this post was submitted on 12 Jan 2025
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Ye Power Trippin' Bastards

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This is a community in the spirit of "Am I The Asshole" where people can post their own bans from lemmy or reddit or whatever and get some feedback from others whether the ban was justified or not.

Sometimes one just wants to be able to challenge the arguments some mod made and this could be the place for that.

Rules

Expect to receive feedback about your posts, they might even be negative.

Make sure you follow this instance's code of conduct. In other words we won't allow bellyaching about being sanctioned for hate speech or bigotry.


Some acronyms you might see.


Relevant comms

founded 5 months ago
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OK peeps, I am seeing a lot of flamewars lately which go off-topic of this comm. I am also getting dozens of reports about people reporting each other for "rudeness" or "trolling". I don't want this comm to start becoming a drama haven, so I want to try and prevent people getting worked up like this.

What do you think about me starting to deploy strategic 1-day bans for people who I notice are getting into flamewars? If not, what else do you suggest to help people remain civil?

Don't just upvote/downvote. I won't take these into account, I want actual comments about this to better make a decision.

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[–] mojofrododojo@lemmy.world 1 points 3 hours ago

I find it hilarious that every single time I've been admonished about civil conduct, it's because I'm reacting to a bunch of assclowns who somehow evade any oversight.

maybe start taking the reports as self indicators?

Yes please I need one πŸ™πŸ™πŸ™πŸ™

[–] neurospice@lemmy.dbzer0.com 37 points 4 days ago (2 children)

The amount of trolling and debatemebros keep going up each thread and it looks like people are just trying to start drama here now rather than report actual mod abuse. I'm not sure how you could improve this, it seems like every one of these kinds of communities turn into drama communities with people at each other's throats each thread lol. I think temp bans would help for the most egregious offenders, but locking threads after a certain timeframe might be better? Considering the comment threads keep going on and on for some of them.

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[–] mindbleach@sh.itjust.works 12 points 3 days ago (6 children)

Short bans are like spritzing a cat in the face. It's Skinnerian conditioning. It works.

Just make sure the behavior you're conditioning for is the behavior you want. Trolling doesn't mean "harsh language." Trolling is the infuriating nonsense that makes reasonable people reach for harsh language. Sometimes, a rude response is entirely deserved.

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[–] hendrik@palaver.p3x.de 16 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (2 children)

Well, this is drama heaven because it's for users who aren't legible to post in fedidrama (because they're involved themselves) and then they end up here. And IMO the posts kind of set the tone. You often start out with a negative impression after reading the post, and then you're likely to be negative. And it doesn't help that other comments are negative or low quality as well... Then it's super easy to drop what's left and just shitpost.

I'm not sure if I want to continue reading anyways. It's several posts a day of people whining about something they brought upon themselves. Often something completely insignificant like one removed post/comment or a one day time-out from shitposting. And half the people don't listen or get anything, neither does OP, and the commenters just flame about arbitrary things, or attack each other for their strongly held opinions... I'd say a bit more moderation would be worth a try. But don't listen to me, I'm probably not the target audience of this community.

[–] millie@beehaw.org 1 points 2 days ago

Is that a thing? That's what used to happen with SubredditDrama like 15 years ago. I wonder if it's the same people.

[–] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 5 points 3 days ago (3 children)

People love a good circle jerk, this is a genuine fedi content source, and it serves transparency purposes which other social don't even have...

People who don't like can just block it.

So unless bad faith behavior like reporting people endlessly is happening why shut down engagement albeit sometimes low quality

It is rather ironic that sub about mod abuse is getting abused

Hmmm

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[–] chaoticnumber@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Do it. But please be self-aware and remember that absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Lets not get bogged down in analysis paralysis. Do it, gauge the feedback, adjust, iterate (the beatings will continue until morale improves).

Great feedback! I need to remember this for my communities as well.

[–] NOT_RICK@lemmy.world 27 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I’m ok with a penalty box. Pointless bickering gets this sub off topic. It’s tough because people come here ready to air grievances so I think that pre-charges the atmosphere and makes it that much easier for things to get off the rails

It’s tough because people come here ready to air grievances so I think that pre-charges the atmosphere and makes it that much easier for things to get off the rails

You put in to words what I was struggling to find. People are often already a little charged up when they show up here, that's the nature of this kind of board.

