Topic: Moderation

Certain posters get away with a a lot more than others

@mookysam @Octane Personally I'd think it'd be a great idea if all users had to scroll thru and read the new/current rules and agree to them via ticking/checking a box, before they could gain (or regain for existing users) access to the website and forums.

@get2sammyb @antdickens Does this sound like a feature that could be easily implemented?

@KidBoruto Only if we also recognise that Knack is the best PS4 game.

@ralphdibny I remember when Bicycle Helmets were made law for anyone under 18. Alot of people did make a stink about it but it faded and I am sure the mask thing will too.

@nessisonett That's part of the problem are sites like Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites don't keep any eye on things. They just let people post what they want even if it's not true or misinformed. That's one reason I don't use social media sites. Yet so many blind sheep follow places like Facebook and Twitter with the idea oh is on Facebook so it must be true.

True story I had a lady call my work. Long story short Google has the wrong phone number listed for the business. We have tried contacting Google about it for the past six months but nothing. Well the lady got upset at me for being the wrong business I told her Google has the wrong number and her reply was no Google doesn't have it wrong you do. I don't know what happened after that cause I hung up on her after that response cause I don't deal with dumb people like that. But honestly just because it's on the internet it's right or true, yeah ok.

This is why places like China have strict bans on internet and are only allowed to see certain things cause you get stupid people who make life miserable for others with their misguided theories or just misinformed information.

That one of the biggest problems with society today is sites like Facebook have no control on what people post and until they figure that out we will still get misinformation and stupid people.

@Tasuki oh right is the helmet thing in the states? Not sure if it's the law over here but we do have to cycle on the road so common sense dictates that we should wear helmets. Though I don't cycle for that reason, I see enough nutters on the road when I'm driving my car, I wouldn't even trust a helmet to save me if I was on a bike.

Not sure if the mask thing will die down to be honest. As @Rudy_Manchego has said, it's been politicised, which is just mental. It's really bad that topics like that and the other humans rights issues discussed in this thread are on political agendas in a negative way. I suspect the divide on these topics (which really should fall under a live and let live mind set) is created to distract us from more important things. Not to say the topics aren't important but the fact that certain rights have been transgressed upon makes an issue that shouldn't be there in the first place. This gives the masses something to fight over which keeps us too busy to realise if anything more sinister is going on.

@ralphdibny Think you have hit the nail on the head. While we argue over a piece of cloth we aren’t seeing the bigger picture.

@Tasuki Actually, it’s worse than that. Check out the new Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma. — Not only does social media have no control over those who post falsehoods, the apps AI is actually programmed to surround the user with likeminded posts, ads, and articles. In other words, it actually propagates untruths and re-enforces them so as to keep the user engaged, because eyes on their feed keeps advertising money coming in.
In the COVID example, if you “like” an anti-maskwearing post, suddenly your whole feed is flooded with anti-mask propaganda and thereby giving the user the false sense of truth and never exposing them to the alternative viewpoint. A person’s social media account is giving them tons of one-sided perspectives, loading up with only things that support their own side of things and then they lose the ability to see anything differently, and in fact promotes violence and antagonism against anyone who dares to have a different opinion. Ex: “How dare someone be such an idiot to think these masks work? Look at all this evidence and these expert opinions that say masks are useless!”... meanwhile all the legitimate studies supporting mask wearing never make in into the person’s media circle. It encourages conspiracy theories and outlandish opinions as people double down on a skewed view of the world that the social media platforms have spoon-fed to the user.

@Th3solution I haven't seen that yet but it sounds interesting. That makes perfect sense which again is one reason I don't go on sites like Facebook, and why I feel that our government needs to step in and deal with these social network sites. The pretty much need to do like they did to video games in the 90s and how the ESRB was created with these social media sites. They have been going unchecked for way to long.

Not going to name any names here, but there is a few of you that claimed you didn't like when things get politicized, but you, indeed did so with your comments. Maybe it's the way I interpreted it when reading. Just saying!

@Tasuki Yeah, you’d probably like it. It’s an hour and a half is all, and it’s filled with testimonials from former executives from all the big social media apps (FB, IG, Twitter, Snapchat, YouTube, etc) advocating for some kind of control of the monster that they helped create. Interesting stuff.
I mean regulation is tricky too, and I don’t know what the answer is. (Obviously there was the whole Tik-Tok thing where gov’t did step in, for good or for bad) They present a few solutions in the documentary - mostly simple things like limiting time on social media, etc.

