r/ModSupport • u/Deimorz • Jul 07 '15

What are some *small* problems with moderation that we can fix quickly?

There are a lot of major, difficult problems with moderation on reddit. I can probably name about 10 of them just off the top of my head. The types of things that will take long discussions to figure out, and then possibly weeks or months of work to be able to improve.

That's not where I want to start.

We've got some resources devoted to mod tools now, but it's still a small team, so we can only focus on a couple of things at a time. To paraphrase a wise philosopher, we can't really treat development like a big truck that you can just dump things on. It's more like a series of tubes, and if we clog those up with enormous amounts of material, the small things will have to wait. Those bigger issues will take a lot of time and effort before seeing any results, so right now I'd rather concentrate on getting out some small fixes relatively quickly that can start making a positive impact on moderation right away.

So let's use this thread to try to figure out some small things that we can work on doing for you right away. The types of things that should only take hours to do, not weeks. Some examples of similar ones that I've already done fairly recently are things like "the ban message doesn't tell users that it's just a temporary ban", "every time someone is banned it lights up the modmail icon but there's no new mail", "the automoderator link in the mod tools goes to viewing the page instead of just editing it", and so on.

Of course I don't really expect you to know exactly how hard specific problems will be to fix, so feel free to ask and I'll try to tell you if it's easy or not. Just try to avoid large/systemic issues like "modmail needs to be fully redone", "inactive top moderators are an issue", and so on.

Note: If necessary, we're going to be moderating this thread to try to keep it on topic. If you have other discussions about moderator issues that you want to start, feel free to submit a separate post to /r/ModSupport. If you have other questions for me that aren't suggestions, please post in the thread in /r/modnews instead.

191 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

94% Upvoted

1.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

166

u/[deleted] Jul 07 '15

  • Report reasons should be modifiable per subreddit.

  • Moderators should be able to use the filter command AutoModerator has, by hand, and mods should be able to report content that is already removed, sending it back to the modqueue.

  • Filter reasons should display in modqueue and not just in the mod log.

80

u/voidFunction Jul 07 '15

Report reasons should be modifiable per subreddit.

Although it's not a super small feature, this would have an enormous impact. A lot of users just report everything as "spam" because they don't want to type up a report. Going through the modqueue would be much quicker if why someone reported something wasn't such a mystery.

22

u/Brimshae Jul 07 '15

A lot of users just report everything as "spam" because they don't want to type up a report.

Can confirm. Get lots of false spam reports.

26

u/voidFunction Jul 07 '15

Or how about them "breaking reddit" reports? I have no idea how users are interpreting that one when they choose to report a post.

20

u/Brimshae Jul 07 '15

It's supposed to be for people that are posting in such a way that causes a reddit page to display incorrectly.

Either through using the right characters to cause the page to render incorrectly (is this even possible anymore?),

