Atreides Zero
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- Posted: Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:43:35 +0000
So ignoring all the other issues of the GD for the moment (not like SF doesn't hear about it once or more a day anyways) I'd like to direct attention towards a growing problem in the GD. Many of it's frequent users like to trade nude images of themselves or even just post them in the GD forum. This is quite obviously highly illegal (since most of the users I'm referring to are under 18 ), as well as highly dangerous to the stupid children who do it. Now while Gaia obviously isn't hosting, or even allowing these images to be posted (since most are deleted and expunged from the site ASAP, and it's against their ToS) it is still an issue for concern.
Now ignoring any potential concern about the government's potential interference (I have honestly no idea how they'd see this issue) I think Gaia still needs to take action on this issue, especially since they've been discussing more and more the safety of their users. As I see it Gaia has one clear cut choice for dealing with this problem:
Disable images in the GD.
As this is the epi-center of the problem, and the forum where this is most likely to occur I think that the best solution to help put a permanent stop to this issue is to revoke their image posting abilities.
Now I know people are going to start spouting frivolous claims about how all that's going to occur is forcing the thing more under ground. Or that it will force them into other forums, but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. While the users might start posting their images in other forums, other forums are much better about reporting such incidents than the GD. Which means mods will see it, they will probably see it quicker, and it will probably be deleted quicker. If it goes underground that merely means it goes to PMs and if the admins ever manage to weed out the PM cyber-ers then they'll find a way to get the image swappers as well.
And this is all ignoring the added benefit of the Gd being cleansed of gore/porn trolls. If you can't post an image, you can't spam it 150 times.
So I implore you Gaia, I know we've had our differences, but you can't turn down this idea, since it might even help you look better to those child safety groups that once convinced you to pan the word '*****' from your site.
As a new addition, while it is not directly related to my original idea a subsequent idea of mine has taken off.
A Lockout period for the GD
This would be a period of time for new users where they could not access the GD. I would recommend this be at LEAST two weeks so that users receiving a 14 day temporary ban would be locked out of their the GD in addition to being locked out of their account (assuming no mules).
Many people keep claiming that it would have no harming affect on trolls. I severely disagree. Yes trolls can make account in advance, but when you are intently trolling you are going to burn accounts, there is no other hope for those accounts, they will cause trouble and promptly banned.
The following isn't so much a new feature that I believe to be needed so much as a recommendation to help the community.
Announce/Educate users on how they can help
Lets be serious for a second, your users are the most valuable tool available to you. While mods wield the power, the users far outnumber them and see a lot more of what goes on. The best thing we can do for the GD and all of Gaia's forum communities is to remind users that it is up to them to report misbehavior and inappropriate content. Yes I know this is already done in certain areas abut only with respect to certain activities. If we remind the users that they need to be just as active in this endeavor as mods, if not more active in this endeavor than mods, then we may see a more proactive user base. Not one that ignores problems and runs from them.
Remind users that they don't have to just send a report, if they believe something is in serious need of moderator attention (graphic content, user harassment, etc) they can also PM an active moderator.
Remind users that one of the best things they can do for a forum is not just to report the threads that break the rules but to also post threads that don't. If we don't replace bad content with valid content than we don't really improve anything, just stagnate.
A feature that will never be made
One of the problems I think users have with the current system is that they don't see a lot of feedback on their attempts to help. Yes some mods thank users for doing their due diligence but many watch as threads sit on the front page of a forum for hours if not days waiting for it to go but with not other option but to wait for a mod to deal with the report. So how about creating a little notification system (preferably something that can be turned off) so that if a user is interested they can receive a little message of some sort that simply states:
"Report number: 180937u498273491, has been investigated." It doesn't need to be anything more than this, in fact it should not be anything more than this to avoid users trying to harass users they have reported (as that is obviously a ToS violation and just plain rude). That way if a users is really interested in making sure something gets dealt with or is worried something might not be getting looked at can write down the report number and know when it's been at least looked at.
