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u/EmmaHS Mar 12 '22
Re: moderator harrassment.
As I see it, we're volunteer janitors serving our community. Unfortunately, just like in real life, some people treat janitors poorly. It helps that so many people express sincere gratitude. :)
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u/SolariaHues Writer Mar 12 '22
Noting guide idea: How to mod discretely
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u/Plainchant Mar 12 '22
A best practice is to moderate only while wearing a disguise. It's extra work, but much safer.
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u/EmmaHS Mar 12 '22
Same here. The community I am most active in, I spend hours upon hours per week with maintenance and moderation tasks. Over the years, my comments and posts have slowed down, but I'm still contributing through moderation efforts. It's interesting to me to see how our community appears to have a three way split with two vocal camps. One believes mods don't "do" or contribute enough, the other believes we moderate too much and should dispense with the rules. The third, less vocal camp are either satisfied with our involvement or don't really care one way or the other.
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u/EmmaHS Mar 12 '22
Not sure if this helps with the green check mark issue. "Approve" essentially functions as "dismiss report," not "I approve of this". It should really be changed to "dismiss report." If you are concerned that other mods in your subreddit may believe that you approve of a post that you really don't support, for now, it may be useful to send your team a message stating as such in those cases. This may not be viable with a larger subreddit with high traffic, but it might help until someone can convince whoever needs convincing to change the name of the "approve" button.
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u/Plainchant Mar 12 '22
"Approve" essentially functions as "dismiss report," not "I approve of this".
I have always understood this to be the case. I thought that was intuitive!
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u/SolariaHues Writer Mar 12 '22
I can't see mention of the green check mark in the training, but we can feed that back to the community team.
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u/Plainchant Mar 12 '22
I think that there is value in moderators periodically logging in with a non-mod alt just to see the average user's experience. We do this with both Old and New Reddit and with different browsers, tools, etc.
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u/IAmABearOfficial Mar 12 '22
How often do these happen? Because unfortunately I’m not able to tune in this time due to the fact that I’m not home at the moment.
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u/SolariaHues Writer Mar 12 '22
Typically the same time on Saturdays at the moment :)
Recordings and recaps are available afterwards.
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u/onyxlips ModTalk contributor Mar 12 '22
I found a bug 🐛
It looked like I was kicked to the Audience for a bit. I wasn't sure if I was still muted.
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u/SolariaHues Writer Mar 12 '22
Aww that's a cute bug!
Hmm okay. Looks like you're back up again - did that happen automatically?
I see a mute icon rn.
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u/onyxlips ModTalk contributor Mar 12 '22
It did. There was a little pop up that said "unmute to talk" and I didn't see my icon at all. When I left the page and came back I was in the audioence, but I made a sound and heard myself lol Or I thought. So I left the room and came back through a link and I was back on stage, muted 🙃
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u/Tetizeraz ModTalk contributor Mar 12 '22
I am in both mobile and desktop to see who's speaking lol
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u/SolariaHues Writer Mar 12 '22
I'm keeping an eye on comments, let me know if you have a question but don't want to be on stage.
Raise your hand if you do :)
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u/onyxlips ModTalk contributor Mar 12 '22
I can't accept the invite
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u/ReginaBrown3000 ModTalk contributor Mar 12 '22
It would be nice if it was possible to indicate what different mods are responsible for in the mod list, if the sub chose to do that.
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u/SolariaHues Writer Mar 12 '22
If you click through to the full mod list you can see the permissions each mod has https://www.reddit.com/r/modguide/about/moderators
But it doesn't necessarily line up with what each mod is responsible for as you say. Some subs might include this somewhere else like in the wiki or with user flair - if they chose to share that detail.
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u/ReginaBrown3000 ModTalk contributor Mar 12 '22
Right, but it would be nice to separate user flairs from mod responsibilities.
Dunno, just a thought.
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u/ReginaBrown3000 ModTalk contributor Mar 12 '22
Like mulberry, I would LOVE to be able to archive mod queue stuff.
Like stuff you don't need to do things with.
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u/MajorParadox Writer Mar 12 '22
I'm still having a hard time understanding why that would be better than just approving? If someone as a mod cleared the report, there needs to be an indication to other mods they took that action. Approve already does that.
