Spiritually speaking, why do the people who report questions or answers remain anonymous?
I am asking this because most of my answers that been violated in the past few days on R&S I have no idea why they were reported. They were not chatty, they are relevant to the question and they are not spam answers with useless links. Which just leaves the option that my answer was somehow offensive.
If my answers or questions are offending a specific person, I would like to know who it is so I can discuss with them what the problem is or how I specifically offended them so I can avoid such behavior in the future.
Or if they are not willing to discuss why they reported my answer, I would then have the ability to block them so they won't be subjected to my answers/questions any longer if I bother them so much.
Why doesn't Yahoo Answers provide information about which specific user reported my answer? People who report questions/answers should be able to support and back up their opinions, and if they can't they really shouldn't be reporting in the first place. Essentially, people should report only if there is a good reason for doing so.
What are your personal suggestions, ideas or impressions of this?
I think including the name of the user who reported a question/answer in the violation notice itself would reduce unnecessary violations and suspensions, therefore reducing the pressure on the appeal system and could also resolve the issue of one user repeatedly reporting someone else's answers out of mere spite.
Note: in cases where more than one user reports an answer or question, I think they could make a rule where all the users remain anonymous, as that answer is clearly offensive to more than a single person.
Rai A2009-06-12T20:20:32Z
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It is very difficult to create a 'foolproof' report tactic.
Similarly it's difficult to restrict troublemakers to one profile and/or prevent them creating multiple ones.
In part defining what "troublemaker" actually is. I'm sure some Trolls here firmly believe they have the right to put belittle & harass others. I also am sure some who have been (wrongly??) labeled "Troll" may honestly not realise that their comments were offence. While others fall victim to the whims of a noxious minority who'll report anything that disagrees with their POV rather than taking a Mature position and agree to disagree.
The current Anonymous system is the one we have and we either play by the rules or go elsewhere. Yeah that also means sometimes the Bullies win - unfortunately. But as I said nothing it foolproof - the Deity has a tendency to make so many Fools.
I'd suggest taking a look around http://suggestions.yahoo.com/?prop=answers&fid=140965 if you have a method that may work better.
It's an ethical violation for yahoo to tell the user name of the person who reported you. That would be a violation of the community rules and privacy violation. If you were told the user name of the person who reported either your answer or your response, you have all the information you would need to target and harass that particular person in your responses and by e-mail. If you block some one, that doesn't block that particular person from responding to your responses or questions. All blocking some one does is make it impossible for that person to e-mail you.
People on R & S can be and often are easily offended when some one does not agree with them, particularly if the person they disagree with is logical and tries to remain completely objective in their responses. The same type of things happens in politics and government. All relationships, including online relations, are political. The ignorant have just as much right to post their opinions as you and I do. When people become abusive and break the community rules, whether or not the know they are breaking the rules, they should be reported. Most people are not honest enough to admit to their accuser when they have reported a response or a question. Some times I admit when I've reported something or gotten it deleted, but I'm brutally honest, with myself as well as others. I can't stand hypocrisy. I'm avoiding the politics and government section because all the paranoia and hate tends to upset me. The same can be said about R & S at times.
I think you shared and thought out many important issues here. I do not know why reporters remain anonymous. I do know that violations can be very frustrating when they are not specific on what the violation is. I think the rule makers do have wisdom with the anonymity (to a certain extent). There is a possibility it is for email protection and security. I am not sure though. I think if you report you should have an automatic block... (from the person you have blocked)...and that no one else can see!
I know what it's like! Most of my violations, (I believe are due to a very controversial subject that is not a popular point of view).
If they do not like my question or answer they can look the other way! I have many, many times when they were in clear violation! (Swear words should not be acceptable in R&S).
I believe we should treat each other the way we want to be treated, while telling the Truth in Love...(Spiritually Speaking) of course!
Spiritually Speaking this wisdom comes from the Golden Rule contained in the KJV Holy Bible!
I feel like a minority in this at times I don't agree with Chief David M that it's bad to report racists/fascists, I admit that I will report personal attacks, abuse and bigotry, I am not gonna report just for disagreeing though I can see why the reports are anonymous but the system's abused and this idea of bad reporters getting penalised doesn't make a difference, I get many reports just for challenging bigots and idiots, I have been reported on one question cos the bigot didn't like my disagreeing and then he added me to his block list unfortunately some trolls/bigots go on other sites and choose one user to focus on - I remember reading this in the LBGT section the Yamster needs to get tougher on report monkeys and over-haul the system, they need to be able to penalise people who abuse the system via report monkeys but they probably won't as they are more interested in stupid changes like the avatars
I was going to say what Maplemass said. Also, it's kind of like reporting a crime and having to pick from a line-up of suspects. You don't want them to know who you are, especially in case a couple of them are capable of being very dangerous people -_-;
Yeep. Could you maybe tell this to the Yahoo staff peoples? o_o Maybe they know who it is, since...if you keep reporting someone but it's not because of any valid reason, they say you have less credibility each time, or something like that? So they probably know who it is, maybe?