I think that any of these options would be very good to use as a starting point to fixing the GD.
But in addition to administrator response we need to get users back in the GD posting things that are within the rules. Without something new to replace the trolls and spam the Gd will just fall back into it's old habits as soon as the rules are loosened again.
Now ignoring any potential concern about the government's potential interference (I have honestly no idea how they'd see this issue) I think Gaia still needs to take action on this issue, especially since they've been discussing more and more the safety of their users. As I see it Gaia has one clear cut choice for dealing with this problem:
Disable images in the GD.
As this is the epi-center of the problem, and the forum where this is most likely to occur I think that the best solution to help put a permanent stop to this issue is to revoke their image posting abilities.
Now I know people are going to start spouting frivolous claims about how all that's going to occur is forcing the thing more under ground. Or that it will force them into other forums, but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. While the users might start posting their images in other forums, other forums are much better about reporting such incidents than the GD. Which means mods will see it, they will probably see it quicker, and it will probably be deleted quicker. If it goes underground that merely means it goes to PMs and if the admins ever manage to weed out the PM cyber-ers then they'll find a way to get the image swappers as well.
And this is all ignoring the added benefit of the Gd being cleansed of gore/porn trolls. If you can't post an image, you can't spam it 150 times.
So I implore you Gaia, I know we've had our differences, but you can't turn down this idea, since it might even help you look better to those child safety groups that once convinced you to pan the word '*****' from your site.
As a new addition, while it is not directly related to my original idea a subsequent idea of mine has taken off.
A Lockout period for the GD
This would be a period of time for new users where they could not access the GD. I would recommend this be at LEAST two weeks so that users receiving a 14 day temporary ban would be locked out of their the GD in addition to being locked out of their account (assuming no mules).
Many people keep claiming that it would have no harming affect on trolls. I severely disagree. Yes trolls can make account in advance, but when you are intently trolling you are going to burn accounts, there is no other hope for those accounts, they will cause trouble and promptly banned.
The following isn't so much a new feature that I believe to be needed so much as a recommendation to help the community.
Announce/Educate users on how they can help
Lets be serious for a second, your users are the most valuable tool available to you. While mods wield the power, the users far outnumber them and see a lot more of what goes on. The best thing we can do for the GD and all of Gaia's forum communities is to remind users that it is up to them to report misbehavior and inappropriate content. Yes I know this is already done in certain areas abut only with respect to certain activities. If we remind the users that they need to be just as active in this endeavor as mods, if not more active in this endeavor than mods, then we may see a more proactive user base. Not one that ignores problems and runs from them.
Remind users that they don't have to just send a report, if they believe something is in serious need of moderator attention (graphic content, user harassment, etc) they can also PM an active moderator.
Remind users that one of the best things they can do for a forum is not just to report the threads that break the rules but to also post threads that don't. If we don't replace bad content with valid content than we don't really improve anything, just stagnate.
A feature that will never be made
One of the problems I think users have with the current system is that they don't see a lot of feedback on their attempts to help. Yes some mods thank users for doing their due diligence but many watch as threads sit on the front page of a forum for hours if not days waiting for it to go but with not other option but to wait for a mod to deal with the report. So how about creating a little notification system (preferably something that can be turned off) so that if a user is interested they can receive a little message of some sort that simply states:
"Report number: 180937u498273491, has been investigated." It doesn't need to be anything more than this, in fact it should not be anything more than this to avoid users trying to harass users they have reported (as that is obviously a ToS violation and just plain rude). That way if a users is really interested in making sure something gets dealt with or is worried something might not be getting looked at can write down the report number and know when it's been at least looked at.
I think that any of these options would be very good to use as a starting point to fixing the GD.
But in addition to administrator response we need to get users back in the GD posting things that are within the rules. Without something new to replace the trolls and spam the Gd will just fall back into it's old habits as soon as the rules are loosened again.
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