Anyways, I won’t derail the discussion much further, but I did immediately think of the uncharacteristic unrest and mudslinging occurring on PushSquare while I was watching the show. It is basically a direct example of what the documentary was warning and predicting about. I’ve always bragged about PushSquare being one of the most tolerant civil corners of the internet, and I still believe it is. But unfortunately the contagion of discontent and contention has even seeped into our own very hallowed halls. It’s way less than what you’ll see on Twitter, or heck, even on IGN, but I hope we can find a way to all peacefully coexist, despite our differences.
I do think those that want to run in and set fires and watch the place burn will lose interest if they don’t get what they want —which we all know what a troll wants is a large reaction. But I know sometimes it’s hard not to spar with someone who seems so misguided and who seems easy to put in their place, but it seldom goes as planned.

@Tasuki

China restricts internet access because they want to control the people, no other reason.

This post is going way off topic its about moderation on this website not the internet. Can this topic not even be moderated correctly?

@blacklivesmatter Lol, my bad. Like I said above, it does relate to the larger problem going on internet-wide, but you’re right — we can’t control everything, we can only attempt to control our little circle of influence here on PushSquare.

On topic — maybe if there was a way to build into the system a handful of words used in a comments section post that flag the moderator to check the post then it would make moderation easier to keep up with. I don’t know, maybe this already exists.

Honestly, I think the forums are okay. In general, we don’t usually have near as much trouble here, despite the fact we openly go into potentially controversial topics more readily. It’s all about how it’s handled on the users’ ends. We have plenty of dissenting opinions here and only occasionally does it escalate into people being rude to one another and I can’t really remember many times when hate-speech has ensued. So, it can be done. People can talk about how they love Xbox or Nintendo or even whatever social cause in the forums and a reasonable discussion can occur and people can agree to disagree usually. In the articles comments sections is typically where the trolls and the bitterness resides.

@Th3solution The forums are OK in the most part, this has more to do with the comments section on some of the articles, which have gotten a bit out of hand of late.

So, I just read all previous comments and want to start off by saying I'm relatively new and being that I did actually read the rules before my first time commenting I have to say there does seem to be a lot that goes unaddressed. Having said that, I'd have to agree with @NYJetsfan123 's comment that this site is still really tame.

On the other hand it seems more than reasonable to add transphobia/homophobia to the rules. And like @mookysam mentioned, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea for the site to signal a dedication to this by reminding everyone about this at the bottom of future articles like the HP one or anything regarding TLoU apparently. I'm sure my definition of what constitutes trans/homophobia is going to differ from others but I suppose just so long as the moderation is consistent and the rules aren't so stringent as to frighten people off commenting entirely, I wouldn't have any problem respecting additional guidelines that address this.

I don't think a policy on covid denial would be a bad idea either but that's just me.

Anyway that's all I've got but I do really wish I knew what y'all are talking about in regard to Brie Larson.

@zupertramp Nintendo Life went through a phase of releasing articles about Brie Larson for a while. Stuff like ‘she likes Metroid and would play Samus’ or ‘she plays animal crossing’ or ‘she has a YouTube channel’. Each article had 200+ comments of arguments of people calling her a ‘feminazi’ and people calling them misogynists. We mentioned them in the sense that sometimes conflict on these types of articles feels almost engineered, in an attempt to generate clicks. Obviously mistakes happen but that case was somewhat dodgy.

I see the comments section as a Friday night in Wetherspoons, while the forums are more like a quiet whiskey around a cosy pub fireplace among friends.

Both fun in their own way, but I know which one I'd rather talk to people in.

This is going to be an unpopular opinion, and I will probably be attacked for it. But being that the mods are reading these and taking what we say into consideration, I think they should hear it. I am not looking to start any trouble, but a healthy debate is always welcome haha! Also, I have no negative feelings towards anyone of any gender, race, color, sexual orientation, etc etc etc blah blah blah haha.

I do think that pushsquare is perfect the way it is. I see some borderline dangerous suggestions in this forum. Feel like everyone is just being way too oversensitive. Not just here, but in the world. No one is going to agree on everything. Everyone comes from different places. Everyone leads different lives. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. You can't ask a website to tell people what they can and can't say (within reasonable limitations). That would steer a lot of people, including myself, away. Insulting anyone for any reason is definitely wrong. But if someone has an unpopular opinion that is related to a game, that should not be regulated.

