Forums / Maintenance / Report Problems

I’m bringing this topic up for discussion again, because for the past couple of days I’ve been lurking the comments of Confirmed, Submitted and Deadpooled entries, and I notice that a lot of people that are regulars in the comments section are a bit out of line.

Here are my issues with the community that comments on entries as of right now:

• Belligerency and antagonism directed at the OP of the entry. This is mainly a problem in the comments of Deadpooled entries, and Submitted entries that don’t “look like memes” to the community. It is a site regulation to be friendly, and attacking the OP’s value as a human is far past the point where I draw the line anyway. In addition, words like “faggot” are often unmindfully thrown around. I think that we should enforce prohibition of verbal abuse in the comments section. A life is not of any less value because of a terrible entry.

• Every now and then, I see people uploading Deadpool pictures to the image galleries of terrible entries. No matter how bad the entry is or how funny the pictures are, there is absolutely no reason to do this. It constitutes spam in my opinion, and it can cause hurt feelings on the part of the OP.

• I’m pretty sure that a lot of users know that the site’s moderation dislikes “+1” comments, but there are still copious amounts comments of the exact sort. I would give you a ratio, but there are too many entries with those types of comments for me to be bothered to count. So why do they do it anyway? I think it attenuates the original goal of the comments section. Saying “+1 deadpool” does not register as a constructive contribution in my eyes. If the moderators or administrators consider an entry invalid, they will add it to the Deadpool section. Alternatively, they could add it to the Confirmed section if they see fit, regardless of what the users say or think. The “+1” comments may have had value back in the older days of Know Your Meme, from what I am to understand (as in, back in 2009), but now they are more or less useless. The essence of spam.

This isn’t really a big deal, but when somebody bumps an entry to ask why it is trending, my blood boils.

Of course, I can’t fault the community for doing these things when they don’t have easy access to any regulations or guidelines concerning etiquette on the site. If a user visits the forums, the rules are stickied right on the General board, for all to see and (hopefully) follow. However, there are many users that post comments that I rarely or never see in the forums. If the rules are not easily accessible to that section of the community, then I can’t blame them for not following the rules.

To all those who are regular posters in the comments section of entries that might read this post: I understand if you get a kick out of seeing bad entries, I suppose. But is it necessary to act with such hostility and aggression, and to (essentially) spam both the comments section and the image galleries?

This thread’s purpose is constructive discussion about commenting etiquette, and how we could better our community by making an effort to improve on it.

Belligerency and antagonism directed at the OP of the entry. This is mainly a problem in the comments of Deadpooled entries, and Submitted entries that don’t “look like memes” to the community. It is a site regulation to be friendly, and attacking the OP’s value as a human is far past the point where I draw the line anyway. In addition, words like “faggot” are often unmindfully thrown around. I think that we should enforce prohibition of verbal abuse in the comments section. A life is not of any less value because of a terrible entry

Agreed. If you notice users who repeatedly do this, report them to a moderator. We'll look into it and can take action when necessary. Help is always appreciated.

Every now and then, I see people uploading Deadpool pictures to the image galleries of terrible entries. No matter how bad the entry is or how funny the pictures are, there is absolutely no reason to do this. It constitutes spam in my opinion, and it can cause hurt feelings on the part of the OP.

We remove those images as we see them appear, and notify the uploader that this isn't allowed nor necessary. Unfortunately this doesn't always stop them, and users keep trying regardless.

I’m pretty sure that a lot of users know that the site’s moderation dislikes “+1” comments, but there are still copious amounts comments of the exact sort. I would give you a ratio, but there are too many entries with those types of comments for me to be bothered to count. So why do they do it anyway? I think it attenuates the original goal of the comments section. Saying “+1 deadpool” does not register as a constructive contribution in my eyes. If the moderators or administrators consider an entry invalid, they will add it to the Deadpool section. Alternatively, they could add it to the Confirmed section if they see fit, regardless of what the users say or think. The “+1” comments may have had value back in the older days of Know Your Meme, from what I am to understand (as in, back in 2009), but now they are more or less useless. The essence of spam.

In mod only discussions, the staff requested we used those again, to make it more clear on what we wanted. But for entry comments, they're basically spam yes.

>Also implying we take "+1" comments seriously.

This isn’t really a big deal, but when somebody bumps an entry to ask why it is trending, my blood boils.

Join the club. Unfortunately there isn't a cure for stupidity, KYM really needs one.

To all those who are regular posters in the comments section of entries that might read this post: I understand if you get a kick out of seeing bad entries, I suppose. But is it necessary to act with such hostility and aggression, and to (essentially) spam both the comments section and the image galleries?

