Note: Suspension

[glowdart]

I just returned after an extended break. I left for reasons I think some would hope moderation would help, but really, I just couldn't handle another attempt at actual conversation being derailed by our colleagues who need to weigh in on every situation at every type of institution with affected authority despite significantly limited actual experience. Those posters are unlikely to be moderated, but those posters are the ones who end up sending people off with lousy information or advice and they starkly limit actual conversation and overwhelm the people who are positioned to speak to the questions people raise. I don't know how you moderate that.

Prolonged personal attacks? Yes. Moderate. But community-killing behavior is more pernicious than that.

The "ignore" function helps a lot with that.

Yes!  I was just exploring how to do that (while catching up on years old conversations that still are annoying) and then realized the worst offenders in my memory seem to have moved on.

[nebo113]

I served a 24 hour sentence in Facebook jail and came out as a better  and reformed man.

Got ya beat:  I've been there twice.  Both times were for "advocating violence".  The first time related to the demise of Putin.  The second was pretty funny.  A golfer had gone head to head with an alligator over possession of a golf ball, and lost his arm (and the ball).  The alligator was shot.  I suggested it should have been the instigator of the conflict, which was NOT the alligator.  Slam the bars on FB!!!!

I am not reformed, just more subtle.

[apl68]

Wow, you're gone from here on vacation for a week, and look what happens!

Based on who is not taking part in this discussion, I'm pretty sure I know who must have gotten suspended.  Like Wahoo above, I've been suspecting worsening mental health issues for some time now.

[Juvenal]

Wow, you're gone from here on vacation for a week, and look what happens!

Based on who is not taking part in this discussion, I'm pretty sure I know who must have gotten suspended.  Like Wahoo above, I've been suspecting worsening mental health issues for some time now.

Check the Membership List.  A certain name is no longer there.

[Thursday's_Child]

I served a 24 hour sentence in Facebook jail and came out as a better  and reformed man.

Got ya beat:  I've been there twice.  Both times were for "advocating violence".  The first time related to the demise of Putin.  The second was pretty funny.  A golfer had gone head to head with an alligator over possession of a golf ball, and lost his arm (and the ball).  The alligator was shot.  I suggested it should have been the instigator of the conflict, which was NOT the alligator.  Slam the bars on FB!!!!

I am not reformed, just more subtle.

Nebo, I also think that's a funny story.  While they had no choice except to shoot the alligator (they learn to associate humans with food when they're fed by humans, which makes them very much more than normally dangerous) I do think they should have charged with golfer with illegally feeding wildlife!

[rhetoricae]

I just wanted to +1 the note on appreciation for eigen and the other mods, and the work they do. I admit, the member in question is one reason why I have been here somewhat less often (though I tend to lurk anyway). I appreciate this being handled with grace and compassion.  Thanks, y'all.

[nebo113]

I served a 24 hour sentence in Facebook jail and came out as a better  and reformed man.

Got ya beat:  I've been there twice.  Both times were for "advocating violence".  The first time related to the demise of Putin.  The second was pretty funny.  A golfer had gone head to head with an alligator over possession of a golf ball, and lost his arm (and the ball).  The alligator was shot.  I suggested it should have been the instigator of the conflict, which was NOT the alligator.  Slam the bars on FB!!!!

I am not reformed, just more subtle.

Nebo, I also think that's a funny story.  While they had no choice except to shoot the alligator (they learn to associate humans with food when they're fed by humans, which makes them very much more than normally dangerous) I do think they should have charged with golfer with illegally feeding wildlife!

That is hilarious!!!

[Anselm]

I served a 24 hour sentence in Facebook jail and came out as a better  and reformed man.

Got ya beat:  I've been there twice.  Both times were for "advocating violence".  The first time related to the demise of Putin.  The second was pretty funny.  A golfer had gone head to head with an alligator over possession of a golf ball, and lost his arm (and the ball).  The alligator was shot.  I suggested it should have been the instigator of the conflict, which was NOT the alligator.  Slam the bars on FB!!!!

I am not reformed, just more subtle.

The common opinion is that most censoring and suspensions are due to AI bots and not actual people but the social media companies are not being too transparent on this issue.  "My school will slaughter the top ranked team next weekend"   is something that can trigger action by HAL 9000.

[apl68]

I served a 24 hour sentence in Facebook jail and came out as a better  and reformed man.

