Oh, and because I complain a lot, can i say that i freaking love the member moderation. We don’t really use it on the straight dope. And it might be problematic here, because it would be such a huge culture change.
But I’m posting on a new board that picked up a lot of the users of a recently killed board. And it’s been great.
We have a poster who’s a member of a vulnerable minority. And when she sees something that feels to her like hate speech, she can make it go away, right away. Yes, sometimes the mods decide to unhide something she reported. Then she has to make a case. But it really nips nasty conversations in the bud to have that immediate action she can’t take.
We have another member who likes to pick fights. And other users have found they can just hide her aggressive posts. And the result is that she’s been fine.
It does cause problems. I’ve been DMing a poster who is really upset at being censored.
But no system is perfect. Message boards are hard to moderate. Someone is always upset. And i think the net impact of this feature is that it’s going to lead to a much more welcoming and gentler message board.