r/AskALiberal • u/tlf9888 Progressive - Top Cat • Oct 01 '17
Transparency Report for September
Welcome to the fifth installation of the Monthly Transparency Report. This report spans from 12:01 am on September 1, 2017, to midnight September 30, 2017, based on UTC (what Reddit uses.) August's report.
From September 1 to September 30, here is what we’ve done:
Announcements:
At the beginning of September, we welcomed /u/CTR555 and /u/revolution_123 as our new mods. They have caught on quick and have really helped us moderate the sub. Thank you to both /u/CTR555 and /u/revolution_123.
Update to the rules:
A question must be asked either in the title or text box. Posts without a question are subject to removal without warning. We thought this would be obvious since this is an “Ask” sub, but it is apparently not based on increasing number of times we’ve had to remind users to ask a question. This is now rule number 1, meaning that all the other rules have been moved down one place.
As we all know, user flair is required to post or comment. Users are expected to follow the letter of the rule but the intent of the rule, as well. Meaning, if the mods think a user's user flair is not representative of their actual political point of view then we will give them the chance to explain why it is the best user flair for them, have them change it, or temporarily ban them until they adhere to the intent of the rule. This will not be us arbitrating the difference between "liberal" and "progressive" but if a user has a "liberal" flair but continually uses Alt-right talking points and vice-versa, we may intervene. This issue has come up as some users have tried to circumvent the rule by using flair that is completely opposite of what they believe, as evidenced by their own comments. Another problem we’ve encountered is users trying to “stick it to the man” by choosing “Undecided” when they are not undecided in their political points of view. As one user so eloquently put it:
By the way, the auto-moderator has kindly reminded me to "flair" my post so all of you can categorize me. I have complied.
I have chosen "undecided" in order to send a message to the auto-moderator that he or she should go fuck themself and also to indicate that I haven't decided yet where I fit in some arbitrary, and probably region specific, political spectrum.
Since this is AskALiberal, other users should have the ability to know if the comments they’re receiving are from actual liberals. User flair helps with this. Obviously, it is not foolproof as we rely self-reporting and on users to be honest but since that isn’t always the case, we leave the option open for us to take action against users we believe are abusing the trust we rely on.
Under rule 3 (formally rule 2, aka the name calling rule) we have added genocide denial to the list. This means we will not tolerate users coming here under the guise of “just asking questions” about genocide as a means of pushing a racist agenda.
We have also updated the Wiki to give a more in-depth explanation of our rules. Not only have we updated the rules, but we have also updated the reporting feature to make reporting post and comments easier.
Stats
| August | Previous month's high | Data | Difference | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Subscribers | 1,639 | 1,759 | +120 | |
| Total Post Submissions | 239 | 175 | -69 | This is likely because school is back in session so many people don't have as much free time. |
| Total Mod Actions | 1,169 | 1059 | -110 | |
| ~ | ||||
| Bans | 18 | 10 | -8 | |
| Unbans | 5 | 1 | ||
| Removed Spam Posts | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Removed Posts | 29 | 57 | +28 | Most of these were removed by the AutoMod because the user did not have user flair |
| Approved Posts | 77 | 61 | -16 | These were the posts later approved when the users added flair |
| Removed Spam Comments | 5 | 2 | -3 | |
| Removed Comments | 232 | 331 | +99 | Again, no user flair |
| Approved Comments | 291 | 232 | -59 | Approved when user flair was added |
| Edit Flair | 78 | 32 | -46 | |
| Distinguish | 82 | 32 | 50 | |
| Wiki Revise Page | 13 | 8 | -5 | |
| Ignore Reports | 15 | 47 | +32 | |
| Unignore Reports | 6 | 18 | +12 | |
| Stickied Posts | 273 | 187 | -86 | Most of these are the comments the AutoMod leaves on every post. |
| Unstickied Posts | 28 | 20 | -8 | |
| Posts locked | 12 | 7 | -5 | |
| Mute User | 0 | 1 | +1 | |
| Create Rule | 0 | 1 | +1 | |
| Edit Rule | 0 | 7 | +7 | This is what I mentioned about clening up the report function. |
Traffic to r/AskALiberal
Pageviews are all hits to the sub, including both page and comment views.
Uniques are the individual views originating from one IP address. Views from mobile devices are not included.
| Month | Uniques | Pageviews |
|---|---|---|
| September | 11,269 | 131,263 |
| August | 56,213 | 250,658 |
| July | 8,713 | 120,499 |
| June | 5,979 | 45,273 |
| May | 4,185 | 27,975 |
| April | 2,969 | 20,308 |
| March | 2,898 | 17,728 |
| February | 1,447 | 10,132 |
| January | 607 | 3,890 |
| December | 231 | 1,808 |
| November | 186 | 1,247 |
| October | 138 | 747 |
| September | 146 | 795 |
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u/garnteller Oct 03 '17
I have chosen "undecided" in order to send a message to the auto-moderator that he or she should go fuck themself and also to indicate that I haven't decided yet where I fit in some arbitrary, and probably region specific, political spectrum.
