1 upvotes, 3 direct replies (showing 3)
View submission: What would I do?
As it relates to implementing change, here are some ideas that I would like for the admins to consider:
1. Communicate! This is so simple and it baffles me that reddit cannot do this after being a web site for 15 years. Features are added that impact communities with zero input from moderators or community members. Why is this so hard to figure out? Solicit input from moderators and community members **before** implementing features. For example, basically all of these New Reddit features are deployed with a "one size fits all" approach with zero foresight. Stop doing it. Even Doordash employees get more respect from their employer.
2. Dramatically improve the response time when harassment and bigotry are brought to their attention. This has been a problem for years. If you receive death threats or harassment, the chances of that user being suspended or even approached by admins is less than 5%. If something is reported, it needs to be addressed within hours, not days. If no action is taken, this must be communicated to users with a reason why. Hire more people if this cannot be done in a timely fashion.
3. Quarantine should be a temporary measure for rule-breaking communities. If quarantined communities cannot change their behavior within 30 days, they need to be banned and their moderators suspended. Most sane people care more about users making harassing and bigoted content more than they care about users downvoting posts in communities they aren't subscribed to. Joke and meme subs are two of the most effective venues of radicalization on reddit. It's so easy to see people "it's just a meme" genuinely believing the stuff they claim isn't serious.
4. Stop failing to deliver on promises made to the community. If you say you're going to do something, do it. If you decide you don't want to do it, explain why. If you want to change something, discuss it.
5. Adopt a precise, meaningful, and easy to understand Code of Conduct that is proactively enforceable. It's not moderators' job to make sure reddit isn't a bigoted dump. If it is, pay them like you would an employee.
Comment by deleigh at 05/06/2020 at 07:24 UTC
23 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Also, I'm tired of hearing the argument "You just want to ban things you don't agree with." Bullshit. **I want to ban bigotry and harassment from reddit.** No more, no less. That kind of speech is for manchildren whose lives are so devoid of meaning that the only way they can feel good is by making other people feel bad. Do something to better the lives of you or the people around you instead of being a toxic nuisance. Read a book, write about a video game you played, argue your philosophies, go for a walk, plant a tree, hold the door open for a stranger, pet your animals, do something that you can be proud of.
Comment by COVID-420 at 05/06/2020 at 09:51 UTC
6 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I understand and totally agree with all of your points as a user myself. And since they will never answer these themselves, let me give you a honest answer of why it will never happen.
From a business perspective it doesn't make any sense why they should implement all the above. They won't benefit from it sadly.
1. They run the website on data for user retention, community and mod opinions don't matter, easy example is the Reddit redesign, no one wanted it, everyone thought it was awful, there was an official poll that was incredibly in favor of the old design, but they still implemented it as the default option because the design keeps users browsing for longer periods because less information is presented at once.
2. Economically it is not sound to hire more personnel for something that won't profit the company, simple as that.
3. I agree with this point 100%, but the last thing a company wants is driving customers away. and this is what you are basically asking here.
4. They are a multimillion dollar corporation, not your family or friends. They can fail to deliver any number of promises with 0 consequences.
5. This will just make them liable for what's on their website, it's not going to happen.
Comment by JaFakeItTillYouJaMak at 05/06/2020 at 22:18 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
It's not moderators' job to make sure reddit isn't a bigoted dump.
Thank you. Moderators have some level of power but they're volunteers and users just like us for the most part. Their responsiblity level is nothing compared to the power of admins.