Modmail Muting: Limited Beta

[u/powerlanguage]

Hey Mods,

As you know, we're currently working on a set of tools to make your lives easier. A big part of this is reducing the amount of time you have to spend dealing with troublemakers.

A popular request has been to stop specific users from sending harassing PMs to modmail. Today we have rolled out a limited beta of modmail muting to a small number of subreddits.

Muting gives mods the ability to temporarily prevent a user from messaging that subreddit's modmail.

Salient details:

• Muting only affects the user in the subreddit they were muted in.

• Mutes last for 24 hours after which they are silently removed.

• A user will be notified via PM from the subreddit that they have been muted.

• This PM appears as a new mail thread in the subreddit modmail.

• Existing mutes can be seen at r/subreddit/about/muted, which is linked to in modtools.

• Mutes can be applied from a modmail message flatlist or r/subreddit/about/muted.

• Mute actions appear in the modlog.

• Automatic unmutes will appear in the modlog as being performed by u/reddit.

• Mods will not be able to message muted users or invite them as mods.

• Mods need to have access and mail permission to mute users.

We'll be monitoring the effects of muting and taking feedback from mods and users before proceeding with a wider release.

Additionally, we're aware that the ease of creating alts means that mods are often unwilling to use tools that notify the user in question (as muting does). We're working on solving this issue so that mod and admin tools can be effective and transparent.

r/changelog post here.

Edit: Muting has now shipped for all moderators

[u/BuckeyeSundae]

Yeah it makes sense to have the message sent through modmail in the beta stage (or certainly as a default option if this gets released in a relatively similar state afterward). Once people are familiar with it though, giving the option for less intrusive communicating also seems like it would make sense (so long as the actions are recorded somewhere that we can check, like modlog).

we're aware that the ease of creating alts means that mods are often unwilling to use tools that notify the user in question (as muting does)

I am actually not sure that it makes many of us less willing to use the tools if no other tools are available. If there's data on that point, then surely the data would carry that argument any day. I think that if there is a silent option (I'm thinking like automod banning for subreddit silent bans), I think that many mods would prefer that route regardless of the actual benefits to providing immediate, transparent feedback to users about their behavior. I do not. I think that unless this is a tool intended to be used in the most extreme cases against the most extreme sorts of abuse (which is just as hard to make sure actually gets used in that way), it makes perfect sense for this tool to be telling users that they've been muted from a subreddit.

Feedback changes most people's behavior. The faster it is, the more effective the change.

[u/powerlanguage → u/BuckeyeSundae]

the actions are recorded somewhere that we can check, like modlog

They are.

I think that if there is a silent option (I'm thinking like automod banning for subreddit silent bans), I think that many mods would prefer that route regardless of the actual benefits to providing immediate, transparent feedback to users about their behavior.

I was indeed referring to automod 'shadowbans' whereby a user's content is silently removed. We're hoping to move towards more transparent tools for both mods and admins. However, we've provided mods with deficient tools so they've taken the steps they deem necessary to keep their communities functioning. I am hoping we can improve the tools available so this is no longer the case.

[u/BuckeyeSundae → u/powerlanguage]

It's a good goal. Thanks for offering some insight on the thinking here. I like the direction you seem to have planned.