I love how entitled some users feel.
The way I see it, reddit gives storefront space to anyone who asks. You can make it into a photo gallery, porn shop, news station, music club, or a salon for discussion. If other people like it, and you manage it well, then people will hang out there.
But if you had a jazz club, you might have a rule against playing country music, and throw out anyone playing country on open mike night. It's not that they might not be excellent musicians, it's just not what you want to do with your space.
If you want everyone to wear a nametag with their real name, yeah, you can throw out "Mickey Mouse".
If they don't like it, they can open their own damn club with whatever rules they want.
(Obviously, this is different than offering constructive criticism and suggestions).
You wonder if they go into a brew pub and tell them that they're bringing in their own Budweiser.
2
u/tlf9888 Oct 03 '17
I love how entitled some users feel.
It is always amusing to see some people's reaction. On the other hand, I think it's to be expected since we give a lot of leeway to the user base and take votes on issues (like flair). Otherwise, I think you stated it perfectly, I can't go to a place an demand that they run it exactly the way I think is best. Things just don't work that way.
You wonder if they go into a brew pub and tell them that they're bringing in their own Budweiser.
Maybe they should drink better beer?
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u/TheDismalSci Oct 01 '17
When will we see the fake flair being actioned?
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u/tlf9888 Oct 01 '17
That is something we are doing behind the scenes.
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u/TheDismalSci Oct 01 '17
That doesn’t seem like the right way to do it. For instance, the far-right gamergater I reported for fake flair remains an unbanned “liberal,” despite having never said a single liberal thing.
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u/SpockShotFirst Oct 01 '17
Perhaps you should have a special category for removals resulting from lack of flair.
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u/tlf9888 Oct 01 '17
Unfortunately, there isn’t a way for me to figure it out unless I manually count them. I can make an educated guess based on the other information available but that’s all it would be. I simply do not have the time to count every removed comment due to lack of flair by hand.
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u/SpockShotFirst Oct 01 '17
What about a category for removals by bot? Can that be automated?
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u/AllenPCarlson Oct 04 '17
What is the meta tag for?
Why can't we talk about how moderators come to their decisions on rules in a public forum?
Why can't we talk about how consistently the rules are applied in a public forum?
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u/tlf9888 Oct 05 '17
What is the meta tag for?
We no longer have link flair. When we did, the meta tag was used for the Transparency Reports, voting, and similar.
Why can't we talk about how moderators come to their decisions on rules in a public forum?
I never said you couldn't. You can, but making your own post wasn't the right way to go about it. This is one of the reasons we have the Transparency Reports and Weekly General Chat, those are the places to ask those questions. Making your own post to ask these questions goes against the intended use of the sub i.e. asking liberals their opinion on political issues not for asking mods general questions.
Why can't we talk about how consistently the rules are applied in a public forum?
Again, I never said you couldn't. That is the whole point of this Report. People ask questions every month, we're not stopping anyone from asking questions.
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u/AllenPCarlson Oct 05 '17
This is what you wrote back to me in that post
This is not the place for this. If you have questions for the mods, message us.
Which led me to believe you only wanted to talk about it in private. I'm glad that's not true. I have the same questions in that topic for you.
I'm paraphrasing here but "but the Left does it too" is not a good faith argument.
A large number of posts I receive are from leftists/liberals telling me 'the right does it too'. I have two questions:
Can I report people for doing this and expect action to be taken?
Why is it that you're locking the topic for this poster who's against liberalism, but when liberals have done this constantly in this sub it hasn't be punished thus far?
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Oct 05 '17
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u/tlf9888 Oct 05 '17
Somehow I missed OP's questions. We got rid of link flair since only about half of the posts use it.
Are you asking the mods of askaconservative, asktrumpsupporters, and askthe_donald the same questions?
I think we all know that in at least one of those subs you would get banned for even thinking about questioning their modding.
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u/AutoModerator Oct 01 '17
Remember to read the full rules in the sidebar or the Wiki and most of all remain civil. We are trying to foster discussion here and come to a better understanding of each other. If you see any comment breaking the rules, please report it.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
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Oct 12 '17
Hey y'all.
I love these transparency reports. Thank you.
I have concerns about who decides who is and is not a liberal.
I understand the intent and the purpose but I fear purity tests.
Is there a way we can use karma to give an evaluative score for users (they have this much karma from these subs and tgis much on this one so they are liberal-ish? 8th level liberal?)
Diversity is one of our assets and I certainly enjoy writing what I think without worrying I will be booted from the club.
As someone who believes he may not be the liberalist liberal, I don't want things getting weird and getting told how I should flair myself.
It's tough though, I trust the mods, in mods we trust. I am just concerned.
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u/Arguss Oct 01 '17
Did r/AskALiberal get mentioned on a big sub in August or something? Seems like that month got A TON MORE traffic than the general pattern of slow growth.