Report rules violations as abuse, or not

[matt]

Question to moderators... do you prefer us mere mortals to use the abuse button to notify you of meaningless subjects, requests for points etc. or would is it actually easier for you just to monitor the forums yourself?

I'm concerned that you might be overwhelmed by abuse notifications, when we might just be trying to be helpful.

rgds

matt

[pokrakam]

Hi,

Yes please, do make use of it! As Julius mentioned, the abuse button is very helpful, particularly if I dont' have time to read the forums.

Another good reason is for borderline cases: I tend to give the poster the benefit of the doubt as we also don't want to over-moderate. However if it bothers others then I'll be swayed to do something about threads that I may otherwise leave alone.

Cheers,

Mike

[NathanGenez]

When in doubt, I'd use the button.

But of course it depends on the abuse and the degree of <stuff> in the forum. As Julius hints at, I think the big variable is the degree of activity of the forum's Moderators. In the Financials forums, things are fairly clean now and I'm regularly reviewing postings throughout the day so it's not as important.

But if the forum isn't frequently moderated then the Abuse button becomes more vital to keeping it clean.

-nathan

[Former Member]

I am really glad to see fa few forums are clean now. But the fate of XI forum continues to be the same. I use abuse button on atleast 10 threads now. But I can see a lot more requesting reward points, urgent helps, copy pastes, one liners etc..

Regards,

Jaishankar

[Former Member]

I think this thread wraps it up quite nicely:

- There are misunderstandings about what the forums are intented for.

- There are frustrations, also about what the forums are usefull for, including points.

- There are infectious misunderstandings and frustrations which moderators can solve quickly.

- Moderators also go on vacation, and then the self-moderation and colleagiality kicks in...

In a subsequent thread, the matter has been resolved, so there was no need to bump this one to the top again by editing it. That was my decision, which will last until some person searches for the term "points" in the forum and starts guessing or reproducing the answers...

But it is not bait either, just a form of respect to not moderate an old thread from days long gone (or in my case... while dozing on the beach

The above are not "rules", but rather my interpretation of applying the rules strictly "out there in the wild" where being strict only does not always work best.

Cheers and have a nice week,

Julius

[JanStallkamp]

Hi.

From my perspective I like everyone using the abuse button. In my primary forum that happend only once but I've started to have an eye on ABAP General. And there I can't read every posting. I would suggest using 'abuse' any time when you wish that some moderator should look into the thread. And in cases of threads that should be deleted the backend behind that button offers a fast way to do this. I think today I deleted approx 20 questions in ABAP general and that was only 60 mouseclicks... (That's one reason why you don't see me blocking threads a lot at the moment. Deleting is faster. And people have been warned)

But: If you report a case of abuse please give a good description what is the problem with the posting. If you find copy-and-paste it is really helping if I see a link to the original. If it is a double posting, please give the duplicate. You help us moderators a lot in doing so.

Best regards

Jan

[Former Member]

Hi Matt,

Both.

Personally I monitor my forum area on a regular basis and also participate, but I cannot be everywhere all the time and as fast as the sum of all the folks who use it => so checking the "abuse report" in the morning and again in the evening is a GREAT tool!

I can explain more over a cup of coffee if you want to discuss

Cheers from the 5th floor,

Julius