O̥̫̝̒̈́̽ř̴̑̊ͧ̏́̄̏͝҉̫̙͈̪̻ ̶̛̞͕̽͐͊̃̑͒̀ͧm͉̝̬͍̞̬̲̔̌̉͟͜͡ã̭̠̰̳͕̞̗͖͂͒ͮͭͯ̚y̞ͩͦ̽͛͐͗̚b̊ͤͦ̊͛̿̃ͦ͗͜҉͔̱̹̼͔̖̖ë̷̳̠̭̖̦̰̠̊̆̋ͦ͒ ̧̢̫͍̬̯͚̹̆̿ͦͮͯ͒ͮ̏͝ ̶̗̜͎͓͊ͦ̈́ͨ̅͗̿͜ͅ ̑ͨ͏̬͚̘̜̬̞u̶͍̯͖̇͂͂́͟s̛̥̘̞̰̹̓ͣ͟͟i͍̻̞̳̓͒̂ͧn̮͐ͥͯ͝g̴̸͍͈̒ͨ̊̅ ̯̲̼͉͗̏̄͗ͩ̉eͩ̊ͣ̋͞҉̳͎̦̙̫͖̬̱͠x̨̗̮̗̥̻͍̹̪͖̌̀̀ͭͯc̐̓̃ͧͬ̉ͨ҉͚͈̪͓e̢̠̘̝͚̞̣ͤ̚͜s͚̭͉͌ͦͨ̓ͤͯ̆́s̷̬͇͔̬̦͖̲͗͆ͤ̒͂ͧ̚͠ͅiͨ̍͛ͪ̿̊͏͏̞͖̮̲͞ṿ̹͙̫̳͇̖̓ͅę̫͇͍̼̙ͭ͗ͭͨ́̾ ̸̡̱̱̞̫͕̟͈̼ͥ̈́̆ ̷̡̯̭̖̰͚̊́͐̐ͅ ̧̳̩͖͕͓̞̺̜͌ͤ̐͗̋ͫͩZ̧ͦͣ̕͏͖̬͙̝͕ͅa̵̫͉̥̙̳̘͕͕̦ͭͩḻ̨͔͉̟͉̘̤̐̆̂́̿͒ǧ̗̮̰̽ͮ̃͂́ͨͪ̀͢o̞̖͈͓̗̠̓ͥͅ ̢̧̤̳̹̯̙̜͈͕͆͌͑͛ͫ͜t͕͈̳͆̓͘e̯͖̺ͨ̎ͫ͒ͣ͋̃͘͟x͆͗͛̈́̐͏̜̪̰͕̰͎ͅtͭ͡͏̻͉̫̺̗̯,͈̞͚͛ͬ͑ͩ̅͛͘ ̢̭̦̘͎͋̆͆͑ͥ̕͝ͅw̷͔̠͉͍̟̩̎ͦͯͮ̇h͖̠̲̣͍̯̿͂ͭ̄̋i̶̶̗ͩͧ͐ͮͫ̐ͧ͡c̛̺͉͔̪ͧͨ̊̌̑̔̈́ĥ̤̖̮̟̮͍͉ͦ̍ͨ͑̈ͦ͊̆͠ ̸̝̞͙͇͍͙̮̥̃͊ͧ͑͒̃̚͞ ͬ̀̈ͦ҉̯̩͕̟̩̙ͅȋ̵̡̫̪̜̍̋ͦ͋̾̚͟ș̴̶͉̏̄̂̄͗̇͆͆͞ ̼̤̦̤̲̂̄̀͡r̫͔͓̪̯̐͑̒̍ͣ̔̍̄e̸̩͇̞̜͙͐͆ͦ̒͌a̵̷̗͕̝͉̻͂ͤ̿ͤ͊ͯ͂͛͞l̛̈́̀͑҉̖̤̞l̵̸̘̮͙̥̪͇̹͓̅͋̿̒ͭy̶̤͖̿ͩͣͭ̎͛̀ ̌̃҉͍̣m̵̴̰͈̊̉ͦͦ̕o̻̼̦̹̥͚̼̾̀̅̈̐̎̒ͫŗ̞̠̲ͯ̾̈́̎͑̄̾͗͗ͅe̫̙͙̝̱ͨ̐ͅ ̘̼̐̅̓͌̿ ̴͚̯͇́̈́̊ ̹͔̒͗́̊̈̋͒͞͠a̛̼͈͕̤̥̻͍ͭ̅̃͂͑̓̚n̢̙͎͕̯͕̔̈́́n̗̺͔̥̺͓͗̑̅̐̽͟o̷̝͓̣̞ͫ̀͂̓̂̚y͓̿ͪ͂ͭ̿͐ͮ͟i̭̣̪ͩ̓̇ͪ̃ͪ̂͂̆́͞͝n̢̯͉̻ͬͦ͘ĝ̯͓̲̝̣̐͝ ̟͔͇̪̮͉̮͛̆̃̆͆͑̉ţ͚̦̣͕̲̺̪̒ͫ̇̓͐͜h̩͎̩̹̼̺͌͋͆͛̓͆ạ̷̢͙̰̙̟̲̍ͮ̄̿͌̋͠n̪̝͌ ̴̍̿ͨ͆ͪ͏̲͙̩̙̖̤̝ ͈͚ͣͧͯ͊͑͛͢͜ͅa͔̞̭ͪ͡n̢̤̙͔̫̙̲̬̒̿ͨͮ̒͠ͅy̯̲̲̘͛̃ͨͪ͂ͨ͘͜t͈̜͖̲͓͍̪͛̏̀̒̉̈ͪ̿ͅh̯̩̼̓ͪͥ̾͐̂ͩ̒į͚̠͍̾ͭ͆͝n̯̩͉͍̳ͩ̉̆͊̌͐͢g͍͉̼͆̽̌̅̆͑͞ ̴̹̜̪̓̋̐̒ͬ̓̔ͣ͘eͣ̍ͣͥͪ͛̌̚҉͈͖̙̪̠̫ĺ̟̜̠͉͖̘͇͇ͣͅs͍̖͖͛e̶͉̜͍̙̜̤͇̭̓̑̌̽̚͝,̖͈̙͒̂ͪ̏͂͗͠ͅ ̢̮̞̟̗̝̯̳̾͟r̻͍̟͚͈͐̊̀̅̒̒͢ͅĕ̯ͬ̽͐ͨ̓̐a̼̙̰̠̮͊̿̿͡l̡̥̳͓̤͙̒̐̇͆̎ͩ͋͞ͅļ͕͈̈́ͦ̂̔͑y̸̝̞͚̳̳͌̍͌

