Over in this Pit thread, Coldfire said in response to my inquiry:
Soon thereafter, Lynn Bodoni added this:
Could I request some clarification here, please?
First the easy one. If somebody asks an ATMB question about the board rules where the answer is not clear, is non-authoritative input (speculation, commentary, whatever) appropriate? Appreciated? Discouraged? Forbidden?
Second, the hard one. On the question of Doper self-policing, Coldie indicates it’s appreciated, Lynn indicates it’s not appreciated. Which is it, and under which circumstances?
I mean, in blatantly obvious rules violations, I do exactly what Lynn suggests, which is to use the report feature. But if somebody’s just being a low-grade jerk, am I out of line to ask or tell them to knock it off? (Presumably, there’s no chance of my being mistaken for a moderator, so it’s not like I’m speaking from a position of authority.) To state that personal insults are forbidden in GD, that porn links and file-sharing tutorials aren’t allowed, and that polls go in IMHO?
I ask because I’ve seen posts from mods saying they appreciate it when the community polices itself, and some saying we should let you guys handle it. What, in short, is the difference?
I’ve posted stuff like “cross posting is frowned upon”
“quoting large segments of text isn’t allowed”
“if you email a mod about your request, it’s likely that they’d see it quicker than simply posting”
“this seems more like a rant than a debate” (Or “this seems more appropriate to MPSIMS”)
When I suspected it was a troll, sock I’ve used the report this post.
Ditto where I thought there was a flagrant violation of rules (insults, threats etc.)
Well wring, I think I can safely say with no authority whatsoever that you want to use the report button or email if you suspect trolling or sockpuppetry, based on my understanding of the rule that such inquiries or charges should not be made in the threads themselves. Then again, IANAM, so you may wish to wait for a more definitive answer.
when I think it’s a five alarm fire, I don’t try and put it out. If it’s just a little kid w/a lighter, I might try to suggest to him to put the thing down vs. calling the 8th Division. ya know??
Well, I was going to use P5K to cure cancer, but there you have it. With my luck, by the time I get to P10K, they’ll already have given away the Nobel to somebody else.
Y’know, I was reading that thread and, even though I don’t usually notice post counts, I did happen to catch minty’s at 4999… and a few posts later, yours at 2999. “Dang,” I think, “some sort of cosmic convergence, and I just happen to pick it up. I wonder what Work of Great Import those guys have planned for their next posts?”
I think I read Lynn’s comment a little differently than minty did: I assumed she was completely agreeing with Coldfire, and drawing a distinction between “policing yourselves” (welcomed) and “trying to be junior mods” (frowned upon). Nonetheless, a little clarification on what activities fall under what heading is in order.
And while we’re at it, I have a further question: Occasionally, someone will ask a question in ATMB along the lines of “is it OK if I do such-and-such,” and I’ll post a reply; NOT as an answer, but more because I have an opinion and would like to share it with the moderators before a decision is made. I’m thinking, for instance, of my post in zev_steinhardt’s thread here. Anyway, is this (pitching out an unofficial opinion in such a thread) frowned on? I’ll quit doing it if it is.
I am not a mod, but . . . I think that the posts of the members in Zev’s thread made clear that they were expressing their non-mod opinion of the matter. It’s one thing to say what you’ve seen or what you think, so long as you explicitly qualify it as what you have seen or what you think. On the other hand, if you’re posting something in the style of THE ANSWER FROM ON HIGH, then you’re trending into Junior Mod territory. In other words, if it’s clear that you’re giving just an ordinary Joe’s opinion, subject to correction or affirmation by the official mods, it’s fine. However, if you’re posting something about board policy as a definitive answer (whether or not your title says member), you may be crossing the line. But that’s just my opinion.
