It's been disabled for awhile, but now flags will again cause a thread to be buried after it reaches a certain negative score. After another threshold (it can continue to be flagged), it will be automatically deleted.

The type of flag determines the number of points deducted, usually anywhere from 1000 to 3000 points for each flag. Bury is currently set at -5000 points and delete is at -10,000. Hits and loves of course contribute to a positive score, and there are other factors as well. Admin can see a breakdown of how the score is obtained. (I'm always twisting the knobs so these numbers might be different even by the time you read this.)

I've made the flags publicly visible within the thread itself. Admin can see who submitted the flags, when, and any comments. But everyone else can only see what the actual flags were. I don't know if this is a good idea but I like to err on the side of transparency.

The big idea is to empower the community and its consensus to kind of regulate itself as much as possible. The feedback loop among members is more powerful than a top-down, authoritative admin structure, I think. Plus it's really the only feasible way that I can continue running the site.

Peace!
Messmaster

Actually, I think this system will just inflame petty disputes between members.

Can we dispute them? I've just received one on one of my posts from a moderator which I really think is quite unjustified. I stopped short of calling them out on it publicly. I don't get pissed off that easily either, usually.

Rich

ps Offending post attached. Flagged 14 hours before it existed. What's going on there? Yes. Drax, Ginger and I will all have the same IP address because we use the same broadband box.

[Image deleted because it contained additional info supposed to be only visible to moderators -MM]

I decided to show the extra information so that the community would know that they are involved and it's not just just a handful of moderators making decisions. I am ultimately responsible for every deletion, no matter who actually did it. But I'm always alerted and advised by the community, so I thought it would be helpful for everyone to see some of that happening in realtime.

Flags are confidential, so I stop short of showing any personally identifiable information to the public, or even the time of the flags. Moderators can see this in a special display only for mods, which is why I deleted the screenshot you posted. That said, since in this case it was a mod (Booth) it's not a secret. Screen cap still deleted tho.

Of course you can dispute any decision, as you might know from your time being mod! I have no problem reconsidering anything, or even refining a rule. I've brought back deleted posts before, etc.

This flag was about bumping Ginger D's post https://umd.net/forums/let-her-have-it-messy-gameshow-shenanig . I checked it out and I didn't see anything "bumpy" about your reply, so I left it alone. While this post was fine, I think the reason for the flag was because of the context set by several posts from you in September where you posted follow-ups to Ginger D, which seemed like borderline bumps. They're also noted. I can go into detail if you want, but I don't think it's necessary here.

For most flags that come in, I actually take no action. Part of the UMD flagging system is to just make notes for posterity. If someone does something that looks like it should be noted in the future, for example if two people *seem* like they are in cahoots to bump each other's posts, we don't want to be trigger-happy and jump down their throats. Sometimes it's only after a history of repeated behavior that true motive becomes clear. And how can we keep track of history without making notes? That's what a flag is. Booth operates at 30,000 feet and flags/notes any patterns that he sees over time. It's mostly because of him that we have some protection against the creative ways that people have been inventing to bump.

We treat people like people here. Sometimes people reply late, sometimes they are happy for their friends or associates, sometimes they're just chatty. We give a lot of wiggle room and benefit of the doubt, sometimes to a fault. But nobody, not even mods (and not even me!), are immune to the community at large entering notes about your behavior.

> Flagged 14 hours before it existed. What's going on there?
Internally, flag times are quantized to midnight of the current day for functional purposes. It's confusing and a reason it's supposed to be only visible to admin.

> Yes. Drax, Ginger and I will all have the same IP address because we use the same broadband box

That's quite fine. I already knew this because I can see all the logs, but all mods can't. It's why you should take the flags with a grain of salt. I review all the flags and I organize the notes on UMD members and I make the final decision on almost all actions, and there was none taken here.

Look forward to your response.
Messmaster

Firstly, I apologise for posting the screen shot - I was thinking this post was only visible in the moderator's area. Wrong group. My mistake.

This strategy is really fair enough and I support the idea of combining stats with a helping of discretion. Apologies to Booth too.

What got under my skin (perhaps more than it should) was that I generally really try hard not to shove my own work down people's throats - but I sometimes, especially when I've got something new to promote I'll be a little less restrained. I do also try to be as generous to others wherever I can, too. I'm aware that this might push the boundaries into bumping territory - and if you feel I'm genuinely over-influencing the performance of posts then I'm happy to be called out. The flags in the posts discussed seemed somewhat overzealous given that the points accrued were sufficient to bury the post. That's all. But if it's simply routine monitoring that's fine.

Thanks, MM, as always

Rich

Well I have it right now so that no one flag can bury a post. It takes several, and I'll be adjusting the thresholds as time goes on. Your post was not buried at all, just annotated. There are others who are being flagged for bumping as well, notes on which the community can now see. There's still some common ground that we all have to reach on the bumping and replying to posts by friends.

Sounds like a very reasonable system to me. I'm all for whatever will help the site run best and keep the community happy. People just need to not take it personally if a post of theirs gets flagged. If someone can't handle negative feedback then they probably shouldn't be posting anything online.