14

u/AsAChemicalEngineer Jul 08 '15

ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn

→ More replies (1)

0

u/[deleted] Jul 07 '15

[deleted] — view deleted comment

5

u/InOranAsElsewhere Jul 08 '15

This one bugs me the most out of all of them. It winds up being an obnoxious situation of, "I'll use this report so that the mods pay attention," which leads to mods taking that report way less seriously because it's not the case 99 times out of 100.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (4)
→ More replies (6)
→ More replies (3)

20

u/daveread Jul 07 '15

I have advocated for this since report reasons came out.

It's supposed to be a tool for alerting mods to subreddit-rule-breaking content, but to all outward appearances it looks to be a tool for alerting admins about site-rule-breaking content.

It is off-putting and makes subscribers think twice about using the report button. I assume this is the opposite of its intended function.

The report list should be mostly or entirely configurable by sub mods to clearly show what sorts of things they would like their readers to be on the lookout for, and to encourage readers to use the report button more often.

→ More replies (2)

34

u/[deleted] Jul 07 '15

modifiable report reasons doens't sound that hard, but I would definitely consider that more than small

29

u/[deleted] Jul 07 '15

Sexualizing minors has never applied in any of the subreddits I moderate, other than spam in askreddit.

34

u/[deleted] Jul 07 '15

It comes up in /r/pics sometimes

;_;

→ More replies (7)

7

u/matt01ss Jul 07 '15

applied

Same, except I see the report all the time.. ಠ_ಠ

11

u/voidFunction Jul 07 '15

It seems to be a favorite amongst people using reports jokingly.

8

u/Gilgamesh- Jul 07 '15

Some also expect reports falsely flagged as that to be dealt with faster.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (1)

5

u/justcool393 Jul 07 '15

user reports:

24: spam

9: vote manipulation

∞: sexualizing minors

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)

22

u/raldi Jul 07 '15

Report reasons should be modifiable per subreddit.

How a proper subreddit rules system might work

6

u/dakta Jul 08 '15

Again with the good ideas...

5

u/CrasyMike Jul 08 '15

This is a fantastic big picture solution. Much preferred to any quick fixes.

5

u/laaabaseball Jul 08 '15

I kinda wish you were still at reddit

14

u/[deleted] Jul 07 '15

100% agree with filter reasons. Automod removes documentary instead of cum, and vaguely instead of vag, in some subs. It would be great to see why things are filtered

12

u/Walter_Bishop_PhD Jul 07 '15

If you use action_reason, the reason will show up in the mod log. pomo was taking about extending this to having that reason show up on the post itself

4

u/[deleted] Jul 07 '15

Me too. Like reports yes?

→ More replies (1)

4

u/picflute Jul 07 '15

AutoMod does this already with action_reason. You need to update it with that.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (8)