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 .

MaryShelley - I wasn't actually being at all sarcastic. I think you are lucky if you haven't been the target of the goady fuckers. I do, however, think it's rude to enter a discussion where people are trying to find a solution to a problem they are having and state that because you don't have a problem with it, it isn't a problem.

BoreofWhabylon - sorry! I just think the posters that are bloody annoying are better 'skipped over' than highlighted - highlighting them would send my blood pressure rocketing

But Justine:

"Whilst I see the logic in leaving posts for others to see how unpleasant a poster is, I think there's quite a lot of things we just don't want to host on our forums tbh - racist, homophobic, sexist, disablist stuff etc."

There is a lot of racist stuff being left up at the moment, on that immigration thread. It's revolting and deeply unpleasant. Yet you are 'just watching'.

I don't understand the logic behind allowing that thread to stand.

Anyway - to my question - please, please, please could you work up a Munsnet definition of what constitutes bullying? I'm really tired of people claiming that they have been bullied simply because someone might have disagree with them. The number of threads that we had to endure about this recently was just silly. Whereas if we had a simple Mumsnet-agreed definition, we could have all saved ourselves the bother.

Whilst I would still like a Hide Poster option, I accept it's not going to happen any time soon (if ever). One thing that I would like to ask though - what are the chances of MNHQ emailing posters with a 'watch yourself, you are skirting into goading / bullying / PA territory' ? which may make them step back a bit.

I have been very restrained just lately (do I get brownie points) but have found that I am stepping further and further back, rather than engaging people, because I just can't be bothered with some of the arguementative posters - those that will shout black is white, even when it has been proved that black is black IYSWIM

I also agree with a suspended post function for new joiners, which may stop some of the trolling / panty raids from other forums.

@MarshmallowGuzzler

How do you track posters? Bullying behaviour might only be witnessed by looking at tons of threads and posts, often with no reports, but leaving a hurt reporter. What might have been reported could be quite small- a slap on the wrist type thing- but it could add up to a very large, upsetting series of incidents. Could there be an option to report poster (which might also be useful for the variety of troll threads, started in a short space of time)?

Hi MarshmallowGuzzler,

Just keep reporting. You can explain that this specific post may not break the guidelines but this poster does seem to be bullying/posting to inflame and it all helps us to build up a picture.

We do send mails to folks who are reported a lot but not necessarily deleted and remind them of our Talk guidelines and that our overall aim is to make parents' lives easier.

@reelingintheyears

Fuck the gin, can't we just try and sort out the bloody trolling. The thread from the other night was horrible, 'Pie and shite' or something?

Truth is we've always suffered forum invasions from various (mostly men's) sites - Pistonheads, ShankleyGates, ARRSE, SingleTrackWorld etc. And dare I say I believe MNetters have been responsible for a few wholly unsanctioned invasions themselves .

They happen, and are irritating (although sometimes can be diverting) but they don't tend to last too long.

The whole point of MN is to give support. If a person in need of advice has to wait a week before she can get that advice, won't she just wander off to Netmums somewhere else?

@ShreddedHoops

So my question to HQ would be - does it annoy you when some posters ask for special treatment (being allowed to break rules) because they've been members for a long time, and do you treat old / new posters differently when they are reported?

Well, we don't think this happens very often tbh (regs thinking they should be allowed to break the rules). Obviously when we look at a report, if it's a post by someone with an established posting history/someone we at MNHQ know of, then our knowledge of them (good, bad or indifferent) may play into our decision. But ultimately we take things on a case-by-case basis and do our utmost to apply the rules consistently to everyone.

@BIWI

But Justine:

"Whilst I see the logic in leaving posts for others to see how unpleasant a poster is, I think there's quite a lot of things we just don't want to host on our forums tbh - racist, homophobic, sexist, disablist stuff etc."

There is a lot of racist stuff being left up at the moment, on that immigration thread. It's revolting and deeply unpleasant. Yet you are 'just watching'.

I don't understand the logic behind allowing that thread to stand.

