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GeneralRe: How Would This Work Out? PinPopular
Mark_Wallace8-Apr-15 15:46
Mark_Wallace8-Apr-15 15:46 
GeneralRe: How Would This Work Out? Pin
Tim Carmichael9-Apr-15 13:47
Tim Carmichael9-Apr-15 13:47 
GeneralRe: How Would This Work Out? Pin
Mark_Wallace9-Apr-15 21:38
Mark_Wallace9-Apr-15 21:38 
GeneralRe: How Would This Work Out? Pin
Mark_Wallace10-Apr-15 6:51
Mark_Wallace10-Apr-15 6:51 
GeneralRe: How Would This Work Out? Pin
RossMW8-Apr-15 10:57
professionalRossMW8-Apr-15 10:57 
GeneralRe: How Would This Work Out? Pin
Mark_Wallace8-Apr-15 16:14
Mark_Wallace8-Apr-15 16:14 
GeneralRe: How Would This Work Out? Pin
RossMW8-Apr-15 16:21
professionalRossMW8-Apr-15 16:21 
GeneralRe: How Would This Work Out? Pin
Daniel Pfeffer8-Apr-15 19:35
professionalDaniel Pfeffer8-Apr-15 19:35 
My ILS 0.02:

Any community such as this relies on the good sense of its members to avoid "abuse wars", and similar behavior, the problem being the small minority of abusers. The problem with giving everyone the right to report spam/abuse is not the false negatives - most spam that makes it through the automatic filters disappears very quickly - but the false positives. It is these "spam wars" that should be avoided.

What I suggest is that a certain threshold of reports be required before a member is banned. This should work something like this:
  1. The "abuse report" should be disabled for older messages
    This would limit "abuse wars" where someone goes back and tags all of a poster's messages.
  2. The filter should have a time component
    There is a difference between someone who posted two abusive messages in the last year, and someone who posted two abusive messages in the last day.
  3. The filter should allow for the number and quality of messages posted
    This allows for human error - in both directions. A prolific poster is more likely to be tagged by accident than an occasional poster, and is also more likely to say something to which objection may be taken.
  4. The filter should require reports from more than a small number of people
    This would tend to filter out "abuse wars", where a group of friends attempt to get someone banned.
  5. Human judgment should be exercised
    This is the most problematic part.
    As we are dealing with people's reputations, I feel that a human should review the reports before someone is tarred, feathered, and ridden out of CP on a rail Smile | :) . This is especially true in borderline cases.
I am aware that "tuning" such a filter would take some time and effort, but I believe that the results would justify the effort.
If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack.

--Winston Churchill

GeneralRe: How Would This Work Out? Pin
Agent__0078-Apr-15 19:41
professionalAgent__0078-Apr-15 19:41 
GeneralRe: How Would This Work Out? Pin
Daniel Pfeffer8-Apr-15 20:59
professionalDaniel Pfeffer8-Apr-15 20:59 
GeneralRe: How Would This Work Out? Pin
Agent__0078-Apr-15 22:36
professionalAgent__0078-Apr-15 22:36 
GeneralRe: How Would This Work Out? Pin
Stefan_Lang8-Apr-15 23:01
Stefan_Lang8-Apr-15 23:01 
GeneralEasily distracted PinPopular
Matthew Dennis8-Apr-15 8:45
sysadminMatthew Dennis8-Apr-15 8:45 
GeneralRe: Easily distracted Pin
Slacker0078-Apr-15 9:58
professionalSlacker0078-Apr-15 9:58 
GeneralRe: Easily distracted Pin
PIEBALDconsult8-Apr-15 18:37
mvePIEBALDconsult8-Apr-15 18:37 
GeneralRe: Easily distracted Pin
Stefto8-Apr-15 21:02
professionalStefto8-Apr-15 21:02 
GeneralRe: Easily distracted Pin
Bergholt Stuttley Johnson8-Apr-15 21:55
professionalBergholt Stuttley Johnson8-Apr-15 21:55 
GeneralThis looks good - C# to javascript... Pin
Duncan Edwards Jones8-Apr-15 8:31
professionalDuncan Edwards Jones8-Apr-15 8:31 
GeneralRe: This looks good - C# to javascript... Pin
Brady Kelly8-Apr-15 9:49
Brady Kelly8-Apr-15 9:49 
GeneralOuch! Pin
Brisingr Aerowing8-Apr-15 7:46
professionalBrisingr Aerowing8-Apr-15 7:46 
GeneralRe: Ouch! Pin
Mark_Wallace8-Apr-15 8:09
Mark_Wallace8-Apr-15 8:09 
GeneralRe: Ouch! Pin
Brady Kelly8-Apr-15 8:13
Brady Kelly8-Apr-15 8:13 
GeneralRe: Ouch! Pin
Sascha Lefèvre8-Apr-15 8:20
professionalSascha Lefèvre8-Apr-15 8:20 
GeneralRe: Ouch! Pin
Sander Rossel8-Apr-15 8:32
professionalSander Rossel8-Apr-15 8:32 
GeneralRe: Ouch! Pin
OriginalGriff8-Apr-15 8:34
mveOriginalGriff8-Apr-15 8:34 

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Straw Poll

Were you affected by the geomagnetic storms this past weekend?
Communication disruptions, electrified pipes, random unexplained blue-screens in Windows - the list of effects is terrifying.
  Results   494 votes