Doing so is a rule breaking offense, and if repeated can get you banned. Unfortunately mods aren't psychic, and plenty of this goes below the radar. Reporting users is really appreciated, as it helps towards making this site a more friendly place.

There are some ideas in the making to fix issues like badly accessible rules and similar stuff, but I can't share much information about this yet and much of it is also kept hidden from the mods. All I can basically say right now is to just wait and see.

Feel free to comment users on their (shitty) etiquette though.

• I agree that the comment section is pretty out of line when it comes to respect, but we've not really acted on it. Usually, we only take action when they are personally attacking the poster beyond the comments (e.g. wall posts, PMs)
• All I have to say here is that posting deadpool images in galleries in against the rule. It's basically spam in itself.
• You're right in saying that us mods hate it when people use 1s, but only when that's it. If it is followed by constructive criticism, that's great. But what annoys us the most is when entries are continuously bumped with "1 deadpool" or Deadpool images, in particular after the entry is already deadpooled. I know that some mods lock the comment section should it get out of hand. #

• At the risk of stating the obvious, action should be taken against serious hostility no matter where it takes place. Continuously ragging on the OP of an entry because their entry sucked is no different from writing a rude message on a user’s wall, in my opinion.

• I think maybe the option to lock the comments section is an underutilized one. If people are being abusive, then the comments section should be locked, as a site rule has already been broken: people were making an effort to make the OP of an entry feel bad for his terrible entry.

• Users that repeatedly act with hostility and spite should be reported and warned. I admit that I haven’t taken the initiative to look through offenders’ activity and check to see if they have tendencies toward antagonism, which is something I should probably start on.

In an inopportune scenario, if warnings from moderators and fellow users will not make an offender listen, then perhaps a ban will.

In the past we have locked the comment section for short periods of time to stop spamming and stuff. As far as keeping it locked for longer periods of time, that is hurtful as user contribution can be very helpful to the website.

As far as people being hostile and spiteful, reporting them to a moderator is the fastest thing you can do to get them to stop. We take that sort of stuff seriously.

That’s perfectly equitable. Locking the comments section immediately after an entry is deadpooled certainly will cut down on the abusive comments and spam, and after users have accepted that the entry is bad and moved on, the comments can be reopened for constructive contributions, because I should hope that the entry won’t be bumped by somebody who just wanted to post an “OP is a faggot” image.

I also take antagonism seriously. If I see any serious or repeated offenses, I will report a moderator or administrator with ban powers immediately.

Another option besides locking the comment section is just hiding the entry, but that is only done in specific cases.

The Duplicate Entry Thread is also a great way to report these things. Although the intention of that entry is to hide dupes or one image instances, we also hide "hai this is my fagbook friend" entries reported there.

I'll remind everyone that comments like this are actually against site rules. I've been issuing warnings to repeat offenders. That seems to work, for the most part.

I also make it routine policy (for me, at least) to lock the comments when deadpooling obviously terrible entries. If a user really takes issue with why I've deadpooled it, they can do a suggestion or request editorship.

I shall bring up once again; there is no direct link to the website rules in the Comments Section.

Complain all you want, but most of the people who use the comments section exclusively have never even seen the rules.

I say we do the following:
Step 1: Get the rules readily accessible.
Step 2: Enforce them with an Iron Fist.
Step 3: ???
Step 4: Better Comments.

Also, just to address the Comments Section overall, there is no consequences to being an ass there. The sooner we can give the Comments all the features of the forums (namely Karma), the better.

Like I said in my post, I do think we need the rules and guidelines to be easily accessible to that section of the community. I wasn't just complaining; I had a solution ready.

I think a large number of people on this site completely agree with you, Evan. There are some things which need to be rectified and have been for a long time, but haven't. Other things are more difficult to fix, but hey, that's because some people never learn.

"Be friendly. We want our forums to be welcoming place for both old and new users. Please keep your comments and posts constructive and considerate in tone. If you observe a user breaking a rule, try advising the user in the right direction instead of posting insults or harsh criticisms. If the user persists, contact a moderator."

I have warned and banned users numerous times in the past for being a constant dick. It might not be the easiest way to get a ban, but will get you there if you continue.

The sooner we can give the Comments all the features of the forums (namely Karma), the better.

The only difference on the topic of karma is that up and downvotes aren't shown on the profile. This thread shows that a problem a lot of users have with the karma system is the way they're handed out. As biased voting is a rather large issue, it would only increase the problem. Might lower the amount of fandom attacking comment though, so I'll give you that much.

Comments are comments, so I honestly don't see the need for those to have a reply feature. They're not a place for discussion.

