It's been a very long time since I last read Slashdot. Frankly, it was getting on my nerves. Too many flames, and too much sensitivity of my part. Now some words about moderation. I agree with some of the posters that:
- People should see all messages by default. It's the only way to insure that moderation doesn't become a form of censorship. Those who don't want to see low-scoring posts (and this is their right) should specify it explicitly in their preferences. I feel this is an important point.
- Justification: lowering a message's score is a serious matter. Moderators should give a reason whenever they lower a message's score. This information (minus the moderators' names) would be available to readers by following the "Score" link. This means that moderators would have to think a little before shooting down a message. Thinking is always a good thing. This also serves to educate the poster, which is great.
Finally, I'd like to bring up a possible flaw with the system: I suspect that people who have their thresholds set beyond a certain level will only see biased posts. Perhaps this is what they want, but, lets face it, moderators are more likely to bump up a message if they agree with it than if they don't. Perhaps this turns out to be false, but I think that people should be made aware of the possibility. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
-- Adrian, hoping that someone bumps up this message so that Rob Malda has a chance to read it. I'd really like to hear his opinion on the above.
Slashdot Mirror
It's been a very long time since I last read Slashdot. Frankly, it was getting on my nerves. Too many flames, and too much sensitivity of my part. Now some words about moderation. I agree with some of the posters that:
- People should see all messages by default. It's the only way to insure that moderation doesn't become a form of censorship. Those who don't want to see low-scoring posts (and this is their right) should specify it explicitly in their preferences. I feel this is an important point.
- Justification: lowering a message's score is a serious matter. Moderators should give a reason whenever they lower a message's score. This information (minus the moderators' names) would be available to readers by following the "Score" link. This means that moderators would have to think a little before shooting down a message. Thinking is always a good thing. This also serves to educate the poster, which is great.
Finally, I'd like to bring up a possible flaw with the system: I suspect that people who have their thresholds set beyond a certain level will only see biased posts. Perhaps this is what they want, but, lets face it, moderators are more likely to bump up a message if they agree with it than if they don't. Perhaps this turns out to be false, but I think that people should be made aware of the possibility. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
--
Adrian, hoping that someone bumps up this message so that Rob Malda has a chance to read it. I'd really like to hear his opinion on the above.