First off, anticipating curiosity about the moderated response above: no negative mentions of anyone absent from the thread, please.
[mod says]
Great question!
The easy part: Yes, it’s very frustrating when a good response gets deleted just because it references moderated content. We hate doing that. Multiple posts are not a good alternative; you’re right, they’re generally considered annoying. What you can always do is send us a PM. We can copy/paste your answer (removing the problematic part) and send it back for you to repost. We sometimes do that proactively when we have spare time while modding a thoughtful response, but doing it for everyone all the time would be too much. So, whenever you feel disappointed about losing a response, please let us know, and we can find it for you.
If I (as the OP) found an answer helpful, why would it get removed if others don’t find it helpful?
Fluther strives for a certain tone. Success varies, but this place is still much kinder than your average comment section. If we had OPs apply their own standards and remove answers accordingly, the rules would be slightly different for every thread, obfuscating the vibe we’re aiming for and causing lots of frustration. While mods are definitely not infallible, at least we have extensive written documentation on moderation decisions over the years, plus the relative objectivity of not being the OP, the obligation of striving for fairness, the opportunity to talk things through with each other, and the knowledge that we might later have to defend our decisions. These five aspects seem to provide a slightly better chance of consistency. Of course, I might be biased (it’s likely).
What defines an “unhelpful” answer?
In Social, answers usually have to be quite hostile before they’re considered unhelpful (e.g., “What a dumb question”). We might also remove a jokey response that’s at the top of a thread, attempting to derail the discussion before there’s any opportunity for genuine answers.
In General, all answers have to be actively helpful. This means that any jokey responses are likely to be removed, as well as any dismissive answers (“Google it,” “TL;DR”) and ones that don’t specifically address the question (If the question is, “What’s a good cookie recipe?”, it’s not helpful to just join in with, “I love cookies!”). By posting in General, you are indicating that you’d like helpful answers exclusively, with “helpful” defined by The Guidelines.
I find subjective modding interesting. I don’t prefer it, but I know it is unavoidable; we all have biases. However, modding a grammar mistake vs. an “unhelpful” answer is different.
Yes, it’s different. If it’s any consolation, it very much doesn’t feel like we can just remove anything we don’t like. There’s fairly narrow definitions for moderation labels, and everything we do is recorded for Fluther eternity. We discuss questionable cases, and it would not be okay for any mod to remove a post without a clear explanation of guideline violations.
I hope this helped. If anything’s unclear, let me know.
@KNOWITALL
If you question them too much, you’ll be threatened with expulsion even if your logic is sound.
I’m really sorry you’ve gotten that impression. That genuinely makes me sad.
I’m sure it’s not very convincing for me to say that it’s not true, but…it isn’t. There’s a process for suspensions and bans. Since “questioning mods” isn’t listed in our mod guide as a bannable offense, we can’t suspend anyone for that. I like to think we’re also mature enough not to be too tempted, but relying on that alone would be unwise.
If you’re thinking we could just fabricate a reason for a ban, remember that established members always receive multiple warnings before getting banned, so there would be time to contact other mods or Ben if there were evidence of anyone silencing dissent in this manner. Warnings also always come with an explanation of how exactly the jelly in question is breaking the rules, and there’s ample time to then make different choices. We don’t ban people quickly. In fact, we don’t do anything quickly. One of the best and worst things about Fluther’s moderation is that it’s very slow.
So please, question everything. Dissent (when voiced constructively) will only improve the site. There are many examples of the Fluther community influencing changes to moderation practices, some minor, but some significant. You can find evidence of this by sifting through old Meta threads.
This is not a democracy by mods; it’s their way or nothing, sadly.
It’s not a democracy, no. I don’t precisely know how implementing that would work, but I do generally like the idea. At the same time, this is Ben and Andrew’s project. They wanted certain standards, and they decided that these standards would not be arrived at via the democratic process. They get to make that call, I think, just like you’re in charge of the rules in your house or business. But it doesn’t mean we’d ban anyone for disagreeing with us. They would not condone that, at all.
If we were truly power-hungry, we’d do almost anything else. Become bouncers or HOA presidents. Fluther is tiny, and there are all those pesky checks and balances at work. So honestly, modding is not a good outlet for latent authoritarianism. Though judging by this verbose proclamation, it appears to be a perfect role for exasperating night owls. Sorry about that.
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