Using this modded question as an example, why would or should responses in Social be modded off, other than spam, flame bait or insults to others?

[Mod says] Thanks for taking your moderation question to a separate thread. We try not to let discussions on moderator decisions hijack threads, but we’re happy to clear this up.

Many jellies do not know this, but it is – and always has been – possible for a comment to be too far off-topic even in Social. This is the case for posts which, rather than being part of a side discussion, are not part of any discussion. The post which was modded as “off-topic” in that thread is an example of this.

The two posts which were removed as “other” are two more examples of moddable quips in Social, outside of the ones you mentioned: One is a self-edit, the other was a repost of moderated content.

To fully answer your question, there are a few more comments which would be modded without falling under your headings. Posting personal information of another user without permission, for example, as well as quips a user asked to have taken down before they were responded to.

I’m hoping this makes things a little clearer?

Yes thank you, @longgone. I’m just confused because I know often on Fluther, there would be jokes about the frizzer, pancakes, etc. (which actually used to annoy me when a post would turn into that but….) and they’d be allowed to stay up. I know that’s what makes Fluther appealing to many. Those things (frizzer, pancakes, etc.) are very off topic obviously.

@jca I think all the pancake things will be modded off if they continue for so long that they risk turning the whole thread into something different from the original intention. Maybe it also depends on how serious the question is too. Threads like TJBM can have as many pancakes as possible while a thread about where to stay in New York needs to stay on-topic.

It’s like turning up to a kids party drunk, yeah it’s meant to be chilled out & fun, but draw the fucking line somewhere, give your head a wobble man

Why care? Get a blog if you want freedom. There are a bunch of mods and all of them are different and will mod different things. They are human after-all and have moods and so on. There are guidelines they should follow. But again, they are human.

If they were paid I could see getting upset. But they work for free and my god. They must dread waking up and reading all they email they got from this site while they slept.

I will chip in ten bucks a year so the mods here can get a paycheck. Who is behind me?

@jca Yep – if these are isolated comments, rather than part of a side discussion, they should be removed. If you see any, flags will help us find them. One off-topic comment is easy to miss – especially as we try to tread lightly in Social.

@johnpowell: I never said I was upset. Just curious. Nobody is attacking the mods.

@johnpowell, I am. I will.

@jca :: I wasn’t going after you. Just 20 years of interneting where mods are vilified and placed in a position that they can’t win hurts me. There is a reason I don’t know who the mods are here anymore. It is such a shitty thing to do they give up after a bit and have to be replaced.

.

Is an example of a modded response.
I’ve seen it probably hundreds of times during my time of Fluther, and I’ve never seen it modded before.

Any time there is inconsistency in rule enforcement you’re going to see questions and push-back. Does it mean we don’t appreciate the Mod for doing their largely thankless jobs? No. Is it an attack on the Mods? No.
But there is value in pointing inconsistencies out and addressing them. Maybe it’s as simple as the Moderators coming to a quick consensus? Maybe one user is trying to abuse the system?

Honestly, I look at push-back like this as making the Mod’s jobs easier. The more consistent the Moderation, the less question there is.

I’d think the last thing a moderator would want to do is make a bunch of judgement calls. Nobody wins. A little healthy questioning can sometimes help the Moderators iron things our among themselves, IMO.

Thank you, @ibstubro. Well said. I was thinking about this for the last day and how any question on Fluther in reference to moderation often results in people rushing to defend the mods. Curiosity and questioning does not equate to an attack and people coming out with pitchforks to say “leave the site if you don’t like it!” SMH

I made a flippant response on a question that is 9 (NINE) years old. It only had 4 (FOUR) responses. It was in “General,” but, then again, all the old questions were defaulted to “General” when they created the new categories.

Anyway, I made a flip comment. It was not insulting, not rude, not obscene, contained no foul language, and it was modded off almost immediately! I about fell off my chair!

I dialed 1–800-ASKAMOD, and apparently someone had flagged it! I mean, the only person who could flag it would be someone who was following the question originally, right? Or someone who, in a one in a million chance, came upon it that same instant. Looking at the 4 users who responded, I’ve never seen any of them before.

Here is the question.

I responded with, “Well, could do what my son did, and play tackle football with his buds, and designate the street as the end zone.”

BOOMGONE!!!

So very strange.

Woody Allen would make a terrible baby sitter.

I love lamp.

Let’s get back to the subject at hand, folks, which is refried beans.

I light lamp.

Lard is good. Bring back lard.

^^ Yes, those are excellent examples.

@ibstubro “I’ve never seen it modded before.”

You most likely have, because we do this all the time. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s done about once a week, on average. That’s a problem in general: As a non-mod, you don’t have the whole picture – so even decisions you would entirely agree with can seem arbitrary and nonsensical. We’re also not omniscient, though, so you might see something modded in one place that wasn’t modded in another. But that’s one of the reasons why flagging is useful.

And then, there are those decisions you would not agree with. You’re very welcome to point out inconsistencies, of course – in fact, we expect you to. In this specific case, there was nothing to discuss, because the guidelines on the subject are pretty clear. We do often have to make judgement calls, and I agree that a questioning community serves Fluther well. @johnpowell is right in that some of the feedback we get is not helpful at all – but luckily, we can rely on certain users to speak up for the sake of Fluther, as opposed to the sake of argument. We are always grateful for honest feedback, constructive criticism included.

@Dutchess_III if you click on General then click just below it on Active you can see the latest questions to be answered, so even very old questions, because they have been answered recently, could appear there. Go on – try it, you know you want to… just remember to choose a Social Question