Meet the MNHQ moderators. Live chat Friday 8th Nov, 1-2pm

[JustineMumsnet]

Hi all,
We promised you a webchat to discuss all things moderation (and anything else you fancy really). So, tomorrow lunchtime RebeccaMumsnet, RowanMumsnet and I (and possibly a few other team members - suspect that OliviaMumsnet might be lurking) will be on hand at 1pm to answer your questions. If you can't make it along, then do post your questions here in advance. Mind the guidelines at the top of the page now - only one question each and be nice .

[LittleBearPad]

I'm sure this info is on people's profiles but many aren't public and those of the hairy handed certainly won't be.

[Hullygully]

I won't be here at 1 either but second Maryz. MN is my water cooler from the lonely wastelands of working alone and I love it too and have loads of friends.

That's why people trying to spoil it give me rhinitis.

[BewitchedBotheredandBewildered]

BTW the thread that Chippingin linked to is now deleted!

[LittleBearPad]

Blimey. It was there ten minutes ago!

[reelingintheyears]

Most of the deleted posts seem to be along the lines of 'Fuck off you cunt'.
Who cares, I don't.
Unless the posts are particularly vitriolic or 'outing' let them stand.
It annoys me when posts like that are directed at me and they get deleted when I haven't asked for them to be.

[ZingWantsCake]

Hully

I feel your pain. I'm glad you're still here!

[reelingintheyears]

I'm out too this morning, might get back for about 1.30, can you not keep it going a little longer than 2pm?

[magimedi]

I am also agreeing with LittleBear about everyone having to show the month & year they joined - it won't give you away at all, FFS. Or if you've been here forever, maybe a 'more than 2 years' or something like that.

I am always a bit when I see strange posts & can't see a profile.

[SecretNutellaFix]

I've said it before and I will say it again.

Relationships and Feminism need a full time dedicated mod.

AIBU should be removed. A lot of the issues start on there- there are a number of posters who only ever seem to post on AIBU, there are also a number of posters who will use it as a fight club.

There is a section called What Would You Do? People could use that if they were looking for genuine advice/feedback and then chat for the rest of the non AIBU threads that get posted.

If you are not considering shutting down aIBU, then that also needs a full time mod.

[WhatchaMaCalllit]

As a relatively new MN poster, I would ask the Mods if they could make the FAQ's and rules about what can and cannot be posted easier to understand. I've read them and re-read them and I genuinely can't make head nor tail of what I am allowed to post and what I can't.

I also think that if the Mods are serious about moderating, they should allow posters to have a 5 minute delay in order to edit their posts (in order to correct any spelling errors or even to remove the text completely themselves). I've seen so many posts followed by others where the follow-up post is to correct a typo. Being allowed to edit a post up to 5 minutes after posting would be very very helpful.

Would MN consider updating the site to allow either or both of these things to happen?

[Pan]

I'd disagree Maryz..whether someone is a nether-region is a matter of perspective (which the mods will differ on individually), and even if the genuine qualifiers remain identified as such, it sets a culture and tone that it's okay to fling abuse around, and that HQ think it's okay.

Question: can we slow down on the gratuitous swearing please? A vital issue compared with others, I know.

[MrsMargoLeadbetter]

Are your MN names your real ones? I appreciate Justine's is.

Just wondered if you want to obscure the identities of your mods in real life....

[HoneyDragon]

But AIBU is a tricky one re personal attack. My own actual eyeballs have witnessed an op before saying, am I being a cow?

She got replies saying that yes, she was being a cow and then got fucked off and offended. People were deleted for a bar she had set herself.



Also, I don't get this exchange at present.

Poster 1. It's shit here, it really is. Everyone is awful and I hate it.

Poster 2. You don't HAVE to stay here you know?

Poster 1. You absolute bully, how dare you tell me to leave. You don't own Mumsnet, how dare you. I'm crying now.



And these seem to occurring every 48 hours and I'm tired of it

[LtEveDallas]

Honey, did you see that your 'hair on fire' thread made it to the trolly site above (pieandbovril, posted by Chipping). Famous love, famous

[HoneyDragon]

Oh bless them. They found the most hopelessly fucked and inept poster in the history of Mumsnet and figured she must be one of theirs.



If they think I've gone into deep and try and "rescue" me, will you send search parties?

[ButThereAgain]

Do you sometimes feel that expectations of what moderation can achieve are too high, especially on a mass site in the public eye, and especially given that you have to maintain a fairly arms-length status in order to control your liability in relation to libel?

You often put yourselves in the position of apologising for outcomes that seem at least partly a function of certain impossibilities involved in moderating a site like MN, rather than being a function of failings on your part. It is lovely to apologise so frankly but I wonder if it creates a false impression of incompetence. Would it be better to just say that some of what is expected can't be achieved?

[forthemods]

Could you please give one, named member of MNHQ responsibility for reducing bullying on the site – an Anti-Bullying Czar?

They could be trained by one of the many anti-bullying organisations to distinguish bullying from “bunfights” and “banter”. They’d need to be able to spend time sorting the sheep from the goats and looking in remote spots for threads where bullying attacks are being orchestrated.

Most schools and organisations have Anti-Bullying Policies – can Mumsnet have one please?

I am thinking, for example, of the Gok Wan Webchat here.

It's a good example, pointed up by Gok Wan himself.

[Grennie]

Could you allow an editing function that allows you to edit your comment within 5-10 seconds? Netmums have this and it works well. There are so many comments posted here saying things like:

Sorry I meant win, not when. .

[bassetfeet]

Would it wrk if posting rights were deferred for 48 hours after first joining mumsnet? This could deter some trolling I think.

[Pan]

ah yes bassetfeet, or even for longer? It would prevent a lot of the wind up types, and they'd get bored and have to find something else to do.

[Grennie]

Except some women join to post for help when they are desperate for help with their children. They need to be able to post straight away.