Well tbh we disagree with you that it's racist - cos if we thought it was, we'd have zapped it. But we'll take another look.

Do people ask for special treatment? Really?!

@magimedi

I also think that threads should be locked, but not deleted.

We do lock threads from time to time but generally if they are deleted. What do you think the benefit would be of leaving threads locked and visible as opposed to removing them?

Having the stupidity highlighted, I think would just annoy people more. Well it would annoy me more anyway.

It's bad enough that it is there in the first place.

@HoneyDragon

Justine

So what do you really think when journalists publish factually incorrect observations of Mumsnet in the broadsheets and then whine at you on twitter because we didn't like it?

It is tiresome - I thought Mumsnetters' reaction to the Telegraph media request re sextalk on Mumsnet pretty much summed up how we at MNHQ feel. Fair dues to the journo though; she took account of it and wrote a completely different story from the one she was originally asked to write. If only they all did!

Why on earth would people ask for special treatment? They might expect it, but that would be because they're arses..

When a PBP makes a new account, I take it they have to be reported again in order for you to know, there's no bat-phone ringing is there? (i expect a TSSDNCOP on that)

And when it does come to your attention that they have rejoined, do you immediately ban again or give them a chance?

Re the threads locked & not deleted - I've changed my mind & agree that a lost of the stuff is better gone. I have been persuaded by the posts on this thread.

leaving threads locked but readble may, to some people, feel like mnhq are supporting the bully and not allowing people to defend themselves

ah, and what about a bunch of posters who act nice for years and let people trust them, leading them to believe that they are welcome, then becoming extremely nasty to some newer members for no obvious reason at all?
causing some of them to be really hurt and feel cheated on, so much they feel the need to leave MN?!

I don't think there will ever be an accepted definition of bullying BOF, the trouble seems to be that if someone finds a few people disagreeing with them and the posters happen to be recognizable names, it all starts with the bullying, mumsnet royalty nonsense.

I'm not saying that no one ever feels bullied on here, it just gets thrown out their so much, it pretty much dilutes any actual bullying IYSWIM

Do you contact the admins of other sites when their members troll us? Some on the 'Pie'n'Shite' (love that!) site were saying 'oo-er, MN admin will complain and our admin will rap knuckles again'

Can I just say, though, that one of the things that MNHQ was seriously castigated for on the last one of these webchats we had was about how quickly posts/threads were deleted, and I do feel that this has changed - 'trigger-happpy' deletions seem to be less frequent, and I think that is a very good thing.

(Although I obviously realise that there is a fine line between leaving things to stand and not being seen to do anything quickly enough!)

And, before I have to get back to work (dammit), I think you must always be between a rock and a hard place trying to keep us all happy! Like Hully said, this place is dear to my heart and as someone who used to be at home a lot, without other adult company for much of the time, it was brilliant to have somewhere to chat to others.

There is no problem defining bullying - plenty of organisations have been set up to protect people from bullying.

I'm interested to know why the latest (last week?) threads on Madeline McCann were "allowed" to stay when many threads previous were zapped pretty quickly.

I'm not passing comment on the content, just curious as to why these latest ones were deemed different to others.

Adding "registered (date)" alongside a poster's name would mean we could all see at a glance whether someone has joined to simply to goad on particular threads, or nc for that purpose.

Is that possible?

Personally I'm dismayed at the frequent misogyny directed at mums posting for help with separation and child contact issues. I don't see why it is apparently acceptable for mums to be lectured and hectored about "fathers' rights" and given inaccurate information designed to scare them half to death and submit to injustice.

The usual outcome forthe OP is that she abandons the thread. Those who attempt to challenge the MRAs and goaders are often followed around and targetted. It's not easy to keep track of it happening.

Often this behaviour is deemed to be "opinion" and unworthy of report, but I think it's deeply damaging.

@magimedi

Re the threads locked & not deleted - I've changed my mind & agree that a lost of the stuff is better gone. I have been persuaded by the posts on this thread.

hoorah!