Do you think Yahoo should remove the "Report Abuse" button from Yahoo Answers or is it a good thing ?

I will admit it isn't perfect. But. . .

Not unless they find a better system for dealing with issues such as rude posters, swearing (remember kids hang out here) and trolls. We couldn't have gotten rid of our trolls in Alt Med without the report button unless a REAL person at Y!A was there to take our e-mail. Which there never seems to be.

I'm all for suggestions of better options. P&A is fun, but other categories are places people go for serious responses and help. Trolls trying to mess up those categories and giving wrong and misleading answers on purpose because they have ulterior motives can be very damaging, even dangerous. Oftentimes they post rants - which can be reported, or personal insults - which can be reported. If they are harmless - like Morten W (who does more for the cause he is fighting against by giving it a forum), then fine. But we need some way to get rid of the real trouble makers.

I don't trust that Y!A is ready to implement a better system yet. When they feel they've got it figured out, I'll support them. In the meantime, it takes 2 or more to successfully report an offense, unless 1 very trusted reporter. In Alt Med, it took nearly the WHOLE community - and that was for legit reports. I really can't see it that easy to abuse. I've hung at at the Yahoo Answers category too, and seen people who've been reported constantly told by the community that they reported rightfully. Maybe if the Y!A team would find a way to let people know WHY their violation was legit that would help a lot.

No, but they should give the person being reported the reason that they are being reported, and give them a chance to alter their answer if they wish to do so before permanently deleting it.

This would clear up a lot of misunderstanding (if the reasons for the removal of postings are valid). Those who are unclear on the concept will be educated.

Abusive material that really needs to be limited will be taken out in a more honest way - at least the person who wrote it will know the truth. And if they don't agree with the reason they can then talk about it on the forum and get the opinion of others.

If it is by presidential order (or from politicians) - why not state so. If political power groups can have an answer or question removed why shouldn't they be identified as doing so? If Yahoo really is trying to be a serious forum and not a stooge of the "Powers that be" and practising censorship to curry favor with the powerful, why not keep this out in the open.

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They should also give a reason to those who make a report whose report is not accepted - so they can understand why their report has been rejected.

I'm still wondering why some questions were removed. It seemed like simple censorship of information that may be inconvenient to specific power groups - but important for the public to know about. This has made me feel distrustful about the Yahoo management, and indicates that they are pawns in the big brother universe, or worse - part of the problem. Which is very worrisome for all who are spilling their guts on the forum - are we all going to pay dearly at some time for telling what is in our hearts? Will we be blacklisted somehow - as so many were in the McCarthy era? Will we be marked as Enemies of the State because we don't agree with some things done by Power Groups who don't want their true natures revealed?

Abuse of the report abuse button is sinking the good ship Yahoo Answers (i.e. the website may be deleting itself soon! http://sg.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ar... It means that vendettas are possible and encourages people to express only middle-of-the-road opinions.

However you have to work really really hard to get Yahoo's notice. Here is a suggestion some of us came up with a few weeks ago http://www.geocities.com/doodlebugjim/delete_no_mo...

Notice the link on the left of the page to the 'The disillusioned view of Yahoo's petitions' and you will see what I mean.

Whether Yahoo Answers is still here in 3 months time or not, its well worth trying to improve it.

Edit

"I think it's a good thing, I just think people should be penalized for unfairly reporting it". I totally agree, but the latter part of the sentence seems to go over a lot of people's heads i.e. abuse of reporting abuse is just as much abuse as is overt abuse (!!)

I think it's a good thing, I just think people should be penalized for unfairly reporting it.

At the very least, without the report abuse thing, there's no way to remove spam, and that's the main thing I use it for.

However, if someone uses it to attack someone they don't like (which our friend dear Kalos did), they need to get in trouble for it. So I'd say the best option is to just make you have a stricter penalty for unjustifiably reporting people than "losing importance of reporting."

It is annoying, but at the same time it cannot be removed. Some post content against the guidelines.

However:

The best I heard regarding it was to require two answerers to report abuse. If two answerers report abuse it will filter out trolls.

vote here http://suggestions.yahoo.com/detail/?prop=answers&...

I agree to some extent remove it from the answers but some questions are over the top like for example did you see the question the mother asked about doing her sons math homework mind you he was only 10yrs old or he would tell her husband about an affair she had and then posted another one about her son blackmailing her to pose nude for his my space site she should be reported but it should be used responsibly

No.Some of the questions/answers are not in good taste and hurt the feelings of certain section of people.Answers forum is a knowledge center or Resource point and NOT a place to abuse.Sorry I can't agree with you.It is a good feature of yahoo Q and A.Thanx

i think it's a good thing

but the problem is that the Qs./As. gets removed automatically after 3 reports (which gives a chance 2 the racists) maybe after 3 reports the Qs. should go 2 the staff except of auto delete

no i don't think so. i've seen some pretty worthy of reporting responses in my short time here. no system is perfect. and people will abuse things. people abuse the law, but we still need it. just have to try to tweak.

Between the annoying of false reporting vs the irritation of reading inappropriate Q&A, I would say it's a necessary evil.

Imagine how many spam, rude, disgusting Q&A will be present if the feature is not available. ^_^