[–] lvxferre@mander.xyz 18 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (2 children)

My suggestion is to warn the user first, and then if they don't comply a 3d ban. Because:

  • Cooperative users are quick to comply, even without punishment.
  • It helps to show other users the limit of what's considered acceptable in the community.
  • When people get really worked up, a single day is not enough.

Trolls are a different can of worms. I think that users who are blatantly trolling should be removed = permabanned; there's no place for those.

[–] lvxferre@mander.xyz 9 points 3 days ago

[Replying to myself to avoid editing the above again.]

Ah, I propose an explicit rule for this comm: "off-topic is only tolerated if non-divisive, non-derailing, and in the comments". That gives people some room to chitchat, but would do a quick work of "ackshyually u don't have rules against flamewars right".

[–] Blaze@feddit.org 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)
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[–] rickyrigatoni@lemm.ee 9 points 3 days ago (1 children)

PTB. I should be allowed to be as mean as I want to whoever I want. But make sure you permanently ban everyone who is mean to me because that's bad.

[–] KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 2 days ago

Fuck you and the horse you rode in on, I’m the only one that people shouldn’t be mean to.

(This is a joke if it wasn’t obvious >.>)

[–] bhamlin@lemmy.world 10 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Honestly, I personally haven't seen any of these flame wars. And I'm not sure restricting engagement on a service already trying to increase engagement is productive even for a good reason.

If it's off topic or getting personal, sure. If not, I'm neutral on it.

[–] db0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 3 days ago (1 children)

That's what flame wars are. Getting personal or just exchanging insults

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[–] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 15 points 4 days ago

Yup. 100% a perfect tool for the situation.

And I say that as someone that has likely deserved a few of them here and there.

It won't stop report abuse, but it will reduce the in-thread drama.

Hell, it might reduce drama in general since the serious drama queens are going to get butthurt and not come back.

[–] PugJesus@lemmy.world 10 points 3 days ago (1 children)

If the only offense is that people are getting heated, a cool-off ban as a reminder to take a walk and come back later works wonders.

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[–] nsrxn@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 4 days ago (10 children)

banning people for reporting seems like a way to discourage reporting.

but banning for flaming and trolling sounds reasonable, especially if it's a short ban. even a 6 or 12 hour ban might send the right message.

Eh, you'd be amazed how many people use reports to say "I don't like this, and it's your problem" instead of it actually being a community rule violation. I don't moderate any busy lemmy C/s, but I did some high traffic reddit subs, and I'd even say that half of reports were just trying to get a mod to shut down the other person in a slap fight. Then they're amazed when you shut both parties down lol.

I definitely think that anything more than a one day ban for single reports is way over the line. And I'd prefer warnings with an explanation be the default.

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[–] dubyakay@lemmy.ca 4 points 3 days ago

Does Lemmy provide a council/consensus type voting system on bans? How do you arbitrate it by yourself on what is or isn't "rudeness" or "trolling"?

Imo let downvotes and reports sort it out, instead of being proactive, until there is a multi-headed arbitration system in place.

[–] Evotech@lemmy.world 6 points 3 days ago

Why can't people argue in peace? Why do you have to moderate that?

[–] catloaf@lemm.ee 7 points 3 days ago (3 children)

First, make it a rule. This community is for discussion about moderation, not about whether a cat can be vegan. If you see off-topic discussion, nip it in the bud and remove the comments. If users continue to knowingly violate the rule, progressively longer bans.

It's really not hard to stay on topic and avoid a flame war. I know fighting is stimulating, but sometimes it's better to just put your phone down and walk away.

[–] OpenStars@piefed.social 4 points 3 days ago

Tbf, if something were removed for "misinformation", like Russia has invaded Ukraine "for its own good" or whether cats can be vegan, then evaluating whether the mod is acting appropriately or is a PTB depends on those facts?

Though that should not be the focus - as you say the point here is the moderation.

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[–] oce@jlai.lu 6 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (6 children)

Didn't know about this community, just read the description to understand its title, and I immediately thought that it was going to be a trolling mess. So my first thinking is that you created a banquet for trolls, and now you're dealing with the consequences. Do you have the magic mental power to deal with this?
If yes, then I would make it very clear from the beginning in the rules that uncivil discussion will be moderated, that continuous incivility will lead to a 1-day ban and that attempts to bypass the temporary ban will lead to a permanent ban.
Get ready for motivated trolls spending days creating new accounts to harass your authority, or you, after they have been banned.

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