Fluther etiquette question. Is it ok to challenge the moderators?

I don’t think there is anything wrong with asking questions as long as you are polite and respect the answers that they give you.

I am still recovering from the beating they gave me in the alley behind the Waffle House. Now I wait before I say something silly in an answer.

Yes. But it won’t get you any where so why waste your time.

Sure. Pistols at dawn is usual.

I would hope that they can be open-minded and work with a poster to find a way to make the Question satisfactory to the Asker and to their interpretation of the guidelines.

I read on another post that someone else suggested that when compromise can’t be reached, to wait 8 hours for the mods to ‘change shifts’ and resubmit it then. I’ve never had Mod issues, so that’s my only advice.

Probably acceptable but mainly futile.

People email us (or PM us, but I recommend email as it will reach everyone that way) all the time. It’s not offensive, we don’t mind giving stronger direction. We would much rather get an email about it then go through four rounds of edits because you didn’t really understand what was we were objecting to.

As always, we’re human beings so if you’re polite and inquisitive instead of rude and demanding, we’ll probably be a lot more patient on working with you to make sure your question gets back up. Sometimes it takes a while to get a response from us—that often means we are talking about your question.

People even challenge quips that have been removed. And sometimes they are restored. Usually not, but sometimes.

Per @hearkat‘s comment: We don’t have shifts and strive to use the same standards. The Q might stay up a while because we’re all partying at mod-central or something, but when get back to slaving away, we generally catch them and pull them for resubmitting something in the moderation process.

@EmpressPixie Thank you. I basically just asked if they could be more specific with me about what they wanted me to do with the question. I don’t mind adding to it providing I don’t add anything that may sway peoples answers.

Incredibly important grammar goof/typo. We would rather get an email than go through numerous rounds of editing. Hopefully the email and PM conversation would make only one round of editing necessary.

“Yes. But it won’t get you any where so why waste your time.”

Needed to be said again.

Typos should not be an issue on a site like this!!
If a person cannot spell or is not up to speed with punctuation then so WHAT?
It could be that the person cannot spell through disability and therefore it could/should be deemed dicriminatory to pull any question with typos.

@F1 It seems to me in a world of spelling and grammar checkers it’s not so hard to write a legible post. My girlfriend is blind, and blind people are notoriously bad spellers because braille and print handle orthography differently, but she puts in a little effort.

I don’t know if it’s okay, but as they would probably tell you I do it almost every time. I have nothing against the moderators but sometimes I just need to yell at someone.

@F1 Typos in the Question is not acceptable and reflects a degree of ignorance to all who seem to accept it.

Typos can be really problematic. For example the above typo (mine) actually changed the meaning of my sentence, and thus I felt the need to clarify. Sometimes typos make it impossible to tell what you are trying to say.

Beyond that, you can get a spellchecker in your browser or, ignoring that, the mods are often willing to point out typos that you just don’t see in your Q. So really, there is no excuse for poor spelling or grammar.

In PM it is, but politely and with much lurve. Especially augustlan (She’s such a babe.)

I am surprised that this question was not killed yet.

I have never failed to get a courteous and helpful response to any question I have ever asked a moderator. I ask my questions privately. When I have been modded, I did not take a challenging stance. I asked if my revision was okay. Why assume, adopt, or provoke an antagonistic interaction? The mods are fluther’s best friends.

Only if you think you can pin them cleanly.

@Leanne1986 I don’t see a reason to challenge them. An email seems simple enough.

Was your question leaning to get a certain opinion? Did you rewrite it to make in more concise or clear?

I would advise anyone having trouble posting who is handicapped or for whom English is a second language to PM the mod staff and make them aware so they can help you. As mods our goal is to help.

In regards to contacting the mods about a question- yes it is acceptable to ask but please be polite. I pushed a question to edit recently and then reviewed my decision and then restored it after the member politely explained the question and asked me to reconsider. This is rare but yes it does happen. Most of the time we will advise you on what to change to make your question meet the guidelines or let you know why you question was rejected.

It is never personal. We never push a question to edit for spite or to be mean.

We just have standards on this site which make Fluther unique. This site works so well because of the guidelines.

“We just have standards on this site which make Fluther unique. This site works so well because of the guidelines”.

Thank goodness!

STANDARDS!!!!!!Hell!!! a display of foul language as posted in a previous question that IS unbelievably still up!!!STANDARDS MY ARSE more like double standards.Rolls Eyes

“I would advise anyone having trouble posting who is handicapped or for whom English is a second language to PM the mod staff and make them aware “so they can help you.””

Help “us” be more inline to your way of seeing things?

Why does that have a “sit in the back of the bus” feeling to it?

@ChazMaz Wow! I took it to mean they will accommodate people. are you a glass half empty fella?

I was a frequenter of Askville, where nothing is moderated until racial slurs, physical harassment threats, or serious invasion of privacy occurs. Fluther’s mods are kind, well-mannered, and usually give a well thought out explanation for their modding.

