Scratch

Paddle2See wrote:

While I like the idea of more help...I'm not convinced that we need more special roles to help keep the peace 

People may just need to better understand that the forum "Report" link is completely anonymous - we don't reveal who reports what - and that it's okay to Report things that you aren't quite sure of - we'd rather have a few false alarms rather than "fires" left unreported - and we'd have more orderly forums.

So, I guess my counter argument is that we are *all* Forum Reps.  It's the responsibility of everyone to Report things that you think could use some attention from the Community Moderators or the Scratch Team.

True, true.

The only reason I thought of this is because mods tend to keep out of long discussions and can easily miss users that are being unkind. The mods are 14+ and I thought getting the opinion of someone younger would give a better view of what users are offensive to younger users.
Some things that 14+ mods see as acceptable are offensive to younger users, and maybe users outside of the US. Some terms that users from some countries use can be unkind to users in other countries. That sounds like a load of waffle, but I hope you see my point.

Maybe publicise the report button more, emphasize the fact that it is anonymous.

cheddargirl wrote:

The_Dancing_Donut wrote:

Paddle2See wrote:

While I like the idea of more help...I'm not convinced that we need more special roles to help keep the peace 

People may just need to better understand that the forum "Report" link is completely anonymous - we don't reveal who reports what - and that it's okay to Report things that you aren't quite sure of - we'd rather have a few false alarms rather than "fires" left unreported - and we'd have more orderly forums.

So, I guess my counter argument is that we are *all* Forum Reps.  It's the responsibility of everyone to Report things that you think could use some attention from the Community Moderators or the Scratch Team.

True, true.

The only reason I thought of this is because mods tend to keep out of long discussions and can easily miss users that are being unkind. The mods are 14+ and I thought getting the opinion of someone younger would give a better view of what users are offensive to younger users.
Some things that 14+ mods see as acceptable are offensive to younger users, and maybe users outside of the US. Some terms that users from some countries use can be unkind to users in other countries. That sounds like a load of waffle, but I hope you see my point.

Maybe publicise the report button more, emphasize the fact that it is anonymous.

I believe the Scratch Team sees the point.    In fact, you can see this recognition in the Terms of Use: the first main point of he ToU is emphasis to be respectful given that so many Scratcher here are of different ages, cultures, and other backgrounds.

Also, while it is true that the mods and the Scratch Team are older, it doesn't necessarily mean that an older ages are out of touch with the younger generation - there are several users who are younger than 14 who actively participate in the Scratch website and talk to the Scratch Team. 

Hm... I guess. And yep, I am one of those 'several users under 14' and I get on okay with the flagging system. So there's no need for this, on second thought.
I'll just go on flagging dodgy content. I doubt the idea would work anyway 
So this can be closed, right?

sparks wrote:

I agree with Paddle2See with the fact that we are all forum moderators of a kind, and from what I've experienced, many people do work to keep the peace.

I also agree with the several users who commented above saying that the report button should be  better explained or publicised.

One option would be to change the word "report" for something else - something that does not sound as bad as, after all, we're encouraged to use the report button to flag small things that do not incur a penalty such as moving a thread to a new place in the fora or, in the case of new scratchers, I have seen mods editing posts for new scratchers when they made a spelling mistake (new scratchers can't edit posts).

It could be changed to "report problem", "tell a mod about" or even link it to an explanation of what the button should be used for.... something snappier might come to mind to one of you. Report sounds very serious.

Another option would be to send all Scratchers a personal message, or get a mod to post a (yes, off topic) post in some of the newest thread (where people are looking) explaning what the report button is for.

Yeah... "Report problem" wouldn't be bad - it gives it a more general feeling.
...
At the topic post: while moderators might not post in topics, I'm quite sure that most mods read through plenty of them. 

The_Dancing_Donut wrote:

So we should change the word 'report'. What to?
Tell a mod
This is offensive
This is bad
Dodgy post alert!

I definitely agree with this part. The report button needs to be a little more user friendly. Maybe it should simply be "Flag as inappropriate" like the other ones are.

Last edited by ScratchReallyROCKS (2010-12-28 08:05:00)

Uh... not everything people report goes under 'flagging'. For example, I report my topic if I want the topic name changed, or I sometimes report a topic asking a moderator to take a look at it. Those two aren't necessarily 'flagging'.

I think the Report button should be called... uh, what's a good name for a button that lets you send messages to the moderators under some posts? I can't think of any. >_<

I think "Report" is fine, but there needs to be a place somewhere that talks about it and what you should use it for.

Last edited by Jonathanpb (2010-12-28 18:37:13)

I think instead of this, there should be a new campaign based on the report button.
"Report for rapport!"
It encourages a larger vocabulary as well as reporting posts. 

Last edited by Sunrise-Moon (2010-12-28 19:57:02)

Jonathanpb wrote:

cheddargirl wrote:

Jonathanpb wrote:

I think "Report" is fine, but there needs to be a place somewhere that talks about it and what you should use it for.

I think there's a thread about stuff like that somewhere on the forums, but I can't recall where (it's probably under a New Scratcher's Guide or something). Maybe we need a separate topic for explaining the "Report" button, one that's easily located? 

Could I make one? :3 I like making guides 

RAHHHHHHHHHH BRING IT ON

sparks wrote:

Yes, there is an exaplaination somewhere in the forums, it's what made me realise I could "report" a post just to change the name or get it moved.

I think maybe if you had a    and when you click in, a box comes up saying "what's wrong?" with a dropdown list containing options like

offensive
in the wrong place
needs renaming
a mod should see this
other

(you know, trivial AND serious options. This carries across how that    button can refer to many things, and encourage users to use them properly. a "describe the problem in more detail" text box can replace the current "reason" box.)

This way, not only do users have a better understanding of what it's for, the mods also get catagorised reports (maybe allowing them to address the high priority "offensive" before the lower "change spelling error I made" reports rather than sifting through them all.)

Thoughts?

Woo, someone agrees on the sad face idea! 

coolstuff wrote:

I'd have to agree with Paddle2See - we don't need this.

However, I do like the idea of changing the reporting system. Reporting does seem to imply something offensive or bad in nature; perhaps a different title for the button could lead more people to use it in terms of the "move-this-I-need-a-title-change" sort of reporting. I also really like Sparks' idea, though it may or may not discourage people from reporting stuff due to the extra work involved.

It wouldn't really be extra work. Rather than typing why you're reporting, you'd select it from the drop-down list.

coolstuff wrote:

pika100chu wrote:

coolstuff wrote:

I'd have to agree with Paddle2See - we don't need this.

However, I do like the idea of changing the reporting system. Reporting does seem to imply something offensive or bad in nature; perhaps a different title for the button could lead more people to use it in terms of the "move-this-I-need-a-title-change" sort of reporting. I also really like Sparks' idea, though it may or may not discourage people from reporting stuff due to the extra work involved.

It wouldn't really be extra work. Rather than typing why you're reporting, you'd select it from the drop-down list.

I guess so, but it would still be appropriate to type what you're reporting anyways, correct? Otherwise it may not be specific enough.

You could choose from a drop-down menu (mods could see this first, as a Subject, and then it could linkyou to a page that says 'Tell us more' for more details.

coolstuff wrote:

The_Dancing_Donut wrote:

coolstuff wrote:

I guess so, but it would still be appropriate to type what you're reporting anyways, correct? Otherwise it may not be specific enough.

You could choose from a drop-down menu (mods could see this first, as a Subject, and then it could linkyou to a page that says 'Tell us more' for more details.

Or we could just do reports the way they are, with that somewhere in the header. 

Yeah, so it sounds less threatening.