Because I like the ride the fence, I think it is a bit of both deliberate “conspiracy” posts and disgruntled families after a disappointing admission cycle. I do think there is a trend for inflammatory post to pop up this time of year and it does seem to be slightly more noticeable this year.
It is difficult to talk about some topics, that actually should be discussed on this forum, ie. The Harvard lawsuit or Do American universities have a responsibility to educate Americans first, without the discussion de-evolving to racist/political ooze. It is a difficult job our venerable moderators have when deciding between allowing a discussion to grow or shutting it down.
I can’t emphasize enough how important it is for people to report posts. It’s discouraging, as a moderator, to read comments like, “I can’t believe you let those posts stand!” Then, most times when I check the user’s profile page, I can see that he or she has never reported a single post.
In some cases, note that we DON’T take action. For example, we don’t delete posts just because they have erroneous information- we’re not fact checkers. And somebody can post something “dumb” that’s not a TOS violation.
We also get complaints about political moderation. I want to emphasize that we stay neutral when it comes to politics - it’s off limits, period. We have moderators who are conservative and moderators who are liberal. I bet most of you don’t know which of us is which.
I’ve checked regularly for 3 admissions cycles now and have noticed some weird stuff. A lot of the newer members commenting on other people to pick a school for weird and wrong reasons (basically acting like stuff every college has is a luxury at this particular one) and a lot of posters posting ridiculously high stats wondering if they could get into a their state school. Also a lot of hate on catholic colleges (maybe I’m biased because I go to one now).
Also family stuff!! So many bizarre situations that don’t seem real and probably need a social worker and not a college discussion forum.
This is my first cycle on CC and I just want to say thanks to all the mods who clearly work hard to keep the site productive and informative. I had no idea all the work going on behind the scenes until I saw this thread. So kudos to you all and thanks for trying to keep the crazies out!
I once was a mod (totally unrelated site) and it is hard work. So, kudos to the mods here who maintain a positive space for teenagers and parents to share questions and experience, and get answers.
I don’t know if it makes you feel better or worse, but I’ve noticed the same kind of downward spiral in the comments section of Inside Higher Ed. It used to be primarily grumpy or bombastic professors replying, but now there are lots whackos–especially on anything involving race or sexual assault. The level of discourse is noticeably different from two years or so ago.
I flagged a post for the first time in like seven years of posting. It was in a thread about W&L. The poster was asking about not wanting to participate in Greek life and whether W&L could still be a good experience.
A commenter was riding W&L pretty hard and (I thought) trying to scare the OP away from W&L. I flagged the second (or third) such negative post.
I kind of feel badly for flagging it - maybe this was that poster’s genuine experience. I sensed a vendetta, though, and clicked the flag.
Mods, if this was a legitimate poster and if you don’t think they did anything over the top, please remove the flag. I probably should have checked his or her history first. It just seemed overly harsh and discouraging. Would have been fine in the “colleges that fell off your list” thread though.
Then those topics should be avoided on College Confidential, since in addition, they will likely only lead to debate, which is also not allowed. Some sites allow political posts; this, however, is not one of them.
The rest of the quote (and the responses to it) have been deleted as it violates ToS and the poster is no longer a member.
@prezbucky It’s fine to flag a post even if you are unsure; let the mods do the further investigating (That’s why we get paid the big bucks =)) ). In some cases, we take no action on a flagged post because there are no violations. The user being flagged has no visibility that his/her post has been flagged.
It’s a long time messaging board tradition that every summer, spring and winter break, adult forums get flooded by bored kids riling things up. It’s a pattern I’ve seen for 15 years ok all sorts of boards.
I would like to make a suggestion related to flagging posts. I would really love to hear back on a flagged post. Either a “we’ve reviewed the post and find no action justified based on TOS” or “we’ve reviewed the post and removed it based on TOS” would be great. Just to know that it’s been dealt with in some way.
Guessing some posters would then argue with the mods. Which would add to their workload… I assume if I flag it will get looked at. Typically people who need flagging will keep up what they are doing, and eventually be dealt with.
Here’s my PoV: Unless a post has been flagged overnight Eastern time, a mod will generally act upon a report within an hour, and usually within minutes. If the reported post is gone, or it shows that a mod has edited it, or a mod has posted a note in the thread, well, obviously a mod has dealt with it. We will respond to users who flag their own post to be removed (to tell them that we do not remove posts on request), and even then, often have to engage in a long PM exchange as to why we will not delete the post. While the absence of action on a flagged post does not prove a mod reviewed it and determined no action is justified, that will generally be the case.