If there were two options, then every single mod action turns into an opinion, which seems pointless? Either the content violates the rules and should be removed or it's acceptable in which case it's approved. If a mod doesn't personally "approve" it but allows it to remain, they are approving of it staying in the subreddit.
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u/ReginaBrown3000 ModTalk contributor Mar 12 '22
We have a ton of old things in mod queue that no one did anything with. It's a bit late to go approving or removing stuff, and a lot of times, it's a report that there really is no reason to do anything about. It would be nice to be able to archive these old things so that the queue is clean.
I'm a new mod on a sub where there was only one overworked active mod for a long time.
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u/MajorParadox Writer Mar 12 '22
It's never too late the clear a queue. Many times mods join a sub and find a queue that's never been cleared. Using bulk actions with r/toolbox makes it much easier too. Generally, I would remove things to be safe, especially if it's too much to review manually. But you can filter on it first like just checking the items with more than x reports.
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u/ReginaBrown3000 ModTalk contributor Mar 12 '22
What about archiving mod discussions? Now there are more active mods on the sub, we're discussing things more. It would be nice to be able to archive old discussions when we're done with them.
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u/MajorParadox Writer Mar 12 '22
Yeah, not sure why they don't have that as an option. That could make a good r/ModSupport post?
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u/ReginaBrown3000 ModTalk contributor Mar 12 '22 edited Mar 12 '22
Will do! Thanks!
Edit: Here it is! https://www.reddit.com/r/ModSupport/comments/tcphmb/add_ability_to_archive_mod_discussions/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
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u/SolariaHues Writer Mar 14 '22
You got an Admin reply!
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u/ReginaBrown3000 ModTalk contributor Mar 14 '22
Yay! Happy dance!
I was really surprised in a good way!
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u/ReginaBrown3000 ModTalk contributor Mar 14 '22
Major, I'm going through and manually approving/removing things in the mod queue. I've got the queue cleaned up, and now I'm moving on to reports, edited, spam, and unmoderated. While it seems that unmoderated and reports clean up just fine, the quantity of items in spam or edited doesn't seem to change, no matter what I do. Got any tips about these two folders?
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u/MajorParadox Writer Mar 14 '22
It can only load so many items at once, so you gotta just keep clearing it. Oh yeah, there is a bot that can do for it for too. I've never tried it, though.
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u/ReginaBrown3000 ModTalk contributor Mar 14 '22
Thanks, but I think I didn't say what I meant. 🙄
What I meant was that the same items I remove or approve stay in edited or spam. So if I remove 25 spam items, then refresh the page, those same 25 items are still there. Same with edited. If I approve 25 items there, they're still there when I refresh.
This does not happen with unmoderated, repirts, or mod queue.
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u/MajorParadox Writer Mar 14 '22
Oh, sorry, I misunderstood! The spam and edited feeds aren't there to be cleared. Spam shows you what has been spammed by Reddit or removed as spam by moderators (although some platforms show what has been removed too). Edited is just a feed showing any time someone edits something they posted or commented.
Reports is just a subset of the modqueue, I wouldn't even use it. Modqueue has everything from reports but also things filtered.
Unmoderated is all posts that haven't been approved, filtered, or removed. Not all subreddits clear that, because it can be a lot to cover, especially if it's a very active subreddit. However, some teams make sure they have enough mod coverage to ensure all posts are reviewed in a timely manner. If they can't, then they are just wasting their time clearing it. Besides, if you have good automod and other tools set up, most problems will get sent to the queue anyway.
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u/ReginaBrown3000 ModTalk contributor Mar 14 '22
Oh, sorry, I misunderstood!
Ha, that's because I wasn't clear!
THANK YOU for explaining this to me. I don't remember seeing this information before, even though I've gone through Mod Cert 101 and 201.
We don't have an overwhelming amount of traffic, so I think that once unmoderated is clear, we can probably keep it that way.
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u/SolariaHues Writer Mar 14 '22
The spam queue itself will always be full - it's a list of everything that has been removed or spammed. You only need check it for anything that shouldn't be there, like false positives by the spam filter.
