Topic: Moderation

Some talk about this in the Chit Chat thread.

in the last two years I think more and more comment sections got toxic. I think more can be done by the team to stop the well known atrocities in comment sections.

Some suggestions:

• Add the words transphobia and homophobia to abusive behavior in the community rules.
• Get some dedicated moderators.
• Make reporting easier and focused more on stopping hate instead of reporting people that use caps.
• Make a statement. Make a statement in the comments of every topic that gets out of hand. Or even lock the comment sections.
• Act. Like banning people, and post warnings and make it transparent to users how you are tackling unaccepted behavior.
• This year @Neolit left the forums for having his comment edited/deleted without notice. And I understand his anger. Make it known to people when you are moderating, and how.

@Kidfried NintendoLife also needs this desperately. I'm honestly surprised but the PushSquare community is a lot tamer in comparison to people on that site, despite some overlap between the two communities.

This sort of thing becomes more of an issue the larger a community gets.

I think some articles should have their comment sections locked by default. Ones like the JK Rowling one that's still going. That's bound to attract trouble, and even if you have a stated anti-homophobia/transphobia policy in the rules, people are going to create new accounts and the site might attract brigades from alt-right communities.

There should probably be a broader rule in place disallowing article comments from straying into unrelated sociopolitical advocacy/discussion, too.

@Ralizah I’m not sure the solution is to cut down on all discussion. A lot of the time these things are down to people being ill informed on these matters. As long as the discussion is civil and isn’t blatantly spreading misinformation or hate, I don’t see why articles that provoke these sorts of questions should be locked. Now articles like the Brie Larson ones on NLife on the other hand, they feel rather engineered to generate clicks/arguments so I would agree with that.

I feel that the amount of toxic users has increased since COVID started. You had bored people sitting at home while jobs and schools were locked down so naturally they go to websites to start trouble. Not only that but with the new consoles coming out in November that's going to spark some toxic conversations. Hopefully that is the case.

However since my retirement, I have noticed a lack of moderation on the site which is one main reason I don't come around much anymore. I just don't feel like arguing with people and such or being insulted because I say I am buying a Xbox Series X this gen first and then a PS5 later on.

I honestly don't even know if they have an actually moderator who checks the reports when someone reports a toxic user cause at times it seems my reports go answered. Even when I report spammers it seems to take alot longer then it did to get them handled.

Yes I know there's an ignore button but honestly I feel that's a copout for not having an active mod. Plus I don't like to use it cause it breaks up conversations. If it would also remove mentions of that user I guess I wouldn't mind.

I also wonder and don't get upset at this theory if the reason for not banning users (unless they do something really bad or are actual spambots) is because of numbers. I know websites need traffic to survive and by banning accounts it lowers those numbers not only that but if you ban accounts too much even if they deserve it that site gets a reputation as oh that site will ban you and people would be less inclined to sign up thus keep the numbers low. I also believe that having account linked with PureXbox and Nintendolife creates a problem too. Yes having one account to sign in all three websites is great, and makes it easy however and I have seen it both as a Mod and a user some people who are civil and nice on say Nintendolife will come over here and cause trouble being the typical fanboy, insulting PS users calling them names etc. etc. They get banned from here due to being toxic only to get unbanned so they can post on. NintendoLife again where they haven't been bad at all, which I don't think is right but thats just my opinion. Then they eventually comeback here to cause trouble some point later on down the road.

Apologies for the long post but I just wanted to say my thoughts on the subject and to make it clear these are my own theories and such. I do agree that Push Square does need some sort of Moderation Team but in the end thats up to Sammy and Ant to decide.

@Ralizah On one hand I agree, but I don't think that closing the discussion is the right decision. It never is. I think we already have a ''problem'' online where users are banned for saying distasteful things. The problem is that these folks move to other corners of the internet. If they aren't allowed on Twitter, Facebook and whatnot, they'll create their own platforms. These people start living in a bubble and that's how radicalism occurs (this is also how you get the flat-earth nut jobs, and the coronavirus hoaxers). But at the same time, PS probably isn't big enough for this to be an issue, but still. I think positive discussion should always be encouraged. People should be exposed to all kinds of ideas, people should be challenged on everything they say and believe in. But this is my basic principle speaking, I'm not sure how much of this applies to PS

It’s easy, just make everyone sign up with their actual real life names and they will behave

(I also suggest having slightly thicker skin and not rising to every little bit of bait! Who gives a ***** if someone talks down to you because you’re getting an Xbox)

@Octane My ultimate preference is for people to simply tolerate dissenting viewpoints and/or ignore people they find annoying. But I think shutting down unrelated discussions overall is preferential to selectively censoring opinions deemed to be offensive and/or mods abusing their power to silence dissent, which is where these sorts of things tend to go.

