Serious community failure - forum reporting

[robang74]

@teleshoes

the only thing i see, for certain, is that closing threads because of flagged posts is harmful.

It might be. However, unless promoting the useful posts linking them at the top of the thread, every other policy - not matter how sophisticated is - will add no value.

For example, not closing a thread for a while, will let the trolls to start a flame-war on that thread. It will be end not much better but worse.

Believe me - I was in charge of moderating m-list and forum for decades, different kind of forum (e.g. “tutti nudi” forum, translation: “all naked”) and different kind of m-list (e.g. LUG Genova, with 200+ people subscribed) - unless we promote the best contents at the top, there is no any chance that moderation will do something useful.

Believe me - no any way apart promoting at the top useful contents will add value.

After decades of moderation, I know how trolling works much more than every troll you have ever seen here or elsewhere. If or when I wish to, I am the king of trolls!

[teleshoes]

@robang74

I am the king of trolls

thank you for this useful contribution. as far as i know, ordering by posts by quality is not a feature supported by discourse. assuming that is the case, it would require a different forum engine, and therefore is not ACTUALLY a useful contribution. much as i would love moving back to something like TJC, jolla is a small company that presumably lacks the resources to do so.

turning off auto-closing threads, however, takes THREE CLICKS by a forum moderator, and is therefore an achievable goal.

[teleshoes]

@robang74

This will set in front of them that the only way to receive attention is to write something useful.

i think you missed my point. the approach you describe may in fact work well, but unless it is a feature already supported by Discourse that can be enabled by clicking a button, it will simply never happen. jolla is not in the business of designing forum moderation software, no matter what any body building governators may say to the contrary

[robang74]

@teleshoes

i think you missed my point. the approach you describe may in fact work well, but unless it is a feature already supported by Discourse that can be enabled by clicking a button, it will simply never happen.

Discourse can be customized. Jolla pay for that but did not used such opportunity. Moreover, if an idea is good, then Discourse can implement it, despite anyone pays for it or not because it is in their interest to provide a better product. It is hard, it is painful, but it works.

[vlagged]

Seriously… Some people must be new here. It used to be that technical discussions where at peak here, and technical contributions respected.
What I see lately is just noise around topics I didn’t want to hear about, diverging from the original post and not SFOS related at all and even so, written without any manner.
Yes, it’s a failure. But not of the community.
Yes, I’m looking at you, you wasting my energy to fix a next bug and instead writing this.
I chose to write instead, because I want to let anyone being held back from technical advancements to get the message that this is wasting our time.

I’ll stop and say no more:)

[flypig]

Just to clarify a few things concerning the flagging of posts.

The forum software uses quite complex rules for this, but in general as long as there’s sufficient time for moderators to deal with flags, topics shouldn’t get auto-closed.

You can read about the exact conditions here:

What happens when you flag a post

Users who flag posts for valid reasons gain trust, while users who repeatedly and incorrectly flag posts lose trust. As a result, users who maliciously flag posts in order to cause a topic to be closed will ultimately find their flags carry less weight in future.

If you feel there is a valid reason to flag a post, you should feel comfortable doing so. Whether you’re posting or flagging, the FAQ is a great resource for understanding what constitutes acceptable, or unacceptable, behaviour.

[miau]

@robang74

Finally, ask yourself why there are not forums for Android or iPhone end-users. Because that smartphones work pretty well and everybody uses them without the need to fix or code them.

https://support.google.com/android/community?hl=en

iPhone - Apple Community

[teleshoes]

@flypig

as long as there’s sufficient time for moderators to deal with flags

but threads get closed for legitimate flagging ALL THE TIME. it happened at least 6 times last week.

@flypig

maliciously flag posts in order to cause a topic to be closed

bear in mind, that is NOT what im referring to. i am ONLY talking about LEGITIMATE flagging of posts, resulting in closing threads. while you say that we SHOULD feel comfortable flagging, it is not the case that we CAN feel comfortable doing so, because in practice, there isnt enough moderation to stop the threads from being closed.

please consider turning OFF auto-closing threads

[flypig]

@teleshoes

but threads get closed for legitimate flagging ALL THE TIME. it happened at least 6 times last week.

I understand. What I’m trying to indicate is that with more active moderation, this will hopefully no longer be the case. We’ll have to see how things work out, but my intention is to moderate more actively from now on.

[pherjung]

I’m going to step out on a limb here, because things have been getting a bit heated for a while now. Goodbye technical discussions, hello barroom discussions.

Unfortunately, the written word doesn’t allow you to hear the intonation. So it’s hard to feel the irony and sarcasm in a text.

In your reply, I find it hurtful, indecent and inappropriate to criticise an honourable member of the Sailfish community and I’m hurt to see the direction the recent discussions are taking.

Please, don’t answer. This will be my first and last comment on the subject.