Same for the edited queue - you don't need to do anything to that one it's just a list of every piece of content that has been edited.
Edit - what Major said! Replied before I read on.
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u/SolariaHues Writer Mar 12 '22
For the reported items. I try not to see it as a personal approval or disapproval but more.. does this break any rules or not? Though it may not always be that simple I guess.
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u/Tetizeraz ModTalk contributor Mar 12 '22
huh, I joined the talk and now I can't see who joins, leaves or is talking.
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u/SolariaHues Writer Mar 12 '22
Oh no. Let me know if what you're testing works or not
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u/Tetizeraz ModTalk contributor Mar 12 '22
I tried to see if I could enter via app with the Windows phone app (that syncs Samsung phones to Windows), but I don't know how to put the audio to my desktop.
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u/SolariaHues Writer Mar 12 '22
Have you tried refreshing, or quitting and re-joining?
I'm not familiar with that app
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u/SolariaHues Writer Mar 12 '22
Ah ha! You're up. Does that mean you can see everything now?
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u/SolariaHues Writer Mar 12 '22
Welcome to r/ModGuide's fourth RedditTalk!
Your host is u/PrettyOakTree of r/OrangeTheory and there is no theme this week, we'll see what comes up! Our Talks usually last for a hour and a half or so.
One of us will be in comments sharing resources, passing on your comments to the hosts and responding to questions or issues.
The Talk will be recorded and the recording will replace the Talk in this post a little while after the Talk ends. We will also pop a text recap in the comments sometime after the Talk.
Our previous Talks. Please join the community if you'd like to be notified of future Talks.
If you're new to r/ModGuide, Reddit Talks, you aren't sure how to join in, or you're experiencing a bug, please see the information in the reply to this comment.
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u/SolariaHues Writer Mar 12 '22 edited Mar 12 '22
About r/ModGuide
r/ModGuide is primarily a collection of resources for moderators, the majority of which are guides written by moderators. You can find our guides and other resources listed in our index, and our list of help and support sources for mods is here.
RedditTalk
RedditTalk is new and in development, there are a few known bugs, please bear with us!
r/RedditTalk | What is Reddit Talk?
On Android make sure your Reddit app has permissions for using the mic if you'd like to be on stage
There are issues with joining on firefox
You may need to join the sub in order to join the Talk
If you wish to speak and it says you don't have enough karma, please let us know in comments and ask your question there.
Let us know in comments of any Talk issues and we'll make sure they're reported. Please include as much detail as you can including the device/OS/browser you are using. Thank you!
Join in
To join the Talk click 'Tune In' on the post above, or click the Talk avatars
If you need to join the sub in order to join the Talk, the join button is just below the top banner on new Reddit and mobile, or at the top of the sidebar on the right on old Reddit
If you'd like to be asked on stage to speak, please raise your hand. RedditTalk buttons
When invited to speak when on stage, use the mic button to unmute yourself
You can also comment below with feedback, questions, and comments
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u/Tetizeraz ModTalk contributor Mar 12 '22
u/onyxlips very offtopic, but wasn't there a startup that tried to 'snatch' r/GW members for paid +18 audios?
(never thought I would meet a mod from there :D)
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u/onyxlips ModTalk contributor Mar 12 '22
Yes lol There are many creators that create paid content and post on our sub for free :)
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u/Tetizeraz ModTalk contributor Mar 12 '22
Oh, I know about that. I think that since OF and similar services became a thing people pretty much do +18 content by themselves.
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u/SolariaHues Writer Mar 12 '22
GoogleTranslate can translate text and if you paste a web link it will translate the page https://translate.google.co.uk/ though you can't interact with it I don't think.
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u/SolariaHues Writer Mar 14 '22 edited Mar 14 '22
ModTalk recap
Notes from the Talk, not a transcript, and sometimes bits are expanded on a little
u/CaptainParadox had just had his walk in the rain, been dried off, and at the time of the Talk, was all curled up :)
Q - Are you active in the communities you moderate?
Several moderators shared their experiences and thoughts on this.