@nessisonett Ill iinformed? Sometimes, but, more often than not, it's something that has become integrated into a person's worldview. Most ignorant attitudes are willful, and help to prop up other aspects of their belief system.

Anyway, rules, if they're going to exist, should be crystal clear, and enforced consistently and impartially, which is why, if changes are to be made, I favor changes that can be enforced, as much as possible, without ideological bias on the part of the website.

Opening up an article to comments is asking people to share their opinion on it. So when the article is about JK Rowling and her controversial viewpoints on transpeople (maybe that's not EXPLICITLY what the article is about, but we all know it's why that studio is trying to distance itself from Rowling), you're likewise telling people to air their thoughts on the subject. And it doesn't really make sense to further tell people that they can only post if they're in disagreement with Rowling. Which opens the door to comments many would consider transphobic, even if they don't contain slurs or advocate for violence.

Same with NL articles on gay marriage in Fire Emblem, anything to do with Brie Larson, etc.

If the official position of a community is that there is only one right opinion on a subject, and anything else is a violation of the established rules, then why even allow discussion when it relates to those things?

@Ralizah I agree, a topic should banned or both viewpoints should be allowed. You can disagree with something without being toxic, though some people view being disagreed with as toxic. That’s just doing to others what you would complain is hate and intolerance if done toward you.
Some people would have you be able to say something positive about the political candidate they like, but saying something good about the other one is hateful. That’s just being a problem. Either you can talk both ends without being toxic or we don’t discuss the subject on a game forum.

Agree really, people could do with being a little more open minded on all sides. I see so called toxicity on both fronts in that Harry Potter article.

@Ralizah All I’ll say is that I’d be a horrible moderator if they were recruiting, I’ll hold my hands up 😂

@nessisonett yeah you go from 0-100 way to quickly, try reeling people in if you want to change a few minds, don’t go straight for the jugular calling an icon for many a mouldy old woman...

@Ralizah
Gay marriage in Fire Emblem?! 😲
I never knew something like that from Nintendo game.

@kyleforrester87 Maximum impact baby, cram it all into a sentence or two!

@nessisonett yeah then spend the next 10 comments dialing it back so you look reasonable huh

Just so you know we have been reading this thread and we're definitely not ignoring it. We also appreciate that things have been a bit more heated on Push Square and Nintendo Life lately, presumably due to dramatic growth in the community and coronavirus.

We want to make things better, but we also want to do it right; we want to improve discourse for everyone, but we also want to ensure that everyone feels like they have a platform to share their opinion.

The reality is that we all come from wildly different backgrounds and perspectives, and sometimes we all find it difficult to see other points of view. It's important we don't stifle conversation, but instead find a way to allow people to debate in a respectful way. We're never all going to agree on everything — and I wouldn't want us to! — but we need to find a way whereby people can challenge each other without discussion descending into aggression and anger.

Sometimes I feel we're too light on the moderation; other times I think we're too harsh. It's difficult to find the right balance, but overall I think we have a nice community here — especially when compared to the low standards of other sites!

That said, it's clear we need better tools and better tactics to keep things welcoming and positive without upsetting users and stifling conversation. It's not easy, but I know @antdickens really appreciates your feedback, and I'm confident that both with technology and a smart approach we can achieve our aims and retain the general high quality of discourse we have on most parts of the site.

Keep the feedback coming, though — we do read it!

@get2sammyb I want to say: I get that it's difficult to thread the needle of moderation properly, but having seen the extremes of under AND over-moderation on sites like GameFAQs and ResetEra, I appreciate that you guys try to make this site one where people can feel free to express themselves without allowing things to devolve into chaos. It's not an easy approach, but I do think it is the right one.

I've personally not seen most of the more extreme comments, as I tend stay from most of the articles that would attract those kind of comments. The Harry Potter/Rowling article I just knew it would be like it, especially when I saw there was an online book burning being arranged.

That doesn't mean it does not sit right with me when hear of it though, and it is easy to say 'oh just ignore it'. But when others are cleary offended by some comments, and their reports are being ignored something need to be done about it.

To add to this @Tasuki is a big miss. He had a lock on almost everything, could be harsh at times but you knew what was acceptable quickly! I now understand why a no nonsense approach is integral to the integrity of the site.

Get him on the payroll Sammy!

@kyleforrester87 It’s hard for me to stay reasonable on this subject. My partner’s trans and I see the stuff he puts up with on a daily basis.