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

Sunshine, no star from me I think we NEED a report button. They should sort out how people report, but sometimes people need to report very offensive answers, avatars and questions. Particularly when it is child protection or legal issues.

EDIT: I too think it is not the report button that is the problem but the way people abuse it. Even putting somebody's name when you add additional comments can be seen as chatting. This site is supposed to be about answering people's questions and sharing knowledge, hence the additional information button. I would happily support a campaign to stop misuse of the report button.

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.

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&S 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 were 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.

It's not really very useful if it's going to be used indiscriminately. If there is ever genuine abuse, such as stalking, cyber-bullying, or any other means to slander, assault , or otherwise hurt someone on line, the reporting of real harassment gets lost in the misuse of the reports that are not really abuse at all. Reporting Abuse, while necessary for genuine responsible reporting, should not be so easily and readily accessible to those who just have the childish desire to "click a button", like kids activating a fire alarm pull just to skip class, or making 911 prank calls...

No that would be extremely stupid and cause basically destruction to yahoo answers if the reporting system is removed, because then I'm sure pretty much everyone on here would troll each other in all sorts of ways, post spammy answers, swear, post very inappropriate images in answers and questions all the time.

The "Report Abuse" button is not so much the issue as the system itself.

Yahoo!Answers employees are not moderating the forum, leaving it to the posters to abuse the report button and have deleted whatever they consider to be "inappropriate" content.

Posts that have been reported are not thoroughly revised before being deleted, and the initial posters then have to deal with appeals or simply move on, until enough violations to then lose their accounts.

AND rather than investigating into individual accounts from which reports are often made, and as to the validity of such (since there are some here who target others), they actually favour them.

These are among the issues with Answers, which I think should be addressed.

Thanks to you as well. :-)

i think that people only at a certain level should have the report abuse or report question authority, say level 5, maybe even 6.. because you got too many trolls at level 1 who are just gonna make a mockery and report everything in sight.. because too many times do questions or answers that do not go against the guidelines get deleted.. i was reported way too many times with my old account on questions that were not even chatting as yahoo so put it.

But I do think that when someone puts a very inappropriate picture on their 360, that should be reported on site. I have seen Men's private parts, ( and some sick things) posted as pictures, anyways I think that Report abuse should only be allowed to people who are at a high enough level to respect the Report button.

I don't think it should be removed. I have reported one or two people for abuse, because their answers were totally inappropriate, and or abusive to the questioner. I just think people need to not abuse the report abuse button.

Unfortunately there are a lot of immature people on this forum, who think it's funny to mess with people. Those are the ones we need to get rid of.

I think it is a necessary evil. yes people misuse it, but having had to deal with a very nasty paedophilic post written by another user about my terminally ill child had I not had the option to report the post what would have happened? Sometimes posts need reporting, People on here can be exceptionally nasty, and while they all say it's just 'words on a screen' when the words are about your vulnerable children there has to be a procedure in place to protect them.

As it was the post remained for the best part of a week, long enough for a lot of hurt and damage to occur

Its not the ability to report that bothers me, but the fact that people can be slapped with VNs wrongly without easy redress. And that terms are really very vague around ranting and chatting.

I suspect most posts on answers are technically in violation because of this, and a system which doesn't differentiate the wheat from the chaff is badly in need of fixing.