needs to be a way for them to lead up to warnings.
Going forward we are going to be closely monitoring flags. We’ll only look at valid flags - posts that actually broke the rules and deserve to be taken down. Every time a user’s post gets flagged and taken down we’ll look at his history of flagged posts. If they are too high in a certain period we’ll send out a warning. I’m not going to make the requirements public as I don’t want anyone gaming the system.
So in a nutshell:
- User gets flagged a lot because user is breaking the forum rules
- User will get a warning
- If user continues, user will get more warnings until suspended
This will add more of an impact to flags, which will help the community have a say in the community (other than just hiding posts). These consequences will lead to a more polite and respectful environment for everyone.