Suggestions

Once again we have been subjected to a flurry of reporting of threads.

Most entirely innocuous and obviously aimed at distressing the poster rather than any genuine grievance re the content.

I will no doubt be receiving the standard warning emails as will a number of other members for a few days.

I really do believe that the RR button is abused and would welcome any suggestions which leaves a post/thread intact until somebody with an unbiased opinion reviews it.

Just because some members carry a grudge for ever does not mean they should have the power to continue hounding those they dislike.

Sue

Remove the request review altogether , no member should be allowed to run the site , that is the job of the owners of the site , while the request review is there it will always be abused by members that use it to try and get other members banned .

The request review should never have been put on the site..we are NOT the Moderators that is the staff at GR's job.

Too many innocent OP's are getting the RR treatment and some people go over the top at reportinmg just because they don't like the person/s who have started the threads.

If I remember rightly we(the members) were told that if one person or persons were persistenly sending in RR's to GR they would be baaned..

It;s time the Request Review was taken off the site.

Sue

It is all very well saying remove it, but if you are on the receiving end of the vilest abuse ( or personal details have been given which compromise your safety/security) it is essential that there is a speedy way of getting those things off the board...in the absence of moderators the only possibility is the 'Report' facility.

What SHOULD be dealt with is the lack of consistency in removal of posts and sanctions against those who abuse the facility. And a very very clear statement by GR of what will and will not be allowed, not just a vague 'at our sole discretion'.

I appreciate that Rose, I know it has been raised before. That is probably the only reason to have the facility to remove immediately.

I agree with the second paragraph in it's entirety.

What is the answer? To leave the RR facility but to enforce a suitable punishment for misuse?

3 malicious RRs and you get a 3 month ban? They will just use another of their accounts or set up a bogus one.

The only way to overcome this is to have 24/7 moderation perhaps.

I put this on Chat re the Freedom of Information Act: just a snippet:


However if I ask about RRing that only applied to me it doesn't compromise anyone else other than the person/s doing the RRing and the reason they are giving.

If the reason is not true (and patently some of my posts do not contravene anything in the T & Cs) and the RR is upheld and I get the usual warning they would have to explain to me why they upheld the complaint. That would make a change from the 'we cannot discuss individual cases' stock reply.

I am just so frustrated with the system that is in place at the moment.

It's a very difficult one Sue lol, I think the only way IS to have 24/7 moderation or accept that it is always going to be the same flawed system that it is now.

I wouldn't like to hazard a guess, but I do believe there may be a move to give a specific reason in the notification email of post removal.

I have just thought of this.

Leave the RR button but if someone wants to RR a post they will have to state their reason posted on the thread using a simple adjustment in the coding.

So: you press RR and a reply box comes up which will be posted on the thread. You can then say "I found that to contravene the T & Cs because ????" or "the post compromised my security" or "that statement is untrue".

Maybe that would stop vindictive RRs because their name would appear in the reply box.

Please put me right if you think the idea is unworkable for whatever reason.

I would have no problem with that Sue, but some will because if they DO have a genuine reason for reporting, then naming them will inevitably lead to further nastiness...

eg it might be my genuine opinion that a post is racist, I report it as such and then have the OP on my back at every turn? That is ok if one is a tough old bird, but many might be more sensitive to the inevitable backlash.

There has to be an answer Rose, other sites manage this problem successfully.

I'm in two minds about the RR facility.

One is that its open to abuse by people wanting to score points or wind up. In this case GR need to flag up persistent reporters, decide if their claim is genuine or if they are clutching at straws to get back at people, then to take action against them.

On the other hand, its a far better way to report a post as the post cant be tampered with prior to sending it to abuse.

Either way GR need to sing from the same song sheet when dealing with reported posts. and those who maliciously report.

I belong to another forum (not genealogical) where there are clear guidelines on what can be posted, and any religious or political debate are top of the list of banned as these almost always turn heated & nasty. Threads turning unpleasant in any way are also locked & left to fall off the board.

Mods always leave a last post on why the thread has been closed.

You could just forward your concerns to Bright Solid directly & inform them of what has been going on for a long time now. Many members have asked for proper 24/7 moderation as GR staff rarely ever deal with the real problems that accur, They just give out bans without reading the threads. If members inform GR of any problem an e-mail is sent from GR saying they will look into it & nothing gets done about it. So if the members start to go directly to Bright Solid maybe things will start to be done if paid up members ask. ;-)

I don't think you should be able to see the boards unless you're a paid up member. Maybe just a sample of the search boards so you can see what you're paying for. Certainly not the Chat and be able to RR any posts.

I guess I'll wait for my inevitable email telling me I have been naughty then challenge them again as to what I said that actually contravened the T & Cs?

Plus what really gets me is that we PAY for the privilege of being reported :-(

As a site with over 9 million members how many of them use the Chat ?.........no more than 100 i would guess.

So if you lose 100 members out of 9 million, not much lost is it ?

Very true. I have contacted GR and asked a few questions.

Lots of postings have been RRd over the weekend & still remain as RRd, so the promise of this never happening again means nothing.

The promise of a seven day a week service is clearly not happening so means nothing.

Some members still get notified while others don’t so the promise of that not happening again means nothing.

Consistency will be a huge improvement!! Well here we are just one week on from that being said & things don't look very good on that one either.

All this & more has been going on for far too long now. Many members have come up with some very good ideas how things can be made better but are ignored. When will GR actually help its paying members & stop the RRing, bullying & abuse that goes on, on a regular basis on GR? The only reason GR’s membership is so high is because a lot of members have 3 & in some cases more accounts to use, some use them just to cause trouble. GR know who they are as they have all the details needed, even if they make that info up GR can just look at the IP address.

The site needs a new moderating team 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Paying members have asked for this for years now so how about it?

The trouble with a full time monitoring team is cost. It would require at least three people to cover the whole day. Even if they had other duties it would cost many thousands of pounds per year but the number of members using the boards is only a few hundred

You don't have to be an expert in math to see that either the subscription would have to go up for everyone which would be unfair on non messageboard users, or some extra charge for using messageboards would need to be introduced which i think would kill the boards.

This problem is raising its head all to often and a few months back I did ask Genes about it and this was there response.

Thanks for your email

If a member is unnecessarily reporting posts we do monitor this. Anyone who is deliberately disrupting the boards by reporting posts unnecessarily is only putting their own registration at risk

Kind Regards,


Alex S
Genes Reunited Support Team

I am afraid there are a few members who get a kick out of reporting threads ...god only knows why.

Maybe it makes them feel better about themselves,I don;t think Genes will do anything about it ,they don't listen to their members at all about anything :-|


Suex :-S

If GR was say to a 3, 6 or even 9 people they felt they could trust, they would give a yearly free platinium membership with full help & support plus all lookups free for each year they do moderating, I think some level headed members would not mind being a moderator. If you had 9 people doing it, they would not have to do it every day.

That might work but even if GR ciuld trust them I am not sure the board members would agree.

I am reminded of the furore caused when they appointed helpers for the help desk a couple of years ago.