Got ya beat:  I've been there twice.  Both times were for "advocating violence".  The first time related to the demise of Putin.  The second was pretty funny.  A golfer had gone head to head with an alligator over possession of a golf ball, and lost his arm (and the ball).  The alligator was shot.  I suggested it should have been the instigator of the conflict, which was NOT the alligator.  Slam the bars on FB!!!!

I am not reformed, just more subtle.

The common opinion is that most censoring and suspensions are due to AI bots and not actual people but the social media companies are not being too transparent on this issue.  "My school will slaughter the top ranked team next weekend"   is something that can trigger action by HAL 9000.

I wonder how many of those suspended were bots to start with?

[marshwiggle]

I served a 24 hour sentence in Facebook jail and came out as a better  and reformed man.

Got ya beat:  I've been there twice.  Both times were for "advocating violence".  The first time related to the demise of Putin.  The second was pretty funny.  A golfer had gone head to head with an alligator over possession of a golf ball, and lost his arm (and the ball).  The alligator was shot.  I suggested it should have been the instigator of the conflict, which was NOT the alligator.  Slam the bars on FB!!!!

I am not reformed, just more subtle.

The common opinion is that most censoring and suspensions are due to AI bots and not actual people but the social media companies are not being too transparent on this issue.  "My school will slaughter the top ranked team next weekend"   is something that can trigger action by HAL 9000.

This is what puzzles me about peoples' concern with Elon's takeover of Twitter. He has talked about having open-source AIs for moderation, so that the process would be completely transparent. Yet people seem to want the subjectivity of humans, and apparently with no clear rules about when a human acts instead of a bot, and what rules are applied in either case. Where does that blind faith come from?

[dismalist]

I served a 24 hour sentence in Facebook jail and came out as a better  and reformed man.

Got ya beat:  I've been there twice.  Both times were for "advocating violence".  The first time related to the demise of Putin.  The second was pretty funny.  A golfer had gone head to head with an alligator over possession of a golf ball, and lost his arm (and the ball).  The alligator was shot.  I suggested it should have been the instigator of the conflict, which was NOT the alligator.  Slam the bars on FB!!!!

I am not reformed, just more subtle.

The common opinion is that most censoring and suspensions are due to AI bots and not actual people but the social media companies are not being too transparent on this issue.  "My school will slaughter the top ranked team next weekend"   is something that can trigger action by HAL 9000.

This is what puzzles me about peoples' concern with Elon's takeover of Twitter. He has talked about having open-source AIs for moderation, so that the process would be completely transparent. Yet people seem to want the subjectivity of humans, and apparently with no clear rules about when a human acts instead of a bot, and what rules are applied in either case. Where does that blind faith come from?

Look, social media companies are profit maximizers, just like all other firms.

1)    I can't imagine Musk is a $44 billion charity, giving away that much money so that  his opinions about speech enforced. He must believe he could "make more money" by changing the company filters. He could be wrong, of course.

2)    As such, profit maximizing social media platforms will use filters to make their customers happy. Looks to me like sufficiently many, perhaps most, people like information bubbles. This point is likely the explanation for all kinds 'a people getting upset about Twitter changing hands.

Notabene: I am not now, nor have I ever been, a subscriber to Twitter. [Nor will I ever be.] :-)

[bacardiandlime]

On the issue of the fora, a mod issue I'd like is limiting people's sigs to one line. When they're more than that they really take up a lot of screen real estate, especially when reading on a phone. (It's ridiculous that someone's one-line post ends up being half a page due to long sigs)

[marshwiggle]

On the issue of the fora, a mod issue I'd like is limiting people's sigs to one line. When they're more than that they really take up a lot of screen real estate, especially when reading on a phone. (It's ridiculous that someone's one-line post ends up being half a page due to long sigs)

By that same token, should posts be removed that consist of a quotation and then just "+1" or something of that nature? Those take up even more screen real estate while providing no insight.

[downer]

There is a "don't show signatures" option in the Account settings.

If we were to ban posts that don't provide insight, well, that would be quite a project.

[bacardiandlime]

On the issue of the fora, a mod issue I'd like is limiting people's sigs to one line. When they're more than that they really take up a lot of screen real estate, especially when reading on a phone. (It's ridiculous that someone's one-line post ends up being half a page due to long sigs)

By that same token, should posts be removed that consist of a quotation and then just "+1" or something of that nature? Those take up even more screen real estate while providing no insight.

I support this argument: and I recall advocating for it on the old fora, where people had the habit of just posting "bookmarking", which drove me up the freaking wall.