Pushsquare was really harsh for a while in language, and that steered me off for a little while. Not saying I need coarse language to participate in discussions, but sometimes it helps to get the point across haha. Again, there most certainly is a limit. They seem to be more lenient these days when it comes to adult language.

Starting to feel like I'm rambling on now! Gonna quit while I'm ahead haha!

Edit: I guess what I'm trying to say is as long as things are kept borderline civil, I don't think there is any need for any further moderation. But in today's day and age, everyone has a different opinion on what civil is. This is probably my thick skin talking. People love to crack jokes about the color of my skin, and sometimes I find the jokes hilarious! Doesn't pinch my panties at all haha.

@NYJetsfan123 The recent articles about JK Rowling (who is in the news again, digging herself into a bigger hole) proved that people could comment genuine misinformation and get away with it. While I wouldn’t expect the mods to have an understanding of specific issues to a degree that they would be able to spot such misinformation, this is just one of many situations on the wider family of websites recently. Push Square is a UK website hosted in the UK, therefore adheres to the legislation and wider societal norms covering hate speech over here. It’s very easy to say that people should get a thicker skin but when certain groups of people face abuse every single day, the last thing they need is to get it on a website about Playstation, of all things. I don’t feel increased moderation and revised rules would harm free speech in the slightest, this is a public forum and so if you’re intending to cause offence through your words, to the best of the moderators’ knowledge, that should be punished appropriately whether it’s calling them a tr*nny (which actually happened on here) or calling them a knobhead. Here’s one example of how moderation helps.

There was an article on NLife about Chadwick Boseman since it related to Fortnite after he died. Naturally, it devolved into a discussion about BLM and then a slanging match. Then somebody created an account called ‘ProfessionalKneeler’ and made comments about apes and general racist garbage. Their tag on their profile mentioned kneeling on somebody’s neck. I reported the account and within 5 minutes, the posts and the account were gone. The moderator then decided to remove the more heated comments and put a notice warning users not to engage further. The situation was instantly resolved.

Now, taking a quick look at that JK Rowling article, there’s a comment from somebody with a Trump avatar saying that a woman with a penis isn’t a woman. It has 15 upvotes, despite being factually incorrect at best and inflammatory at worst. There are so many exceptions to that argument it would take a mini essay to fully debunk. Another one a few comments below says that trans women are pushing a narrative that they are biologically women. Again, factually incorrect and a pretty blatant strawman argument yet has 15 upvotes. The problem lies in addressing this. Let’s say I, as somebody who is actually educated in the matter and has a trans partner, tells that person they are wrong and spells out why. They naturally respond with more statements of the same ilk. What’s the best course of action here? I’m rash and easy to rise and so will inevitably get involved in a heated discussion even though I know that these people will never change their viewpoints despite shifting attitudes worldwide. That’s clearly not the right thing to do but I’m an idiot. Reporting them doesn’t often lead to anything and bizarrely enough, posting spoilers to games was cracked down on far more aggressively than fairly blatant abuse. One suggestion I would make is that reports now require a description instead of it being optional. Spell out exactly why the comment in question doesn’t adhere to the community rules.

@NYJetsfan123 I know alot of people other than yourself thought I was harsh with the language when I was Mod. And I understand that some people use it to drive a point home but in all honesty that was in the community rules

As per the community rules

Do not use profanity; Use of unsavoury language including profanity and swearing is not acceptable, please remember that this website has users of all ages.

Right there it states Do not use profanity. It doesn't say use it when driving a point is ok but otherwise it's not. And for me being a mod I had to go by the community rules and treat everyone equal. I couldn't tell one user sorry you can't use profanity but turn around and say to another oh ok you were using it to drive a point home thats ok.

I also know that alot of people got confused especially when the staff used words like *** in articles and I would go after people using it in the forums. The reason behind that was one I couldn't edit the news articles and two those staff members where higher then me so I really couldn't tell them no.

It's funny too cause alot of people probably figured that I never used those words but truth be told I use those words pretty regularly in my daily vocabulary lol. Again I was just going off of the community rules.

Obviously now it doesn't matter to me nor do I care because well Its not my job too. It's up to the current Mod team, but I do feel an update to the community rules can help alleviate alot of the confusion.