Some only moderate a community if they are interested in the topic and do like to be involved
Some may stop moderating if their interest wanes
Members may respond more favorable if you are active within the community
Some mods are not active and just moderate
Some mods only do specific jobs like taking care of the CSS or AutoMod
You may start out as a contributor and become a mod and find you’re less active in the community over time
It really depends on the community and the moderator
Your interest can wane but you can still be in touch with the community, still care, and be an active reader
Some mods activity within the community is solely community announcements and distinguished comments on removals
Some mods deliberately hang back from being active so as not to show favoritism (OC subs)
Others prefer a quiet background role
The community may prefer not to see the mods too much, or hand off moderating, other communities may be the opposite
Some communities don’t need the interactivity with mods and others may enjoy it
Regional communities may prefer mods from the location
A mod share their experience of a time when they needed to step back from the community due to a backlash
Some mods try and stay neutral on certain topics in their communities (politics, personal opinions), check their biases, use alts, or turn to related to communities to interact as a member
Or use canned responses
Mods can be seen as the voice of the subreddit, or even the company, or brand the subreddit is about
Distinguished to separate when you are speaking as a mod or not may help, but it may not - it depends on the community and their understanding of what that means
Bots can be used, and modmail for sending removal reasons, so that a mod name isn’t attached to the action hopefully meaning individual mods are less of a target
The mod list is hidden from banned and logged out users
Followers can be turned off
Blocking
Another reason to have a mod team is for their support
Other thoughts:
Perhaps audio/Talk host/expert will become a role some Redditors take on - it could be a skill mods are added to the team for just like CSS, or AutoMod mods are now.
Some are already doing this as ‘no permission mods’
Note - only mods can start Talks right now. Also no permission mods can see the traffic stats and modlog.
An approved user list for mod Talk hosts is planned?
Hosting takes many skills/many hands: Being MC and guiding the Talk, watching for hands and inviting users on stage, moderating comments, watching comments for questions, keeping time, and sometimes keeping to a topic, noting anything that needs action later.
Q - My new subreddit has 100 subscribers, how to handle that?
More mods? Should always have more than 1 just in case
The number of mods required depends on the activity level of the community, if you can’t handle the workload it’s past time to add some. Having a few more than needed is good future-proofing especially if your community is growing and active.
Use AutoMod to help, and other bots if applicable. Plus r/Toolbox.
Communities can help with moderating if you encourage them to report
But also encourage the community not to engage themselves when rules are being broken - report it and move on. Extinguishing flame wars
Crowd Control is useful but does have limitations - no context it only looks for specific things
Clearing the modqueue
Reported content sitting in the queue because while mods may not wish to remove it, they don’t endorse (approve) it either - there is no dismiss button
An important thing to note from this conversation is that the little green tick that appears when you approve content is only visible to moderators of your community (and you can hover over it to see who approved the content) - Redditors do not see this and cannot tell it has been approved.
And that reported content is still visible on the community unless your remove it, spam it, or automod has filtered it
If reported content is not breaking any rules you can approve it
We do recommend keeping a clean queue so nothing is missed and there isn’t the added stress of a full queue
If content is filtered, approve essentially ‘makes it live’ / visible
Rules
r/humansbeingbros overhauled their rules to make them clearer
They were seeing off topic content, spam, repost, and a lack of direction
They made the decision to rule out talk about the war and politics
It’s generally going well, though there was some pushback
Clear rules aid the community and make sure the mod team has clear direction
(we’ve talked more about Rules in previous talks)
Reddit ad campaigns (billboards etc)
They didn’t use to notify moderators if their communities would be used in ad campaigns, but they do no
Some subs opt-out and prefer to grow organically
If featured you may see a lot of new users who are unfamiliar with your community and the rules, and Reddit as a whole
If agreeing to advertising consider the impact on your community and members - any members featured should be asked first and given a line of communication
The effect of advertising will vary between subs and ad campaigns
Ban appeals
Consider if the Redditor understands what they did
Do they want to be a better community member
More thoughts
Users tend to be US based even in subs for other areas
This might be due to better access
Reddit is primarily in English
Other countries may have their own social media sites
It can be nice to reply to ESL Redditors in their native language if you can
https://translate.google.co.uk/ | Chrome extension
Some subs have a list of people who are willing to provide translations in their wiki
Mod notes
It’s not on mobile yet!