@SpatzieLover When I say challenge I didn’t mean start a war I just meant question why they have pulled it to editing. I did so, got great advice from @EmpressPixie and now my question is back up!

@Leanne1986 Hooray! but the word “challenge” makes me think “fight”

for the most part they’re right in the first place, so it usually doesn’t do any good, but I’ve always felt free to bitch and moan, it’s my fluther copeing mechanism for not contributing to the collective.

I’m starting to wonder why F1 is still here if there is such a problem with Fluther.

@ChazMaz I assure you I only meant to accommodate those who might be challenged and who want help.

@poofandmook My favorite thing about Fluther & my personal Fluther motto

Flag ‘em & Forget ‘em

@SpatzieLover: yeah but I’m in a foul mood today. I had to say it.

@ChazMaz, it doesn’t. It has more of a wheelchair ramps, Braille on elevators and ATMs, high and low water fountains, closed-captioning, handicapped parking spaces, multilingual prescription services and classrooms and election ballots feel to it.

I have a tough time understanding why people who think this site is unfair or offensive bother to stick around. They are not forced to be here and its not like they have a say in how the site is run. I can only think of two types of people: trolls or individuals with masochistic tendencies. If this is off base, someone please enlighten me. See ya….Gary/wtf

@poofandmook Why would i not be still here?

@F1 For the same reason I’ve flagged you on three separate Q’s: trolling

Oy, no fighting in the hallways, you kids.

I’m sorry, did I hear a troll? I distinctly heard a troll. And look! [points to the floor] troll hair!

Does somebody want detention?

What do you mean? “Q’s” is that not a typo?I may not fit or want to fit into your cosy little life however your remarks make me think that your Avatar reveals quite a bit more about you than meets the eye.
Furthermore your favourite thing about Fluther is “flag em and forget em*,thats rich!!!!!
It would seem that you do NOT have the power of your own convictions.

for being a website, it is awfully loud in here.

Yea, this is the question I just asked. And it got modded because the original question.

“Dark thoughts?”
Being a question.
Was not clear enough. As in, are these dark thoughts. I figured the question mark would have made that clear enough.

So I had to change it to, “Is it normal to occasionally entertain dark thoughts?”

I love you mods!

But sometimes, some of you can get too anal.

@ChazMaz I saw it. If I were a mod, I’d have modded it too ;D and I think it provides a thought provoking discussion

@SpatzieLover i refer you to my previous answer.

[mod says] Keep your answers on-topic and civil, please. Off topic chatter and personal attacks will be removed.

@EmpressPixie: Thanks for the clarification. As I said, I saw someone else make that comment on a related post a few weeks back. I had/have no idea how the Mod duties are divvied up.

I like the result of the Dark Thoughts question after it was modded. The problem and solution were logical.

In a generic situation (e.g. other websites), I think modding usually does more harm than good, because of the control-freak factor. I’d rather put up with childishniss I can see, rather than childishniss I can’t see. Normally.

But here on Fluther, the two times I was modded seemed reasonable, as well as the times I’ve seen it occur on others.

As long as we have intelligent mods (which they are, which is rare), then things will be fine.

And I like the fact that grammar is lightly moderated. If I stay long enough, eventually I’ll be moderated for something stupid, i’m sure. But overall, I’m very impressed with how this is handled here.

[mod says] Back to the topic, folks. Refer to the earlier warning, above. Thanks!

It’s ok to argue with the cop giving you a ticket for speeding in a school zone. . .

. . .but does it do you any good?

Listen to the Moderators. Always Optimistic.

Being a mod elsewhere: yes.

They are people too.

Do so, however, with tact AND reason.

How ironic, @BBQsomeCows. I have seen a number of your one-line throw-away posts this morning in several different threads, all strewing tactlessness like confetti, all over Fluther.

@pdworkin: Was thinking the same thing.

@BBQsomeCows Irony reigns supreme…Heh?

Ok, I’ve read the whole thread. (Is that the correct term?) The posts that were yanked make me curious. I’m still kind of new to Fluther. I was wondering why a sentence of mine in a comment had a line through it. That was kind of weird and it couldn’t be due to a mod because it happened when I clicked “Answer this question”.
The other thing I want to say is that poor grammar and spelling make my sphincter twitch and if someone is editing before I see something, I appreciate it. One of the worst things about Answerbag is the ridiculously appalling spelling and grammar. I see it a lot at my job with kgb_ as well. It is unbelievable and it is a real relief NOT to see it here. Thank you.

Hi @Trillian Welcome to Fluther!

The line through your text was because you used the strikeout on accident when you wrote your response.

Phrase Markup

emphasis → emphasis
strong → strong
whisper → whisper
strikeout → strikeout

To see how it is done look here

It helps to look at the preview box below to be sure your markup is working correctly. (Unless you are on a mobile device)

If you have any questions at all feel free to PM myself or any other moderator.

I am always getting censored by the moderators and even though they have always been polite I have never had any success with getting them to change their minds. Even when I quote the TOS and prove them wrong they won’t admit it (or at least they never have to me). But I definitely believe that if you are wronged, you should never take it lying down!