If you were to suggest a better reporting system for Yahoo Answers, what would you recommend?
So far, there has yet to be a good reporting system devised for YahooAnswers. I'm seeing info that is showing that it's happening across many forums, including Religion & Spirituality, Politics, LGBT (Lesbian/Gay...) and other forums.
Many people are getting unfairly reported and in the process long standing accounts are getting targeted.
There has to be a better system. Allowing the system to go unchecked will mean that extremely racist and sexually explicit questions will filter in, yet the current report structure allows those who want to "Clean up" this forum to silence those who they disagree with, or those that they want to punish.
If a new system for reporting was to be devised, what would you recommend?
The angels have the phone box.2008-03-22T03:00:37Z
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The whole purpose of the level system is supposedly that you gain capacity as you prove yourself worthy of it.
So restricting the right to and responsibility of moderating to level 5s and over fits in with the existing structure. It would instantly eliminate the huge problem of level 1 troll accounts that blink in and rampage through your Q, A and contact lists before you can block them.
People who've been around long enough to get to level 5 understand the nuances of the forum. They'll be far more effective at getting rid of what's truly offensive than the paid outsiders, while leaving the odd bits and pieces that help a community get along.
When people have responsibility for themselves and their community, everything changes. Right now it's us against the system and people say Why should I bother with the regs? Treat us as intelligent responsible teens and adults and we'll take care of our own turf.
Y!A has ALWAYS been community moderated since its inception in 2005. I dont get where people think the system that went into place last September was somehow NEW, because it WAS NOT.
How would the asker of this question feel if they knew that actually the people turning in the abuse IN BULK are actually users that are Level 6 and 7 that have grown so weary of the abuse that they take it upon themselves to add a quota of "reports" to their daily quota of answers, questions and votes???
I have been known to report in bulk, but I report the ABUSE, not the abuser. I really dont care who the user name is under the avatar. I am looking at the ABUSE, NOT THE ABUSER.
Yahoo isnt going to hire a bunch of people to moderate a FREE forum. The ONLY way you are going to get around this is to CHARGE for Y!A like Google Answers did... but then you will see the site become the ghost town GoogleA did...
The kiddies will NEVER NEVER NEVER pay to post their swill... NEVER.
If Yahoo would just do what they promise, read the appeals, and educate the violator why it was a violation, the site would work very well. When most people whine about the violations, it is the rules they don't understand, they don't disagree they broke them.
I also think they should split the site in two. One would be Yahoo Community Chat with only porn, scam, spam, illegal violations and only about 10 categories. No points, 20 max posts per day, and the database purges the oldest posts every seven days. The other site would be Yahoo Answers, but would be called Yahoo Community Experts. The rules would be the same as now, but STRICTLY enforced.
I would just like for the questions and answers that are reported some how be confirmed that they really are a violation. The nasty rude racist sexually explicit questions and answer never be able to make it on here. Before deleting an account yahoo should investigate and make sure of the reports. My recommendation!
I don't believe that Level 5 and up users should responsible for this. You should keep in mind that many users "cheat" and that way manage to get to the upper levels.
Moreover, a lot of points do not necessarily guarantee a reliable character. Most of these people do not really "answer" those Qs. They just want the points and so, they do not necessarily leave comments that relate to the subject. It would also be unfair for the users of lower levels.
I firmly believe that this kind of job should be assigned to someone who is clearly NOT involved in the forum...in other words, none of Y!A members can really do this. Y!People have to check our accounts manually and not using systems which can be easily "fooled".
Moreover, people should not be punished for expressing their opinions when these do not insult other members.
I know this may not sound very practical but, in any case, it is ideal.