I would yield from suggesting a “Comment Moderator” function; quite a feckless idea, considering the lanes of communication attentive users, moderators and administrators share. But something needs to be done about the poor etiquette the majority of the commenting community has. Like RandomMan said, we’re not psychic: I will not be able to catch any instance of aggression or spam in the comments section, nor will anybody else. I simply do not have the capacity or the time to do that.

I still think that the easiest way to go about the issue is to put a list of guidelines somewhere on the entry page that the commenters could access without quandaries. I understand that this task would be coming out of James’ time, but we’re talking about violation of the site rules here.

If we wanted to take a radical approach, we could make it so that the comments section of an entry autolocks for a set period of time as soon as it is deadpooled. In some respects, (like in opspe’s case), it would not cause much change. After a few days or so, the comments section could unlock, and be ajar for constructive contributions once more, assuming people liable to comment “OP is a giant faggot” will have forgotten about the entry.

This could hurt the community, as there is no concordat that every commenter will antagonize the OP. It is not to be overlooked, though, that if a user wishes to articulate something constructive, they could just contact the moderator that deadpooled the entry, who would still be on the Editors list. Like I said in another thread, users’ walls subsist for a reason.

Overall, that is just a thought, and may or may not be better off staying that way. I’d actually be open to hearing arguments for or against this idea.

Comment Moderator…

That idea is just so crazy that it just might work…

I see it as being a prospect that would inevitably hit the skids, and I think James would be irascible about the notion.

I don't really think there is much we can do.
I mean we already have banned users for repeated harassment via comments section. What we really need is smarter commentators, which is extremely likely to happen.

Comment Moderator is a rather pointless idea for an issue that lies mainly with etiquette.

Easier would just be to add the feature to certain mod levels. Currently only staff is capable of removing comments, expanding it to certain mods can work. What mod groups will get this is up for discussion, but a discussion not meant for the forums. I'll see if I can notify the staff of it.

As for the auto-comment lock whenever an entry gets deadpooled, I believe that does more damage than good. Similar to the constant stupid idea to not make entry creation an option for Brand New Members, stuff like this blocks out the positive and helpful comments. An idea I have suggested multiple times, that would block constant comment spamming and unnecessary trending, is to not make deadpooled entries capable of trending.

Comment Moderator…
That idea is just so crazy that it just might work…

I see it as being a prospect that would inevitably hit the skids, and I think James would be irascible about the notion.

Likewise to above. The feature is already there, the group that can use it is just very limited to past and current staff.

RandomMan wrote:

Comment Moderator is a rather pointless idea for an issue that lies mainly with etiquette.

True. As I said, I see it as being a position that would prove to be unsatisfactory for the purpose for which it might be needed. I don’t think there are enough commenters in the community whom I would deem “ready” for moderator status for it to be a good idea anyway, and frankly, those of intellectual merit would likely not be perusing the comments section anyway. /elitism

Overall, I think it would be more trouble than it is worth.

Easier would just be to add the feature to certain mod levels. Currently only staff is capable of removing comments, expanding it to certain mods can work. What mod groups will get this is up for discussion, but a discussion not meant for the forums. I’ll see if I can notify the staff of it.

I suppose that if entry moderators already have the power to lock the comments section of entries altogether, it is an on-the-ball idea to give moderators with entry powers the province to delete individual comments. I don’t think it would ruin an entry moderator’s life to take a couple of seconds looking for needlessly antagonistic or spam comments and delete substandard ones.

The question, if this suggestion is implemented, is: on which level(s) of power would the function be granted? I think that Entry, Sr. Entry, Research and Database Moderators should all have the function, because all have the power to lock the comments section as it is. I consider that to be a more austere privilege than deleting a bad comment, and thus I think of it as being more practical to give them the power to delete comments.

I’d suggest running it by the staff. Maybe I could help out a little bit with the appeal if you’d like.

As for the auto-comment lock whenever an entry gets deadpooled, I believe that does more damage than good. Similar to the constant stupid idea to not make entry creation an option for Brand New Members, stuff like this blocks out the positive and helpful comments. An idea I have suggested multiple times, that would block constant comment spamming and unnecessary trending, is to not make deadpooled entries capable of trending.

That is a legitimate argument. I suppose that if certain moderators could delete comments, it wouldn’t even be a necessary system.

I like the idea of deadpooled entries being incapable of trending. It would cull much irritation of others, myself included, and if a user has creative input to share, they could simply contact the moderator still on the Editors list. If a user cannot make that simple connection, then I honestly don’t know what can be done for them.

Lastly, MDFification is definitely correct: we can do what we can to try to solve the problem, but the major thing standing in our way is that most commenters are idiots.